Overwatch season 2’s patch notes are full of tweaks for old heroes and almost all of the recently added characters. Soldier 76 learns a new trick after 10 years. Lifeweaver’s rework is off to a promising, if modest, start. And Mercy’s primary healing gets knocked down a bit to compensate for the permanent addition of Flash Heal.
But one of the standout sets of changes in season 2 is for Roadhog. His chain hook ability’s short cooldown timer meant that players with good aim could hook supports and squishy damage heroes every few seconds, pop them in one shot, and move on to the next. That, plus a general lack of helpful abilities for anyone other than himself, made him one of the more problematic tanks. That’s changing this season.
Blizzard has also made some welcome changes to Stadium’s ranked mode. Previously, your rank reset at the start of a new season, but that hard refresh is gone now, replaced by a more generous rank decay mechanic. Ramattra makes his debut in Stadium during season 2 as well, and if you’re tired of building Torpedo Juno during every match, you’ll have a few more options available that make better use of her Mediblaster and Hyper Ring.
Overwatch season 2 patch notes
Here’s the full set of patch notes for standard modes this season.
Sigma
Hyper Regeneration – minor perk
- Now restores barrier health only when damaging enemy heroes.
Experimental Barrier (6v6)
- Maximum health reduced from 650 to 60
Ramattra
Ramattra’s getting a bit of an overdue boost for his primary fire and vortex ability, the latter of which will permanently include his most popular perk moving forward. Blizzard hopes it’ll give Ramattra an edge against airborne characters, like Juno and Sierra.
Ravenous Vortex
- Vengeful Vortex moved from Perk to Baseline ability.
- Projectile now explodes on contact with the ground.
- Explosion can now be manually detonated while airborne.
- Explosion damage reduced from 50 to 15.
Prolonged Barrier – minor perk (new)
- Void Barrier duration and size increased by 25%.
Void Surge – major perk
- Moved from Minor to major perk.
- Delay between bursts reduced from 0.75 to 0.6 seconds.
Reinhardt
Shield Slam – minor perk
- Added a custom setting allowing Shield Slam to be bound to Quick Melee, enabling free look while the perk is equipped
Roadhog
Season 2 sees Roadhog get a bit more balanced, thanks to Chain Hook’s increased cooldown timer and his primary fire taking slightly longer to reload. He’ll also have more team-wide utility with the Hogrogen Exposure perk, which adds some healing to nearby allies when he uses his self-heal ability.
Scrap Gun
- Reload time increased from 1.5 to 1.75 seconds.
Chain Hook
- Cooldown increased from 6 to 8 seconds.
Invigorate – major perk
Hogdrogen Exposure – major perk (new)
- Take a Breather now heals nearby allies for 50% of its healing amount.
Winston
- 6v6) Base health reduced from 350 to 325.
- (6v6) Total health reduced from 550 to 525.
Tesla Cannon
- Deals 50% increased damage to deployables.
Wrecking Ball
- (6v6) Base health reduced from 475 to 450.
- (6v6) Total health reduced from 575 to 550
Perk costs
- Minor perk cost reduced by 7%.
- Major perk cost reduced by 5%.
Anran
Anran’s getting a few buffs to help balance her damage output and make it a little easier to get an elimination after igniting an opponent.
Fan the Flames
- Impact damage increased from 5 to 6.
Inferno Rush
- Impact damage reduced from 50 to 30.
Dancing Blaze
- Now heals Anran for 50 health on the first target hit and 25 health for each subsequent target.
Hungering Blaze – major perk
- Perk changed. Increases the healing of Dancing Blaze’s subsequent strikes by 25.
Ashe
Double Barreled – minor perk
- Time required to retrigger Coach Gun increased from 1 to 2 seconds
Bastion
Perk costs
- Minor perk cost increased by 10%.
- Major perk cost increased by 6%.
Configuration Reload – minor perk
- No longer fully refunds cooldown.
- Now reduces cooldown by 4 seconds.
Armored Artillery – minor perk
- Overhealth degeneration reduced from 100 to 50 per second
Echo
Echo’s old perk that let her duplicate allies now returns as a permanent part of her kit, which, Blizzard says, should make it easier to pull off combos with the rest of your team.
Duplicate
- Can now duplicate allied heroes.
Focused Rush – minor perk
- Range increased from 4 to 6 meters
Emre
No more endless lifesteal from Emre’s Siphon Blaster perk.
Siphon Blaster
- Added an accessibility option allowing right‑click auto‑fire at a reduced fire rate.
Heat Sink – minor perk
- Heat generated from direct hits reduced from 100% to 60%
Junkrat
Mine Recycling
- Moved from minor to major perk.
- Eliminations with Concussion Mine restore one charge.
