Fixes
Overwatch 2 has now released worldwide, and Blizzard's latest entry into the series has improved in all aspects compared to it's original release.
Competitive, has been soaring with the new 5v5 meta, but the real form of content comes in Season 4.
Here's all you need to know regarding Season 4 of Overwatch 2.
Overwatch 2 Season 4 Patch Notes - New Game Modes, Skins, and More
Season 3 has been fantastic in terms of meta for the game, as it doesn;t feel as there's one superior meta for the game right now, but overall it appears that Overwatch is going under some deep transformation during Season 4's release.
This comes in the form of the long awaited Brigitte rework, as the developers have teased it for quite some time now, and while we hope she isn't going to be as broken as she once was, she'll be more of a viable healer soon.
Season 4 should also bring a brand new Support to the game, and we now know that this hero is going to be Lifeweaver.
Below are all of Lifeweaver's abilities:
Thorn Volley – serves as an alternate primary fire that can kick out a respectable amount of damage to ward off aggressors.
Rejuvenating Dash – provides a small burst of passive healing to keep you alive while falling back or repositioning.
Parting Gift Passive – Triggers upon death and causes him to drop a healing item that can be picked up by heroes on both teams.
Tree Of Life Ultimate – Heals allies within the parameter for as long as it remains active. Can be placed anywhere on the map to disrupt sight lines and choke points.
Overwatch 2 Season 4 Patch Notes - Balance Changes
REINHARDT
- Armor health reduced from 300 to 250
- Base health increased from 175 to 200
Developer Comment: Reinhardt has been overperforming after the recent increases to his offensive capabilities. Those changes have been playing well, so to adjust his overall power, we’re reducing his overall health through this armor reduction.
SIGMA
Accretion
- Impact damage reduced from 60 to 40 (80 damage total with explosion)
- Knockdown duration increased from 0.8 to 1.1 seconds
Developer Comment: Like Roadhog’s Chain Hook, Sigma’s Accretion and primary fire combo can be highly lethal and can feel like a guaranteed kill against 200 health targets. We’re reducing the damage slightly to require an additional volley of primary fire but are also increasing the stun duration to provide allies with more opportunity to follow up on successful impacts.
CASSIDY
- Base health reduced from 225 to 200
Magnetic Grenade
- Damage reduced from 131 to 120
Developer Comment: Magnetic Grenade only requiring one additional primary fire shot after sticking to a target was too reliable to execute on, even though it only works at close range. We’re reducing the total damage on Magnetic Grenade, evenly split between the direct target damage and explosion. The reduced falloff-damage buff his primary fire received recently enables Cassidy to play from safer engagement ranges now, so we’re reducing his health back to 200.
SOMBRA
- EMP can now disable Blizzard
Developer Comment: We are expanding what Sombra’s EMP turns off to keep it consistent with how it affects other device-controlled ultimates.
ANA
Sleep Dart
- Maximum duration on Tank heroes reduced 30%, from 5 to 3.5 seconds
Developer Comments: We’ve been watching how effective Sleep Dart has been in 5v5 gameplay. It hasn’t been overly disruptive as a whole, but since it is significantly more reliable to land against Tank heroes due to their large hit boxes and even more valuable to do so with only one tank on the field, we’re reducing its maximum duration against those targets.
BRIGITTE
Rally
- Brigitte now gains 100 restorable armor health pool for the duration of Rally
- Brigitte no longer gradually builds temporary health like her nearby allies
- Rally now upgrades her Barrier Shield, increasing both its size and health
- Barrier health increased from 300 to 750 during the ultimate
- During Rally, Shield Bash now impacts multiple enemies and briefly stuns them
- Bonus movement speed reduced from 30 to 15%
Repair Pack
- Range reduced from 30 to 25 meters
Developer Comments: Rally lost some of its power with the change from granting allies additional armor to temporary health, and overall took a relatively long time to build up its defensive benefits. This rework is intended to keep it as a defensive ultimate ability but with a more immediate impact due to gaining an increased armor health pool upfront and the enhanced barrier, which can be utilized to block for teammates while their temporary health builds or interrupt enemies with the stun.
MERCY
Caduceus Staff
- Healing-per-second increased from 45 to 55
- Healing is no longer increased for allies under half health
Guardian Angel
- Cooldown reduced from 2.5 to 1.5 seconds
- Jump and Crouch cancel active ability state duration increased from 1.0 to 1.5 seconds
- The Jump and Crouch cancel active ability state can no longer be manually interrupted to begin the cooldown early
Valkyrie
- Support role passive healing is now active for the duration of Valkyrie
Developer Comment: The recent increase to Guardian Angel’s jump-cancel mobility still needs to be kept in check in some way, but while the last iteration was simple, it also had some unintended effects, such as not being ready to use GA again after flying in and using Resurrect. This revision provides more flexibility, and allows Mercy to opt into an additional 1.5 second cooldown when using the increased mobility from the jump/crouch cancel options or otherwise waiting for the base cooldown time.
The increased healing multiplier condition on Caduceus Staff was intended to help Mercy players feel more agency in trying to save critical-health allies and to add depth to the healing mechanic without changing the total time to heal to full health. However, the overall rebalance of the healing values received significant negative feedback, both from those playing as Mercy and those playing against it. There wasn’t a satisfying middle ground where we could reduce the potency of this effect while still having it feel impactful, so we’re reverting it.
MOIRA
Fade
- Can now be activated during Coalescence
Coalescence
- Bonus movement speed reduced from 50 to 40%
Biotic Grasp
- Lingering heal duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds
Developer Comments: Being able to use Fade during her Coalescence ultimate gives Moira more playmaking ability by being able to reposition even more quickly and avoid potential threats with quick reactions. Due to the more spread-out playstyle of 5v5, we’re increasing the lingering heal duration from her primary fire, meaning it will heal more in total.