Mei has been a major character in Overwatch since the game’s release, and she looks to have a major role in Overwatch 2's story. As a main cast member, Mei's story pieces have provided emotional depth and insight into how the world of Overwatch and its lore. As a researcher that was trapped in Antarctica and forced to save herself, her story bears the similar emotion and trauma that a lot of the series characters carry with them. Despite all, she has provided a playstyle in the game that has often made her a nuisance to some players over the years.
Mei’s useful and effective tool kit can make her character a crowd control menace in Overwatch’s PVP modes. She can slow, freeze, and kill most enemies in the right hands. Mei’s ultimate, Blizzard, does all this even more effectively when it is tossed at enemies. As useful as all her abilities can be in PVP, there should be some overhauls to her character in Overwatch 2. Because of the sequel's added focus on PVE activities, some of Mei’s abilities may need to be swapped out or altered to fill her niche a bit better.
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From the start, Mei’s Endothermic Blaster should see some changes to how it plays in the new story missions. Many fans of Overwatch want to see changes to characters for multitudes of reason constantly, but a new game is a great way to start fresh with some. Depending on the wave intensity and enemy makeup that Overwatch 2 introduces, there is a great chance that the way her character is now will be inefficient in story missions. The Endothermic Blaster is effective when put up against individual enemies, but it is not designed for larger crowds. With Mei’s freeze and slow, she could be a fantastic character for crowd control if her primary fire and secondary fire are tweaked some.
Probably the easiest way to accomplish this is a change to how each mode of fire operates. Mei’s primary fire would benefit from more area coverage when the beam of ice is fired. This would allow her to freeze more targets faster without burning through so much ammunition. Her Endothermic Blaster's projectile fire could also be altered to a faster rate at the cost of ammunition. As with any game like Overwatch, there will need to be balancing done but the series is already familiar with the back and forth of what is and is not working with its characters. How buffs and nerfs are done with Overwatch games in the future could change though, given the recent departure of long-time director Jeff Kaplan, but of course, that's still up in the air.
With the character redesigns that have been shown off for Overwatch 2, it might also be a great idea to consider other parts of Mei’s kit. Her Cryo-Freeze has been incredibly useful, but there are some limitations to it. Because of the abilities immobilization, it can put Mei at a significant disadvantage in crowded fights. The gameplay trailer for Overwatch 2 has already touched on this some with its reveal of character levels and customizable abilities in story missions. Shown in the trailer is a preview of an alternate version of the Cryo-Freeze ability. The trailer clearly showed it with an area of effect freeze in the new game, which is a buff that could make it incredibly valuable for PVE activities.
On the other hand, Mei’s Ice Wall ability might not find as much use in PVP or PVE when Overwatch 2 launches. While it can be incredible for chokepoints, especially on assault maps, the removal of assault maps in Overwatch 2 in competitive play could greatly diminish the effectiveness or need for such an ability. An alternative replacement could be a throwable that Mei can use. She has great potential as a core close-quarters character and a snowball that slows could be great for her kit and slowing bad guys from Overwatch's nefarious organizations.
While a throwable as a replacement for Ice Wall may seem like an overpowered change if it only slows, it could be balanced well. In contrast, the freeze from Mei’s use of the Endothermic Blaster is supposed to have a high-risk high reward kind of relationship, it puts Mei at risk should her target avoid freezing. A throwable slow in the form of a snowball could fit her character great and be used as a way to inhibit enemy retreats in the new Push PVP mode. While a freeze or root style ability might be too much, a slow could provide a solid middle ground that can be viable in both PVE and PVP activities.
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Mei’s ultimate ability is also in dire need of an overhaul for Overwatch 2. The PVP focus of the first Overwatch game turned the ability into a valuable asset for teams, but it could struggle in its current state when put up against NPCs. While Mei's effectiveness will depend on the difficulty and feel that Overwatch 2 has in PVE, she could still benefit from some changes in the new game beyond just sprays and emotes.
As it is right now, Blizzard provides great crowd control but not much else for the team. While healers in Overwatch have long had a major impact on the flow of the game, they will likely also receive their fair share of changes in Overwatch 2. If this happens and other Overwatch characters are in for a reckoning in the new game, it might be time for other cast members to carry more of the team and negate damage.
Mei could accomplish this with a change to Blizzard that also provides some cryo-heal to allies. While Blizzard is active, friendly characters caught in its field could have a portion of their health restored by the cooling touch of the Antarctic cold. It would not put Mei directly into the same category that Mercy, Baptiste, and Ana share now, but it would allow for team comps that are diversified for PVE.
To balance this out if it were adopted for PVP, allies could receive a slow that is half as significant as the one received by enemies. It would also be important that allies are not frozen in the blizzard while it is active as well. Another option could be to hold this off from PVP entirely and keep it as a level-up perk for Blizzard in the Overwatch 2's PVE modes. Regardless of how it plays out though, a passive heal from Blizzard would be a great way to push players to use the ability more defensively and it would benefit the team more.
Like a lot of the characters when Overwatch 2 is released, Mei will need some changes. Some neutral Overwatch characters might need to join factions and more like Mei should maybe be reworked. Mei is a great character now and can be fun to play, but it seems like a waste to keep her in a vanilla state for the new game.
With the larger focus that PVE will have in Overwatch 2, she and many other heroes could become favorites for these new activities. The whole cast has potential but the core of Mei’s character offers her quite a few avenues in Overwatch 2. She might not become a dedicated support character, but PVE could also be a great time to revitalize the Defender category from the original game's launch and shift Mei and others back into the revived role as Overwatch 2 gets new faces.
Overwatch 2 is in development for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.