Bomb Voyage
- Moved from major to minor perk.
- Attack speed bonus reduced from 35% to 25%
Pharah
Hover Jets
- Bonus movement speed reduced from 40% to 30%.
Barrage
- Pharah can now move while using Barrage.
- Explosion damage reduced from 30 to 25.
Drift Thrusters – minor perk
Concussive Force – minor perk (new)
- Concussive Blast deals up to 50 explosion damage
Reaper
Dire Triggers
- Moved from perk to baseline ability
- Cooldown increased from 3 to 6 seconds.
Trigger Finger – major perk (new)
- Using an ability or reloading refreshes Dire Triggers’ cooldown.
Soldier 76
It took 10 years, but Soldier can sprint and reload now! He just runs slower while reloading. So much for being a modified superhuman.
Sprint
- Can now reload while sprinting.
- Reloading while sprinting reduces Sprint’s movement speed bonus by 50%,
- diminishing over the duration.
- Added a custom setting allowing Sprint to cancel reload.
Agility Training – major perk
Full Stride – New major perk (new)
- Sprint’s movement speed bonus gradually increases by an additional 25% over 2 seconds
Sombra
Perk costs
- Minor perk cost reduced by 6%.
- Major perk cost reduced by 5%.
Stealth
- Movement speed bonus reduced by 50% while revealed by damage
Tracer
Perk costs
- Minor perk cost reduced by 10%.
- Major perk cost reduced by 7%.
Vendetta
Vendetta’s still getting balance changes, this time in a bid to make her engage and retreat more strategically.
Perk costs
- Minor perk cost reduced by 6%.
- Major perk cost reduced by 5%.
Onslaught (Passive)
- Movement speed per stack reduced from 4% to 2%.
Palatine Fang
- Overhead swing bonus range reduced from 2.5 to 2.0 meters
Armor
Widowmaker
Perk costs
- Minor perk cost reduced by 6%.
- Major perk cost reduced by 4%.
Ana
Ana’s completely vulnerable when her grenade is on cooldown, so Blizzard reduced the cooldown timer slightly.
Biotic Grenade
- Cooldown reduced from 14 to 12 seconds
Brigitte
Brig’s shield will last slightly longer now, so getting up close to activate Inspire should cause a bit less trouble.
Barrier Shield
- Health increased from 250 to 300.
Combat Medic – minor perk
- Cooldown refunded increased from 0.5 to 0.75 seconds
Jetpack Cat
Frenetic Flight
- Acceleration reduced by 11%
Juno
Pulsar Torpedoes (6v6)
- Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds.
Glide Boost
- Movement speed bonus reduced from 50% to 40%
Lifeweaver
Blizzard promised Lifeweaver changes, and the big one is that his life grip ability finally has a cleanse effect built into it, where that function was confined to a perk in previous seasons.
Healing Blossom
- Maximum healing increased from 80 to 90.
Rejuvenating Dash
- Healing increased from 45 to 55.
Life Grip
- Now cleanses allies when pulled.
Sow the Seed – major perk
- Cooldown reduced from 14 to 11 seconds
Lucio
Crossfade (6v6)
- Healing reduced from 20 to 18.
Accelerando – major perk
- Gain 15% attack speed while Lucio’s Speed Song is active, tripled during Amp It Up
Kiriko
Blizzard wants Kiriko to be less of an escape artist now, so you’ll have to play closer to your team. Equally important, she’ll heal more effectively by tossing seven ofuda per second instead of five.
Swift Step
Teleport range reduced from 35 to 30 meters.
Healing Ofuda
- Fire rate increased from 5 to 7 per second.
Mizuki
Perk amounts
- Minor perk amount increased by 16%.
- Major perk amount increased by 10%.
Remedy Aura (6v6)
- Minimum Healing Reduced from 5 to 4.5.
- Maximum Healing reduced from 20 to 18.
Kekkai Sanctuary
- No longer spawns if Mizuki is eliminated during the cast time.
Katashiro Return
- Can now activate return while other abilities are active, excluding Kekkai Sanctuary.
- Movement speed bonus reduced from 35% to 30%.
Mercy
Mercy gets Flash Heal built into her kit, but it comes at the cost of slightly reduced healing from her staff.
Flash Heal
- Added as a baseline ability.
- Cooldown reduced from 15 to 12 seconds.
- Base healing increased from 50 to 60.
- Healing multiplier on allies below 50% health reduced from 3x to 2x.
Caduceus Staff
- Healing reduced from 60 to 55.
Guardian Angel
- Launch speed reduced by 10%.
Double Dose – major perk (new)
- Flash Heal gains an additional charge but its base healing is reduced by 10
Wuyang
Rushing Torrent
- Duration reduced from 4 to 3.5 seconds
Zenyatta
Orb of Discord (6v6)
- Damage amplification reduced from 30% to 25%.
