Overwatch 2 Patch Notes Bring The Biggest Stadium Changes Yet

Overwatch 2's latest update brings the most significant changes to the game's new Stadium mode yet, with tweaks to the mode's mercy rule, major item price adjustments, the introduction of Freja, and hero balance changes. It's all detailed in the patch notes, which can be found below.

Stadium sports a "mercy rule," where if one team has a significant cash advantage and wins three rounds in a row, that team will immediately win. However, Blizzard notes that the need for a 15,000 cash disparity between teams to trigger the rule was making it so games weren't being ended early when they probably should have.

In order to make the mercy rule more effective, Blizzard has lowered the cash disparity needed to trigger it down to a 10,000 cash difference. Blizzard said it will keep an eye on the change and will consider making additional mercy rule changes in the future.

Other Stadium mode changes include an additional cash bonus when both teams have lower than intended amounts of cash, and an increase to the amount of competitive points earned from matches.

Perhaps the most significant changes to Stadium are updates to the cost and power of certain items. Blizzard said that stacking large amounts of Weapon Power or Ability Power is currently too prevalent and "crowding out" other item choices. To make other items a more viable option, Blizzard has lowered the cost efficiency of many of the offending items by increasing their cost or slightly lowering their overall stats, while also buffing some weaker items.

On the hero balance-side of Stadium, Freja is now playable in the mode, while Reinhardt and Soldier: 76 have received some changes. Soldier: 76 will find it harder to one shot enemies with Helix Rocket after a nerf to the Cratered power that sees the ability's explosion damage reduced to 15% from 25%. Reinhardt received the most adjustments, with nerfs to the Rocket Strike item in order to compensate for buffs to Reinhardt's Fire Strike ability in core Overwatch, as well as nerfs to the Smashing power in order to tune down the hero's popular Melee damage build that Blizzard said is "performing too consistently."

While most of the changes in the patch are for Stadium, there are a few adjustments to hero balance in Overwatch 2's standard modes as well. The aforementioned Reinhardt Fire Strike changes have made it so the ability's projectile speed is faster and its recovery time reduced, while Freja, the game's newest hero, has received a slight nerf to her Quick Dash ability. Other changes include nerfs to Sombra to make her invisibility easier to deal with, buffs for Hanzo's primary fire, nerfs to Pharah's popular Drift Thrusters and Concussive Implosion perks, and more.

Check out the patch notes below for the full list of changes. Overwatch 2's latest Season 16 update additionally added a new Street Fighter 6 crossover and a new Overwatch Classic playlist that returns the game to how it was in October 2020. Blizzard recently detailed its Overwatch 2 Stadium mode roadmap, outlining the heroes, maps, and more that will come to the mode in future seasons.

Overwatch 20 May 20 Patch Notes

General Updates

Player Report Tool

• Players can now receive an instant notification if a player is already actioned.
• Prior to this feature, reporting a player that had already been banned or suspended would not result in any additional information. The Instant Reporting Feedback feature will immediately inform the player of the fact that banned or suspended players have been actioned when they are reported.

Hero Updates

Tank

Hazard

Developer comments: Hazard's slower climbing fits his lumbering tank fantasy, but it was a point of friction when trying to chase down or escape from enemies, so we're speeding up how quickly he can vault over a ledge. Additionally, we're boosting Anarchic Zeal’s lifesteal as the current value wasn't effective enough.

Vault - Passive

• Ledge climb animation time reduced from 0.6 to 0.4 seconds.

Anarchic Zeal - Major Perk

• Spike Guard’s Lifesteal is increased from 25% to 40%.

Reinhardt

Developer comments: Reinhardt generally does well across the game but falls off in effectiveness at high ranks. We're increasing the speed and responsiveness of Fire Strike to make it more reliable from range.

Fire Strike - Ability 2

• Projectile speed increased from 25 to 30 meters per second.
• Recovery time reduced from 0.63 to 0.45 seconds.

