'Overwatch 2': A Quick Look At The Bastion Rework

Bastion is getting a significant rework to every single one of his abilities in “Overwatch 2,” transforming the humble sentry gun into a proper mobile weapons platform that can effectively lay down fire upon enemy teams.

The new kit was previewed in a short demo video from Blizzard that showcased every major change that the character is set to receive once “Overwatch 2” comes out.

Apart from a neat new hat, Bastion’s overall aesthetic looks largely the same. However, his revamped arsenal is set to completely change the way he’s played.

First, Bastion’s machine gun in Recon Form is getting changed into a slower-firing rifle that’s better suited for poking enemies from a distance. The weapon will no longer experience any accuracy bloom while firing, but its rate of fire is getting massively reduced to compensate.

Lead hero designer Geoff Goodman said that Recon Form was always supposed to fulfill a pseudo-sniper type of role, which makes this change to the primary weapon more sensible.

It seems that Blizzard is abandoning Bastion’s identity as a stationary defensive hero by giving him offensive neutral game tools. Bastion’s Self-Repair ability has been completely removed and replaced by a new alternate fire for his primary weapon, which shoots out an explosive energy projectile that can bounce off of walls and stick to enemies.

This new firing mode already gives Bastion a stronger presence in a lane than before, granting him decent poke and objective control. His apparent focus on area damage can also be seen in his new ultimate ability, which transforms him into an artillery gun that can bombard enemies with up to three explosive shells from anywhere on the map.

Bastion’s new Artillery Mode replaces his old Tank Mode, but he won’t be losing his treads entirely. His reworked Sentry Mode will now let players move around while shooting at enemies with Bastion’s signature minigun. However, this added mobility comes at the cost of a cooldown to prevent players from freely swapping between Sentry and Recon modes.

Overall player reception of Bastion’s rework seems to be positive so far, with some fans praising the radical shift in the character’s intended design and purpose compared to Sombra’s rework, which featured a similar shift in playstyle but without any massive changes to the original version.