Overwatch season 2 Stadium patch notes
Ramattra is the big new thing for Stadium in Season 2, though Blizzard’s also trying to make less popular builds more viable for certain heroes. Vendetta gets the most attention, so you can get by without relying on Warding Stance or maintaining max Onslaught stacks. And Juno gets some power options that, in theory, make weapon power and Hyper Ring builds worth exploring.
Stadium ranked changes
Stadium ranks will no longer reset at the start of a new season. Instead, Blizzard is adding a decay function, where you’ll start a few divisions lower than where you ended (more, if you ended in All Star or Legend). The team hopes that returning to your previous rank — and progressing past it — will feel like less of a grind.
- Contender: Start from Novice (5 Divisions down).
- Elite: Start from Contender (5 Divisions down).
- Pro: Start from Elite (5 Divisions down).
- All Star: Start from Elite (10 Divisions down).
- Legend: Start from Elite (15 Divisions down).
Sigma
Symphonic Syzygy — Power
- Damage Absorbed threshold for Attack Speed reduced to 50 (Down from 100).
Winston
- Currency from damage and healing increased by 12.5%.
Lightning Rod — Power
- Bounce Damage increased to 75% (Up from 50%).
Volatile Volt — Power
- Critical Damage increased to 200% (Up from 175%).
Thick Skin — Power
- Added “+25% Starting Ultimate Charge”.
Freja
Turret Freja builds won’t be quite as overwhelming this season.
Deep Pockets — Power
- Max Ammo restore reduced to 30% (Down from 40%).
Forager — Power
- Max Life Healing reduced to 6% (Down from 8%).
Junkrat
Zip Grease — Epic Weapon Hero Item
Refreshing Radiation — Epic Survival Hero Item
- Max Life Overhealth Scaling reduced to 6% (Down from 8%).
Jamison Jumpers — Epic Survival Hero Item
- Removed 10% Weapon Power.
- Ability Power increased to 15% (Up from 10%).
- Cooldown Reduction upon self detonating Concussion Mine reduced to 10% (Down from 15%).
Vendetta
- Currency from damage and healing increased by 5%.
Cyclone Charge — Power
- Whirlwind Dash Damage during additional duration increased to 75% (Up from 50%).
Double Dash — Power
- Whirlwind Dash reactivation damage increased to 75% (Up from 50%).
Skycut — Power
- Free Projected Edge damage increased to 75% (Up from 50%).
Overloaded Strike — Power
- Mini Sundering Blade damage increased to 50% increased damage (Up from 25%).
Cataclisma — Power
- Explosion Damage increased to 30 (Up from 20).
Ana
Perfected Formula — Rare Survival Hero Item
- Nano Boost Duration increased to 25% (Up from 15%).
Juno
Medimaster — Power
- Critical Multiplier decreased to 175% (Down from 200%).
- Tooltip now correctly states that it also allows you to crit on allies.
Fission Chamber — Power (new)
- While affected by [Hyper Ring], [Medi-Blaster] has a fully automatic fire rate.
Heal Formation — Power (new)
- Allies affected by [Hyper Ring] are healed for 40% of any damage you do.
Stellar Focus — Power (new)
- While using [Glide Boost] or hovering, gain 100% more Ultimate Charge from damage or healing.
Rally Ring — Power
Black Hole — Power
Pulse Spike – Epic Weapon Hero Item
- Removed Attack Speed after using Pulsar Torpedoes.
- Added +35% Ally Lock On Speed.
- Cost decreased to 10000 (Down from 11000).
Long Range Blaster – Epic Weapon Hero Item (changed)
- [Mediblaster] has 5m increased falloff range.
Gravitational Push – Epic Weapon Hero Item
- Cost decreased to 9000 (Down from 10000).
Lux Loop – Rare Ability Hero Item
- Ability Power decreased to 5% (Down from 10%).
- Added 5% Weapon Power.
Speed Tunnel – Rare Ability Hero Item (new)
- Activating Glide Boost as you pass through Hyper Ring reduces cooldown of Glide Boost by 50%.
Boosted Rockets – Epic Survival Hero Item
- Cost decreased to 9500 (Down from 12000).
Wuyang
Wave Lance – Power
- Non-empowered Primary Fire projectile speed increased to 150% (Up from 100%).
Shore Up – Power
- Active Restorative Stream self-healing increased to 100% (Up from 75%).
Zenyatta
Enlightenment – Power
- Healing based on damage dealt reduced to 30% (Down from 35%).
Seeking Salvation – Power
- Homing Health Threshold increased to 50% (Up from 35%).
About the Author
