Summary
Overwatch 2just released a mid-season patch full of balance changes for many of its playable heroes. While a few lucky heroes like D.Va and Sombra got buffs, manyOverwatch 2characters, including Doomfist and several healers, received nerfs.
Season 7, Rise of Darkness,began inOverwatch 2earlier this month, bringing with it a slew of spooky Halloween- andDiablo-themed cosmetics. The seasonal update also introduced a new map, changed how group respawns work, and made a bunch of changes to heroes, including a total rework for Sombra.
Now,Overwatch 2has introduced a sizeable mid-season updatecomplete with tons of balance changes. A few lucky heroes got a buff in the patch: D.Va, Winston, Sombra, and Widowmaker all received adjustments that should help shore up their weaknesses. However, many more received nerfs, with Doomfist, Bastion, Cassidy, Mei, Symmetra, Ana, Baptiste, Illari, Kiriko, and Lifeweaver all taking hits to their kits. Zenyatta’s Orbs of Harmony and Discord were both also changed, with both buffs and nerfs present in the soft rework.
This new patch added some other adjustments as well.Endorsement level decay inOverwatch 2has been slowed each match proportionally to the percentage of players who could not endorse them, meaning their Endorsement level isn’t negatively impacted by playing with friends or repeat strangers. Additionally, the Victory screen now displays total Progression Level, rather than their level with a specific hero, allowing them to better show their skill as a player regardless of hero.
This mid-season patch also heralds the coming oftheOverwatch 2x LE SSERAFIM crossover event. This K-pop-inspired collaboration includes a capture-the-flag game mode called Concert Clash, plus new challenges to complete. Players can also purchase LE SSERAFIM skins for D.Va, Kiriko, Tracer, Brigitte, and Sombra, and earn one for Junkrat via the in-game challenges. The limited-time event begins on November 1, the day after the patch went live.
The upcoming rework to Roadhog, the infamously taciturn tank, is not a part of this patch. Previously,Overwatch 2announced the Roadhog rework was being delayeduntil later on in Season 7. While the exact date is unknown, players can expect the revamped hero to arrive sometime in November–just in time for the new tank to shake up the meta in Season 8 in early December. Players can also look forward to learning more about what comes next forOverwatch 2during the BlizzCon panel scheduled on November 4.
Overwatch 2 Mid-Season 7 Patch Notes
LE SSERAFIM X OVERWATCH 2 LIMITED TIME EVENT
Overwatch 2 is teaming up with K-pop sensation, LE SSERAFIM in an in-game music collaboration. Play Concert Clash, a 3v3 capture-the-flag mode set in a K-pop themed Busan. Play as D.Va, Kiriko, Tracer, Brigitte and Sombra–decked out in LE SSERAFIM-inspired skins–and compete over tickets and capture objectives to turn them in and score points. This limited-time event begins on Wednesday, November 1, at 11:00 AM PDT.
GENERAL UPDATES
ENDORSEMENTS
Endorsement level decay has been reworked to be more forgiving in some circumstances. The endorsement level always decays slightly whenever you finish a match, but that decay is now reduced by the percentage of players who could not have endorsed you. If none of the players in the match could have endorsed you, your Endorsement level would not decay. The following reasons prevent other players from endorsing you:
Endorsement level decay also no longer occurs when a server shuts down. The most common reason for this is a competitive match shutting down when players leave the match early.
CHALLENGES
Added Legendary, Mythic, and Ultimate Player Title challenges to each hero’s progression challenges.
PROGRESSION
Developer Comments: The hero you end the match on isn’t necessarily representative of you as a player. This change is intended to better show off your overall progression.
SOCIAL FEATURES
Developer Comments: We will be changing the defaults for both text and voice chat to encourage effective communication through the ping system while reducing the chance of encountering disruptive chat in the game.
HERO UPDATES
Developer comments: This balance patch is largely focused on widening the window of time players have during combat between some impactful cooldowns, such as Bastion’s reconfigure, Cassidy’s grenade, and many of the support utilities.
Fusion Cannons
Micro Missiles
Developer comments: The added projectile speed to Micro Missiles helps improve their consistency at medium range while the decreased movement speed penalty on Fusion Cannons enable D.Va to stick closer to mobile targets, making her more of a threat when diving into the enemy team.
Doomfist
Rocket Punch
Developer comments: This change will give the stunned player more opportunities to react to Doomfist following a wall stun.
Winston
Tesla Cannon
Developer comments: Increasing the range of the alternate fire will give Winston some more flexibility in positioning while dealing damage from range.
Mei
Endothermic Blaster
Developer comments: With some of the recent changes, Mei is now slightly overperforming. Her improved primary fire damage output is good for her role, so rather than adjust that further, we’re instead targeting the more commonly frustrating crowd control aspect of its slowing effect.
EMP
Symmetra
Developer comments: With Symmetra recently gaining more lethality in her long-ranged secondary fire, she’s no longer as reliant on playing at close range, so we’re reverting her total health back to 200.
Widow’s Kiss
Infra-Sight
Developer comments: Recon Visor is taking a long time to charge on average relative to other ultimate abilities so we’re reducing the cost. Widowmaker is also at a more severe disadvantage against Sombra with the recent rework and these changes will add more counterplay.
Solar Rifle
Healing Pylon
Developer comments: Illari’s overall damage output throughout a match is too high so we’re reducing how consistent her Solar Rifle damage is to apply. Her weapon has some other disadvantages such as needing to charge up and a reduced critical damage multiplier, but we’ll be evaluating how much of an effect this change has in combination with the reduced Healing Pylon uptime.
Healing Blossom
Life Grip
Dev Comment: Lifeweaver’s total healing over a match is significantly higher than any other hero so to help bring it more in line we’re making some adjustments to his primary Healing Blossom.
Harmony Orb
Orb of Discord
Developer comments: The goal of these changes is to add more counterplay against Discord Orb and encourage Zenyatta players to think more about who to place it on. Now, if the effect ends for any reason, the target is temporarily unable to be targeted again by Discord Orb. A new soft-targeting reticle appears when aiming toward an enemy player that cannot be affected by Discord Orb to display the remaining duration before it can be reapplied. This is a significant change both to how the ability feels to use and how clear it is to understand, so we will be keeping a close eye on player feedback.
HERO CUSTOM CONTROL UPDATES
In addition to the hero balance adjustments in this update, we are implementing additional quality-of-life settings and additional input options for several hero abilities to give you the ability to custom-tailor your experience of playing your favorite heroes.
Mercy
RUMBLE UPDATES
We’ve gone through and adjusted the Rumble and Trigger Feedback on several abilities for controllers. We looked to make the rumble more dynamic and responsive while also highlighting the unique feel of many abilities.
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.
