Overwatch 2 will see a massive re-work for its upcoming tank hero, Mauga

Mauga next to lava
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Overwatch 2 Season 8 is less than a couple of weeks away now, and it's looking like players will see massive updates to the upcoming tank hero Mauga. 

First, Mauga will receive a severe update to his kit in the next season of Overwatch 2. During his trial period around Blizzcon, players realized just how vulnerable the massive tank really is. It turns out that despite looking strong, Mauga suffered at the hands of smaller heroes like Ana and her Biotic Grenade. Since he didn't have any armor or shields, he was easily whittled down in no time by opposing teams.

This is why it's so fantastic to see some balancing for changes scheduled for Mauga before he releases at the start of Overwatch 2 Season 8 on December 5. The changes are as follows according to a developer update:

  • Replace a chunk of his health with armor. We're experimenting with 150 internally.
  • Reduce the size of his head's hit volume.
  • Increase the damage reduction on Overrun. Originally it was at 30%, we're testing it at 50%. Also, this can no longer be interrupted by Hack.
  • Increase the lifesteal on Cardiac Overdrive.
  • There are quite a few changes in flight for his weapons. We're testing different spreads and firing rates when using both guns simultaneously, as well as different damage, ammo, and falloff numbers. We'll have more details on those as they solidify.

The Mauga event during Blizzcon was the first time Blizzard ever released a hero to the public early for Overwatch 2, and it worked out very well. "We think it was successful for a lot of reasons: we got a lot of great feedback from players, good data on the hero, and have enough time in advance to make a serious set of changes," the dev diary detailed. 

These changes may make the tank quite a bit stronger, but it seems like they're necessary to make Mauga a viable pick for players. Since Overwatch 2 allows teams to only use one tank. With this in mind, it's extra important that they're strong and durable, if only for the sake of the rest of their team. 

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Elie Gould
Features Writer

Elie is a Features Writer for TechRadar Gaming, here to write about anything new or slightly weird. Before writing for TRG, Elie studied for a Masters at Cardiff University JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs or editing the gaming section for their student publications. 

Elie’s first step into gaming was through Pokémon but they've taken the natural next step in the horror genre. Any and every game that would keep you up at night is on their list to play - despite the fact that one of Elie’s biggest fears is being chased. 

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