Overwatch 2 Season 18 patch notes

Henry MedranoAugust 26, 2025

Season 18 of Overwatch 2 is about to start, meaning a new update and the corresponding patch notes should drop before that. The patch is set to bring all the new content, along with other adjustments to the perks, gameplay, and more.

While we wait for Blizzard to post the full notes, we have gathered all the information we have so far about the upcoming update.

When does Overwatch 2 Season 18 come out?

Overwatch 2 Season 18 is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, August 26th at 11:00 AM PT (7:00 PM BST) for all platforms. The update is already available to preload for PC users through the Battle.net launcher, while console players will have to wait until a few hours before release to start the preload.

If the format remains the same, the season should last between 8 and 9 weeks, with a significant patch arriving in the middle to add the second batch of content.

Patch notes

Here are the complete patch notes that were posted on the game's official forums:

Event Updates

Summer Games 2025
Junkrat’s Loot Hunt

General Updates

Hero Progression Updates

Hero Level represents how much time you’ve spent playing each hero. Level up your heroes by completing games in any game mode.
Progression Level represents how much you play overall. Every time you level up a hero, your Progression Level also goes up.
Your hero and account level badges are automatically prestiged after reaching certain levels.
Level up your heroes to earn Ascended borders, which displays in most areas during the course of a match. Opponents will not be able to see your Ascended prestige until after the match begins.
As you level up, kickstart your cosmetic collection for your favorite heroes by earning Highlight Intros, Emotes, Victory Poses, Player Icons, Credits, and more.
Additionally, unlock evolving Name Cards and Player Titles to show off your high level heroes!
Progression accolades can be hidden in Streamer Mode settings.

Advanced Information Panel

While in a match or the Practice Range, players can now interact with the Hero Information screen to find advanced details about their weapons, abilities, and passives.
The following types of information are present for all heroes where relevant: Damage, Healing, Cooldowns, Range, Radius, Effect Durations, Magazine Size, Reload Time, Falloff Ranges, Barrier Health, Overhealth, Overshield, Overarmor, Damage Amplification, Damage Reduction, Movement Speed Modifications, Deployable Health, Shot Spread, Shots Per Volley, Knockback, Charge Times, Energy, and many hero-specific mechanics that don’t fall into the above categories are also included.
Some notable exceptions like Ultimate Charge and Rate of Fire are works in progress that we hope to add in future updates. We’re excited to hear your feedback on this feature and we’d love to hear what specific additional information you’d like us to add in the future!
Keywords are included to help players understand how they interact with each other.
Keyword definitions can be accessed for in-depth explanations of mechanics.
Any part of a Keyword definition that is highlighted indicates that this aspect of the definition is not always the same for every instance of this Keyword.
Perks are not currently included in this feature.
This feature is not supported to calculate for Stadium Powers and Items equipped.
This feature is not supported in the Hero Gallery.

Mouse and Keyboard for Consoles

Console players can now use a Mouse and Keyboard natively to play Overwatch 2 if they prefer not to use a controller.
When it comes to the matchmaking pools, PC Pool and Console Pool will now be referred to as the Mouse and Keyboard Pool and the Controller Pool. This change will be updated in our in-game UI in a future update.
When on console and using a Mouse and Keyboard, you will be prompted to switch to the Mouse and Keyboard Pool in order to use a Mouse and Keyboard to play the game with. If you do not accept to switch to the Mouse and Keyboard Pool, your Mouse and Keyboard inputs will not work for gameplay controls, and you will only be able to use Controller. You can also manually switch to either pool in your Gameplay Options.
You can still use Mouse and Keyboard in either Pool to type messages into text chat and other editable fields.
When you switch to the Mouse and Keyboard Pool, you will be paired with all PC platforms and any console players who are using Mouse and Keyboard inputs and your internal MMR, skill ratings, and ranks for all game modes will be separate from your statistics in the Controller Pool.
When playing in the Mouse and Keyboard Pool, aim assist features are not available even when you are using a controller.
Controller players on PC platforms cannot enter the Controller Pool and cannot access aim assist features. To play on the Controller pool, you must play on a console platform.
Use of unauthorized peripherals to bypass the restrictions in the Controller Pool will be considered as cheating and will result in actions taken on your Battle.net account.

Real-Time Text Moderation

If another player types a message into Text Chat that is detected to be potentially disruptive, offensive, or harmful to other users, the message in its entirety will be hidden from other players.
You may choose to see that message and report it, if necessary, directly from the text chat feed.
You can disable this filter in the Text Chat section of the Social Options.
As always, using inappropriate chat or being disruptive to other players is against our In-Game Code of Conduct, regardless of the words used or the context implied.

