Patch Notes
Overwatch 2 Retail Patch Notes - October 29, 2024
Arcade Updates
Junkenstein’s Laboratory
We have been excited to see everyone playing and trying out the different mutations Junkenstein’s Laboratory for the last couple of weeks. As we enter the final week of this limited-time event we are going to make some adjustments to the different mutations each hero can receive before each round. Junkenstein’s Laboratory will still be playable in the Arcade through November 4.
Ashe
Trail by Fire
- Damage to burning targets now earns an additional 30% ultimate charge, previously 25%
Fire and Fury
- The Viper's shots on burning targets now reduces the cooldowns of Coach Gun and Dynamite by 7%, previously 5%.
Demon's Ward
- We have increased the health of the shield from the deployed Barrier Projector to 600 from 300.
D.Va
Anti-Boost
- Fixed an issue where Booster impact was dealing extra damage in addition to the anti-healing debuff.
No Escape
- Weapon Damage increase is reduced to 75% was 100%.
Genji
Scary Speed
- Shuriken critical hits now increases attack speed by 3%, up to 10 stacks, for 10 seconds, previously increased attack speed by 2%, up to 15 stacks, for 10 seconds.
Vampiric Deflect
- Deflect now heals for 15% of your max health per second, previously 10%.
Bitter Revenge
- Deflect now causes the next Swift Strike to deal up to 75% more damage based on the damage prevented, previously 50%.
Master Ward
- Cooldown is now increased by 3 seconds, previously 5 seconds.
Kiriko
Not Your Time
- Now delivers 30% extra healing to allies below 50% health, previously 25% extra healing.
Drawn Together
- After teleporting, grant the nearest ally 75 Overhealth for 5 seconds, previously 50 Overhealth.
Unburdened
- After throwing a Protection Suzu, attack speed is increased by 20% for 10 second, previously 5 seconds.
Vindictive Vision
- Damaging enemies farther than 12 meters now reveals them for 5 seconds, previously 3 seconds.
Spirit World's Gift
- Protection Suzu now heals Kiriko for extra 100 health and grants and 25% movement speed for 5 seconds, previously 80 health for 3 seconds.
Mercy
Mend and Mar
- Mercy now heals all allies within 20 meters for 150% of the damage she deals while not in Valkyrie, previously 100%. Healing for damage dealt while Valkyrie is active remains at 200%.
Power for a Price
- Caduceus Staff's damage boost now heals attached targets for 10% of their damage dealt to enemies, previously 7.5%.
Sustained Servant
- The cooldown is reduced to 7 seconds, previously 10 seconds.
Witches Never Die
- We have increased the health of the shield health from the deployed Barrier Projector to 600 from 300.
Fall from Grace
- While using Angelic Descent, Movement Speed is now increased by 20%, previously 15%.
Moira
Frightening Fascination
- Secondary Fire now stays locked to targets at a 40% narrow angle, previously from 50%.
Siphon Strike
- Quick Melee now restores 15% of Max Biotic energy, previously 10%.
Equilibrium
- Now reduces movement speed by 20%, previously 30%.
Orisa
Flight by Night
- While casting Javelin Spin, Orisa gains free flight and 15% increased movement speed.
Megamonster
- Gain 200% Overhealth while being slowed by 20%, previously 35%.
Waning Whirlwind
- Javelin Spin now instantly depletes 90% of Max Augmented Fusion Driver's Overheat meter, previously 50%.
Chilling Blow
- Energy Javelin now instantly depletes 90% of Augmented Fusion Driver's Overheat meter, previously 50%.
Arcane Energy
- Energy Javelin now has 20% reduced cooldown, previously 15%.
Violence Begotten
- Critical hits now increases attack speed by 8% for 5 seconds, previously 6%.
Pharah
Scare-ial Superiority
- After using Jump Jets and Jet Dash, Pharah deals 20% more damage now for only 3 seconds, previously 5 seconds.
Reaper
Swift Shadow
- Shadow Step cast time now reduced by 30%, previously 35%.
Zenyatta
Hallowed Speed
- Harmony orb now buffs target with 20% movement speed, previously 25%.
Master and Disciple
- Zenyatta now gains a 40% effective Harmony Orb on himself, previously 50%. The ally Harmony Orb effectiveness remains the same at 20%.
