And now it's D.Va's turn to be nerfed in Overwatch and players aren't happy

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Nerfing Roadhog's hook in Overwatch I get, because that thing was nasty. However, I didn't have a problem with D.Va, she was just the right amount of heavy handed fragility for me - dangerous but defeatable. 

However, Overwatch has tweaked both her and Ana as well, and while people are fine with the latter (her biotic grenade's healing boost has has been decreased by 50%), D.Va's changes have gone down... less well. 

This is what's happening to the character: 

  • Health increased from 200 to 400
  • Armor decreased from 400 to 200
  • Fusion Cannons Bullet damage decreased from 3 to 2
  • Number of bullets per shot has been increased from 8 to 11

According to developer comments, "D.Va’s armor often made her feel like she had no weaknesses, even against heroes that are often effective against bigger targets (like Reaper). The changes to her Fusion Cannons will result in a small overall decrease in damage, but they should feel more consistent now."

Overwatch fans are not happy. This comment below sums up the overall vibe:  

General consensus is that D.Va's combination of armour and short range is what made her work. "Her survivability was the only thing holding her kit together, as it allowed her to get into enemy's face. If D.Va cant survive getting into enemies faces, it makes her gun, which is meant for close range useless," points out the top rated comment on that thread. 

Most discussions start with titles like "Did the D.Va nerf go too far?" while other posts break down the maths and suggest the changes won't really help any issues felt by average players, only damage the character's use as high/competitive level - "Unfortunately, this nerf will do little to address these concerns [her effectiveness in mid-tier games]. It will, in all likelihood, simply ruin D.Va's high competitive and pro pick-rates," argues this breakdown. 

Twitter's less articulate but the concerns are pretty clearly communicated: 

What do you think about the D.Va patch? 

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Leon Hurley
Leon Hurley
Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.