Ever since Overwatch 2's massive PvE mode with RPG-like elements was canceled, a lot has been riding on the game's PvP offerings and future seasons. While the current fifth season may not be exactly what players are looking for, there are just enough changes to keep fans preoccupied until the upcoming canon story missions that will premiere in season six. Right now, however, players can enjoy the Dungeons And Dragons-esque Overwatch season filled with mythical cosmetics, a creator-made mode called Defeat The Demon Lord, and a unique story tied to the battle pass progress.
Of course, no new Overwatch 2 season would be complete without changes to the hero meta. Junker Queen, Widowmaker, Tracer, Moira, and Reaper have received their fair share of nerfs while Roadhog, Lifeweaver, and Genji have been buffed to make them more viable. Mei and Cassidy fall into a strange category since their abilities have changed drastically. Mei's Endothermic Blaster now serves as more of a crowd control tool rather than a straight-up damage-dealing weapon and Cassidy's updated Magnetic Grenade has now become a far greater menace.
How Cassidy's Magnetic Grenade Changed In Overwatch 2
Before receiving his Magnetic Grenade ability in Overwatch 2, Cassidy used to have a Flashbang in Overwatch. Keeping in conjunction with his sharpshooter persona, Cassidy's Flashbang stunned enemies long enough for players to get a few well-aimed shots at them. In addition to the stun effect, Flashbang would interrupt whatever skill an enemy would be using and deal 25 damage to them. This was back during the early days of Overwatch where crowd control abilities like Brigitte's Shield Bash and Lucio's Soundwave were essential for keeping enemies in check.
Overwatch 2's mission to reduce the amount of crowd control abilities forced the developers to change a lot of the roster's abilities, including Cassidy's old Flashbang. Instead of a grenade that stops foes, Cassidy's Magnetic Grenade chases enemies down and does more damage. The skill needed to aim Cassidy's Peacekeeper revolver after a stun was replaced with an easier-to-use throwable. Those fighting Cassidy were understandably annoyed by what is essentially an aim assist grenade, as there was much less room to counter the ability.
In Overwatch 2's fifth season, Cassidy got a massive change to his Magnetic Grenade. Moving away from the idea of a grenade with strong base damage, Blizzard decided to nerf the ability's damage from 120 to 70. To compensate for this, Magnetic Grenade now has an additional 10 damage on impact and can hinder stuck targets. Hindered is a new status effect that prevents heroes from using movement abilities. Getting hit by Cassidy's Magnetic Grenade stops characters like Tracer and Genji from escaping and gives his team ample time to finish them off. If being hindered wasn't enough, Magnetic Grenade also slows down an affected target's movement speed by 30% and can magnetize to any enemy that is up to 1.5 meters from it.
While the slow and magnetize effects may be slightly easier to deal with when using smaller and faster heroes like Tracer and Genji, bigger heroes can find themselves hard-countered by Cassidy's Magnetic Grenade. Doomfist and Wrecking Ball are tank heroes that rely on movement abilities to navigate fights while fulfilling their roles. Getting hit with the Magnetic Grenade shuts them down and may force them to swap to another hero. Magnetic Grenade seems to break Blizzard's rules against heavy crowd control by arguably being more of a nuisance than Cassidy's old Flashbang. Its low cooldown of 10 seconds coupled with the amount of utility it possesses makes it an indispensable tool that just begs to be used before Blizzard nerfs it.
Overwatch 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
