Blizzard has finally shared the details on how hero bans will work in competitive Overwatch 2. This new feature will allow teams to ban heroes they perceive as overpowered or frustrating to play against, without giving them the chance to predict which heroes their opponents may select. Hero bans are a standard feature in many competitive games, such as League of Legends, and add an additional layer of strategy to the meta-game.
For Overwatch 2, Blizzard aims to implement the “Ban Phase” primarily to enable players to eliminate heroes they find troublesome, while also collecting data for future game balancing. Upon entering a competitive match, players will have the opportunity to choose their “Preferred Hero,” indicating to their teammates which hero they wish to keep in play. Each player will then rank three heroes they want to ban, with their top choice receiving the most weight and their last choice the least. Blizzard states that all teams and players will cast their votes simultaneously, with chat disabled between opposing teams until voting concludes.
After all votes are submitted, they’ll be counted according to these rules:
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The team with the highest number of votes for a specific hero is designated as the “first” team, ensuring their chosen hero is banned. In the event of a tie, the first team is determined randomly.
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Next, the opposing team is referred to as the “second” team. If their selected heroes do not include the first team’s choice, their most and second most voted heroes will be banned.
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If the second team’s top or second choice is the same as the first team’s, their third most voted hero will be banned instead.
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Lastly, the second most voted hero from the first team will be banned, following the same conditions as the second team.
In the event of a tie in votes for a hero, the game will select the hero that was voted for by the most players in the lobby (not just the total votes). Subsequent ties are resolved randomly. Additionally, there is a maximum of two bans per role. If a player is unsure or doesn’t wish to ban any heroes, they can opt to skip voting and allow their teammates to make the decision.
Blizzard initially announced the addition of hero bans to Overwatch 2 during its Season 15 announcement, which also introduced a new perks system. Hero bans are slated to launch with Season 16 on April 22, coinciding with the introduction of a new Stadium mode, five-on-five matches allowing players to earn currency for upgrades between rounds, and the option to play in third-person.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at this link.