Damage

Freja

Developer comments: Freja has continued to climb in win-rate now that players have become accustomed to her kit. We are partially reverting the Quick Dash cooldown to reduce her airtime and frequency of explosive bolts.

Quick Dash

• Cooldown increased from 3.5 to 4 seconds.

Genji

Shuriken - Primary and Secondary Fire

• Ammo reduced from 30 to 24.
• Projectile speed increased from 60 to 75.

Hanzo

Developer comments: Hanzo's been underperforming recently so we're reverting his bow draw speed back to its original, faster value. The Sonic Disruption perk isn't picked very often but increasing its duration will make it more useful and require less upkeep to control a health pack.

Storm Bow - Primary Fire

• Draw time reduced from 0.8 to 0.72 seconds.

Sonic Disruption - Minor Perk

• Health pack hack time increased from 12 to 30 seconds.

Pharah

Developer comments: Drift Thrusters and Concussive Implosion have been too consistent at securing kills. These adjustments will give better opportunities for counterplay when fighting against these perks.

Drift Thrusters - Minor Perk

• Movement speed while using Barrage reduced by 20%.

Concussive Implosion - Major Perk

• Distance pulled reduced by 50%.

Reaper

Developer comments: We're aligning the recovery of Dire Triggers with Reaper’s primary fire to improve the flow when alternating between the two.

Dire Triggers - Major Perk

• Recovery reduced from 0.7 to 0.5 seconds.

Soldier: 76

Developer comments: Stim Pack's button mapping made it difficult to activate, especially in combat. Binding it to Weapon Swap improves the control scheme and removing the anti-heal makes it less punishing to use.

Stim Pack - Major Perk

• Anti-heal removed. Now deals 75 self-damage on use.
• Is now activated by using Weapon Swap.

Sombra

Developer comments: Invisibility is a frustrating mechanic to play against for many, so we're increasing the windows for counterplay. Sombra will now take longer to exit stealth and to disappear after taking damage.

Translocator - Ability 2

• Fade in time increased from 0.15 to 0.3 seconds.
• Stealth reveal duration on taking damage increased from 1 to 1.3 seconds.

Widowmaker

Developer comments: Widowmaker is a more map-dependent hero than most and now with hero bans restricting her usefulness we're looking to make her viable in more situations.

Widow's Kiss - Primary Fire

• Maximum spread reduced from 3 to 2 degrees.
• Damage increased from 13 to 14.

Deadly Deux

• Venom Mine's bonus damage increased from 50% to 100%.

Support

Illari

Developer comments: Illari often has to move into high-risk positions to heal effectively. Extending the range on her healing beam will give her more flexibility in how she positions and supports her team.

Solar Rifle - Secondary Fire

• Range increased from 15 to 20 meters.

Lifeweaver

Developer comments: The opportunity cost to use Thorn Volley is still too high compared to constantly charging Healing Blossom. We are improving the auto-charge to make weaving damage between healing less punishing.

Healing Blossom - Primary Fire

• Auto-Charge rate increased by 25%.

Superbloom - Major Perk

• The number of hits to trigger reduced from 20 to 16.

Stadium Updates

Mercy Rule

• Now triggers when the cash disparity between the teams is at 10,000 or more (down from 15,000).

Developer comments: We feel that not enough games that reach 3-0 are triggering the Mercy Rule when they probably should. We'll be keeping a close eye on this and will be considering other changes to the Mercy Rule system in the future.

Round Completion Cash

We've added a system where players are granted an additional boost to their Round Completion Cash in rounds that end with players on both teams having lower than intended amounts of cash. This additional cash will be equivalent for every player.

Competitive Rewards

• Competitive points for winning a match has been increased to 20 per match.

Tank

Reinhardt

Developer comments: To compensate for the buff to Reinhardt's Fire Strike in Core Overwatch, we're decreasing the burst potential of Reinhardt's Fire Strike build and normalizing the max projectile speed Fire Strike can reach. We're also tuning down Reinhardt's Melee build to be a bit more counterable, which is performing too consistently given the high payoff of the build.

