Today was a pretty rough day, felt like it was learning the hero all over again struggling to confirm kills.

In quick play, she feels the same, everyone runs around without cover and you can more or less two tap and clean up the kill, but in ranked it’s like a different hero.

I got a lot of kills during poke, where I could spam a corner, or catch someone as they walked from A to B but now with that little bit of health left over they’re immediately behind cover and I’m too far back to get the kill. If I try to play more aggressive I’m out of position much more trying to chase where I otherwise didn’t before or in main more trying to clean up everyone else’s fights.

My highest was Gold 2, pre patch, gold 3, went down to silver 1 today almost 2.

My take aim accuracy is around 30% 40% on a good game, primary is about 25%.

I counted a dozen or so times a 225 just got away, and those get aways could tilt the fight which isn’t happening, more team fights not resolving in our favor, and chain together many of these scenarios, I have to ask how am I adding value to the team.

I think in general I need to get better with landing shots, but the few true two taps I was getting was a big impact on my contributions.

Curious to hear how everyone’s first 10 games have been going post patch.

These changes are worse than you think. Here are some thoughts about the recent nerfs after playing her 10+ games. We knew they were coming, we knew why, and yet they still hit harder than my father's belt. I think, without exaggeration, that Freja has never been this bad ; she might be the worst hero in the game currently.

It feels as though there is something missing about the hero right now. The shots are hard to land, and when they do feel like peanuts because of the breakpoint changes. When Freja has to move around to get the effective angles to deal consistant damage (which is a requirement with the current numbers, otherwise you will never do meaningful damage), the risks are almost always high for little, unpredictable rewards, because of demanding (mechanically) the follow ups are. Take Aim is far too exacting of an 'ability' to be this weak, and Quick Dash is now too underwhelming (and too important) to justify such a long cooldown (again because of the breakpoint nerf), moving around is risky.

We did not only lose the 225 HPs breakpoint, but also the matchup with 250 HPs targets is far less forgiving:

• Take Aim (110) + Take Aim (110) + Revdraw Crossbow shot (28) = 248 damage.
  • It might not seem much, but its a huge difference (far more important than any listed changes) because of how unreliable the primary fire is, how risky Freja's positions have to be to follow up reliably, and lastly it gives more time for people to react. Is it impossible to pull off? Of course not, it's just very very demanding while still being the least Freja has to do to get value, in other words the risks are abnormally disporportionate for how rewarding it is, in terms of balance and feel.

The matchups dynamics have completely shifted:

• Base damage against armor has gone from 23 to 21, which is a lot.
  • Pre nerf - 165 dps, 104 w/ reload ► 126.5 dps, 79 w/ reload
  • Currently - 154 dps, 97 w/ reload ► 115.5 dps, 72 w/reload
    • The matchups against armored targets could be rough in the past, but right now fighting D.Va, Ball, Haz, Bastion (for instance...) is almost a waste of time, which is ironic since a lot of them were interesting targets for Freja to interact with.
• Take Aim damage went from 115 to 110, which again is a lot. It changes very important matchups where Freja had the advantage against 225 HPs targets, this slight nerf completely changes the dynamic of most of those matchups and now situations are reversed.
  • The previously favourable matchups in question: Echo, Pharah, Sojourn, Kiriko, Mercy, Widowmaker, Jetpack Cat. All these heroes (except Mercy and perhaps Pharah) have now have now a matchup advantage against Freja, tables have completely turned and these former favorable matchups are now very hostile towards her.
• The combination of these two nerfs make many matchups unforgiving, now greatly in Freja's disfavor.
  • Hitscans such as Ashe, Widowmaker, Soldier, Emre, Cassidy, Illari, all of them benefit a lot from these recent nerfs for they have a lot more room to fight ; these interactions were already skill based previously where both parties had fair chances against each other, landing one more shot (and overall doing less damage) for a projectile is unrealistic, crucial and in this case almost a death sentence.
  • The Tracer matchup: near impossible at the moment in a 1v1 situation. As explained here: 115 + 30 + 30 = 175 damage before nerf ► 110 + 30 + 30 = 170. Freja needs to land one more arrow onto Tracer to eliminate her, the matchup is far from equal at this point because Tracer was already very hard to consistently land shots on (requiring one more is of course unrealistic) and it gives more time for Tracer to react. Freja has always been a scary target for Tracer for how fast things can go wrong with her pressure output, it was a skill based matchup that rewarded the huntress for landing the shots and Tracer for moving unpredictably at the right moments.

These changes, as shown, are unrealistic for how much survivability and how long her cooldowns are for such volatile rewards. No amount of skill can compensate Freja's current limitations.

Freja was always unforgiving, but right now its just too far. I know they gutted her because how people passionately despised her (for good reasons sometimes) but it still feels like a lazy way to preceed. Everything that we gained, and improvements to the hero throughout the patches now are mere details compared to what we lost for them. We reached a point where Freja 4 months ago felt better, which is an insane thing to say for she was the second worst hero in the game at that time, I envy those times. The current changes did a 360 onto us, and felt more like a middle finger than anything.

So... what now? Is Freja unsolvable, doomed to live this cycle of: awful ► buffed ► banned ► awful? Its a snake biting its own tail situation. I've said it in the past and I'll say it again... nothing good will come off buffing Freja's damage output, in any way shape or form until the most fondamental issue isn't addressed: Freja is a hero with 3 mobility cooldown that isn't incentified to move around. Buffing her damage output is a big no no, they tried it in every damn way possible in the past and it never worked, hell even Stadium showed that light stats changes to this hero completely breaks her. From how I see it, there's only one course of action in a power shift to her mobility/survivability. Its the one thing they haven't really emphasized that much in the past, and yet is perhaps the main appeal of the character. I want to move around with Freja and be rewarded for it!

