Image via Blizzard Entertainment
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A new playable hero is just the beginning of a large swath of changes coming to Overwatch 2 in season 18.
Balancing changes are abound when it comes to things like Perks, Stadium Items and Powers, and more. Summer Games 2025 also returns, while Junkrat’s Loot Hunt event comes back again in September to mark the occasion.
Here’s what’s coming to OW2 in the new season when it launches on Aug. 26.
Overwatch 2 patch notes – Season 18
This is a pretty hefty update for OW2, including a new hero, plus the overhaul of many of the Perks introduced a few seasons ago, while also changing up a bunch of content within Stadium mode as well.
New support Hero – Wuyang
Image via Blizzard Entertainment
After a recent hero trial, the new water-wielding hero is available for all players to begin season 18. Here’s a look at his abilities and kit:
AbilityDescriptionInputXuanwu Staff
(Primary Fire)Fire a damaging water orb. Hold to control its trajectory and empower its explosion.LMB Restorative Stream
(Alternate Fire)Place a passive healing stream on an ally. Hold on the target to manually heal at an improved rate, consuming resource.RMBGuardian WaveSend a water wave forward that increases the amount of healing received by allies and knocks back enemies.ERushing TorrentRide water to move faster and jump higher.LShiftTidal Blast
(Ultimate)Protect an ally or yourself with water that detonates after a short duration. The explosion knocks down enemies and massively heals the host target.Q
New Perks
The majority of the roster has had at least one Perk removed and replaced with a new one, making for some fun new combinations to improve upon this year’s major update for the game that came in February.
I’ve highlighted some of the most interesting new Perks below.
Tank
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D.Va
- Precision Fusion – Major Perk
- Press Reload to reduce Fusion Cannon’s spread by 75 percent for 3 seconds.
Doomfist
- Aftershock – Major Perk
- Enemies hit by Seismic Slam are slowed by 30 percent for 1.5 seconds.
Hazard
- Explosive Impalements – Major Perk
- Bonespur hits mark targets with spikes. Quick Melee and Violent Leap’s Slash
detonate them for 40 explosive damage.
- Bonespur hits mark targets with spikes. Quick Melee and Violent Leap’s Slash
Junker Queen
- Rampant Change – Minor Perk
- Gain Unstoppable and refresh all cooldowns when using Rampage.
Orisa
- Defense Protocol – Minor Perk
- Regenerate 100 health per second while charging Terra Surge.
- Mobile Fortification – Minor Perk
- While Fortify is active, Orisa has no move speed reduction and no heat generation.
Ramattra
- Relentless Form – Minor Perk
- While Nemesis Form is active, eliminations extend the duration by 1 second, half that during Annihilation.
Reinhardt
- Barrier Recharge – Minor Perk
- Distance travelled while using Charge regenerates your Barrier Field by 150 per second.
- Ignited Fury – Major Perk
- For each enemy you hit with Fire Strike, gain 2 seconds of 25 percent increased attack speed.
Roadhog
- Shrapnel Launcher – Minor Perk
- Extend the range of Scrap Gun’s secondary fire by 50% and tighten its burst spread by 25 percent.
- Pulled Pork – Major Perk
- Gain overhealth based on how far you pull enemies with Chain Hook, up to 250.
Sigma
- Hyper Regeneration – Minor Perk
- 50 percent of Hyperspheres’ damage restores Experimental Barrier’s health.
Winston
- Barrier Toss – Minor Perk
- Winston now throws his Barrier Projector forward when used.
Zarya
- Energy Converter – Minor Perk
- Hits with Particle Cannon’s secondary fire generate 3 energy.
Damage
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Ashe
- Remote Detonator – Minor Perk
- After using Dynamite, pressing E again causes it to detonate after a 0.5 second delay.
Bastion
- Configuration Reload – Minor Perk
- Refresh the cooldown of A-36 Tactical Grenade when changing configurations.
Cassidy
- Silver Bullet – Major Perk
- Peacekeeper’s secondary fire is replaced with a piercing shot that inflicts bleeding. Combat Roll and Deadeye reset its cooldown.
Echo
- Focused Rush – Minor Perk
- Focusing Beam’s range is increased by 4 meters and movement speed is increased by 10 percent when active.
- Partial Scan – Minor Perk
- Duplicate starts with 50 percent of its ultimate charge.
Freya
- Hunters Instinct – Minor Perk
- Direct hits with Take Aim reveal enemies to Freja for 3 seconds.
- Momentum Boost – Minor Perk
- Quick Dash distance is increased by 20 percent.
- Aerial Recovery – Major Perk
- After using Updraft, heal for 30 health per second until Freja touches the ground.
Genji
- Swift Cuts – Minor Perk
- Quick Melee reduces the cooldown of Swift Strike by 3 seconds.
Hanzo
- Swift Lunge – Minor Perk
- Arrow hits reduce the cooldown of Lunge by up to 1 second, based on charge.
Junkrat
- Mine Recycling – Minor Perk
- Killing blows with Concussion Mine restore one charge.
- Bomb Voyage – Major Perk
- After launching with Concussion Mine, Junkrat gains 35 percent increased attack speed for 3 seconds.
Mei
- Skating Rink – Minor Perk
- Allies within Blizzard gain 25 percent increased movement speed and heal for 50 health per second.
- Glacial Propulsion – Minor Perk
- Double jumping creates a small ice pillar that launches Mei into the air.
