🎯 Balance Analysis
Bring every hero into roughly the same tier of the meta without making them lose their identity or the things that make them fun to play.
Suggestions written against the June 16th, 2026 patch notes of Season 3, walking the roster from top to bottom. Perks are deliberately out of scope — the changes target base kits only.
The roster below is grouped the way the analysis is written: each tier has its own philosophy, and every hero page lists the specific moves or abilities affected alongside the issue each change is meant to solve.
For each hero in D and F tier, slightly buff each part of the kit. Not every suggestion needs to be implemented, but all of them should be taken into consideration.
Reinhardt gets faster across the board when using his kit.
She gets better rewarded for landing her blade, along with slightly more damage and healing across the kit.
A damage boost that decays is meant to stop Mercy players from pocketing a single player and push them to spread the boost across the whole team.
Zenyatta's abilities become a bit more effective and he gains a slight speed increase to help him position.
The goal is to make Sombra less annoying to play against by putting hack on a much longer cooldown and making it harder to use, then letting the player choose between mobility with planned engagements or extra damage through Virus.
For each hero in B and C tier, slightly buff one part of the kit and slightly nerf another. The goal is to reduce the unfair parts of a hero while lessening their weaknesses.
Shadow Step takes more skill to use well than Wraith Form does, so the cooldown comes down on the harder ability and the speed comes down on the easier one.
Assault damage always felt very high while Bastion's mobility was very low, so he trades damage for reliable repositioning.
Ashe becomes slightly more vulnerable when trying to escape, while her dynamite gets more efficient at what it does.
Her projectiles sometimes miss even with good aim, so they move faster — and because they now land more reliably, refreshing the dash takes longer.
These changes should help Symmetra stop relying on her turrets so much.
Soldier hits very hard when he flanks, but he has a hard time surviving when he gets flanked, so multidirectional sprint lets him reposition better.
Genji lands more shuriken while his sword becomes a little harder to get kills with from a distance.
Her helix rifle struggles to hit targets at range without the tracking shot, and it is fair for her to be a little easier to hit while grappling.
She becomes more threatening at a distance, at the cost of swinging a little slower up close where she can be really dominant.
Torbjörn lands more of his own shots and relies on the turret less.
Arrows become slightly harder to land, but Hanzo can create distance from dive heroes a little better.
No rationale is given for these two changes. Per the document's stated policy, an unexplained change simply means the hero should be slightly toned up or toned down.
A little less access to charging burst damage, in return for pistols that are a little more effective at range.
Mauga sustains a little more consistently without his damage being as oppressive at close or mid range.
Kinetic Grasp mitigates an enormous amount of damage, while Hyperspheres feel slow even up close.
The javelin creates a huge advantage at close range, while Terra Surge can be too easy to walk out of.
Crystal Charge is easy to dodge at range so it moves faster, while her very disruptive ultimate becomes easier to destroy.
Push Winston toward the poke meta while making him slightly less oppressive in dive.
Hook one-shots and disruptions become harder to land, but his main way of fending off enemies has less downtime.
She only has one movement tool, so it should get her to safety or land a hit more reliably — at the cost of her free armour healing taking longer to land.
The healing stream depletes so fast that it gets used sparingly, but the best moment to dump it should not out-heal critical damage.
Immortality Field is too easy to step into, while Baptiste's single movement tool should be more reliable in a fight.
Petal Platform gets used defensively a great deal, so his other escape option becomes more reliable in exchange.
Mei becomes more oppressive at range but cannot lean on Cryo-Freeze as much.
She rushes very frequently, so she should be slightly easier to hit doing it — and better rewarded for getting Dancing Blaze into range.
Venture becomes a little easier to hit while dashing, but lands primary fire a little more reliably.
Frag Launcher shots become a bit easier to hit while concussion mines are slightly less rewarding.
Doomfist is slightly easier to hit while leaping, but his punches land more reliably and let him escape faster. The document also floats an optional empowered-fist rework to give him his combos back.
He gets better healing for keeping the pressure on, with slightly less access to binding.
Moira's escape becomes slightly less reliable, but she is better rewarded for hitting multiple targets.
Slightly less mobile but able to land shots better, which matters given how much distance Jetpack Cat keeps from allies and enemies alike.
For each hero in S and A tier, slightly nerf each part of the kit. The author notes these are not all meant to be implemented, and invites feedback on which should take priority.
Sojourn has been strong since release and has usually stayed in S tier. The charge shot in particular bursts health down very fast, so landing it should take more skill.
Tracer has always been fast and glassy, rushing enemies down. Her damage can delete a target very quickly while she is hard to hit, so the magazine hits for less but empties faster.
Emre has a lot of ways to deal burst damage, so his damage comes down a little across the board.
No rationale is given for these changes. Per the document's stated policy, an unexplained change means the hero should simply be toned down slightly.
D.Va sometimes feels a little too mobile and too oppressive, so several of her abilities spend longer on cooldown.
Lúcio is quite hard to hit while riding a wall, and the speed he distributes comes down across the kit.
No rationale is given for these changes. Per the document's stated policy, an unexplained change means the hero should simply be toned down slightly.
No rationale is given for these changes. Per the document's stated policy, an unexplained change means the hero should simply be toned down slightly.
Cassidy picks up easy kills because his gun fires so fast, so slowing his attacks down gives opponents more time to react.
No rationale is given for these changes. Per the document's stated policy, an unexplained change means the hero should simply be toned down slightly.
No rationale is given for these changes. Per the document's stated policy, an unexplained change means the hero should simply be toned down slightly.
Wrecking Ball should have to be more precise about positioning when using his abilities, so several of their radii shrink.
No rationale is given for these changes. Per the document's stated policy, an unexplained change means the hero should simply be toned down slightly.
No rationale is given for these changes. Per the document's stated policy, an unexplained change means the hero should simply be toned down slightly.
No rationale is given for these changes. Per the document's stated policy, an unexplained change means the hero should simply be toned down slightly.
No rationale is given for these changes. Per the document's stated policy, an unexplained change means the hero should simply be toned down slightly.
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