Overwatch Season 2 Patch Notes Preview: Sierra Arrives, Hero Buffs and Nerfs, Post-Match Accolades, and More

Overwatch Season 2 is now live, and players can jump into the game to explore all the new changes. Sierra, a brand-new Damage hero, is the highlight of this update, and Blizzard will kick off the season with a special event to celebrate her arrival. The update also brings some interesting general improvements, including post-match accolades and changes to the map voting system.

Season 2 introduces a wave of hero buffs and nerfs, with several characters receiving game-changing adjustments. Players can also purchase the new Mythic Soldier: 76 skin and Mythic Genji weapon, in addition to the Battle Pass. Below, we've summarized the most crucial updates coming with Overwatch Season 2.

Overwatch Season 2 summary

Operation Grand Mesa: New Hero Event

The three-week Operation: Grand Mesa event, beginning April 14, explores the new hero Sierra's clash with Talon and the reasons behind the attack on Watchpoint: Grand Mesa. Rewards include one Legendary Loot Box, one Epic Loot Box, three Battle Pass Tier Skips, and exclusive rewards tied to Sierra.

General Updates

Post-Match Accolades

Starting in Season 2, the post-match screen lets players showcase their favorite skins on a 3D stage and vote for the MVP among the two top-performing heroes from each team. The heroes who win MVP will be celebrated with Epic and Legendary voice lines. For the first time in Unranked and Competitive modes, players can also manually join Match Voice Chat during the post-match accolades.

Map Voting Updates

Overwatch's map voting system has been updated with several new features. New and reworked maps now offer bonus XP or Competitive Points and reduce the penalty for losing. A Random Map option has been added as a fourth choice, and maps can win by Landslide if they lead by a certain number of votes. Furthermore, at least two different game modes will appear among the three map choices, and Attack/Defend icons now show which side you'll play first.

Finally, the voting system now remembers your preferences. This means maps you vote for that lose will come back sooner, while ignored maps will show up less often.

Hero Balance Changes

Tank

Sigma - Receives a small nerf. His Hyper Regeneration Minor Perk now only restores barrier health when damaging enemy heroes, not deployables. Additionally, his shield's maximum health has been reduced from 650 to 600 in 6v6.
Ramattra - Vengeful Vortex Major Perk is now a base ability. The projectile now explodes upon touching the ground, can be manually detonated in the air, and deals reduced damage. Void Surge has been moved from Minor to Major Perk, with the delay between bursts reduced by 20%. A new Minor Perk, Prolonged Barrier, has been added; this increases the shield's duration and size by 25%.
Reinhardt - Receives a minor quality-of-life change. The Shield Slam Minor Perk now has a custom setting that allows you to bind the ability to Quick Melee.
Roadhog - Scrap Gun's reload time has been increased from 1.5 to 1.75 seconds, while Chain Hook's cooldown has gone from 6 to 8 seconds. A new Major Perk, Hogdrogen Exposure, replaces Invigorate. This allows Take a Breather to now heal nearby allies for 50% of its healing amount.
Winston - Tesla Cannon now deals 50% increased damage to deployables. In 6v6, Winston's base health has been reduced from 350 to 325.
Wrecking Ball - Base health in 6v6 reduced from 475 to 450.

