'Overwatch 2's' Tracer Damage Bug Gets A Free Pass From Devs

Another massive hero bug was detected in "Overwatch 2" recently, but unlike the ones from Mei, Torbjörn and Bastion, this one seems to be a buff in disguise.

This bug makes Tracer, one of the poster children and resident backline harassers of "Overwatch," completely unaffected by the effects of damage fall-off within a 20-meter distance, as per Dexerto's report. This means she deals full damage with her twin Pulse Pistols within this range, making her much stronger than she's supposed to be.

Originally, her damage fall-off distance started at around 13 meters.

In previous instances where glaring bugs were discovered in other characters, Blizzard swiftly prevented players from using them in Competitive mode or disabled them from the game. This isn't the case with Tracer since she will become objectively bad without it.

Tracer relies heavily on erratic movement and hit-and-run tactics to be effective against any other hero in "Overwatch 2." However, she gets outclassed by many other characters like Genji and Reaper in terms of dueling potential, damage output and overall reliability. Her Pulse Bomb ultimate isn't as impactful as a well-timed Death Blossom or Dragonblade, but it has its uses.

The time-traveling hero's bug will be allowed in all game modes, but it won't be here to stay, said game director Aaron Keller on Reddit. He said that the damage bug has been in the game for quite a while, and the team acknowledged that Tracer's power level is just "OK," even with the unintended range buff.

However, the developers will still look into this bug and fix it in a future patch, but they will also find some other way to compensate for Tracer's combat effectiveness once her range gets tuned down.

The "Overwatch 2" meta has slightly shifted even more in favor of Sojourn as a top-tier DPS pick alongside dive heroes like Kiriko and Winston. Tracer may find a place in this type of team composition, but the amount of effort she requires makes her hard to recommend over either Genji or Reaper.

There's no word yet on when the Tracer damage bug is getting fixed, but fans can expect more news once the game enters its second season this December.