Overwatch Buffs Hero With The Highest Win Rate
Everyone Is Mad At Jetpack Cat In Overwatch Again
Poor Jetpack Cat. She's a rare silly character in the Overwatch roster, joining the game alongside a huge revamp that added five new heroes - and dropped the "2" from Overwatch's name. And while this means she was here for Overwatch's big comeback, the feline was immediately a controversial addition, often being banned in matches for being OP, or even just irritating.
Now, Jetpack Cat mains can sort of rejoice, because Season 4 just gave her a buff. But they should probably also prepare themselves for the rest of the Overwatch community to come after them, because everyone else is furious with these changes.
The new buffs mean that Jetpack Cat can zip across the map faster than ever. Her base movement speed has seen an increase, and her hair acceleration has spiked from 7.7 to 9.5. The results are clear to see in any Overwatch match, with the cat speeding through the skies, healing her team - and occasionally using her ult to throw someone off the map.
It's not as if Jetpack Cat was in a bad spot beforehand. As many are pointing out, she has the highest competitive win rate in Europe and the Americas right now, and the second highest in Asia. She also has one of the highest ban rates; perhaps Blizzard is trying to make her more appealing to play so both teams call a truce on not banning her? Whatever the case, it only appears to have made many fans angry.
"The Cat buffs need an emergency revert," reads a post on the Overwatch subreddit. "61% ban rate and 65% win rate in EU, highest WR of any hero across the board in NA, doing those mobility changes without a massive HP nerf was probably the single worst decision they've done in months."
Many others agree. "A hero that has unlimited flight, amazing healing and crazy good damage," says xil1dag. "It’s about time this unlimited flight or damage is getting nerfed into the ground."
Now, I do appreciate that Jetpack Cat can be particularly frustrating to take down with these buffs, but I do think there are some counters to the arguments being put forward. For starters, win rate doesn't mean much on its own. In fact, Jetpack Cat has a fairly low pick rate, so those who are playing her might just know what they're doing. Compare that to someone like Kiriko - who gets picked a lot and doesn't really need any changes right now - and we see a much lower win rate. The same goes for D.Va, who has a low win rate this season, but is also getting played a whole lot.
It's also worth noting that Jetpack Cat being in the air all the time can come at a disadvantage. For instance, she won't have a tank automatically defending her, so she'll have to fly around looking for cover. That makes her vulnerable to a good damage hero.
Still, if enough people feel like it's ruining their experience, Blizzard might listen - especially if that ban rate doesn't budge. Just be careful if you're a cat main out there - you're probably alone in celebrating these buffs.