An insane clip from Overwatch’s early development days shows that Bastion was originally planned to have a completely different ultimate ability, and proves just why it was changed.
Bastion is one of Overwatch’s most popular damage-per-second heroes due to his ability to melt through armor and shields in just a few seconds – pair him with Orisa and Mercy, and you’ve got yourself a formidable combo.
The robot’s ultimate ability is excellent for taking out DPS and healer enemies with one hit, but did you know that he originally had a completely different move during the game’s early development phase?
Bastion’s original ultimate ability
A clip uploaded to Twitter on November 8 by infamous Overwatch insider Naeri details the hero’s initial ultimate, and displays it in all its deadly glory.
Fittingly named “Remote Mine”, the powerful move shows Bastion deploying a small mine that is controlled and positioned by the player – think Call of Duty’s Recon Car.
Overwatch early Bastion had a different Ultimate ability "Remote Mine".
"Remote Mine" was so powerful that it was removed due to balance issues.
오버워치 초창기 바스티온 삭제된 궁극기 "원격 지뢰" pic.twitter.com/PnDof7s027
— Naeri x 나에리 (@OverwatchNaeri) November 8, 2019
Once placed accordingly, it flattens out to appear less visible to enemies before rising up and detonating multiple small explosions to cause maximum devastation once a foe enters its radius.
While the robot’s original ultimate was undoubtedly crazy, it was canned during early development due to balance issues – AKA it was way too powerful. You can imagine the outrage if it had been left in.
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For some, the unearthing of Bastion’s initial ability will be old information, as it’s always been a known ‘secret’ amongst the most knowledgeable Overwatch fans, but many regular players were shocked by the news.
There was even an ultimate icon made for the ability, and it showed a logo of the remote-controlled mine with its six deadly points.
This wasn’t the only ability that Bastion once had early in development, either. The Omnic hero once had a shield in Turret mode during the beta, though this was removed quite early on.
Since Overwatch 2’s announcement on November 1 during BlizzCon 2019’s opening ceremony, fans of the first-person shooter have been eager to find out what changes their favorite heroes will undergo in the sequel.
Bastion is just one of the heroes who will be receiving a new look, though his redesign was only briefly shown off in a piece of key art at the convention.