While Overwatch 2 is still seemingly a ways off, Blizzard Entertainment isn't being coy about teasing what's to come in the upcoming sequel. One of these teases is the potential reworks many of the characters will undergo heading into the next game, whether it's simple ability rebalancing or a full overhaul of a specific character. Blizzard has given players a first look at one of the characters getting the latter, and it's Overwatch 2's resident sentry bot, Bastion.
Bastion is a damage class character which was originally classified as a defense hero when Overwatch launched in 2016. The bot gave players the option of switiching between two combat modes - the mobile recon armed with an automatic rifle and stationary sentry armed with a rapid-fire minigun. Bastion's ultimate allowed it to then transform into a roving tank armed with a cannon to hit the opposing team with powerful explosive shots.
In Overwatch 2, Bastion is going to see significant reworks done to all three of its configurations. Recon mode's rifle will have its fire-rate reduced and increase the range of damage falloff to make it more effective at longer ranges. Alongside this, recon mode will also receive a new ability in a tactical grenade which can bounce off walls and stick to opposing players for additional area-of-effect damage.
Sentry mode will no longer be stationary, but will be noticeably slower when firing and moving. Weapon damage is also taking a significant hit, with Blizzard reducing it by 40% in the sequel. To offset this, the minigun will have unlimited ammo and no longer need to be reloaded. Given the changes to sentry mode, Blizzard is limiting the time players can stay in the mode before it switches back to recon and forces players to wait on its cooldown before switching back over. Bastion's self-repair has also been removed entirely, meaning players will need to be reliant on health packs and healers.
However, one the biggest changes to Bastion will be to the bot's ultimate no longer being a tank. Bastion will instead be able to transform into an artillery mode which locks it in place to fire long-range artillery attacks on the opposing team. Players will be able to target three spots anywhere on the map within the alloted time the ultimate provides.
Given Bastion's history going back to the first Overwatch betas in 2016, it makes sense it would undergo a significant rework for Overwatch 2. The bot was one of the strongest characters in the pre-release beta, largely due to a protective shield it had when in sentry mode combined with a powerful minigun. The shield was gone by the time the game reached its retail release, but Bastion remained one of the strongest characters in the game and has been the regular target of nerfs or buffs during the game's life.
Overwatch 2 is in development for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.