First-Time User Experience

New players will now have access to every Hero in the game from the start!
The entry requirement to participate in Competitive matches has been lowered to 20 wins in Unranked matches.

Competitive Play Updates

Hero Skill Rating

Hero Skill Rating is a number between 0 and 5000, with 5000 being equivalent to the top of Champion 1.
Hero Skill Rating is not used in Matchmaking in any way.
After Placements in Role or Open Queue, players will now be able to Place each of the 44 heroes in Season 18.
A hero needs to play 5 Placement matches to get their final Hero Skill Rating.
A hero must be played for at least 3 minutes within a match to qualify for Placement.
A hero must be one of your top 3 most played heroes within that match to qualify for Placement.
Hero Placements (and Hero Skill Rating) are not shared across Role and Open Queues.
Hero Skill Rating updates are shown at the end of the match on the Competitive Overview screen.
Only your top 3 most played heroes within that match will be displayed here, but every hero played in the match is updated behind the scenes based on the amount of time they were played within the match.
Your Hero Skill Ratings can be viewed in the Career Profile under the Hero Comparison dropdown at any time, and on each hero’s Statistics page.
A new tab has been added to the Competitive Info screen explaining many of the topics above.

Skill Rank Reset

With a huge wave of new Perks and tuning to existing Perks, this soft reset is designed to put players on an even playing field and give them a chance to climb even higher than ever before.
The highest Ranks (Master, Grandmaster, and Champion) have been tuned again to include a higher percentage of the player population once players are well calibrated.
All ranks in Role Queue and Open Queue in Competitive Play have been reset to Unranked, and all players will need to complete their respective 10 placement matches for each role.
Hero Skill Ratings have also been soft reset for the first time.

Competitive Rewards

Achieving Diamond or above in Role Queue or Open Queue will now unlock Freja’s Galactic skin.
Rewards are now based on your highest rank in a season instead of your final rank.
Top 500 rewards are an exception to the change above and require your final rank to be Top 500 at the end of the season.

Competitive Play New Player Requirements

The new player requirement to unlock Competitive Play has been lowered to 20 total matches won in Unranked modes.

Hero Updates

Armor still reduces incoming damage by 7, up to a maximum of 50% of the damage received.
Combined damage reduction and armor can no longer exceed 50% unless an ability increases it past that point, such as Ramattra’s Block or Hazard’s Block.
In cases where total damage reduction already exceeds 50% before armor is applied, armor will have no additional effect.

Tank

D.Va

Heavy Rockets - Major Perk
Removed.
Precision Fusion - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Press Reload to reduce Fusion Cannon’s spread by 75% for 3 seconds.

Doomfist

One-Two - Minor Perk
Now updated to where hitting an enemy into a wall with Rocket Punch reloads Hand Cannon and overfills ammo by 2.
Seismic Empowerment - Major Perk
Removed.
Aftershock - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Enemies hit by Seismic Slam are slowed by 30% for 1.5 seconds.
Power Matrix - Major Perk
Damage absorbed during Power Matrix now provides equivalent Empowered Punch amount to Power Block.

Hazard

Spike Guard - Secondary Fire
Now only refills ammo while dealing damage to an enemy.
Jagged Wall - Ability 2
Knockback damage reduced from 50 to 40.
Health reduced from 400 to 350.
Off the Top - Minor Perk
Removed.
Deep Leap - Minor Perk
Changed to a Minor Perk.
Violent Leap’s range is now only increased by 15% (down from 20%).
Anarchic Zeal - Minor Perk
Changed to a Minor Perk.
Spike Guard’s spikes now only gain 25% lifesteal (down from 40%).
Reconstitution - Major Perk
Changed to a Major Perk.
Now drains additional resource before base resource.
Explosive Impalements - Major Perk
New Major Perk
Bonespur hits mark targets with spikes. Quick Melee and Violent Leap’s Slash detonate them for 40 explosive damage.

Junker Queen

Rending Recall - Minor Perk
Removed.
Rampant Change - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Gain Unstoppable and refresh all cooldowns when using Rampage.
Deep Wounds - Major Perk
Removed.
Willy-Willy
When recalling Jagged Blade, its radius is increased by 100% and it deals 30 additional impact damage.

Mauga

Two Hearts - Minor Perk
Removed.
Pyromaniac - Minor Perk
Igniting enemies with Incendiary Chaingun grants 50 overhealth.