Smashing - Power

• Reduced Move Speed per stack to 1% (down from 2%).
• Reduced Life Steal per stack to 3% (down from 5%).
• Increased maximum stacks to 10 (up from 5).
• Reduced duration to 2s (down from 3s).

To Me, My Friends! - Power

• Increased healing based on Max Life to 4% (up from 3%).

Wilhelmwagen - Power

• Decreased healing from damage mitigated to 5% (down from 15%).

Rocket Strike - Epic Hero Ability Item

• Decreased Fire Strike Projectile Speed to 25% (down from 50%).
• Decreased Ability Power to 10% (down from 20%).

Chimera's Maw - Rare Hero Ability Item

• Decreased Ability Power to 5% (down from 10%).

Damage

Freja

• Added to the Stadium Hero Roster

Cyclone - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• When you use Updraft, fire a Take Aim bolt at your crosshair.

Seekerpoint - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• When Take Aim bolt sticks an enemy, automatically fire 3 additional crossbow shots at them that deal 66% reduced damage.

Seismic Shot - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• Take Aim explosion radius is increased by 33%. Double this if the bolt is stuck to a target.

Thread the Needle - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• Take Aim bolts pierce enemies. Additional explosions deal 66% reduced damage.

Deep Pockets - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• When you use an ability, restore 50% of your Max Ammo.

Forager - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• For 2 seconds after using Quick Dash. Revdraw Crossbow hits heal you for 3% of your Max Life.

Peak Performance - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• While firing Revdraw Crossbow your fall speed is decreased by 80%.

Redux - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• Revdraw Crossbow hits against targets stuck by a Take Aim bolt or Bola Shot reduce the cooldown of your abilities by 5% and refunds 1 ammo.

Volley à Deux - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• Every fifth Revdraw Crossbow shot fires an additional 2 bolts in a spread that deal 50% reduced damage.

Lille Fælde - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• After using Updraft, your next Take Aim while airborne fires a Bola Shot that deals 60% reduced damage instead of an explosive bolt.

So Cooked - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• Bola Shot's damaging zone deals 50% more damage and lingers for 3 seconds. Bola shot eliminations count toward Bounty Hunting.

Mighty Gust - Power

• New Stadium Power.
• Updraft launches a wind blast toward your crosshair, knocking back enemies and dealing 40 ability damage.

Tracker Tag - Rare Hero Weapon Item

• New Rare Hero Weapon Item.
• 30% Max Ammo.
• When Take Aim bolt sticks to an enemy, increase your Attack Speed by 20% for 3 seconds.

Slipstream Scarf - Rare Hero Weapon Item

• New Rare Hero Weapon Item.
• 25 Health.
• 5% Weapon Power.
• 25% Quick Dash Distance.

Portable Zipline - Epic Hero Weapon Item

• New Epic Hero Weapon Item.
• 15% Weapon Power.
• Eliminations reset both charges of Quick Dash cooldown.

Windwalker Boots - Rare Hero Ability Item

• New Rare Hero Ability Item.
• 25 Health.
• 5% Cooldown Reduction.
• 20% Updraft Height.

Magnetic Maelstrom - Epic Hero Ability Item

• New Epic Hero Ability Item.
• 15% Ability Power.
• Bola Shot pulls in nearby enemies even when it misses.

Hunter's Mark - Rare Hero Survival Item

• New Rare Hero Survival Item.
• 25 Health.
• Enemies with a Bounty of 75- or more are revealed to you within 40 meters. Eliminating them grants 250 additional Stadium Cash.

Aeroweave Cloak - Rare Hero Survival Item

• New Rare Hero Survival Item.
• 25 Health.
• 100% Take Aim Slowed Momentum Duration.

Tourniquet - Rare Hero Survival Item

• New Rare Hero Survival Item.
• 25 Health.
• After using Updraft, reset Quick Dash and gain 50 Overhealth for 5 seconds.

Toxin Tips - Epic Hero Survival Item

• New Epic Hero Survival Item.
• 50 Health.
• Take Aim bolts sticks and explosions slow enemies by 30% but takes 1 second longer to explode.

