Overwatch 2’s Ashe was so OP in the April Fools' patch that Blizzard disabled her
Her dynamite was too powerful for even the silly limited-time Arcade mode.
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What you need to know
EveryOverwatch 2 hero is supposed to be a bit overpowered in the game’s new lighthearted April Fools' Day Arcade mode, as it enhances one or several of their abilities with some bizarre new capabilities. Reinhardt, for example, can fly while using his Charge, and Bastion can shoot unlimited A-36 Tactical Grenades while in Configuration: Assault. Ashe, though, proved to be particularly busted due to a bug with the buff that she got in the mode.
Normally, Ashe’s throwable Dynamite explosives deal a moderate amount of burning damage-over-time to anyone in its blast radius. In theApril Fools' patch, though, players affected by the Dynamite spread the fire to nearby teammates, making the ability comically effective at setting entire enemy teams on fire. This alone isn’t that strong, but there’s a bug that makes the burning damagestack four timeson every target affected by it. This means that on top of rapidly spreading to players, the ability dealt a whopping 400 damage (it does 100 normally) over the course of five seconds.
This obviously made Ashe absurdly powerful, as every Dynamite throw was essentially a guaranteed multikill against teams that didn’t have support Ultimates like Transcendence or Sound Barrier available. Any non-tankOverwatch 2 heroescouldn’t survive without concentrated healing, but by going near your support to get some, you’d end up spreading the flames to them and sealingtheirfate. Put simply, it was ridiculous, and the developers at Blizzard have responded by quietly disabling Ashe in the April Fools' mode entirely.
Blizzard hasn’t publicly commented on the issue at the time of writing, so it’s unclear if the developers are planning to fix the bug before theOverwatch 2April Fools' Day mode is taken down. Since it’s only expected to last for a few days, though, we wouldn’t be surprised if they aren’t. Note that Ashe is still fully usable in Quick Play, Competitive, and other modes, as this bug hasn’t affected her normal kit in any way.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that characters have been disabled because of nasty glitches or exploits. In fact, bothBastion and Torbjorn were disabledafter the game’s October 2022 launch due to bugs that allowed these characters to extend the duration of their Configuration: Artillery and Overload abilities, respectively. Until Blizzard put a stop to the chaos, endless artillery barrages and permanently Overloaded Torbjorns were a frighteningly common sight in matchmaking.
It’s a bummer that Ashe isn’t available in the mode anymore, but if you ask me, disabling her was definitely the right call. Regardless of whether Blizzard plans on patching the bug or not, her ridiculously overpowered Dynamite was ruining the April Fools' fun for many.
Overwatch 2 Season 3is here, and the game as a whole is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. It’s arguably one of thebest Xbox shootersavailable, and since it’s free-to-play, it doesn’t cost anything to check it out. Alternatively, there’s the Overwatch 2: Ultimate Battle Pass Bundle that includes the Premium Battle Pass, 20 Battle Pass levels, 2,000 Overwatch Coins, and the Beekeeper Sigma skin for $30.
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Overwatch 2: Ultimate Battle Pass Bundle
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Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
