Overwatch 2 Patch: Major Changes to Heroes, New 6v6 Mode, and Exciting Events Ahead!

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At long last, the midseason for Season 14 has arrived on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch! This update offers a special focus on underappreciated characters, balancing out the more powerful ones, and introducing a fresh 6v6 gameplay trial for players to enjoy.

For an extended period, Hazard has been causing chaos in the game meta, even after a fix that raised his Ultimate’s cost. As a result, we’re going to tone him down with a nerf. On the other hand, Sojourn continues to reign as the Damage queen. To match her level, we will enhance other DPS characters to bring them up to par with her performance.

On the contrary, the supports may now depart from Ana/Juno’s prison with some adjustments to those overpowering healers, along with a boost to the underpowered Illari.

Biggest changes in Overwatch 2 January 21 patch

In Season 14, Hazard has been at the top of his game, ruling both the rankings and professional play since his debut. However, Blizzard has gradually weakened this dive tank over the season, and there’s another nerf coming for his Violent Leap ability. This means he’ll need to think more carefully before diving and using defensive abilities in future games.

Additionally strong characters such as Juno and Ana are not exempt from balance adjustments. The power of Ana’s Biotic Grenade will be decreased in terms of damage inflicted and healing provided, whereas the impact on Juno’s ultimate has been significant, reducing its damage amplification and duration.

Ultimately, players controlling Tracer in Overwatch can anticipate reduced gun dispersion, making it easier to hit enemies again. Additionally, Echo’s Focusing Beam was significantly enhanced; it now deals increased damage to targets with more than half their health remaining.

For those anticipating 6vs6 updates, the midway point of Season 14 will introduce a fresh 6vs6 gameplay style: with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3 characters allowed per role. This means you’ll need to select at least one character for each role, but can choose up to three characters for each role in this format.

Full Overwatch 2 January 21 update patch notes

Year of the Snake Seasonal Event

Experience the Lunar New Year – Year of the Snake – in Overwatch 2 with the reappearance of Mischief & Magic, a fun and lively game mode incorporating tactics, sneakiness, and skill. This mode includes Bounty Hunter and Capture the Flag as well. Finish event tasks to earn unique rewards, including Lunar New Year-themed cosmetics that represent the festive spirit and liveliness of the season. Don’t forget to outsmart, outplay, and outlast your competitors!

Valentine’s Day 2025

Get ready to rekindle your affection for geometry and dive back into the popular Love of Geometry game mode! In this intense team Deathmatch, two squads of four Cupid Hanzo’s face off against each other. Be cautious when hiding in corners, as every player can utilize the original Scatter Arrow ability of Hanzo. This event is sure to win your heart all over again from February 4th to the 18th.

6v6 Experimental – Minimum 1, Maximum 3

Step back into the early days of Overwatch and get a new perspective with the innovative 6v6 Min 1, Max 3 Mode. This unique test mixes nostalgia with current gameplay mechanics, providing a structured team setup while still allowing for role changes during the match. By joining this experiment, you’ll have the opportunity to influence the future of Overwatch 2’s gameplay, so don’t pass up on this chance to make your mark!

  • Heroes are selected first come, first serve.
  • Each team must have at least one hero from all three roles, but cannot have more than three heroes from any given role.
  • Players can switch between roles while in the spawn room.
  • Hero balance for this experiment uses the same hero balance from the 6v6 2-2-2 Role Queue experiment.
  • This game mode is available to play in Unranked from January 21 to February 3.

Overwatch Classic – Moth Meta

Experience Overwatch Classic – Moth Meta: Journey back to one of Overwatch’s most memorable and turbulent eras. Mercy’s renowned “Moth” playstyle captivates as her swift Resurrects reshape team fights, while characters such as DPS Doomfist and Symmetra with her Shield Generator reemerge victoriously on the battlefield. Tread upon cherished maps like Oasis, Eichenwalde, and Junkertown, where each conflict brims with nostalgic tactics and surprising chaos.

  • Heroes added include Ana, Sombra, Orisa, and Doomfist.
  • Maps added include Eichenwalde, Oasis, Horizon Lunar Colony, and Junkertown.
  • Hero balance is adjusted to the September 2017 Hero Balance.

New Mythic Weapon – Ashe’s Lead Rose

The newly introduced Mythic weapon is the Lead Rose, wielded by Ashe who was raised in the Lead Rose Manor with expectations of perfection. However, instead of a flawless rose, she bore thorns – much like her rebellious spirit. This weapon embodies beauty and danger, mirroring its wielder. The more eliminations Ashe achieves, the more she blossoms into her true self! At initial level, players will acquire the base Mythic weapon. Progressing to level two grants reactivity and the Mythic HUD. The delightful flourish is available at level three, enabling Ashe to mockingly throw a rose at adversaries. Lastly, level four unlocks elimination effects, showering foes in rose petals upon their destruction.

