Overwatch 2 is out, and with it, a ton of changes to the game.
While some are shallow in nature — some number tweaks here, a range change there — there are also a handful of major changes to the core game that heavily impact everyone.
Overwatch 2 is here, bringing quite a few important changes
From passive benefits to each role, to the change from lootboxes to a battle pass system, to complete character reworks — here are the top changes coming to Overwatch 2.
Battle Pass
The biggest change coming to Overwatch 2 is the Battle Pass system.
Lootboxes are gone — instead, players will progress along a Battle Pass system, unlocking rewards as they progress.
Furthermore, all future new heroes will be unlocked solely through the Battle Pass.
This means players will need to progress to level 55 out of 80 to unlock heroes like Kiriko.
However, the new heroes from the Battle Pass will be unavailable for use in Competitive play, so not having them unlocked right away isn’t the end of the world.
Team Size Reduced
That’s right — instead of a team of six, there’s now a team of five.
One tank, two support and two DPS, and to compensate they gave all Tanks a bit of a bulkiness buff.
However, with one less player on the field, that means that teamfights are a little less hectic — and losing a member to a stray skirmish is much more consequential.
As a result, duels and skirmishes will be a lot more important, and characters that shine in 1v1 or 1v2 scenarios will feel a bit more powerful.
Role Passives
Role Passives are new passive abilities that activate for each role under specific circumstances.
These do fundamentally change the game, even though the benefits may seem slight.
Overwatch 2 is adding extra passive abilities for each role
Damage dealers, when they secure a kill, gain increased movement and reload speed, which ultimately translates to more damage on the board.
Furthermore, if a DPS character swaps to a different one, they retain up to 30% of the Ultimate meter generated.
Healers gain a passive healing buff when they don’t take damage.
This allows heroes like Ana, who rely on Health Pickups and their own healing tools, to stay in combat position for longer periods of time.
Tanks are knocked back a lot less, with approximately 30% more resistance to knockbacks.
They also grant enemies Ultimate meter much slower, 50% less than other targets.
Hero Reworks
While many Overwatch heroes are mostly unchanged, except for some minor number tweaks, there are a few heroes that got major changes (or changed entirely): Bastion, Orisa, Cassidy, and Doomfist.
Some heroes got a major overhaul in Overwatch 2
Bastion is now much more mobile, gaining tank mobility as an active, non-ultimate ability.
Their ultimate now shifts them into a mortar unit, able to fire long-range shells but remaining completely stationary throughout the duration.
Orisa’s transformation into a more aggressive tank is completed with her new kit — a ranged spear that can pin enemies to walls, Javelin Spin, which erases projectiles and deals damage, and Terra Surge, which pulls all enemies in near her and deals damage when the effect ends.
Cassidy’s only real change is the removal of Flash Bang, having been replaced by Magnetic Grenade, which sticks to targets and explodes a bit later.
Doomfist was changed quite a bit — no longer a DPS Hero, Doomfist is a tank, losing his signature uppercut and gaining a shield ability instead.
His damage output was reduced severely, but his ultimate still deals heavy damage to anyone caught in the blast.
Written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF.
