As part of a four-day hero trial, Overwatch 2’s latest hero, Wuyang, is available for testing ahead of his full debut in Season 18. After learning about his (totally not magical) ability to harness water like he’s straight out of Avatar: The Last Airbender, I jumped right in and put him to the test.
Given the comparatively small tank and support roster, it’s always a good day when we see something other than a new DPS arrive, as fun as they are. Well, it turns out that Wuyang is very much an off-support, with a kit that pushes him towards a very aggressive playstyle, while his healing often lacks. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not a great thing either.
Wuyang is one of the most skill-intensive Overwatch characters we’ve seen so far, largely due to his unique primary fire. Spamming his water orbs makes little more than a splash, but taking the time to hold down the attack and guide it like a cruise missile significantly ups the damage. In this way, you’re heavily rewarded for your ability to both time your shots and track your targets in a way we’ve not seen in the game so far.
The one issue I can see cropping up going forward is that those who can master it will be a complete nuisance—especially since you can actually guide the orbs around corners. I’ve no doubt that we’ll be seeing plenty of clips like the one below in the future. However, due to the awkward nature of this attack, it’s much easier to use when you’re up close and personal, which generally means you’re not in a prime supportive position—creating a much bigger issue that’ll soon become apparent.
To make matters worse, Wuyang’s healing is remarkably tame. He’s effectively a fusion of Mercy and Zenyatta, with a healing resource similar to Illari. You can place a passive healing stream on an ally, though it heals at such a slow rate that it’s barely noticeable in a firefight. Now, you might not think that’s all that much of an issue, since, unlike Zenyatta, Wuyang actually has a healing beam that you can activate to heal a target quicker. Unfortunately, it’s generally still not enough to turn the tide on an ally’s dwindling health bar if they’re getting blasted, not least because its resource is bafflingly limited.
His one saving grace in the healing department is Guardian Wave, an unbelievably satisfying move which heals allies, increases the amount of healing they’ll receive for a short duration, and even knocks enemies back. Keep in mind that this also gives him a quick burst of healing, so it can be used quite aggressively.
Since his primary fire is easier to use at close range and can’t heal, and his stream’s healing resource is incredibly limited, you’re inadvertently incentivised to focus on dealing damage over supporting your team. Sure, you could argue that fewer enemies alive means your friends are taking less damage, but that’s compensating.
Add up his strong (but skill-focused) damage and limited healing with Wuyang’s ability to briefly ride a wave for added speed and jump height, and what do you get? A DPS that can heal on the side.
It’s still early days, but Wuyang very much feels like the kind of support hero that pro players will adore, and low-mid rank players will completely ignore. Again, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with having a skill-intensive hero; I love his unique playstyle in all honesty, but a few tweaks would certainly help make him more appealing to a wider range of players.
Most importantly, I think Wuyang is in dire need of a healing buff. Whether that’s increasing his healing resource or upping the numbers of both the passive heal and Restorative Stream, having more of an impact in this area would encourage people to actually play as a support. I think it’s important not to go overboard and make him a jack-of-all-trades main healer, but right now it feels like I’m making more of a splash trying to wipe out the enemy than directly supporting my team, and therein lies the problem.
Even similar DPS-support hybrids we’ve had in the past, like Moira and Kiriko (especially with the Fortune Teller perk to heal allies while you deal damage), have struck a far better balance.
Nevertheless, Wuyang is undeniably fun and fresh. He follows suit in the recent trend for more agile and fluid heroes, like Freja and Hazard’s combo-based kits or Juno’s fighter jet healing. I’ve no doubt that the numbers will be tweaked for his full release—it’s exactly what’s happened in the past—and I’m looking forward to seeing where he lands in the meta. I think he’d also be a great candidate for Stadium eventually, too. Let’s just hope he doesn’t fall victim to the frustrating trend of only launching with a handful of basic skins (rest in peace, my beloved Venture); you either sink or swim in that regard.
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