Competitive updates

Competitive Drives

  • A new Drives signature is available to earn from February 11 to February 16
  • Players can now earn up to 6,000 Competitive Points by completing Competitive Drive Stages, enough to unlock 2 Jade or Golden Weapon Variants.

Competitive Rewards

At the end of the 2024 Competitive Year, Season 14 is your final opportunity to earn Jade Weapon Variants using Competitive Points. Once Season 14 finishes, any remaining Competitive Points will automatically transform into Legacy Competitive Points, which can be traded for Golden Weapon Variants instead. From Season 15 onwards, you won’t be able to obtain the Jade Weapon Variants anymore.

Hero Updates

In these changes for our heroes, they will affect the usual game modes we have but won’t impact the 6v6 Experiment or Overwatch Classic.

Tank Hero Changes

  • Ramattra
    • Base Armor increased from 75 to 100.

Comment from Developer: To enhance Ramattra’s performance compared to other Brawl Tanks, we are considering a slight upgrade to his armor strength. This adjustment will bolster his abilities without significantly changing his fundamental gameplay mechanics.

  • Winston
    • Tesla Cannon
      • Ammo increased from 100 to 120.
      • Secondary fire max charge increased from 50 to 60.
    • Primal Rage
      • Ultimate ability cost increased by 12%.

Game Developer Note: The enhanced health of enemies is affecting Winston’s diving ability. To help him deal with these stronger foes, we’ve amplified the damage of the Tesla Cannon’s secondary shot and increased its ammunition supply. This way, Winston can continue attacking and defeating enemies without reloading as frequently.

  • Hazard
    • Violent Leap
      • Violent Leap cooldown increased from 5 to 6 seconds.

As a gamer, I’ve noticed that my new tank’s movement, Violent Leap, seems to be a bit risky. Reducing the cooldown on this ability means I’ll need to choose wisely when charging into enemy backlines with Hazard, ensuring I don’t overextend and end up in danger.

Damage Hero Changes

  • Echo
    • Focusing Beam
      • Damage-per-second on targets above 50% HP increased from 50 to 75.

Tech Note: Due to Echo’s recent slight drop in performance, we’re enhancing the baseline damage of Focusing Beam. This modification should facilitate pushing opponents towards their critical health point more effortlessly.

  • Tracer
    • Pulse Pistols
      • Spread decreased by 15%.

Comment from Developer: Since reducing the damage on Tracer’s Pulse Pistols, she appears less menacing. Narrowing their dispersion will enhance the consistency of her damage when firing at distances slightly beyond close range.

Support Hero Changes

  • Ana
    • Biotic Grenade
      • Explosion damage and healing decreased from 90 to 75.

Developer Note: The latest modifications to Ana’s rifle have significantly increased her effectiveness as a support character. Lowering the damage on her Biotic Grenade will slightly alter some of her ability thresholds and impact her self-healing capabilities to some extent.

  • Illari
    • Solar Rifle
      • Secondary Fire Maximum resource increased from 3 to 3.5 seconds.

Developer Note: In situations where lllari doesn’t have her Healing Pylon, she may find it challenging to help her allies heal. Boosting the max ammo for her alternate attack would enable her to provide better support to her team in such instances.

  • Juno
    • Orbital Ray
      • Duration reduced from 10 to 8 seconds.
      • Damage amplification reduced from 35% to 30%.

Developer’s Note: The final ability of Juno is excessively strong when utilized properly by her teammates. Lowering its duration and damage multiplier will lessen its overall impact.

Bug Fixes

General

  • Fixed an issue where competitive titles will sometimes unequip after a logout.

Maps

  • Circuit Royal
    • Fixed an issue which now prevents turrets from being placed inside the sportscars.

Heroes

  • Bastion
    • Fixed in previous release, fixed an issue causing Bastion’s Ultimate to not have impact sounds or VFX.
  • Hazard
    • Fixed an issue where Hazard’s Jagged Wall projectiles would pass through certain player made objects such as Cryo-Freeze, Ice Wall, Petal Platform.
  • Sombra
    • Fixed an issue where Sombra’s EMP can sometimes fail to hit opponents if they had previously interacted with Jagged Wall.
  • Zenyatta
    • Fixed an issue causing Zenyatta to T-Pose with the “Retro Hero” emote.

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2025-01-22 01:57