Summary
Overwatch 2just rolled out its mid-Season 9 patch, featuring buffs to almost half of the game’s playable heroes. This update, which also includes the PvE Hero Mastery: Gauntlet game mode, a nerf to the DPS passive, and new features for competitive play, is live inOverwatch 2right now.
Season 9 ofOverwatch 2introduced some sweeping changesto the shooter with increases to damage, health, and projectiles. Some of these tweaks have been divisive amongOverwatch 2fans, but many agree that the adjustments have made matches more dynamic and engaging.
Now that the season has gone through roughly half its life cycle,Overwatch 2has implemented a sizable midseason patch. This update dials back the new DPS passive so that it reduces the healing of targets they damage by 15%, rather than 20%, and slightly reduces the size modifier for fast-moving projectiles. However, the patch also buffed 16 out of the 39 current playable heroes – nearly half of the total roster. Baptiste, on the other hand, was the only hero to receive a slight nerf.
Many of these buffs, like those for Ramattra, Sombra, and Illari, increase the heroes’ offensive skills. Heroes like Lifeweaver and Brigitte received increases to their ability to heal, while some underperformingOverwatch 2characters like Reinhardt, Mauga, and Symmetra got buffs to both their offensive and defensive capabilities.Season 10 ofOverwatch 2is giving Wrecking Ball a small rework, so fans can expect more character adjustments next month.
Beyond these updates, theOverwatch 2mid-Season 9 patch also added a new game mode called Hero Mastery: Gauntlet. This group PvE version of Hero Mastery has fans team up with two other players to defend their towers from 10 waves of enemy bots while collecting energy and purchasing upgrades. Though the game mode is sticking around, fans can earn exclusive rewards via a limited-time event launching alongside the patch.
Blizzard has also added even more new UI displays to go withOverwatch 2Season 9’s overhaul to Competitive Play. Placements and Overview are now displayed at the end of each match, and Rank Range appears on the scoreboard. Additionally, the rank info button on the Competitive Play menu allows modifiers to be viewed any time – including the new Demotion Protection modifier, which alerts players when they are close to dropping to a lower division.
Previously,Overwatch 2confirmed it would speed up certain game modeswith features from Quicker Play. These adjustments did not appear in this patch, so they will likely be implemented in another future update.
Overwatch Mid-Season 9 Patch Notes
OVERWATCH 2 X COWBOY BEBOP
Celebrate the legendary crew of Bebop inOverwatch 2! Immerse yourself in the iconic saga of Cowboy Bebop with an array of new skins found exclusively in theOverwatch 2shop. From now until March 25, you’re able to also tackle in-game challenges to answer the call of the bounty hunter and snatch up cosmic cosmetic rewards.
GENERAL UPDATES
NEW GAME MODE – HERO MASTERY: GAUNTLET
Hero Mastery: Gauntlet is a new co-op game mode where players work together to protect towers from enemy bots. Collect energy and buy powerful upgrades to survive all ten rounds! Focus your skills to earn high scores and compete on the leaderboards. Are you ready to enter the Gauntlet?
Hero Mastery: Gauntlet is launching with a limited-time event that includes exclusive rewards and challenges. Can you defend the towers and unlock them all?
COMPETITIVE PLAY UPDATES
HERO UPDATES
Developer Comments: This patch is focused on fine-tuning some of the systemic hero changes made in Season 9. In addition, we’re adjusting individual abilities to make them feel more impactful due to heroes having larger health pools.
PROJECTILE SIZE UPDATES
Developer Comments: We are decreasing the size of the fastest travel time projectiles because it reduces the frequency of these projectiles failing to headshot due to hitting the enemy’s chest hit volume first.
ROLE PASSIVES UPDATES
Developer Comments: The Damage role passive reduces the potency of in-combat healing and helps equalize the effectiveness between burst and damage over time. Nevertheless, we are going to experiment with a lower value to relieve some of the pressure on tank and support roles. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this change as we want the healing reduction to still be noticeable.
Meteor Strike
MAUGA
Developer Comments: We are changing Cardiac Overdrive to make it more forgiving when used for yourself especially when Mauga is low health.
Fire Strike
ROADHOG
Developer Comments: We’re improving the consistency of the Hook combo. Enemies are pulled closer to Roadhog and aren’t launched as high when Pig Pen activates, making the Scrap Gun follow-up shot more consistent.
DAMAGE
HANZO
Developer Comments: We’re reverting the previous change to the base projectile size of Hanzo’s arrows and replacing it with the general global reduction, which affects all travel time projectiles with a speed greater than 50 meters per second, resulting in Hanzo’s arrow projectile staying the same total size as before this patch.
Death Blossom
SOMBRA
Developer Comments: Virus deals critical impact damage when it hits Hacked targets, and this change makes using it as a follow-up more compelling. The Translocator now destroys breakable objects, preventing Sombra from teleporting a shorter distance than expected.
Rally
ILLARI
Developer Comments: We are adjusting the firing cadence of the Solar Rifle, making it more responsive to use and increasing the damage per second but not the burst damage.
Solar Rifle
LIFEWEAVER
Developer Comments: We’re increasing the burst potential of the Heal Blossom to reinforce Lifeweaver’s role as a high healing throughput support. The heal per second is roughly the same as before, but individual Heal Blossoms can be charged further.
Overwatch 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
