Highlights
- Overwatch 2 is nerfing Illari's Healing Pylon and Captive Sun abilities to prepare her for competitive play, which has sparked mixed opinions among players.
- There is speculation that the Healing Pylon could have a decreased healing output or limited lifespan, while the Captive Sun ability may require higher damage to trigger the second explosion or have a shorter mark duration.
- The impact of these nerfs on Illari's overall performance in competitive play remains uncertain, and players hope that the Healing Pylon will only receive a minor healing nerf rather than a significant change that would affect gameplay dynamics.
The Overwatch 2 team is nerfing two of Illari's most important abilities, including her ultimate, as it prepares the latest support hero for competitive play. As this year's second new support hero behind Lifeweaver, Illari recently joined the Overwatch 2 roster as part of Season 6 Invasion, which also introduced co-op PvE missions, a new core game mode in Flashpoint, two new maps Suravasa and New Junk City, and more.
Illari's addition to Overwatch 2 has been a smooth one so far, with many players enjoying her aggressive playstyle, and some already calling for nerfs. As a support, Illari's primary source of healing is her Healing Pylon, which stays up indefinitely until either canceled by Illari or destroyed by an enemy. Currently, Illari players rely on the Pylon keeping their team topped off on health while they fish for fully-charged headshots with the Solar Rifle. While her kit is simple, Illari's Captive Sun ultimate ability is a bit more complex. The move sees Illari launch into the air to fire down a large ball of solar energy upon the enemy team. Those hit are marked for seven seconds and if they take 90 damage during that time they'll explode, potentially causing a chain reaction among squishier enemies.
On Twitter, Overwatch 2's Lead Hero Designer Alex Dawson notified the community that Illari will be seeing two separate nerfs to her abilities. The first one targets her ever-valuable Healing Pylon, and the second her ultimate, Captive Sun. These changes are set to take place next week when Illari becomes available in Overwatch 2's competitive play.
Many early Illari players would argue that her Healing Pylon is her most important ability. While the nature of these nerfs are as of yet unknown, it's possible that the Pylon could simply receive a decrease in its healing output. However, since many players are struggling to locate and destroy Illari's well-placed Pylons, there's also the possibility of the deployable having a limited lifespan before self-destructing, like a used Lifeweaver platform or Winston's bubble. This would be a major blow to Illari players, as it would force them to spend more time watching teammates' health bars and using their powerful-yet-limited Solar Rifle resource to heal them. As for Captive Sun, its initial explosion radius is already small, so a nerf would most likely come in the form of upping the damage threshold for triggering the second explosion on marked targets, or decreasing the amount of time they're marked.
Time will tell if these Illari nerfs will remain intact long-term after she lands in competitive play. Hopefully her all-important Healing Pylon only receives a minor healing nerf instead of being hit with a limited timer, as the latter would fundamentally change how players would need to play the hero. Overwatch 2 fans can expect to learn more about these changes next week as Illari prepares to enter competitive.
Overwatch 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