Competitive Updates
Starting in Season 13 for games of Open Queue Competitive, we now match players in wide groups, narrow groups, and solo players in the same matchmaking pool. This change is aimed at helping groups of any size in Open Queue from having to wait extremely long wait times to find a match. We will be removing the Wide Group modifier and notification UI in Open Queue Competitive in a future update.
Hero Balance
Tank
Orisa
- Base health increased from 125 to 175.
- Base armor reduced from 350 to 300.
- Damage reduced from 80 to 70.
- No longer reduces Fusion Driver heat generation.
Ramattra
- Reverted to pierce barriers again.
- No longer deals critical damage to barriers.
Wrecking Ball
- Ammo increased from 80 to 100.
- Duration increased from 6 to 8 seconds.
Damage
Sombra
- Now exits stealth when hacking an enemy target.
- Delay before entering stealth reduced from 0.5 to 0.33 seconds.
- Fade in time reduced from 0.3 to 0.15 second.
- Ultimate cost reduced by 10%.
Support
Juno
- Healing reduced from 100 to 85 health per second.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the auto-requeue for Quick Play was not working correctly.
- Fixed an issue that did not allow some OWL Player Icons to be purchased individually.
- Fixed an issue with the HDR setting causing the game screen to turn black.
- Fixed an issue where the first purchase attempt of a golden weapon failed.
- Fixed an issue that caused Grey Overwatch League Overwatch 2 skins to be missing from the hero gallery.
- In a previous update, fixed a crash in the hero gallery.
Dorado
- Fixed an issue where the payload could be contested from unintended places on Dorado.
Mercy
- Fixed a bug with jump/crouch cancel staying active for longer than intended.
- In a previous update, fixed an issue where players with Pink Mercy and Rose Gold Mercy skins equipped could not hear pistol sounds in first person.
Reaper
- Fixed an issue where reaper would sometimes not play custom shadow step sounds in first person.
Reinhardt
- In a previous update, fixed an issue where the All Might Reinhardt skin would not play Ultimate sounds.
Overwatch 2 Retail Patch Notes – October 21, 2024
Hotfix Balance Update
This is a hero balance hotfix. Replay codes from the October 15, 2024 patch are still available.
Hero Updates
Damage
Sombra
- Cooldown reduced from 7 to 6 seconds.
Overwatch 2 Retail Patch Notes – October 15, 2024
SEASON 13 - SEASON OF SPELLBINDERS
Haunt your foes in Season 13 with Mythic Spellbinder Widowmaker, a master of witchcraft with stylish animations and enchanting effects. Then battle it out in Junkenstein’s Laboratory, the spooky new Halloween Terror PvP game mode with mutations that turn heroes to horrors! Plus, heroes and villainswatch their ideas of justice collide in the My Hero Academia collab featuring exclusive cosmetics inspired by the anime’s iconic characters. Get ready for a season filled with magic, might, and macabre moments!
OVERWATCH 2 X MY HERO ACADEMIA®
Choose heroism or villainy with the latest Overwatch 2 collaboration featuring exclusive skins inspired by My Hero Academia’s iconic characters. Battle as a hero of justice with Tracer as Deku, Reinhardt as All Might, and Juno as Uravity, or create chaos with Reaper as Tomura Shigaraki and Kiriko as Himiko Toga. Don’t miss the Mega Bundle for the ultimate My Hero Academia collection—available for a limited time only, October 17-30.
© K. Horikoshi / Shueisha, My Hero Academia Project
HALLOWEEN TERROR 2024
This Halloween, the Halloween Terror event delivers a spooky good time with both brand-new and returning game modes. Experience the eerie madness of Junkenstein's Laboratory, a fast-paced Team Deathmatch where you can enhance your heroes with powerful cursed talent cards. Then return to the chilling co-op adventure of Junkenstein’s Revenge, battling hordes of zombie Omnics and monstrous bosses. Finally, uncover the terrifying secrets of Adlersbrunn in Wrath of the Bride, a gripping PvE experience filled with puzzles, haunted castles, and jump scares. Face the frights and conquer the terror!
