Wattson Needs Buffs For Season 7 and Beyond

Hello, I'm a Wattson main and I'm writing this only because Wattson is in a bad spot despite what the data behind the scenes might be showing (she strong in High Level Pro play (Scrims and Tournaments) but weaker in Platinum and below for example (doesn't get pick much in pubs or higher ranks such as Plat/Diamond/Masters/Predator).

So what is wrong with Wattson? Olympus and Season 7 Replicators pretty much. Wattson was a B Tier Legend who went to A Tier as the ring shrinks or if she had Winning Position with her team in a Scrim or Tournament Lobby. Now, she is pretty much a C Tier Legend who goes to B Tier as the Ring Shrinks or has Winning Position. Meaning her pick rate will get lower in high level play. 

Now in Pubs or Ranked, Wattson is barely picked at all except for the small few Wattson mains out there who aren't Pros. Even the Pros who select and use her never pick her for Pubs or Ranked matches. Wattson has always been a C Tier in terms of Public and Ranked lobbies so that hasn't changed at all. It be great to see Wattson selected more in Pubs/Ranked as well instead of Scrims/Competitive, but hopefully the suggestions and reasons behind these buffs will help with that.

So here it goes. I will try to suggest some feedback on how to buff Wattson to put her where she needs to be at so she is good in both Scrim/Competitive lobbies as well as Public Matches and Ranked Matches (regardless of Tier). 

These are my personal opinion, but feel free to debate/add/suggest etc. 

Perimeter Security: Her Tactical is almost fine as it is. Only a few small minor suggestion I recommend to it. (Also, I am glad that her Ticks now do 15 damage. I wanted that for a very long time and it happened with Season 7).

• Node health increased from 25 to 50. This allows the nodes to withstand the damage a little more before they get destroyed. Allowing Wattson to defend an area for a little more seconds. This also prevents certain weapons from one shotting the nodes (wingman, G7, etc)
• Increase Fence Node meter range from 20 meters to 30 meters. Allow Wattson to go a little further with her nodes. Just allows us to cover more inside a build, cave, outside, etc. 20 meters is actually very small believe it or not. 
• Cooldown for fences reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds. 30 seconds is way too long for Wattson and it takes 1 whole minute to get 2 charges back without a Pylon being nearby. Making her Cooldown at 25 seconds does allow her to be a little viable without relying too much on dropping or wasting an ultimate. Furthermore, Gold Helmet will make her cooldown at 20 seconds from 25 seconds if change is made. Right now, Gold Helmet on Wattson is 23 seconds from 30 seconds and that does make her more viable with her fences, you just don't see it much because usually us Wattson mains give it up to a Legend such as Bloodhound, Caustic, Pathfinder, Wraith, Gibby, etc who are just better with Golden Helmet. 
• Optional, but if possible allow Wattson to have up to 16 nodes out at once instead of 12 nodes. 12 Nodes seem perfect at first but Olympus has proven this wrong. Wattson cannot hold any of those buildings the way they are designed. There are simply too many doors and windows to open and shoot through. Giving Wattson 16 nodes allowed up at once from 12 will change this for Season 7 and beyond. Wattson will never need anymore than 16 Nodes up at once afterwards. Just makes her more viable in scrims/competitive/ranked. 

Spark of Genius: Her current passive as it is perfect. There is only one small change or two I would give here.

• Wattson's Revive now restores 25 Shield Health. This isn't a fast revive at all. It is still her default revive animation which is 5 seconds the same time as everyone else (excluding Gibby's fast revive inside dome which is 4 seconds). Wattson is the Support Legend of the team and allowing her to heal her teammate's shield health by 25 is pretty big. There are times where I just drop a Pylon and stick the revive instantly while regenerating shield health at the same time as I revive. The teammate will usually safely get picked up because enemies would try to nade us behind the cover and it gets eaten. This also gives Wattson a reason to have a Golden Backpack in later team compositions. So Wattson with her 25 Shield Revive will also trigger with the Legendary Golden Backpack which is 75 Shield Health + 70 White Health. This is 145 health gained from a Legendary Backpack instead of the normal 120 Health. So Wattson picking someone up with a Blue Shield will have their Blue shields fully healed and will have 50 health + 20 from the normal revive, 70 white health from getting picked up. That is game changer in terms of making Wattson more of a team player. This will not change other legends at all either. Lifeline will still be a good pick with golden backpack as well because she can still fight and defend. Gibby the same way with his fast revives and dome of protection. Caustic too with his gas and not pushing him while he sticks the revive. Anyway, Wattson with 25 shield revive is something she always needed and it actually makes sense.
• This one is optional, but enemy Wattson Fence no longer damages or Stuns a Wattson player. Caustic is immune to other Caustic players/enemies. Giving Wattson this can allow a Wattson to go in first and possibly counter another enemy Wattson Competitive Team. This is something that may or may not happen. I personally think it will never happen, but the choice will always be on the table. This will really only affect higher pro level play if added. I don't see it really helping Wattson mains much in Public matches or even Ranked. Again, just my thoughts on that. 

Interception Pylon: Wattson's current ultimate is actually fine the way it is. Nothing I would change here other than the UI of the Inner and Outer Rings. Also, I do recommend increase shield health regenerating rate because Replicators in Season 7 indirectly nerfed her. 

