Overwatch 2’s Moira has always been a problem for the developers to solve, and season 12’s mid-season update proves that they have no clue how to really fix her.
Every support in Overwatch 2 has some sort of unique ability that sets them apart from the rest. While everyone on the support roster can heal and deal damage, Kiriko has Protection Suzu, Ana has Anti-healing Grenade, Zenyatta has Discord Orb and Lifeweaver has Life Grip. These all give players a reason to pick and choose one or another for each situation.
And while Blizzard has been trying to move the hero shooter away from direct counters in Overwatch 2, there’s no denying that certain heroes are advantageous against others.
All of the support heroes except Moira. While Moira can heal and deal damage, that’s all she really can do. Outside of her ability to dive backline or pump out heals, she doesn’t bring anything on the same level of power as a Protection Suzu or Baptiste Immortality Field.
As such, there’s no real reason to pick her unless you’re being constantly dove and need Fade to survive. Every other support can do her job and more.
Blizzard has been making a few changes to her kit here and there, but the recent adjustments in Season 12 just prove they have no idea how to fix her or make her kit more interesting than it currently is.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Moira is an inherently bad support. She in fact had a decent time in the meta shortly after the season nine healing changes went through, but it stings to see Blizzard leaving her as just a stat stick character.
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In 2024, Blizzard has changed Moira a total of four times. The most recent mid-season 12 update saw a damage buff to her ultimate, while the patch before that saw a revert to her primary fire damage and a slight health cut.
These changes, while still being impactful, don’t necessarily solve the underlying issue that she just doesn’t and hasn’t provided anything to her team since her release.
Back in the Overwatch 2 beta, Blizzard showed they were keen on making meaningful changes to Moira outside of number tuning. By replacing her current damage orb with an orb that reduced the enemy’s damage, it provided a more interesting and tactical way of playing the hero. Rather than just throwing out a healing or damage orb on cooldown, you might choose to hold the ability and wait out an ultimate or an engage.
Changes like these could give players a reason to pick up Moira other than wanting to dive the enemy Ana with a damage orb and Coalescence. It might finally give her a spot among the other supports, where players may actually ask for a Moira instead of another Kiriko or Ana.
Blizzard has proven that they’re willing to make big strides to shake up the balance of Overwatch 2. With the season nine balance changes and even more changes done at the start of season 12, the devs are clearly ready to make adjustments as they see fit. Moira would be perfect for a rework, similar to Pharah’s.
There is always the case that Blizzard might want to leave Moira as is and leave her as a lower barrier to entry hero into the support role. And this isn’t to say that players don’t love Moira, as many do enjoy playing her, one tricking and finding success despite her lack of utility. But many of the changes the devs are making to the hero feel like she’s stuck in a neverending number-tuning loop.
