Overwatch 2’s Mauga has two weapons with two totally different functions

Blizzard revealed the newest hero to affix the ever-growing roster of its shooter Overwatch 2 at Blizzcon 2023. Throughout an interview on the conference, Polygon received extra particulars about Mauga, what gamers can anticipate from him, and the method of making a brand new tank.

“Mauga is a damaged-based tank, and the way he sustains himself and his staff is thru harm,” mentioned lead hero designer Alec Dawson. He was designed primarily based on his weapons, along with his skills centered round doing as a lot harm as potential. The designers hope this concentrate on harm will make him extra interesting to new gamers.

The staff wished to make sure his skills felt good when utilizing each chain weapons, however in addition they wished to verify gamers couldn’t “wipe folks out instantly.” To fight that, Mauga has a giant unfold on each of his weapons. On the similar time, this makes him a menace in shut quarters. “You don’t wish to play with Mauga up shut until you recognize you’re going to take him out,” mentioned Dawson.

Mauga’s Overrun charging means makes him nearly unstoppable, even towards sleep darts. “He makes use of it to get the place he desires to go,” mentioned Dawson. For a pleasant cherry on high, each time Mauga instantly hits an opponent whereas utilizing Overrun, he’ll slam them to the bottom, gorgeous them whereas different close by opponents will probably be despatched flying.

Mauga’s final, Cage Combat, creates a zone that traps opponents and blocks therapeutic from the skin of it. What makes his final much more harmful is that Cage Combat stays lively even when Mauga dies. Help hero Lifeweaver can pull Mauga out of the final word, however the enemy gamers will nonetheless be trapped inside till the flexibility runs out.

Despite the fact that he’s a tank, Mauga can do extra harm than some DPS heroes, mentioned Dawson. To counter that, opposing groups can assault Mauga whereas he’s reloading or has burned via his skills. “He’s such a giant physique that he actually wants assist. He wants a excessive therapeutic output to maintain him up at occasions.”

When it got here to creating Mauga, the dev staff labored carefully with a tradition guide staff to make sure the studio displayed him in a means that may be respectful to the Samoan neighborhood. “We labored with a standard tattoo artist from the Samoan tradition to information us. We tried to get as genuine as potential and as near actual as our engines might deal with. And it turned out nice,” mentioned hero design producer Kenny Hudson.

When Mauga was first being examined, the staff initially had one iteration the place his proper gun solely dealt essential harm to enemies within the air to assist tanks battle flying-based heroes. As time went on, the staff scrapped that, and now the suitable gun offers essential harm each time an enemy is about on hearth first along with his left gun. However the thought to have him use two huge weapons was one thing the dev staff at all times supposed to do. “We at all times kinda knew that he was going to be a tank with two huge fundamental weapons, and we wished to make them simply as vital and simply as helpful to gamers as the opposite one. We didn’t need one to outshine the opposite,” mentioned Hudson.

One of many challenges the dev staff confronted was making the visible cues noticeable to gamers when Mauga makes use of his Cardiac Overdrive means, which permits Mauga and his staff members to heal each time they harm an opponent. So the dev staff revisited an previous thought the place Roadhog’s means would heal everybody round him. This helped them discover the “candy spot” of not overwhelming the participant with an excessive amount of happening display. “We don’t like throwing issues away. Even when it doesn’t work out for a sure hero, it might probably come again afterward for an additional one,” mentioned senior check analyst Foster Elmendorf. To assist additional show their level, Elmendorf defined how Mauga’s final was initially D.va’s, which concerned her making “a dome of lasers.”

The staff has been engaged on Mauga for a while. Initially, he was presupposed to be launched in season 2 as an alternative of Ramattra, “however the staff actually wished to take some extra time to get the package good,” mentioned Dawson. Pushing Mauga again allowed the dev staff to shine him up and guarantee his skills performed easily with each other.