• So Wattson's current Pylon is fine the way it is. She is more viable when holding 2-4 Ultimate Accelerants on her. I pop them much more often now when fighting. I do suggest that Pylon count as kill assist for Ranked. What I mean by Kill Assist is Wattson usually drops her Pylon in an area while fighting. During this fight, her teammates are regenerating Shield Health which can result in enemies getting knocked down or killed believe it or not. Us Wattson mains in Ranked never get kill assist credit for this and it does helps. Will allow Wattson to be picked a little more in Ranked matches but her pick rate might not go up that much even with this change. It'll still help her out if considered. I do believe Ranked for Season 8 will be updated because Season 7 was focused the most on the new map and crossplay which was revealed by the developers. This is proof or a sign that Ranked System will be seeing changes soon. I believe Ranked will give Kill Point and Assist credit at 5-10 kills and other legends will end up getting new Kill Assist Credits. The kill assist credits is something I mentioned on twitter before and I sadly lost what I've type but I mentioned Legends such as Lifeline/Wattson/Rampart/etc should receive Kill Assist based on certain abilities they have in their kit. Wattson only gets Kill Assist from fences only if an enemy walked into it which is hard to get in higher level play and ranked. 
• The Inner and Outer UI update needs to be easier to see. The inner ring is what doesn't get eaten when you throw a nade. The outer ring is what always gets eaten when you use a nade. This confuses teammates because once Pylon is put down, you cannot see these inner and outer UI rings. However, when a Wattson is holding the Pylon in her hands... We can see them. But only the Wattson can see these rings. However, most Wattson mains don't even know what those Rings are or what they mean/meant. That is why I am simply saying make it easier for teammates to see the Inner and Outer Rings when the Pylon is in use. All it needs is a slight UI update and nothing more. Hopefully, this stops Caustic teammates from having their own Canister eaten by a friendly Pylon. Bangalore teammates just need to be careful with their Smokes. Bangalore mains just have a habit of smoking the ground which will getting eaten regardless (you cannot nade the ground no matter what with a Pylon active. Doesn't matter if you're in the inner or outer). 
• The biggest thing I want to happen with Pylon is it getting updated with a faster Regeneration rate. Right now Pylon regens at about 2 Shields Per a Second. This means it takes 50 seconds to fully Regen 100 Shield Health or about 62.5 seconds to fully heal 125 Shield Health. Why Do I recommend that Regeneration be updated? Well, it's because Season 7 Replicator update has indirectly nerfed Wattson. Replicators now have Batteries in them which only cost 20 Crafts to make. People will make at least 3 Batteries and this is pretty common now. You can have 6 Batteries on you and like 8-12 shield cells. A Battery is also 5 seconds to pop which is fine, don't get me wrong. However, if you want Wattson to do her job and stay viable with her current Ultimate as it is, then it needs an updated Regeneration Rate Per a Second. I suggest about 4 Shields per a second, If you make it 4 Shields per a Second then it will only take 25 seconds to fully heal 100 shield health and about 32.5 seconds to fully heal 125 shield health. Now this would be an amazing change and will also make Wattson more Viable while fighting. Dropping a Pylon in a fight behind cover and if you're hurt, instead of popping a Battery, you can pop a Shield Cell. While popping that shield cell which is 3 seconds, you will regen about 12-16+ shield health. This means you will regen about 40+ shield health in about 3-4 seconds!!! That will make Wattson viable in all forms of gameplay at least. Doesn't matter if it Scrims/Competitive/Public Matches/Ranked. Furthermore, Wattson mains who use Pylon to safely revive their knock down teammates behind cover while regenerating shield health at the same time will regen about 20-24+ shields while doing so. That is like popping a small shield cell at the same time but you're reviving a teammate. Remember that revives take 5 seconds so the math here is 5*4=20 + the other seconds after the revive animation finishes. This combined with Wattson healing 25 shield Health as I mentioned above will put Wattson at a much better place than what she currently is. 

Bug Fixes: I have made a Bug fixes section for this as well. Wattson doesn't have many bugs. She only has about 1 that I'm personally aware of. It would be nice to see them fixed later on.

• Sometimes teammates or enemies cannot see an enemy Wattson Fence which results in the teammate or enemy player mistakenly walking or running into the Fence(s). This is a UI bug that has been in the game ever since Wattson was released/added. It's rare and hardly happens. I don't know what triggers it or causes it. Not everyone is affected by it. For example, you might not be able to see the Fence(s) but your teammates can. So only a few players in a lobby will have this issue and not all. It is not major or game breaking but it will be nice to see this issue fixed for whatever is causing it. This issue can sometimes be seen in live Tournament matches actually. there are a few clips taken of it happening, but I don't have the time to find a clip to show you guys reading this thread. (Thanks to NA ALGS that happened. Here's a clip of the bug in a live tournament Twitch)

Low Profile: The topic everyone loves to talk about.

• Wattson shouldn't have Low Profile on her, same for Lifeline and Pathfinder. It is something that I hope gets removed one day. ATM, it is the least concern I have as a Wattson main. 

And there you have it. My Season 7 and Beyond thoughts on buffing Wattson. I hope this thread is helpful and the feedback from it will be looked at or considered in the future. Thank you for reading. Have a good day. 

~ Leo