Overwatch: The Worst Tank

Overwatch is a character-driven first-person shooter, and like many other character-driven games, heroes are divided into tiers.

 

These tiers allow players to see who is viable in the current meta, and who is not. They generally rank from S to F, but each game has its own system. 

 

Overwatch is, of course, no exception. With such an expansive roster of playable characters, some are bound to be pretty trash.

 

This article takes a look at one of these lower-ranked heroes, specifically of the tank variety. Now, that’s not to say that this hero is unplayable altogether. If you enjoy playing them and do good, then good for you. 

 

D. Va

 

I know, I’m sorry, but the numbers don’t lie. 

 

D. Va used to be an S tier tank. Now she has a pick rate of just 3%. So what happened?

 

Well, for starters, they nerfed her defense matrix. This is a defensive ability of D. Va’s that allows her to shoot down incoming projectiles. Previously it was as simple as having a cooldown; however, Blizzard changed it. It now has a secondary resource meter that charges separately to cooldown.

 

This meter impacts the effectiveness of the matrix and makes it much harder to use effectively. They also doubled the duration of its cooldown, from one second to two seconds. 

 

Not only that but the nerf to armor devastated D. Va. Her mech, which was previously her primary way of absorbing damage, has been made useless. You get into a firefight, and before you blink, your mech is destroyed. 

 

So why not try and play the range game? Well, D. Va’s guns have practically no range. They are clearly designed for close-quarters combat and cannot be used effectively at medium to long ranges.

 

The solution would be to increase the range of her weapons, but you can argue that would defeat the whole purpose of being a tank in the first place because that’s the issue here; D. Va is a tank that can’t tank. 

 

Of course, it’s not just her that was affected by the nerfs. They served to buff some of the heroes that D. Va was a counter to, further decreasing her usability. 

 

Most noticeably, Tracer, and Soldier 76. Before this patch, Tracer did half damage to armor. This made her practically unplayable. Now, with the armor damage reduction changed from -5 to -3, she has become a lot more useable. Much to D. Va’s misfortune. 

 

Soldier 76’s pulse rifle now also does more damage, 15% more to be precise. It went from 13 damage per shot to 15 damage per shot. 

 

As if this wasn’t bad enough, Reaper got his own buff, on top of his shotguns now doing more damage to armor. 

 

His lifesteal changed from healing 30% of damage dealt to 50%. That is an insane number, and with him now dealing more damage than ever, there is no way a D. Va can realistically exist on the map while there is an enemy reaper. 

 

D. Va is one of Overwatch’s original cast, so hopefully, they can bring out some changes to make her more viable again.