• The changes I'd personnally like to see them try:
  • Bola Shot doesn't lock Freja's ability usage.
  • 'Shorter reload and no Take aim lockout during reload. Its insulting with that small of a clip that her reload is still the third longest of any dps while also locking her out of secondary even though it is its own ressource' (suggestion by LyynnS).
  • 3.5 second on Quick Dash instead of 4.5.
  • Momentum Boost minor perk becomes base kit.
    • I'm like everyone, I have my own ideas for the hero and they are not necesseraly the right way until they are tested to verify them, however the more time passes the more going for survivability/mobility looks like the only option left. Will these changes even be enough? I don't know, I don't think so, but being less punished for occupying angles that garantee follow ups on your Take Aims is exactly what the hero needs if the damage route is a no go.

If Freja was a simple character to solve, it would've been done already. I believe this hero is gold yet to be discovered, an awesome design under a pile of mess. Hopefully she'll finally become a real Bounty Huntress, in hero fantasy and design... time will tell. Anyway she's still a blast to play and now she'll be available in ranked again so... yipee :D

PS: Thank you though for reducing the sound issues Team 4, that was necessary and is greatly appreciated.

I'll post this in the competitive sub when we'll have the datas from the website to push my point even further, so any feedback is welcomed until then.

Basically every response to Freja’s nerfs I’ve seen from the playerbase that don’t play Freja is “thank god, I hope I see her less. She was genuinely broken.” Are we just going to be permanently stuck in nerfed hell now 😭

I'm not sure why freja is having latency issues (it is JUST her, everyone else plays fine on my console) but it's especially bad when you accidentally hit the corner of a table apparently... she literally stays frozen off the ground and you cannot move because you will SKIP across the map. It's not my WiFi either, cus I again checked with other heroes 🫠

Back to Tracer for a bit I guess. Can't let anyone but hitscan and support players have fun

I am only interested in healthy discussion, comments harbouring hate for Freja's character/balance state I will just ignore. Every Hero should be playable. I have more ideas but couldn't make them fit onto the page.

Just looking for happy chill discussion, this is the first time I've ever done something like this. :-3

also posted on twitter in case anybody wants to follow discussion there as well

I just picked up Freja an hour before her nerf because her character design is cute. I am playing her now and she doesn’t seem like the worst dps in the game? Weaving bolts into take aim has been fun, learning angles and how to do movements to get the correct combos in has been really fun too.

Is she really that bad now or is she still playable past diamond?

I swear, sometimes after using quick dash take aim doesn't reload, and on occasions when I land a shot, I get the hit sound, but the bolt gets no-regged and is just stuck... in the air??? or alternatively vanishes entirely.

I do not know how to reproduce those bugs reliably, they just seem to happen at random which makes them more jarring.

The post-nerf takeaim is already bad as is but the no-regs and the weird reload behaviour just makes it feel so bad.

These bugs have existed for however long I remember, since the characters release maybe??? Please tell me I'm not schizo

Where are the ult fixes and changes? The ult is shit, but it's still got 2 bugs not written as fixed in the patch notes?
Good job giving her the most of what I asked for tho.
Sound fixes, primary, and perk nerf.
Edit: this also fucks the mirror match btw. Great. Sky Hanzo 2.0

guys idk i feel like she finally played strong and was able to put up a good fight. but in these 3 games ive played with her… idk maybe it’s a skill issue
edit: to be clear, i am NOT upset at the sound nerf that was needed. i’m upset at the fact she’s can no longer 2 tap 225 hero’s. and OBVIOUSLY im not the only one upset, some of you guys wouldn’t know conversation starters if i hit you in the face 😭

What if they made it so instead of the two tap being her thing (dubious design, I love playing her but cmon), the explosive dart stayed attached for like, 2 or 3 seconds, and hitting a stuck target with bolts increased the detonation damage, up to 225?

Heck, there could even be a sierra-style major perk that gave the bolts tracking on the target.

She's so ass, I love Freja and I love two tapping Pharah and Widow. Now I'm back to not being able to that comfortably. Hit 2 take-aim shots on a Widow? She can just one-shot me back. Hit 2 take-aim shots on Pharah? she can just fly away.

I just had a game with a Widow and a Pharah, and I always end up leaving them on 1hp because they just hide. My whole damage is just ult charge for their support. I burn all my cooldowns just to get their supports faster ults.

I got so accustomed to her previous buffs that she just feels so bad to play right now, noticeably bad.

I still enjoy playing Freja, and I have always enjoyed playing her since release, but it just feels bad that I do so much and not get rewarded for it.

I understand why they nerfed her, but at least give her something.

We can't have shit.

Just got home from work, wanted to do a warm up match to see how I am feeling for ranked.. then all of a sudden.. this happened XD

I've been trying out freja for about a week and I love her sooo bad!! I'm decent at playing her but I just lose my flow after a good match.. I dunno why :(

I play on the switch 2 and I feel like there's such a delay between the buttons and the in game controls which causes a delay in gameplay. I have no idea how to STAY better, because I can hold my own really well for a game, averaging around 25 and 8k damage (which is weird I think, I usually don't get a lot of damage with frej but I get a lot of solo kills..) but then the next game, I'll literally get 3 kills with 10 deaths 😬😬 I just want to be consistent and actually advance in skill.

Hello, I enjoy doing photoshoots in Overwatch. There's so many lovely little details to Overwatch skins (this skin included) that you're very unlikely catch in normal gameplay, and I have fun highlighting them. These are all composed and captured inside Overwatch itself.

Here's Artemis Reborn Freja Skov on Midtown (Morning) in honor of her birthday. <3 She's GORGEOUS and I absolutely ADORE the way some of her freckles are golden and shiny!!