Orisa

Heat Dissipator - Minor Perk
Removed.
Fleeting Bulwark - Minor Perk
Removed.
Defense Protocol - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Regenerate 100 health per second while charging Terra Surge.
Mobile Fortification - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
While Fortify is active. Orisa has no move speed reduction and no heat generation.

Ramattra

Ravenous Vortex - Ability 2
No longer interrupts horizontal momentum when first affecting a target. Nemesis Form
Bonus armor reduced from 300 to 250.
Block (Nemesis Form) - Secondary Ability
Block ability now triggers a 1-second cooldown.
Prolonged Barrier - Minor Perk
Removed.
Relentless Form - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
While Nemesis Form is active, eliminations extend the duration by 1 second, half that during Annihilation.

Reinhardt

Crusader’s Resolve - Minor Perk
Removed.
Barrier Re-Charge - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Distance travelled while using Charge regenerates your Barrier Field by 150 per second.
Crushing Victory - Major Perk
Removed.
Ignited Fury - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
For each enemy you hit with Fire Strike, gain 2 seconds of 25% increased attack speed.

Roadhog

Scrap Gun - Primary Fire
Reverted to classic Primary and Secondary Fire functionality.
Primary Fire no longer includes a volley of 4 extra large, long-ranged projectiles.
Number of projectiles for Primary Fire increased from 16 to 25.
Damage per pellet for Primary Fire reduced from 6.25 to 6.
Scrap Gun - Secondary Fire
Secondary Fire initial volley no longer crits.
Pig Pen - Ability 2
Ability removed.
Take a Breather - Ability 2
Moved from Secondary Fire to Ability 2.
The option to toggle on the ability is now on by default.
Added Ability 1, Primary Fire, and Secondary Fire as additional cancel buttons while toggled.
Minimum time before cancelable reduced from 0.8 to 0.6 seconds.
Pent Up - Minor Perk
Removed.
Shrapnel Launcher - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Extend the range of Scrap Gun’s secondary fire by 50% and tighten its burst spread by 25%.
Hogdrogen Exposure - Major Perk
Removed.
Pulled Pork - Major Perk.
New Major Perk.
Gain overhealth based on how far you pull enemies with Chain Hook, up to 250.

Sigma

Massive Impact - Minor Perk
Removed.
Hyper Regeneration - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
50% of Hyperspheres’ damage restores Experimental Barrier’s health.

Winston

Short Circuit - Minor Perk
Removed.
Barrier Toss - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Winston now throws his Barrier Projector forward when used.

Wrecking Ball

Transfer Efficiency - Major Perk
Removed.
Adaptive Barrier - Major Perk
Adaptive Barrier generates a 1.4 second barrier on activation, consuming 50 overhealth.

Zarya

Graviton Crush - Minor Perk
Removed.
Energy Converter - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Hits with Particle Cannon’s secondary fire generate 3 energy.

Damage

Ashe

Rapid Fire - Minor Perk
Removed.
Remote Detonator - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
After using Dynamite, pressing E again causes it to detonate after a 0.5 second delay.

Bastion

Smart Bomb - Minor Perk
Removed.
Configuration Reload - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Refresh the cooldown of A-36 Tactical Grenade when changing configurations.

Cassidy

Base health reduced from 275 to 250.
Quick Draw - Minor Perk
Removed.
Bang Bang - Minor Perk
Changed to a Minor Perk.
Now reduces the damage from both Flashbangs by 40% (up from 30%).
Silver Bullet - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Peacekeeper’s secondary fire is replaced with a piercing shot that inflicts bleeding. Combat Roll and Deadeye reset its cooldown.

Echo

Friendly Imaging - Minor Perk • Removed. Enhanced Duplication - Minor Perk
Removed.
Focused Rush - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Focusing Beam’s range is increased by 4 meters and movement speed is increased by 10% when active.
Partial Scan - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Duplicate starts with 50% of its ultimate charge.
Full Salvo - Major Perk
The damage reduction has been removed from all sticky bombs fired.

Freja

Frost Bolts - Minor Perk
Removed.
Tracking Instinct - Minor Perk
Removed.
Hunters Instinct - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Direct hits with Take Aim reveal enemies to Freja for 3 seconds.
Momentum Boost - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Quick Dash distance is increased by 20%.
Ready to Hunt - Major Perk
Removed.
Aerial Recovery - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
After using Updraft, heal for 30 health per second until Freja touches the ground.

