It looks like it was solely simply yesterday that we received an Overwatch 2 beta, and Blizzard’s already pushed out a second one to indicate off their new tank hero, Junker Queen. I’ve spent the previous couple days taking part in round along with her package, and it’s protected to say I’m undoubtedly not as excessive on her as I used to be on new DPS hero Sojourn.
Junker Queen‘s aesthetic and design is good. It’s so Mad Max-like, which is smart as a result of she’s mainly the ruler of the junkyard and cretins like Junkrat bow to her. Most likely. To suit along with her design, her fundamental weapon is a shotgun, although she has a throwing knife and a big axe at her disposal as nicely.
Let’s get all the way down to brass tacks: her package is actually enjoyable to fiddle with. She has fairly a little bit of versatility, even when she could be a bit too reliant on heals to essentially work in your group in the intervening time. Throughout my time with the beta, I died a ton taking part in as her, however not earlier than whacking a bunch of individuals on the enemy group with an outsized axe. They healed up rapidly, however nonetheless, it was a great time.
The issue with Junker Queen, in my very amateurish opinion, is that she doesn’t really feel like an particularly good tank character. Overwatch‘s roles are very clearly outlined: tanks are there to guard and create house for his or her group, helps are there to heal up their group, and DPS characters are there to kill issues. Junker Queen’s package provides me the impression that she’s attempting to perform a little little bit of all the things, and probably not excelling at any of them.
First off, she has an AoE therapeutic capacity, in addition to a passive that lets her regenerate well being over time. Her therapeutic package rivals Lucio’s, and in the event you put them collectively, you may very nicely create a brand new unkillable meta the place taking down the enemy group turns into a complete nightmare.
She additionally has a ranged assault the place she will be able to throw her knife at an enemy, and recollect it to drag embedded enemies in the direction of her. Her E capacity lets her swing her axe, wounding all enemies immediately in entrance of her and dealing injury over time. Lastly, her final capacity lets her cost ahead in a straight line to wound enemies, and stop them from getting healed for a brief time period.
There are a few drawbacks to her final, which sounds improbable on paper: her final cost time is longer than that of most different heroes’, and the cost solely covers a brief distance. It doesn’t create fairly as a lot house as you may suppose, and it’s additionally very simply punished if the enemy group hasn’t dedicated to the struggle, or in case your allies aren’t there to again you up.
In truth, all of Junker Queen’s talents do sound nice on paper, however due to Overwatch 2’s new 5v5 group setup, it’s onerous to think about her main the cost for her group. Junker Queen feels much more like an off-tank or secondary tank character, just like Roadhog, whose fundamental position is to harass the enemy group from the aspect and break their formation.
Characters like Winston and Reinhardt proceed to dominate that class of being true fundamental tanks, the place their talents are particularly catered to defending their teammates and shielding them. Heck, even D.Va does a greater job of constructing house and defending her allies along with her Protection Matrix and skill to zoom round to disrupt enemy traces.
All of this comes again to Overwatch 2’s largest basic change: the shift from 6v6 to 5v5 battles. Different minute adjustments like shorter TTK durations, evolving character kits to make them extra damage-focused, and the inclusion of a scoreboard primarily based on how a lot injury you’ve completed simply assist to strengthen the concept that Blizzard actually desires Overwatch 2 to play and really feel extra like a conventional aggressive FPS sport. Which… isn’t actually what Overwatch is meant to be about.
Whereas I vastly loved my time with Sojourn as a personality who served as a pleasant entry level for DPS newbies, it was undoubtedly a little bit of a shock to see how a lot Junker Queen had deviated from the tank position on this second beta. It’s fairly clear that the DPS characters are being pushed into the highlight whereas tanks and helps take a backseat, which is disappointing for a participant like me, who’s not essentially nice at aggressive FPS video games however felt like I may nonetheless contribute to my group’s success by serving to them in different areas that weren’t simply clicking heads and killing issues.
I’m nonetheless optimistic about Overwatch’s 2 October launch, however at this level, it’s beginning to really feel like I’m simply hanging on for the promised PvE missions and campaigns.