Unraveling the Forgotten Power: Overwatch's Lost Hero Abilities Exposed

Highlights

Overwatch 2 frequently makes changes to balance gameplay, sometimes reworking heroes entirely and removing abilities for better game balance.

Hanzo's Scatter Arrow and Mercy's previous Resurrect ultimate ability are among the most infamous ability removals.

To achieve a more balanced kit, Bastion, Symmetra, Orisa, and Torbjorn have undergone significant changes, resulting in the removal of abilities such as Torbjorn's Level 3 Turret and Symmetra's Photon Shield.

In order to maintain game balance and prevent certain heroes from becoming too overpowering, Overwatch 2 frequently undergoes updates and adjustments. While most changes involve small tweaks to hero abilities, there are times when a hero needs to be completely reworked, resulting in the removal of certain abilities. Throughout the development of both Overwatch and Overwatch 2, various abilities have been removed in order to enhance game balance.

Although Overwatch 2 provided an opportunity for some heroes to receive major reworks that align with the gameplay design of the new game, some heroes were already reworked during the original Overwatch's lifespan. As the meta naturally evolved and gameplay unfolded after the game's release, the need for balance changes became apparent. This led to sudden and significant hero changes, including the removal of certain abilities, even years after the game's launch.

All Removed Overwatch Hero Abilities

Bastion: Configuration: Sentry

Bastion: Self-Repair

Bastion: Configuration: Tank

Cassidy: Flashbang

Doomfist: Rising Uppercut

Hanzo: Scatter Arrow

Mercy: Resurrect (old)

Orisa: Halt

Orisa: Supercharger

Orisa: Protective Barrier

Reaper: Soul Orbs

Symmetra: Photon Shield

Symmetra: Photon Barrier (old)

Symmetra: Teleporter (old)

Symmetra: Shield Generator

Torbjorn: Level 3 Turret

Torbjron: Armor Pack

Among the ability removals that have sparked controversy are Hanzo's Scatter Arrow and Mercy's former Ultimate version of her Resurrect ability. The Scatter Arrow was a contentious ability that enabled Hanzo to shoot an arrow that would split into six projectiles, bouncing off surfaces and inflicting significant damage on foes with minimal aiming required. As for Mercy, her original Ultimate allowed her to revive multiple teammates in close proximity. However, this ability has since been adjusted to a regular ability, limiting her resurrection capability to one teammate at a time.

Several heroes, including Bastion, Symmetra, Orisa, and Torbjorn, have undergone significant changes to their kits over the years. Torbjorn's previous Ultimate was overpowered, allowing his turret to reach Level 3 and deal excessive damage. This resulted in a complete rework of his turret. Similarly, Bastion's Ultimate, Self-Healing, and Configuration: Sentry abilities were removed and replaced with a more balanced set of abilities in Overwatch 2.

Among these heroes, Symmetra has experienced the most changes, although she currently sits in a balanced state. The ability to provide teammates with armor, through Symmetra's Photon Shield and Shield Generator abilities, was once a prominent feature in the early days of Overwatch. However, these abilities, along with Torbjorn's Armor Pack, were eventually removed from the game. Symmetra's original Ultimate allowed her to create a Teleporter from the team's spawn to any location on the map. This has since been replaced by a reworked Photon Barrier skill and downgraded to a regular skill with a shorter range between entry and exit portals.

While OW2's Orisa did not undergo many changes to her kit during the lifespan of Overwatch, significant reworks were implemented for the sequel, resulting in the removal of a few of her main abilities. In an effort to reduce the number of barriers a team could deploy, Overwatch 2 limited the Tank role to only one and eliminated Orisa's Protective Barrier ability. Additionally, her Halt ability was replaced with the new Energy Javelin, and her previous Ultimate, Supercharger, was substituted with Terra Surge.

Overwatch 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.