HERO MASTERY MODE - CASSIDY & BRIGITTE
Two new heroes will test their skills in Hero Mastery. Starting on October 31st through to November 12th, you'll have a chance to perfect your skills with Cassidy's Peacekeeper or bash bots of the edge with Brigitte's Shield Bash. Complete exclusive challenges through to earn new exclusive rewards and bonus Battle Pass XP as you test your skills in these new courses.
GENERAL UPDATES
To give players easier access to social features, especially on controllers, we've added the ability to interact with the Scoreboard. The Interactive Scoreboard is intended to make reporting faster and easier, but also to improve your social experience through whatever channels you prefer to communicate in or avoid entirely. The following features are now accessible via Interactive Scoreboard:
- Adjusting Mic Volume of other players
- Adjusting your Mic Volume
- Reporting other players
- Joining/Leaving Team Voice Chat
- Joining/Leaving Group Voice Chat
- Muting Team Text Chat
- Muting Match Text Chat
- Muting Text Chat of other players
- Tuning changes to reduce queue times for Wide matches in Competitive Play.
- Loss Streak avoidance tuned down to prevent cases where it could increase worst case scenario queue times.
Developer Comments: We're not seeing any measurable impact from this tech in preventing loss streaks and we're concerned it might be making queue times longer. So we're scaling it back for now.
- Role Delta tuning tightened, to try to match Ranks on the roles on each team more closely.
Developer Comments: We believe that match quality improves significantly when you are matched closely with one of the members on the opposing team in the same role. We believe we can tighten this preference without significantly impacting queue times.
- Role Delta has been updated to prioritize the Tank Role above other roles.
Developer Comments: We've been thinking about how to improve the Tank experience from every angle, to give them more even matchups and reduce 1-sided matches for the whole team further.
- At higher Ranks the effects of MMR Decay, Winning Trend, Losing Trend, and Calibration have been reduced.
Developer Comments: At our highest ranks these modifiers could sometimes allow very high skill players playing on new accounts to get lucky and surpass their peak ranks considerably, without actually earning their new rank like other players that have played more on their accounts.
- At higher Ranks the matchmaker now takes into account the benefits of grouping when constructing matches.
Developer Comments: At the highest ranks, groups have had noteworthy advantages against teams composed of all solo players for some time now. Our aim with this addition isn't to remove the advantage of grouping at higher ranks entirely, but we'd like the advantage of grouping at higher ranks to be less extreme.
- Hosting Public Custom Games now requires Endorsement Level 3.
Developer Comments: A reminder that we've been actioning accounts that post disruptive content in the Game Browser and we're serious about removing problematic players that don't follow our Code of Conduct. Whenever an account is actioned for a social penalty, they're reduced to Endorsement Level 0, so the combination of social actions and this feature will allow for one chance to change their behavior before they're permanently banned. Anyone that is below Endorsement Level 3 can still host games with the "Friends" or "Invite Only" settings, but they will not have access to the "Everyone" setting.
- Access to the "Hide My Name" function of Streamer Protect now requires completing the "Unrelenting Hero" Lifetime Challenge.
Developer Comments: We've been listening to community feedback that newer accounts should be required to earn access to the feature, but it's important that this feature can't be abused by various types of disruptive players that tend to play on very new accounts. As a reminder, the "Hide My Name" feature does not prevent disruptive players from being punished when they're reported since we know their actual battle tag behind the scenes.
- Select challenges are now visible in the Main Menu.
- Challenge Rewards can now be inspected in detail in the Challenges Menu.
Developer Comments: Challenges are now in the main menu to highlight their rewards, primarily for new Event Challenges.
- Mythic Skin Aspects Add-on Cosmetic is now added to the Mythic Shop.
- Overwatch League Store tab was removed and replaced by a separate button in the bottom of the main Shop tab.
The requirements to appear on the Top 500 Leaderboard have changed:
- Win requirement per season reduced from 50 to 25.
- The Seasoned Competitor challenge (750 lifetime wins in Competitive Play) is now required to be completed to be eligible for any Top 500 Leaderboard starting in Season 12.
HERO UPDATES
- Swapping your hero hides your selection on the enemy scoreboard for 15 seconds.
