Overwatch 2 Patch Adjusts On Fire, Adds Event Hub and Buffs Several Heroes

The Summer Games are now live in Overwatch 2, with Lucioball returning and Winston’s Beach Volleyball recently added. Players can complete new challenges to unlock an Epic Doomfist skin, but this mid-season patch also contains several adjustments, features and balance changes.

First up is On Fire, which returned with Season 5’s debut. It will now be more difficult to get early into a round, and when you’re not On Fire, the score decays a bit quicker. Staying On Fire is also more challenging. There’s also the new Event Hub, where players can access the challenges, rewards and modes for an event directly from the Main Menu.

As for Competitive Play, there’s a new Team Queue option, allowing up to five players to group with no rank restrictions. It’s still limited to two Supports, two Damage dealers and one Tank, though you must now decide roles within the match instead of queuing.

As for the hero updates, Orisa’s Fortify now provides a 50 percent damage reduction instead of 40. Ramattra’s Ravenous Vortex now passes through heroes, though barriers can still block it. Reinhardt’s Barrier Field is now 1400 HP, and Soldier 76 has received buffs for his Heavy Pulse Rifle, Helix Rockets and Biotic Field. Check out some of the notes below and full patch details here.

Overwatch 2 Retail Patch Notes – July 11, 2023

SUMMER GAMES 2023

It’s time for some fun in the sun with the Summer Games seasonal event! Log in and play Lúcioball, Lúcioball Remix, and the all-new Winston’s Beach Volleyball, plus score big with new cosmetic rewards, including a new Epic skin for Doomfist!

GENERAL UPDATES

On Fire Adjustments

• Fixed a bug that caused players to gain On Fire at the start of a new round in Competitive Play when playing any game mode or in Quick Play when playing Control.
• On Fire and Blazing are more difficult to attain early in a round.
• On Fire’s cooldown reduced to 3 seconds. This should prevent most of the cases where a hero gained
• On Fire with a delay after a positive contribution.
• On Fire score decays slightly more quickly when a hero is not On Fire.
• Maintaining On Fire for long periods of time is more difficult.

New Event Hub

• A new centralized location for Event information is now available from the main menu, where all Event Challenges, Rewards, and Modes are listed here.

COMPETITIVE UPDATES

Team Queue

Team Queue is an all-new Competitive mode for Overwatch 2, requiring everyone to play in a full group of five players. Team Queue has no ranking restrictions and will be available through the end of Season 5. Other important rules for the mode are:

• Players can group up regardless of how far apart they are in rank.
• Grandmaster players can play, even with up to four other Grandmaster players.
• Team Queue is limited to 1 Tank, 2 Damage, and 2 Support.
• Players do not queue for specific roles, instead choosing their roles within each match.
• Platform pool restrictions remain, meaning players on console must still only group up with other players on console, not those on PC.

HERO UPDATES

TANK

Orisa

Developer Comments: We are increasing the effectiveness of Fortify to make Orisa a stronger counter against team compositions that lean on crowd control.

Fortify

• Damage reduction increased from 40 to 50%.

Ramattra

Developer Comments: Sometimes, the Ravenous Vortex projectile hits an enemy and bounces off unpredictably, delaying its activation. This quality-of-life change improves the ability’s consistency and makes it easier to use against groups of enemies without fear of accidental collisions.

Ravenous Vortex

• The projectile now passes through enemy heroes but is still blocked by barriers.

Reinhardt

Developer Comments: We are increasing Reinhardt’s barrier uptime to help him better protect his allies. We’ll be keeping an eye on this, as we want to avoid situations where players feel like they are always shooting at barriers.

Barrier Field

• Maximum health increased from 1200 to 1400.

Wrecking Ball

Developer Comments: Wrecking Ball rarely reloads his Quad Cannons manually due to the automatic reload that triggers while transformed into a Ball. This change makes reloading without changing forms a more viable option.

Quad Cannons

• Manual reload time reduced from 2 to 1.6 seconds. This does not affect the automatic reload while transformed into a ball, which is still 2 seconds.

DAMAGE

Sojourn

Developer Comments: We are decreasing the overall spread on the Railgun primary fire to help Sojourn build energy more consistently. The increased shots before reaching maximum spread will give players more direct control over aiming the projectiles when firing in short bursts.

Railgun

• Number of shots to reach maximum spread increased from 8 to 12.
• Spread reduced by 12%.

Soldier: 76

Developer Comments: One of Soldier: 76’s strengths is his reliable damage output, but it hasn’t quite been effective enough after his last round of changes. We’d like to avoid going all the way back up to 20 damage on his primary fire since it has proven too powerful in the past. So instead, we’re adjusting both primary and secondary fire damage slightly. He will also be able to stay in the fight longer and support his team more effectively with extra healing from the Biotic Field.

Heavy Pulse Rifle

• Damage increased from 18 to 19.

Helix Rockets

• Explosion damage increased from 80 to 90.

Biotic Field

• Healing per second increased from 35 to 40.

---