Just recently, Blizzard released a brand new update on the “Overwatch” Public Test Realm. Most of the changes were meant to bring fixes and improvements, as expected from a regular update. However, it also included a set of changes to some of the heroes in the game.
According to GameSpot, the most noticeable change the aforementioned “Overwatch” update was for Zarya’s ultimate called Graviton Surge. It totally changed the way it affects a target, veering away from the version that the current servers offer. Here is everything about it in a nutshell.
The big change on Zarya’s ultimate
In the live servers, the hero’s ultimate Graviton Surge keeps targets at place. This allows her teammates to deploy massive attacks, gaining huge advantage over the opposing team. However, there is one flaw: highly mobile characters can escape it. Take for instance Genji: when he gets caught, he can simply use his Swift Strike to dash out of the Ultimate's effect. Although the community did not really complain about it, there were some players who believe it should be tweaked.
Indeed, Blizzard tweaked Zarya’s ultimate on the “Overwatch” PTR. Basically, it now completely disables any movement abilities from the targets. If Genji gets caught, he can no longer use the Swift Strike to bail out.
The ultimate now works similarly to Junkrat’s trap, which renders the victim useless. This is definitely a huge change, considering how it would significant affect the overall meta of the game.
Why the change was introduced
Since the update is introduced on the “Overwatch” PTR, it is still too early to assume. Perhaps Blizzard will not add it on the live servers for some reason or they will.
The possibility is definitely a mystery, and only the studio can decide about it. However, for the sake of argument, there is actually an interesting reason why the company decided to tweak Zarya’s ultimate. This is to basically counter the popular dive comp meta that makes use of highly mobile characters such as Genji, Tracer and Winston.
Players are now complaining that “Overwatch” is all about the aforesaid comp. It is as if players do not know any type of hero except the dive comp characters. Perhaps with Zarya’s Graviton Surge having such functionality, the popular heroes of before will be brought back. Their significance in the battlefield will once again shine and, more importantly, they can counter balance the dive comp meta. After all, Blizzard’s utmost desire for the title is to continue promoting balance and better gameplay experience.