Developer Comments: This change adds a more friction to counterswapping, especially in the extreme case where two players on opposite teams are both sitting in spawn with the scoreboard open and rapidly switch their heroes in response to each other’s choices.
TANK
Mauga
Developer Comment: Increasing the duration of Mauga's burn effect will help better reward going for the smaller, harder to hit targets.
- Ignite damage over time duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds.
Ramattra
Developer Comments: Ramattra's Pummel projectiles passing through barriers was a source of frustration for players trying to protect themselves or their allies. With these changes enabling Ramattra to deal critical damage to barriers, he will still be a valuable hero choice against barrier mechanics, but won't immediately apply damage to players on the other side.
Pummel
- No longer pierces barriers.
- Now deals 2.5x more damage to barriers.
Reinhardt
Developer Comments: This is just some fine tuning for the barrier health and regeneration rate as it had become slightly too tough to break through.
- Barrier Field health reduced from 1600 to 1500.
Damage
Hanzo
Developer Comments: We are reverting Hanzo back to his previous health now that it's possible to take out an opposing Hanzo with a well-aimed headshot thanks to the weapon damage changes.
- Base health increased from 225 to 250.
Sojourn
Developer Comments: These Railgun changes swap out the 25 minimum energy it decays to for a longer time before it begins to degenerate which alleviates some of the pressure to quickly use the secondary fire. Disruptor shot is getting a damage increase to helps its effectiveness as an area denial tool, andlong with additional utility through generating a small amount of Railgun energy to make it more broadly useful.
- Energy no longer stops degenerating at 25 energy.
- Time before energy degeneration begins increased from 7 to 12 seconds.
- Damage per second increased from 60 to 80
- Now generates 25% of damage done to enemy players as Railgun energy.
Sombra
Developer Comments: This is a significant change to Sombra's playstyle in the hopes of making her more interactive for the opposing team and shifting some of her power from the utility of Stealth and Hack into increased lethality.
Stealth having a limited duration less than the Translocator cooldown is intended to create brief windows of vulnerability. It still enables Sombra to cross through dangerous areas unseen, but to really hang around in the enemy backline will require moving from cover-to-cover similar to other flanking heroes. No longer having the stealth movement speed removed upon taking damage also enhances its usefulness as an escape tool.
- No longer ends Stealth but does reveal Sombra.
- Hacked ability lockout effect duration reduced from 1.5 to 1.0 seconds (EMP duration unchanged).
- BOB hacked stun duration reduced from 10 to 3 seconds.
- Cooldown increased from 5 to 7 seconds.
- Ultimate cost increased 12%.
- No longer passive and now activates by using Translocator.
- Now has a 5 second duration.
- Added stealth timer around the reticle and removed ability icon.
- Taking damage now reveals Sombra for 1 second instead of ending stealth.
- The Opportunist passive has been added back in.
- Increases Sombra's weapon damage versus hacked targets by 20%.
- See critically injured enemies through walls.
SUPPORT
Baptiste
Developer Comment: This change is aimed at reducing the fatigue resulting from controlling the recoil over longer periods of play more than trying to add power to Baptiste's primary fire.
- Primary fire recoil reduced by 30%.
Brigitte
Developer Comment: Brigitte's healing output over the course of a match is quite high, so this is just a slight adjustment to help bring that in line.
- Cooldown increased from 5 to 5.5 seconds.
Juno
Developer Comments: Juno's healing output is too high for how much mobility she possesses so we're shortening her falloff range to increase the importance of positioning well with her mobility abilities.
- Falloff range reduced from 30-50 meters to 20-35 meters.
- Healing per projectile reduced from 6.5 to 6.
MAP UPDATES
- Capture time on the final objective points A and E now increases for Attackers as segments get secured consecutively from 1x /1x / 1x to 0.7x /1.1x /1.4x, to make the first segment easier to capture for attackers but consecutive ones harder.
- Defenders now respawn instantly as the first segment and second segment get secured instead of when the previous objective points B or D get captured.
- Unlock time for final objective points A and E has been increased from 25 seconds to 27.5 seconds.
- Decay rate on final objective points A and E have been doubled for attackers to not lose their progress as quickly when stepping off the point.
- Capture time for defenders on objective points B and D has been increased by 10% to give attackers more opportunities to attack the point.