Damage

Anran - Minor and Major Perk costs have been reduced by 7% and 5%, respectively. Anran's abilities have also received buffs in the S2 patch. Fan the Flames' impact damage has been increased from 5 to 6, while Inferno Rush's impact damage has been reduced from 50 to 30. Dancing Blaze now heals 50 HP on the first target hit and 25 HP for each subsequent strike. To balance this buff, Anran's Hungering Blaze Major Perk now increases the healing from Dancing Blaze's subsequent hits by 25.
Ashe - The time required to retrigger Coach Gun (when using the Double Barreled Minor Perk) has been increased from 1 to 2 seconds.
Bastion - Minor and Major Perk costs have been increased by 10% and 6%, respectively. Bastion's Configuration Reload Minor Perk no longer fully refunds the A-36 Tactical Grenade's cooldown when changing configurations; instead, it now reduces the cooldown by 4 seconds. Furthermore, the overhealth decay for the Armored Artillery Minor Perk has been reduced from 100 to 50 HP per second.
Echo - Can now duplicate allied heroes using her ultimate. Additionally, the Focused Rush Minor Perk's range has been increased from 4 to 6 meters.
Emre - A new accessibility option has been added, allowing Emre to automatically fire Siphon Blaster at a reduced fire rate by holding Secondary Fire. Furthermore, the heat generated from direct hits while using the Heat Sink perk has been reduced from 100% to 40%.
Junkrat - Mine Recycling has been upgraded from a Minor to a Major Perk. Instead of triggering on killing blows, it now restores one Concussion Mine charge with every elimination. To account for this, Bomb Voyage has been moved from Major to Minor Perk, and the attack speed bonus received has been reduced from 35% to 25%.
Pharah - Bonus horizontal movement speed for Hover Jets has been reduced from 40% to 30%. However, the most significant change is to Pharah's ultimate. Barrage now allows Pharah to move while active, though its splash damage has been reduced from 30 to 25 HP per rocket, lowering total damage to 1050 HP per second. Furthermore, the Drift Thrusters Minor Perk has been replaced by Concussive Force, which allows Concussive Blast to deal up to 50 HP of splash damage in addition to its 30 HP direct hit damage.
Reaper - The Dire Triggers Perk is now a baseline ability. To balance this change, its cooldown has been increased from 3 to 6 seconds. Reaper also receives a new Major Perk, Trigger Finger, which refreshes Dire Trigger's cooldown when the hero uses an ability or reloads.
Soldier: 76 - Sprint now allows Soldier to reload, though this reduces his movement speed bonus by 50%. A new custom setting has also been added, allowing Sprint to cancel reload. Furthermore, the Agility Training Major Perk has been replaced by Full Stride, which increases Soldier's Sprint movement speed bonus by an extra 25% over 2 seconds.
Sombra - Minor and Major Perk costs have been reduced by 6% and 5%, respectively. Additionally, Stealth's movement speed bonus is reduced by 50% while revealed by damage.
Tracer - Minor and Major Perk costs have been reduced by 10% and 7%, respectively.
Vendetta - Armor has been reduced from 100 to 75 HP, while Minor and Major Perk costs have seen reductions of 6% and 5%, respectively. Additionally, the Onslaught Passive's movement speed stack has been reduced from 4% to 2%, and Palatine Fang's overhead swing bonus range has been lowered from 2.5 to 2 meters.
Widowmaker - Minor and Major Perk costs have been reduced by 6% and 4%, respectively.

Support

Ana - Biotic Grenade's cooldown has been reduced from 14 to 12 seconds.
Brigitte - Barrier Shield's health has been increased from 250 to 300, while the Combat Medic Minor Perk's cooldown refund has been increased from 0.5 to 0.75 seconds.
Jetpack Cat - Frenetic Flight's acceleration has been reduced by 11%, and cooldown reductions now apply to the Claws Out Major Perk as well.
Juno - Glide Boost's movement speed bonus has been lowered from 50% to 40%. In the 6v6 format, Juno's Pulsar Torpedoes' cooldown has been increased from 10 to 12 seconds.
Lifeweaver - Healing Blossom's maximum healing has been increased from 80 to 90, Rejuvenating Dash's healing has been boosted from 45 to 55, and Life Grip now cleanses allies. Additionally, the Sow the Seed Major Perk's cooldown has been lowered from 14 to 11 seconds.
Lucio - The Accelerando Major Perk has been tweaked, and it now provides Lucio with 15% attack speed when Speed Song is active; this is tripled during Amp It Up. Additionally, the Soundwave Rider Minor Perk can no longer empower a Soundwave before the round begins. In 6v6, Lucio's healing has been reduced from 20 to 18 HP/s.
Kiriko - Swift Step's teleport range has been reduced from 35 to 30 meters, while Healing Ofuda's fire rate has been increased from 5 to 7 per second.
Mizuki - Minor and Major Perk costs have been increased by 16% and 10%, respectively. Kekkai Sanctuary no longer spawns if Mizuki is eliminated during the cast time. Mizuki can activate return during Katashiro Return while other animations are active (except the ultimate cast animation), and his movement speed bonus has been reduced from 35% to 30%. In 6v6, Remedy Aura's healing output has been reduced from 5–20 to 4.5–18 HP.
Mercy - Flash Heal is now a baseline ability rather than a perk. To accommodate this change, its cooldown has been reduced from 15 to 12 seconds, base healing increased from 50 to 60 HP, and the healing multiplier on allies below half health reduced from 3x to 2x. Additionally, Caduceus Staff's healing output has been reduced from 60 to 55 HP/s, and Guardian Angel's launch speed has been reduced by 10%. Mercy also receives a new Major Perk, Double Dose, which gives Flash Heal an additional charge but with reduced base healing.
Wuyang - Rushing Torrent's duration has been reduced from 4 to 3.5 seconds.
Zenyatta - In 6v6, Orb of Discord's damage amplification has been reduced from 30% to 25%.

Map Updates

Overwatch Antarctic Peninsula Map Rework

Antarctic Peninsula is undergoing a rework, and Blizzard has detailed several visual changes for the Control map. Check out the official patch notes for the updated designs and more details about Season 2 changes.

Stay tuned to Strafe Esports for more updates on the latest season of Overwatch. You can also follow us on our X account for the latest content and coverage.

Featured Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment

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