New Overwatch class concept would completely revamp role queue

Blizzard Entertainment

Ever since the release of 2-2-2 role lock in Overwatch, players have been wondering how the concept could improve upon the feature to make queue times better for DPS players. Now there might be a solution, but it requires the creation of a brand new role.

In a post on the official forums, user GreyFalcon showcased their concept which would keep the support class the same, but make some serious modifications to DPS and tank heroes.

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The concept would change the tank role to exclusively barrier tanks and move off-tanks like D.va and Zarya along with Mei to a new subclass called “Bruiser”.

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Mei would be the only DPS in the “Bruiser” role.

According to GreyFalcon, for this idea to work, it would require buffs to barrier tanks, but would drastically improve queue times for damage players.

“First Damage player to pick Bruiser prevents the other 2 Damage players from picking Bruiser,” they explained, and added that at any point the Bruiser player could change back to damage.

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Additionally, the user suggested an optional “dibs queue” that would guarantee players could pick the “Bruiser” class during the hero select screen.

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Modified role queue would add a new “Bruiser” sub class.

Basically, this would be a modified version of the Triple Damage experiment that players got to try out in February. However, that mode tried turning off-tanks into main tanks with questionable results.

Another plus side of this queue would be that double barrier or double off-tank would no longer be possible, and most likely lead to better games for all involved.

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That said, there would be some drawbacks, which GreyFalcon touched on. For one, off-tank players would now be added to the DPS queue and there would only be four barrier tanks for players to pick from.

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Main tanks would need to be buffed for this to work.

It’s definitely an interesting idea and one that the developers could potentially try their luck on in a future Experimental Mode update.

With Overwatch 2 in development and Game Director Jeff Kaplan himself saying more tanks are in development, this may be the ideal role lock format once the sequel eventually releases.

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