Developer Comments: We want to reduce the number of one-sided stomps occurring in the Clash game mode. We also want to address the difficulty of securing at least one segment on the final objective points as attackers. So, we tweaked the capture time for the defending team to make the fight for objective points B and D a bit more favorable for attackers.
Circuit Royal
1st Point
- New exit options from attackers initial spawn to reduce spawn camping.
- Initial high ground right flank brought in and access adjusted to reduce spawn camping.
- Cover options added.
- New far side flank option to contest defenders on the high ground by the bridge.
2nd Point
- Improved spawn protections for attackers leaving the second spawn area to reduce spawn camping.
- Additional cover added while pushing high ground for attackers.
- New flank added for attackers to take rear high ground by the chicane.
- Hill lowered slightly and road angled forward to make approach for attackers slightly more comfortable.
3rd Point
- Improved options for attackers leaving the third spawn area to combat spawn camping.
- Flank route to high ground pool area widened and additional cover added to increase play options in this space.
- Sightlines improved for attackers to poke at entrenched defender positions in the final area.
Dorado
1st Point
- Starting high ground cover and access has been adjusted to reduce spawn camping.
- Flank routes have been streamlined for attackers.
- Various geometry adjustments to provide more favorable gameplay opportunities for attackers in the market area.
2nd Point
- Staircase added for easier attacker access to the high ground.
- Added access to the courthouse for attackers.
3rd Point
- Cover added after the chokepoint on the main path.
Havana
1st Point
- Reduced sightlines into the attackers' spawn.
- Added new options for attackers to exit their spawn.
- Reduced oppressive high ground vantage points for defenders.
2nd Point
- Widened doorways and certain routes for cleaner navigation and flow.
- Closed small holes through certain assets to block sightlines and projectiles.
3rd Point
- Redesigned attackers' spawn interior and added additional routes for a safer attacker exit.
- Sightlines from the fort wall to spawn and main route have been reduced.
- Pathing into the fort has been consolidated on one side for cleaner flow and to give both teams more options while in combat around the final chokepoint.
Numbani
1st Point
- Attackers' initial spawn room has been pushed a lot closer to first point to reduce runback times.
- Lowered some high ground around first point.
- Easier access to flank routes around first point.
- Combined the paths in the building behind the payload on first point - one room that connects everything.
2nd Point
- Forward defender spawn points have been added to reduce runback times for defenders.
- A staircase has been added near attackers forward spawn for easier access to high ground.
- Added a connecting path past and above the choke into third point.
3nd Point
- Relocated a pesky sign.
- Removed a tree.
BUG FIXES
- Fixed a bug that caused some players to be unable to purchase golden weapons.
- Fixed a bug where the Voice Chat Devices setting was unable to be changed.
- Fived a bug that caused Adrenaline Junkie achievement to sometimes not grant.
Baptiste
- Fixed a bug with Baptiste's Zombie Walk Emote.
Sigma
- Fixed a bug where Sigma would not gain Overhealth for Juno's Mediblaster.
Reaper
- In a previous update, fixed a bug that caused exit sound enemy reaper's shadow step to not play.
Overwatch 2 Retail Patch Notes - October 1, 2024
BUG FIXES
- We are providing two tier skips as a bonus this patch because of the issue with challenge progress not being track when queueing for all roles in the Clash game mode.
- Fixed an issue that was preventing Role Queue Mystery Heroes from counting towards Mystery Heroes lifetime challenges.
- Fixed an issue that was causing Xbox Game Pass skins to become unequipped and unfavorited after logging off.
- Fixed an issue that was causing some voice lines to not play in select Invasion Missions.
- Fixed an issue with the default allied health bar setting on certain heroes.
- In a previous update, fixed an issue making ledge grab more intuitive.
Ashe
- In a previous update, fixed an unintended delay between Ashe's scoped and unscoped fire rate.
Reaper
- Fixed an issue where mythic Reaper emerging out of Shadowstep was not playing custom sound.
Ramattra
- Fixed an unintended armor interaction between Brig's Rally and Rammatra's Nemesis Form.
Live Patch Notes
These patch notes represent general changes made to the Live version of Overwatch and the balance changes listed affect Quick Play, Competitive Play, Arcade, and Custom Games.