Genji

Acrobatics - Minor Perk
Removed.
Swift Cuts - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Quick Melee reduces the cooldown of Swift Strike by 3 seconds.
Blade Twisting - Major Perk
Now Swift Strike deals 25 additional damage over time if the enemy is below half health.

Hanzo

Swift Lunge - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Arrow hits reduce the cooldown of Lunge by up to 1 second, based on charge.
Yamagami Technique - Major Perk
Removed.
Scatter Arrows - Major Perk
Changed to a Major Perk.
Now on first ricohet, Storm Arrows split into 5 shots dealing 33% damage and bounce 1 extra time.

Junkrat

Aluminum Frame - Minor Perk
Removed.
Mine Recycling - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Killing blows with Concussion Mine restore one charge.
Tick Tock - Major Perk
Removed.
Bomb Voyage - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
After launching with Concussion Mine, Junkrat gains 35% increased attack speed for 3 seconds.

Mei

Biting Cold - Minor Perk
Removed.
Permafrost - Minor Perk
Removed.
Skating Rink - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Allies within Blizzard gain 25% increased movement speed and heal for 50 health per second.
Glacial Propulsion – Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Double jumping creates a small ice pillar that launches Mei into the air.

Pharah

Concussive Implosion - Major Perk
Removed.
Sky Spy - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Concussive Blast reveals targets to Pharah for 3 seconds. During this, the next direct Rocket Launcher hit per target deals 30% extra damage.

Reaper

Death’s Shadow - Minor Perk
Removed.
Shadow Blink - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Shadow Step’s cast time and cooldown are 25% faster, but the range is reduced by 25%.

Sojourn

Base health reduced from 250 to 225.
Railgun - Primary Fire
Primary fire shots-per-second increased from 15 to 16.
Power Slide - Ability 1
Cooldown decreased from 8 to 7 seconds.
Extended Mag - Minor Perk
Removed.
Deceleration Field - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Enemies hit by Disruptor Shot are slowed by 25%.
Adhesive Siphon - Major Perk
Removed.
Friction Generators - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
While sliding, Power Slide generates up to 50 energy.

Soldier: 76

Field Emergency - Minor Perk
Removed.
Tactical Salvo - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Helix Rockets cooldown is reduced by 80% during Tactical Visor.
Stim Pack - Major Perk
Now changed so that Stim Pack replaces Biotic Field and now heals Soldier: 76 for 30 health per second and gains 20% increased attack speed for 5 seconds.

Sombra

White Hat - Major Perk
Removed.
Adept Hacker - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Hacked health packs provide up to 50 overhealth to Sombra.

Symmetra

Advanced Teleportation - Minor Perk
Removed.
Perfect Alignment - Minor Perk
Changed to a Minor Perk.
Now only increases the range of Photon Projector’s primary fire by 20% regardless of the charge level of the beam.
Hovering Barrier - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Teleporter gains the option to create a forward moving barrier instead. Pressing E again slows down the barrier’s movement.

Torbjörn

Craftsman - Minor Perk
Removed.
Hammer Time - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Move 20% faster while Forge Hammer is equipped.

Tracer

Recall - Ability 2
Cooldown increased from 12 to 13 seconds.
Blast From The Past - Minor Perk
Removed.
Kinetic Reload - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Melee hits grant 20 ammo.

Venture

Seismic Sense - Minor Perk
Removed.
Deep Burrow - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk
Drill Dash distance is 50% longer while burrowed.
SMART-R Excavator - Major Perk
Removed.
SMART Extender - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Empower SMART Excavator with E to increase its maximum projectile range by 100% for 4 seconds.

Widowmaker

Focused Aim - Minor Perk
Removed.
Sniper’s Instinct - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Scoped shots charge 100% faster for 2 seconds after using Grappling Hook.
Deadly Deux - Major Perk
Removed.
Seeker Mine - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Vemon Mine now fires poison darts at enemies within 10 meters and remains active after triggered.

Support

Ana

Speed Serum - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Nano Boost grants a 40% movement speed boost to both Ana and her target.
Shrike - Major Perk
Removed.
Biotic Bounce - Major Perk
Changed to a Major Perk.
Now deals 60 damage and healing (up from 25).

Baptiste

Field Medicine - Minor Perk
Removed.
Biotic Reloader - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Hitting an entire three-round burst reloads a healing projectile. Healing projectile direct hits reloads 3 primary fire ammo.
Automated Healing - Minor Perk
Changed to now using any ability triggers Baptiste’s Shoulder Turret, periodically firing up to 3 shots at allies, each restoring 25 health.

