Can Mei No Longer Freeze?
Mei, the cold and calculative hero, has undergone significant changes and nerfs in recent seasons. With the latest balances, it’s natural for players to wonder if they can no longer freeze anymore. The answer, in a nutshell, is yes – Mei’s previous freezing abilities have been significantly nerfed.
Underlying reasons for the freezing nerfs
Before explaining the freezing nerfs specifically, let’s take a step back and understand what led to these changes in the first place. Two primary issues prompted Blizzard, the developer of Overwatch 2, to address Wei’s cryo-freeze ability: exploitational abuse and team synergy problems.
Previous versions of Mei’s heroes allowed opponents to exploit frostbite-freezing, significantly disrupting game balance. A team member could freeze players for 4 seconds after being frostbitten without having any other abilities apart from an icy blast. This led to an imbalance allowing teams with a single Weaver to win games without equal competition from the opposing roster.
As for team synergies, Mei’s heroic ability used to create the same benefits for her colleagues. Any teammate within area of impact could benefit simultaneously, turning them into damage dealers against enemies. Now, as the nerfafter Wei’s cryocry- freezing, even allies on the same frostbite would no longer create this "team synergy benefits".
Freezing mechanic changes for Mei
Key changes from the previous Wee Wee’s, now refer to the updates:
- **Inability to freeze enemies**
Mei no longer, freeze all enemies within her area of impact. Instead**the “Freeze Immunity Stun” 1% to 39% stun**. Here’s where things get specific – in most cases, Me’s Cryo-FREEZE skill no longer effectively disable and slow down most heroes unless you have abilities like Torbjorn Hammer (3 seconds) or D.I. on the battlefield in which some enemies can dodge, using an escape such as her Cryo-F-R-EZE ability.
A team playing against Mei at level**3-400% for the enemy speed, reducing it by*4 – 5,** will encounter this issue only. Some opponents, say for **Torbiron**, become much more deadly because no longer have they an **ice wall from **the “slowly changing” ice for**the enemy speed up, after a few months.
Some opponents, not the ‘ice wall the ‘cool’ enemy could do well.
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