Everybody’s favorite Swedish turret builder, Torbjorn, is getting some big changes. Blizzard is giving the hero a rework with a little surprise: throwable turrets.
Throwable Turrets?
Geoff Goodman, Overwatch‘s Lead Designer, was in an interview with VG247 and was able to speak about the upcoming rework. It seems that Blizzard and the Overwatch balance team is trying to give Torbjorn viability in an offensive sense. So, rejoice Torbjorn mains, people won’t think you’re trolling when you choose him on offense.
In his new kit, Torbjorn will now be able to throw turrets from a small distance, like Tracer’s Pulse Bomb. Each turret will then be automatically be level two, no hammering necessary.
Goodman also states:
This plays a lot better on offense – especially because you can run up, throw it in a flank spot and be immediately shooting again and not feel like you have to sit there hammering it. Being able to use that and have an extra threat shooting from the side feels really powerful. We can obviously tune the turret if it ends up being too strong or anything, but that’s the place we’re starting from.
This will definitely give Torbjorn more flexibility as a champ. It is comparable to Symmetra’s rework where she can now throw turrets around the map.
Torbjorn ultimate changes?
Additionally, they want to change how he is a snowballing hero. Torbjorn seems very weak during the beginning of a fight. He doesn’t really ramp up until he is really done preparing. He needs to set up a turret in an optimal spot, finish upgrading it, and pick up scrap to give armor out. His power also all practically resides in his ultimate ability, which Goodman also speaks about. He states that his ultimate does way too much for him, unlike other heroes.
Blizzard has been experimenting with how they could tweak Molten Core. One option for the balance team was to make the ultimate just a regular ability. However, it seems that Blizzard has been on the fence about it.
We may end up with a completely different ultimate at this point because it ties up too much of his power, but that’s still very much in flux so it’s hard to say,” Goodman says. “First thing we did was try a lot of different takes on Molten Core – maybe we could make it really cheap and take some stuff away from it, we tried it so it only affects the turret and doesn’t give you any buffs, and we tried the reverse so it only affects you.
Whether or not Molten Core will become a regular ability or not, Torbjorn will probably have a new ultimate ability. Get ready, because our lovable little turret-based hero will be a completely different beast soon.
What do you think of Blizzard’s possible rework of Torbjorn? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! If you want more Overwatch content, check us out here!