Brigitte

Barrier Restoration - Minor Perk
Removed.
Combat Medic - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Melee attacks reduce the cooldown of Repair Pack by 0.5 seconds.
Quick Fix - Major Perk
Removed.
Inspring Strike - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Shield Bash grants 30% increased movement speed for 2 seconds. Inspire’s healing is instant when activated by Shield Bash.

Illari

Solar Power - Major Perk
Removed.
Solar Flare - Major Perk
Press Primary Fire while using Solar Rifle’s healing beam to consume all energy, healing allies in front of Illari for up to 120 healing.

Juno

Re-boots - Minor Perk
Removed.
Locked On - Minor Perk
Changed to a Minor Perk.
Cooldown reduction now 1 second (down from 1.5 seconds).
Master Blaster - Major Perk
Removed.
Lift Off - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Martian Overboots can now triple jump.
Faster Blaster - Major Perk
While Glide Boost is active, Mediblaster fires continuously.

Kiriko

Shuffling - Major Perk
Removed.
Ready Step - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Swift Step grants Kiriko 40% increased attack and reload speed for 2 seconds.
Foxtrot - Major Perk
Projection Suzu now only grants 30% increased movement speed for allies (down from 40%) but now grants 100% increased cooldown recovery.

Lifeweaver

Base health reduced from 225 to 200.
Life Cycle - Minor Perk
Removed.
Lifeweaving - Minor Perk
Changed to a Minor Perk.
Rejuvenating Dash now only adds 20 healing to the next Healing Blossom (down from 40 healing).
Petal Power - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Allies gain 25% attack speed while standing on a raised Petal Platform.

Lúcio

Bass Blowout - Minor Perk
Removed.
Soundwave Rider - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Wall Riding empowers your next Soundwave, increasing its knockback by 25% and damage by 50%.

Mercy

Winged Reach - Minor Perk
Removed.
Divine Momentum - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
Increases Mercy’s travel speed by 15% after cancelling Guardian Angel.

Moira

Vanish - Minor Perk
Removed.
Uprush - Minor Perk
Removed.
Destruction’s Divide - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk
Coalescence can be toggled between pure healing or pure damage, with 25% greater effect.
Ethical Nourishment - Minor Perk
Changed to a Minor Perk.
The instant healing is reduced to 30 (down from 50 healing).
Contamination - Major Perk
Removed.
Reversal - Major Perk
New Major Perk
Reactivating Biotic Orb reverses its direction.
Phantom Step - Major Perk
New Major Perk.
Fade lasts 0.5 seconds longer and boosts jump height by 50%.

Wuyang

Now available to play in Competitive Play.
Quick Melee now interrupts controlling the water orb and channeling Restorative Stream.

Rushing Torrent - Ability 1

Initial speed boost on activation increased by 50%
Jump height increased by 2 meters.

Guardian Wave - Ability 2

Decreased maximum range by 5 meters.
Shockwave drop height increased from 3 to 20 meters.

Tidal Blast - Ultimate Ability

Self-usage time decreased from 0.8 to 0.6 seconds.

Zenyatta

Transcendence - Ultimate Ability
Ultimate Cost increased by 9%
Zenith Kick - Minor Perk
Removed.
Transcendent Condemnation - Minor Perk
New Minor Perk.
While using Transcendence, apply Discord Orb to all enemies within range.
Duality - Major Perk
Removed.
Dual Harmony - Major Perk
Gain a 2nd Harmony Orb but they both heal for 70% effectiveness.

Introducing Stadium Quick Play

Stadium Quick Play is a faster, lighter Stadium mode with shorter match times, quicker item economy, backfill support, and Cross Play.

Stadium Quick Play matches play best of 5, meaning the first team to win 3 rounds wins.
Powers are granted on rounds 1, 2, 3, and 5.
Stadium Quick Play uses an accelerated economy allowing players to reach the maximum potential of their builds faster.
Stadium Quick Play uses the same Cross Play grouping and matchmaking rules as Unranked Quick Play.
You can group together with your friends regardless of skill level or input pool for Stadium Quick Play matches.
Stadium Quick Play will feature backfill for whenever a player leaves or disconnects from a match.
If you are backfilling a match, you will be granted a cash amount that is the average to your remaining teammates, and you will have one minute to shop in the Armory and equip powers and purchase items while the current round is playing.

New Stadium Map Type — Payload Race

Payload Race pits both teams in a race to push their own payload to the finish on a symmetrical map.