Soldier: 76

Developer comments: Soldier 76's Helix Rocket build is one-shotting a little too consistently. We're decreasing the damage here a bit to reduce the burst potential.

Cratered - Power

• Reduced increased Explosion Damage to 15% (down from 25%)

General Items

Items

Developer comments: Stacking large amounts of Weapon Power or Ability Power have become too prevalent, crowding out other itemization options. We are lowering the cost efficiency of these items to promote greater item diversity and weaken builds that rely on high amounts of burst through stacking Weapon or Ability Power. We're also strengthening some weaker item options.

Champion's Kit - Epic Ability Item

• Increased cost to 14000 (up from 13500).
• Decreased Ability Power to 35% (down from 40%).

The Closer - Epic Weapon Item

• Increased cost to 14500 (up from 13000).

Eye of the Spider - Epic Weapon Item

• Increased cost to 14000 (up from 13500).

Nano Cola - Rare Ability Item

• Increased cost to 6000 (up from 5500).

Talon Modification Module - Rare General Weapon Item

• Increased cost to 6000 (up from 5500).

Gloomgauntlet - Epic Survival Item

• Increased cost to 10000 (up from 9500).

Icy Coolant - Rare Weapon Item

• Increased cost to 5500 (up from 5000).

Multi-Tool - Rare Ability Item

• Decreased cost to 4500 (down from 5000).
• Decreased Cooldown Reduction to 5% (down from 10%).
• Increased Ability Power to 10% (up from 5%).

Bloodbound - Epic Survival Item

• Decreased cost to 9000 (down from 9500).

Geneticist's Vial - Epic Survival Item

• Increased Life after reviving to 250 (up from 200).

Electrolytes - Common Survival Item

• Now gives 100 Overhealth every time you respawn (instead of just at the start of the round).
• Increased cost to 1500 (up from 1000).

Adrenaline Shot – Common Survival Item

• Increased Health to 25 (up from 10).
• Increased cost to 1500 (up from 1000).

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed an issue where challenges were not progressing when queued as a specific role.
• Fixed a graphical error that caused flashing for certain heroes on consoles.

Heroes

Doomfist

• Fixed an issue where Doomfist was able to continue charging his punch through Sigma's Accretion stun.

Illari

• Fixed an issue where Illari's Captive Sun Ultimate would not explode after a deflect.

Mercy

• Fixed an issue where Mercy's resurrect could complete in spawn if spawn timer was reached.

Stadium

• Fixed a visual issue causing the Rank Progress bar to show incorrect Stadium Points after a match.
• Fixed an issue with Competitive title rewards displaying the wrong role in stadium.
• Fixed an issue with Zarya not working with Codebreaker item.
• Fixed and issue where the mercy rule would activate inconsistently.
• Fixed an issue with Mercy's First Responder power.
• Fixed an issue where the armory could load in an incomplete state.
• Fixed an issue where the Better Together challenge was not tracking for D.VA players under certain conditions.
• Fixed an issue where the Better Together challenge was not counting towards MVP or Star of the Show challenges.
• Fixed an issue that occurs when Soldier uses the On Me power with both Vishkar Condenser and Vital-E-Tee mods together.
• Fixed an issue that occurs when Junker Queen uses both the Reckoner's Roar power and Cybervenom mod.
• Fixed an issue that occurs when Ana uses both Comfy Cloud and Dreamy powers.
• Fixed an issue that occurs when Mei uses both the Coulder power and Cybervenom mod.
• Fixed an issue with Freja's animation while holding down her secondary fire.
• Fixed an issue with Mercy's Equivalent Exchange mod and this has now been re-enabled.
• Fixed an issue with Genji's Deflect-O-Bot power and this has now been re-enabled.
• Fixed an issue where Moira's Empowering You power would not play hit markers when the buffed ally dealt damage.
• Fixed an issue where Zarya's Hybrid Battery item wouldn't reset energy to 0 when sold.