Pharah
- Sky Spy – Major Perk
- Concussive Blast reveals targets to Pharah for 3 seconds. During this, the next direct Rocket Launcher hit per target deals 30 percent extra damage.
Reaper
- Death’s Shadow – Minor Perk
- Shadow Step’s cast time and cooldown are 25 percent faster, but the range is reduced by 25 percent.
Sojourn
- Deceleration Field – Minor Perk
- Enemies hit by Disruptor Shot are slowed by 25 percent.
- Friction Generators – Major Perk
- While sliding, Power Slide generates up to 50 energy.
Soldier: 76
- Tactical Salvo – Minor Perk
- Helix Rockets cooldown is reduced by 80 percent during Tactical Visor.
Sombra
- Adept Hacker – Major Perk
- Hacked health packs provide up to 50 overhealth to Sombra.
Symmetra
- Hovering Barrier – Major Perk
- Teleporter gains the option to create a forward moving barrier instead. Pressing E again slows down the barrier’s movement.
Torbjörn
- Hammer Time – Minor Perk
- Move 20 percent faster while Forge Hammer is equipped.
Tracer
- Kinetic Reload – Minor Perk
- Melee hits grant 20 ammo.
Venture
- Deep Burrow – Minor Perk
- Drill Dash distance is 50 percent longer while burrowed.
- SMART Extender – Major Perk
- Empower SMART Excavator with E to increase its maximum projectile range by 100 percent for 4 seconds.
Widowmaker
- Sniper’s Instinct – Minor Perk
- Scoped shots charge 100 percent faster for 2 seconds after using Grappling Hook.
- Seeker Mine – Major Perk
- Venom Mine now fires poison darts at enemies within 10 meters and remains active after triggered.
Support
Image via Blizzard Entertainment
Ana
- Speed Serum – Minor Perk
- Nano Boost grants a 40 percent movement speed boost to both Ana and her target.
Baptiste
- Biotic Reloader – Minor Perk
- Hitting an entire three-round burst reloads a healing projectile. Healing projectile direct hits reloads 3 primary fire ammo.
Brigitte
- Combat Medic – Minor Perk
- Melee attacks reduce the cooldown of Repair Pack by 0.5 seconds.
- Inspiring Strike – Major Perk
- Shield Bash grants 30 percent increased movement speed for 2 seconds. Inspire’s healing is instant when activated by Shield Bash.
Illari
- 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
- Lift Off – Major Perk
- Martian Overboots can now triple jump.
Kiriko
- Ready Step – Major Perk
- Swift Step grants Kiriko 40 percent increased attack and reload speed for 2 seconds.
Lifeweaver
- Petal Power – Major Perk
- Allies gain 25 percent attack speed while standing on a raised Petal Platform.
Lúcio
- Soundwave Rider – Minor Perk
- Wall Riding empowers your next Soundwave, increasing its knockback by 25 percent and damage by 50 percent.
Mercy
- Divine Momentum – Minor Perk
- Increases Mercy’s travel speed by 15 percent after cancelling Guardian Angel.
Moira
- Destruction’s Divide – Minor Perk
- Coalescence can be toggled between pure healing or pure damage, with 25 percent greater effect.
- Reversal – Major Perk
- Reactivating Biotic Orb reverses its direction.
- Phantom Step – Major Perk
- Fade lasts 0.5 seconds longer and boosts jump height by 50 percent.
Zenyatta
- Transcendant Condemnation – Minor Perk
- While using Transcendence, apply Discord Orb to all enemies within range.
The full list of Perks, including changed and removed ones, can be found on Blizzard’s website.
Stadium changes
New changes to Stadium mode in season 18 include the addition of Quick Play, a new map type called Payload Race, three new maps (Powder Keg Mines, Thames District, Oasis Gardens), and new playable heroes in Winston, Brigitte, and Pharah, with Tracer joining later in the season.
There’s a lot of tweaks to Items and Powers, too, so check out the full patch notes for specific details.
Roadhog revamp
Image via Blizzard
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Roadhog is getting a rework again. Say goodbye to his Pig Pen throwable trap, and welcome back his classic dual-firing kit. Here’s how Roadhog is changing:
- Scrap Gun
- 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 increased from 16 to 25.
- Damage per pellet reduced from 6.25 to 6.
- Secondary Fire
- Initial volley no longer crits.
- Pig Pen
- Take a Breather
- 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.
Advanced Info Panel
After a recent tease, OW2 confirmed it will add a new panel for Advanced Information regarding a multitude of facets of the game, like hero abilities.
“From precise damage numbers and healing output to cooldowns and other critical stats, every value will be laid out for you to make smarter plays and master your kits,” Blizzard said. “Whether you’re looking to fine-tune your aim in Competitive or curious about the real impact of your abilities, the Advanced Info Panel will give you the numbers you need to level up your strats and play with purpose.”
Hero Progression 2.0
Image via Blizzard Entertainment
Hero Progression changes in season 18 “rebuilds the system from the ground up” and is all about cosmetics to show off your proficiency and playtime for each hero. Here’s what leveling up your individual heroes can bring, with descriptions directly from Blizzard:
- 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.
Competitive Play – Hero Skill Rating
SR is back in OW2, but this time for individual heroes, allowing players to analyze their skill level for the different characters in the game. This is purely cosmetic, though, and does not affect matchmaking in any way, with each hero skill level set between 1 and 5,000.
There’s also a rank reset with the new season, due to the plethora of different changes alongside the update.
The full, comprehensive patch notes for season 18 can be found on the OW2 website. The new season begins on Aug. 26 at 1pm CT.
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