Like in Escort, push your own payload when standing next to or on top of it.
If you contest the opponent’s payload, it will stop progress until you are eliminated or pushed away.
A payload that is not being escorted will slowly move backwards.
Teams need to coordinate between both pushing their own payload while also trying to slow down progress of their opponents.
The map features checkpoints on each team’s track to guarantee progress once the payload crosses that point.
Whoever reaches the finish line first or pushes their payload the farthest when time expires will claim the win for that round.

New Stadium Maps

Powder Keg Mines - Payload Race - On a lost detour from Route 66, you’ll race through a not-so-abandoned mine and go for the gold.
Thames District - Payload Race - Push the payload through the foggy alleys of Kings Row in this exciting showdown.
Oasis Gardens - Control - Return to the gardens of Oasis and play with new jump pads and explore all corners of the popular control map.

Stadium Competitive Play Updates

Stadium Competitive Play Draft

Randomized snake draft for pick order. Where one team’s player will pick their hero first, followed by two opponents on the opposite team, and continue with two players on a team at a time until the draft is complete.
No mirror match picks allowed. Once a hero is picked, that hero cannot be played by any other player for the game.
Prior to the draft, players can swap positions on their team.
Tank players are never first to choose their hero in the draft.

New Player Requirements

New players will need to win 10 Stadium Quick Play matches in order to unlock Stadium Competitive Play.
This requirement does not apply to players that played Stadium in Season 16 and 17.

New Stadium Rewards

Players who reach Elite in the Tank role will now receive the Elite Reinhardt Epic Skin.
Players who reach Elite in the Damage role will now receive the Elite Mei Epic Skin.
Players who reach Elite in the Support role will now receive the Elite Ana Epic Skin.
Players who reach All-Star in any role by the end of Season 18 will receive the All-Star D.Va Legendary Skin.

Stadium Competitive Play Grouping Restrictions

Rookie, Novice, Contender and Elite players will have no grouping restrictions.
Pro players can group within 15 divisions.
All-Star players can group within 10 divisions
Legend players can group within 5 divisions.

Leaver Compensation

Players who have leavers outside of their own group during a Stadium Competitive Play match will have reduced points lost whenever there is a leaver in the match.
This compensation will be reduced at higher leagues.
Players who still leave Stadium Competitive Play matches will receive the full loss penalty and be suspended from all Competitive Play modes.

Dynamic Stadium Point Adjustments

Stadium Points earned or lost from Stadium Competitive Play matches are no longer a fixed amount.
Stadium Points earned or lost are now dynamically determined for every match based on your current and predicted rank. This change should help you find your expected rank much faster at the start of every season.
Players with larger gaps will progress faster to their predicted league.
Players are protected from rank loss until they get close to their predicted rank, no matter which league they are in.

Loser Consolation

When a player loses a Competitive game, each individual round now grants Stadium Points toward their rank and Competitive Points.

Loser consolation is disabled for players at All-Star and Legend leagues.

General Stadium Updates

Stadium Cash

On the in-game scoreboard, Stadium Cash now respects the round and match option. Displaying which option is selected in the scoreboard header and persisted across rounds. Only resetting at the start of a new match.

Stadium Third-Person Camera Settings

Improved the third person camera’s height smoothing to more naturally adjust as the hero’s vertical positioning changes.
Updated the third person camera’s local player transparency behavior to fade the hero in and out over a short duration, which previously instantly switched between transparent and opaque.
Updated the third person camera to add a short duration over which the camera’s distance from the player is smoothed when there is no longer anything behind the camera previously blocking it.
Updated Reinhardt to no longer force the camera to ground level when first starting to hold up Barrier Field, in either first or third person.
Improved the fidelity of motion of the third person camera as it transitions to new offsets away from the hero.
Aim Assist now works correctly when using third person camera in Stadium.

Stadium Control Settings

Players can now access Stadium control and camera settings by a hotkey while on the Hero Select Screen at the start of the match.
There is a new third-person perspective option to show an indicator to whenever you are in melee range of an opponent that can be togged on for each hero in your Stadium control settings.
Added new scoping camera options for Ana and Ashe when playing in third person. Available options now include the existing behavior of zooming into first person, and a new behavior of zooming into an over-the-shoulder view.
A new setting has been added to that will dynamically swap Lucio’s third person camera sides when wall riding.

Armory and Hero Build UI

You can now see what weapons, abilities, and passives are affected for each Stadium modification type when you hover over that stat in the detailed build view in the Armory.
Ability detail tooltips are now defaulted to on permanently for all players.
There is now a new Armory footer toggle to quickly display the detailed build view.

