Overwatch 2 S16: Full List of Hero Buffs, Nerfs, & Perk Changes

In the update for Overwatch 2 Season 16, there are numerous modifications made to various heroes. These adjustments encompass both boosts (buffs) and reductions (nerfs), as well as alterations to several characters’ special abilities (Perks).

Maintaining balance is one of the most challenging aspects when it comes to multiplayer shooter games like Overwatch, especially since players tend to favor their preferred characters or ‘mains’. The introduction of Perks has made this task even more complex because each hero now possesses additional effects that require careful adjustment.

Keeping everything fair in a multiplayer shooter game such as Overwatch is tough, particularly because many players like to stick with their chosen characters. The addition of Perks makes this job harder still since every character has extra abilities that need fine-tuning.

In this update, the system seamlessly fits with what’s been going on, but as anticipated, it’s time for a significant revamp starting from Season 16. This overhaul includes updates to some characters, with a few even receiving fresh Perks. Here’s an overview of all the character adjustments in this release.

OW2 Season 16 hero changes

Tank

D.Va

Bunny Stomp is now combined with Ejection Suit.

New Minor Perk “Bunny Power”

Eject grants 75 temporary overhealth and Call Mech’s damage radius is increased by 50%.
New Minor Perk “Extended Boosters”
Hitting an enemy with Boosters increases the duration by 0.5 seconds.

Hazard

Off the Top

Increase Leap Slash’s damage from 30% to 50%.

Orisa

Developer Note: Currently, Orisa is not as effective as other tanks. To make her more formidable without enhancing her survival abilities, let’s increase her damage output instead.

Augmented Fusion Driver

Damage increased from 13 to 14.

Fortify

Now prevents Hack’s ability lockout from interrupting abilities.

Heat Dissipater

Increase amount of heat reduced per headshot by 33%.

Reinhardt

Fiery Uptake

Removed.

New Minor Perk “Crusader’s Fire”

Refund a charge of Fire Strike when you stun an enemy, overfilling up to 3.

Shield Slam

Shield Slam distance increased by 50%.

Roadhog

Hog Toss

Removed

New Minor Perk “Pent Up”

When Pig Pen is triggered, refill 50% Take a Breather resource which can overfill.

Hogdrogen Exposure

Increased radius from 8 to 10 meters.

Sigma

Levitation

Jump can now be held down to hover.

Winston

Developer Note: Since the addition of special abilities (or perks), Winston has been performing better than expected compared to other tank characters. To balance this out and ensure he remains comparable to them, we plan to modify his survivability by swapping some of his armor for health. This adjustment should not alter his general gameplay experience substantially.

Base health increased from 225 to 275.
Base armor reduced from 250 to 200.
Wrecking Ball
Wrecking Ball
In 6v6 game modes, Armor health reduced from 150 to 100.

Damage

Cassidy

Past Noon

Removed.

New Minor Perk “Even the Odds”

Regenerate 20 health per second for each enemy targeted by Deadeye

Freja

Feedback from the Freja’s Hero trial has been overwhelmingly positive, with many of you expressing enthusiasm for experimenting with her abilities. However, we’ve observed that Freja is finding it challenging to match the performance of other Damage Heroes, especially in terms of lethality. To address this issue, we will be modifying the time it takes for Freja to earn her minor perk, making it on par with other Heroes. Furthermore, we are increasing the number of shots required before Freja’s Revdraw Crossbow reaches its maximum spread, thereby improving its reliability across all ranges. Lastly, although Freja’s Bola Shot charges rapidly, its impact has been relatively low. To enhance its effectiveness, we will be slightly boosting both its damage and radius to ensure it can more efficiently secure eliminations when it lands.

Time to earn Minor Perk reduced by 18%.
Revdraw Crossbow
Number of shots before max spread increased from 8 to 12.
Bola Shot
Bola Shot Damage and Explosion radius increased from 5 to 5.5 meters.
Bola Shot damage over time increased from 75 to 90.

Hanzo

Dev Comments: By reinstating Hanzo’s Storm Bow draw progress, he can utilize wall climbing more efficiently, enhancing his capacity to control space and secure advantageous positions.

Arrow draw progress is preserved while wall climbing.

Storm Arrows

Projectile speed increased from 110 to 140 meters per second.

Junkrat

Aluminum Frame

Now also reveals trapped enemies to allies.

Tick Tock (description changed)

Concussive Mine strengthens .5 seconds after landing, increasing damage by 50%, explosion
radius by 50%, and health by 200%.

Mei

Chilling Reach

Removed.

Biting Cold

Moved to Minor perk.
Secondary fire hits slow enemies by 20% for 1.5 seconds.

New Major Perk “Deep Freeze”

Continuously hitting enemies with primary fire freezes them for a short time.

Sombra

Viral Efficacy

Removed.

New Minor Perk “Encrypted Upload”

Hack can be used while invisible, successful hacks increase the duration of stealth by 2 seconds.

Stack Overflow

Removed.

New Major Perk “Viral Replication”

Hitting a hacked enemy with Virus spreads Virus to enemies within 8 meters.

Soldier: 76

Field Emergency (description changed)

Biotic Field’s healing is increased by 100% on Low health targets.

Torbjorn

Overloaded Turret

Now transforms into Level 3 Sentry Turret if Overload was activated before fully constructed.

Tracer

Flashback

Blinks restored reduced from 3 to 2.

Quantum Entanglement

Quantum Entanglement now additionally grants 20 over ammo.

Support

Ana

Groggy

Reduced initial slow from 75% to 50%.
Now also deals 50 damage over the duration.

Biotic Bounce

Second bounce damage and healing reduced from 50 to 25.

Baptiste

Assault Burst

Will now do instant healing but cannot critically heal low targets.

Biotic Launcher Secondary fire

Healing explosion increased from 50 to 60.
Direct impact healing increased from 20 to 30.
Maximum ammo reduced from 13 to 10.

Juno

Hyper Boost

Removed

Re-Boots moved to Minor Perk.

Duration increase removed.

New Major Perk “Locked On”

Reduce the cooldown of Pulsar Torpedoes by 1.5 seconds for every enemy hit.

Lifeweaver

Thorn Volley

Projectile speed increased from 80 to 100 meters per second.

Lifeweaving Perk

Bonus healing increased from 30 to 40.

Lucio

Groovin

Removed.

New Minor Perk “Beat Drop”

Amp it Up is active during Sound Barrier.

Mercy

Angelic Recovery

Removed.

New Minor Perk “Angelic Resurrection”

Mercy gains 100 overhealth after casting Resurrect.

Zenyatta

Orb of Discord

In 6v6 game modes, duration before expiring when target is out of sight reduced from 3 to 1.5 seconds.

Ascendance

Jump can now be held down to hover.
Duality
Increased converted damage from 20% to 30%

To learn more about Overwatch, don’t forget to explore details about the ranks and benefits associated with the latest Stadium game mode, along with instructions on playing the newly introduced character, Freja.

2025-04-22 21:44

OW2 Season 16 hero changes

Tank

Damage

Support

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