[Update]: Overwatch's next update will be buffing Genji, Pharah, Sigma and even Reaper!

Over the past few months Blizzard has been putting in a lot of effort to achieve the right balance between the various tanks. While there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, the good news is that all of the balance tweaks are slowly bearing fruit as pretty much every tank is now able to fill out a specific niche on specific maps.

So in order to continue on with this process Blizzard has now brought in an experimental update with a nerf to Wrecking Ball, as well as buffs to Winston and Orisa. And just as a little bonus, the experimental update has also reworked Reaper's shotgun in order to make him a bit more consistent at medium range. Here's what Blizzard is looking to change:

Orisa

• Fortify

- Prevents critical headshot damage while effect is active

This will make Fortify more reliable at preventing large bursts of incoming damage and should help it feel more consistent as a defensive ability.

Reaper

• Hellfire Shotguns

- Spread reduced from 8 to 6
- Damage per projectile reduced from 7 to 6

Reaper's shotguns have a high damage potential but require close range or large targets to fully utilize. We're experimenting with smoothing this out by extending the range at which he can consistently deal damage while lowering the maximum damage of each shot.

Winston

• Base Armor/Health has been redistributed from 100/400 to 150/350

With this change Winston will be slightly more resilient against shotguns, beams, and weapons with a high rate of fire.

Wrecking Ball

• Grappling Claw

- Knockback strength reduced 25%

For how often it can occur, Wrecking Ball's knockback is potentially too strong. We're reducing the distance it moves enemy players to bring it more in line with other low cooldown knockback abilities.

While I'm not exactly sure about the Reaper changes, the rest is pretty solid and is almost guaranteed to once again shake up the tank meta. I'm especially curious if this means we'll get double shield compositions back because Orisa is now incredibly strong in a straightforward fight, something that was always a weakness of hers due to that gigantic head hitbox. Whether that is actually a good thing though, that still remains to be seen.

Once the experimental update transitions to the live servers I'll make sure to let you know. Until then, have fun with the Lunar New Year event and its various challenges!