Other Stadium Updates

Reduced the respawn timer during overtime in Stadium matches by 2 seconds.
Spawn points on Temple of Anubis have been pushed back and now it takes about 1.5 seconds more to reach the objective.
Player Endorsements are now available at the end of Stadium matches.

Stadium Balance Updates

Tank

D.Va

Tokki Slam - Power
Decreased damage to 25% (Down from 30%).
Face Tanking - Power
Decreased healing to 40% (Down from 50%).

Junker Queen

Merciless Magnetism - Power
Increased distance to 25 meters (Up from 15 meters).
Twist The Knife - Power
Increased duration to 2 seconds (Up from 1 seconds).
Blade Parade - Power
Decreased charge time to 0.65 seconds (Down from 1 seconds).
Cut 'Em, Gracie! - Power
Added: Hit enemies are slowed by 35% for 1 seconds.
Royal Bullets - Power
Decreased duration to 2s. (Down from 3s).
Removed distance condition.
Thrill of Battle - Power
Increased heal to 100% (Up from 50%).
Bigger Magnet - Rare Ability Hero Item
Now pulls downward if the enemy is airborne.

Sigma

Zero Gravity - Power
Added: While flying, gain 10% Damage Reduction.
The Harness – Epic Ability Hero Item
Added: +15% Ability Lifesteal.

Winston

Added to the Stadium Hero roster.

Damage

Ashe

Head Honcho – Power
Remove resets on reload.
Decreased cap to 15% (Down from 30%).
Early Detonation - Power
Now only heals amount of reloaded ammo when restoring health through Reload Therapy.

Cassidy

Sunrise - Power
Increased slow duration to 2.5s (Up from 1.5s).
Think Flasht - Power
Added: Flashbang’s hinder duration is increased by 50%.
Flash In The Pan - Power
Increased ultimate charge to 20% (Up from 15%).
Quick Draw – Power
Increased distance to 15m (Up from 9m).
Wanted Poster – Rare Survival Hero Item
Added: Deadeye damage charges 35% faster on airborne enemies.

Freja

Increased income from damage and healing by 11.7%.

Mei

Coldspot – Rare Survival Hero Item
Added: Primary fire applies 35% Slow for 1.5s to an airborne enemy.

Pharah

Added to the Stadium Hero roster.

Support

Ana

Increased income from damage and healing by 11%.
Venomous - Power
Set duration to 2s.
Tranquilizer - Epic Ability Hero Item
Added: +10% Cooldown Reduction

Brigitte

Added to the Stadium Hero roster.

Juno

Orbital Alignment - Power
Now enemies within the Orbital Ray will float up.
Blink Boosts - Power
Increased cooldown reduction to 40% (Up from 30%).

Lúcio

Beat Drop - Power
Increased Max Damage from landing on an enemy with Sound Barrier to 250 (Up from 200).

Mercy

Triage Unit - Power
Changed to now increase all healing from mercy instead of just Caduceus Staff.
Bonus healing reduced to 25% (down from 35%).
Crepuscular Circle - Power
Removed.
Threads of Fate - Power
Reduced chain effectiveness to 35% (down from 50%).
Battle Medic - Power
Attack Speed per stack reduced to 3% (down from 4%).
Serenity - Power
Reduced extra healing to 10% (down from 20%).
Protective Beam - Power
Added additional effect: Caduceus Staff stays tethered 1s longer to allies not in line of sight.
Tethered Tourniquet - Power
New Power.
After swapping to Caduceus Blaster, Caduceus Staff automatically heals allies at 100% effectiveness for every 1s you spent tethered, up to 10s.
Supply Surge - Power
New Power.
Reloading Caduceus Staff grants allies affected by it 20% Move Speed for 2s, restores 50% Ammo, and reduces their cooldowns by 3s. (10s Cooldown)
Glass Extra Full - Rare Weapon Hero Item.
Changed to a Rare Weapon Hero Item (from a Power).
25 Health.
5% Attack Speed.
Now grants up to 25 Overhealth when healing full health allies (down from 50).
Cost: 4,500.
Chain Evoker - Epic Survival Hero Item
Changed to now grant 50 Health instead of 50 Armor.
Angelic Acrobatics - Epic Ability Hero Item
Added 15% Ability Power.
Cost increased to 11,000 (up from 10,000).
Blessed Boosters - Epic Ability Hero Item
Changed to an Epic Ability Hero Item (from an Epic Survival Hero Item).
Added 10% Ability Power.
Reduced Health to 25 (down from 50).

Armory

General Items

Ballistic Buffer - Common Survival General Item

New Common Survival General Item.
+10 Health.
After taking damage beyond 20m, gain 50 Overhealth for 3s (15s cooldown).
1,000 Cost.

Icarus Protocol - Rare Weapon General Item

New Rare Weapon General Item.
+25 Health.
+5% Weapon Power.
Weapon Damage to airborne targets above 3m deals 10 bonus damage and slows the enemy by 25% for 3s (10s cooldown).
4,000 Cost.

Skyline Nanites - Rare Ability General Item

New Rare Ability General Item.
+10% Ability Lifesteal.
Ability Damage to airborne enemies above 3m deals 20% bonus damage over 3s.
4,000 Cost.

Electrolytes - Common Survival General Item

Added 10 Health.

Field Rations - Common Survival General Item

Changed to Move Speed every time you respawn instead of just the first time you respawn.
Move Speed increased to 30% (Up from 20%).

First Aid Kit - Common Survival General Item

Now also reduces Shield Regeneration time.

Stockpile - Rare Weapon General Item

Added 10 Health.

Emergency Chip - Rare Weapon General Item

Changed from “While you are below 150 Life, gain 15% Weapon Lifesteal” to “Every life, if you would go below 150 Health, gain 50 Overhealth and 15% Weapon Lifesteal for 3s”.

Technoleech - Rare Weapon General Item

Added 25 Health.
5% Weapon Power changed to 5% Attack Speed.

Custom Stock - Rare Weapon General Item

Added 10 Health.

Wrist Wraps - Rare Ability General Item

Added 10 Health.

Junker Whatchamajig - Rare Ability General Item

Added 25 Health.

Vitality Amplifier - Rare Ability General Item

Changed to now while above 50% Life, gain 10% Ability Power, but otherwise, gain 15% Ability Lifesteal and abilities refresh 10% faster.
Cost increased to 5,000 (Up from 4,500).

Vishkar Condensor - Rare Survival General Item

Increase Health to Shield Conversion to 150 (Up from 100).
Decreased cost to 3,750 (Down from 4,000).

Reinforced Titanium - Rare General Survival Item

Added 5% Ability Power while you have Shields.

Iron Eyes - Rare Survival General Item

Added 5% Move Speed.
Decreased cost to 3,750 (Down from 4,000).

Bloodbound - Rare Survival General Item

Rarity changed to Rare (Down from Epic).
Cost reduced to 4,000 (Down from 9,000).

Crusader Hydraulics - Rare Survival General Item

Added 5% Attack Speed when you have Armor.
Changed from “heal for 20% of damage taken” to “gain Overhealth equal to 20% of damage taken for 3s”.
Damage Condition now tracks pre-mitigation damage for synergy with other damage reduction effects.
Damage Condition now tracks damage within a 0.2s period.

Sonic Recharger - Epic Ability General Item

Cost decreased to 9,000 (Down from 9,500).

Overdrive Core - Epic Weapon General Item

Cost decreased to 9,500 (Down from 10,000).

Bug Fixes

Heroes

Hazard

Fixed an issue where Hazard’s ultimate could deal extra damage to D.Va while she was in her mech.

Mercy

Fixed an issue where Mercy’s Resurrect animation did not stop after the ability was cancelled.

Ramattra

Fixed an issue where Ramattra Vengeful Vortex perk was affecting enemies at a range larger than intended.

Sojourn

Fixed an issue where Sojourn’s Overcharge perk caused her to lose extra charge after using her ultimate.

Stadium

General

Fixed a bug where aim assist was inconsistent when using third-person view.
Fixed an issue where the “Reset Build” button in Stadium did not properly clear all previous values.

Ashe

Fixed an issue with Ashe’s Ironsights mod, it is now enabled again.

D.Va

Fixed an issue where D.Va’s Junker Whatchamajig mod granted 25% ultimate charge every time she used Call Mech.

Mei

Fixed an issue that prevented Mei’s passive ammo regeneration while in Cryo-Freeze when the Commander’s Clip mod was equipped.

Mercy

Fixed an issue with the Whambulance power where it did not count as Ability Healing for items like Biotech Maximizer and Catalytic Crystal.

Solider: 76

Fixed an issue where Soldier’s Hunker Down and Double Helix powers triggered ability gains from Ironclad Exhaust Ports and Hardlight Accelerator multiple times from a single use.
Fixed an issue where Soldier’s Chaingun power had increased recoil under high latency conditions.

Zenyatta

Fixed an issue where Zenyatta’s Salvaged Slugs mod did not restore ammo properly.

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