Overwatch 2 Season 7 Patch Notes Reveal Hero Changes, Halloween Content, Group Respawn
Halloween Terror 2023
Developers have announced the “spookiest event of the year” returning to Overwatch 2. Halloween Terror 2023 is bringing back game modes like Junkenstein’s Revenge and Wrath of the Bridge. There will also be a new game mode called Trials of Sanctuary, which has heroes powering up abilities to defeat powerful Diablo-themed bosses.
Find out more about the game mode here.
Activision Blizzard
New Map, New Hero Rework
There’s a lot of new content coming to Season 7. The first is a new map, Samoa, a control map that features a tropical beach and city near a volcano. It will start off being available in Quick Play and other unranked modes and will come to Competitive Play later in Season 7.
The second big update in Season 7 is to Sombra. She will be more focused on engaging with a reworked kit that doesn’t allow her to sneak and escape as easily. Here are all of the details revealed in the patch notes:
Machine Pistol
- Damage increased from 7.5 to 8.
- Minimum Spread reduced from 0.5 to 0.
- Number of shots until max spread has been increased from 3 to 6 shots.
- Reload time reduced from 1.4 seconds to 1.2 seconds.
Hack
- Cast time reduced from 0.75 seconds to 0.65 seconds.
- Now cancels Stealth when hacking an enemy hero.
- Cooldown increased from 4 to 6 seconds.
- Hack has a reduced cooldown of 3 seconds if Hack is interrupted or if a non-hero enemy is hacked.
- The “Hacked” warning text will now only appear while you are silenced and not for the remainder duration of the hack debuff.
Opportunist
- Removed.
Stealth
- Ability reworked to be a passive. Sombra automatically becomes invisible after 3.5 seconds while not shooting, using a damaging ability, or receiving damage.
- Stealth movement speed bonus reduced from 60% to 45%.
- Fade Out duration into Stealth reduced from 0.375 seconds to 0.25 seconds.
- Fade In duration from Stealth reduced from 0.5 seconds to 0.375 seconds.
- Updated the UI messaging to the Sombra player when hacking Health Packs to “Revealed” instead of “Detected”. Now the message “Detected” is only used when an enemy player is in the detection radius.
Virus
- This is a new ability assigned to Ability 1 by default.
- Fire a projectile that damages an enemy over time. Damage is dealt faster on Hacked enemies.
- Impact Damage: 10 (20 on hacked target).
- Damage over time: 100 over 4 seconds (100 over 2 seconds on hacked target).
Translocator
- Can no longer can be manually activated. Translocator will now automatically teleport Sombra after 0.25 seconds from being thrown or when impacting the environment.
- Reduces the Stealth passive cooldown after teleporting.
- Projectile speed increased from 25 to 72.
- Cooldown reduced from 6 seconds to 5 seconds. Cooldown now begins after Sombra teleports to the location of the Transponder.
- Projectile launch initial vertical offset removed.
EMP
- Ultimate charge cost increased by 15%.
- Health percent damage decreased from 40% to 30%.
Group Respawn
When it comes to interesting general updates, Overwatch 2 developers have introduced something called “Group Respawn.”
Now, when heroes die within five seconds of each other they will also respawn together. This may result in some players having a slightly longer or shorter queue but the goal is to ensure that teams have more opportunities for “team cohesion.” This change is not coming to competitive play at the moment.
“We think that team fights are some of the most enjoyable moments in our game, but we’ve all been in matches where team cohesion–or lack thereof–makes these moments a rarity. These matches often turn into stomps for the team that can’t group up, and preventing stomps is a high priority for us,” the official patch notes read.
Other interesting updates include the 75% XP penalty being removed from unranked leaver penalties, the ability to spectate your friends while they play Story Missions, and reducing the number of wins required to unlock Sojourn, Junker Queen, and Kiriko in Hero Challenges.
Hero Updates
Here are all of the hero updates in Season 7.
TANK
Orisa
Fortify
Damage reduction decreased from 50% to 45%.
Developer Comments: We are further readjusting Orisa’s survivability, which was originally increased due to the armor-damage reduction stacking change we made several patches ago. This particular change is relatively light as we still want her to be an effective pick against teams that lean on crowd control.
Ramattra
Nemesis Form
Cooldown decreased from 8 to 7 seconds.
Developer Comments: This change lets Ramattra project his influence more frequently with Nemesis Form, which translates into increased survivability and damage. The flexibility also makes it less punishing if he swaps back to Omnic Form early to use the Void Barrier.
Wrecking Ball
Quad Cannons
Number of shots to reach max spread increased from 20 to 30.
Developer Comments: This change lets Wrecking Ball finish off enemies a bit more reliably when he’s outside of point-blank range and makes him less reliant on his Piledriver combos.
Zarya
Projected Barrier
Size decreased 15% now matching back to the size of Particle Barrier.
Health decreased from 225 to 200 matching back to the health of Particle Barrier.
Developer Comments: Zarya is using the barrier on her allies more often to peel or initiate combination plays, which makes the ability more team-oriented and less self-serving. This change preserves that interesting choice by keeping the cooldown reduced when used on an ally while targeting her energy sustain instead, which has increased significantly with the bonuses to the barrier health and size.
DAMAGE
Cassidy
Combat Roll
Damage reduction increased from 50% to 75%.
Developer Comments: Most damage mitigation from Combat Roll feels incidental, as the ability is used more for mobility or reloading. This adjustment allows Cassidy to be more intentional with his rolls to avoid large amounts of damage with correct timing.
Mei
Deep Chill
Removed.
Endothermic Blaster
Damage per second increased from 70 to 100.
Now immediately slows enemies by 40% instead of building up over time.
Developer Comment: We liked the one-two combo that Deep Chill provided, as it added an interesting layer for hero mastery. However, in practice, it increased the amount of crowd control suffered by enemy players while also reducing Mei’s effectiveness. Rather than further increasing the slow or increasing cumulative combo damage, both of which would lead to a more frustrating experience for the opposing player, we are reverting Mei back to her balance prior to adding the Deep Chill passive.
Torbjörn
Rivet Gun
Primary fire recovery increased from .48 to .51 seconds.
Overload
Overhealth bonus decreased from 100 to 75.
Developer Comments: Torbjorn’s Rivet Gun can feel overwhelming with how quickly it shoots. This change reduces the firing cadence and makes it more manageable on the receiving end. Overload provides too much defensive value, so we are lowering the overhealth bonus.
SUPPORT
Brigitte
Whip Shot
Damage increased from 70 to 80.
Developer Comment: This change increases her proficiency at protecting her allies by rewarding accuracy with her most aim-focused ability.
Illari
Solar Rifle
Secondary fire healing per second decreased from 120 to 105.
Developer Comments: Illari’s burst healing output is still a little too high, so we are lowering the effectiveness of the Solar Rifle secondary fire to bring her more in line with other support heroes.
HERO OPTION AND INPUT UPDATES
In addition to the hero balance adjustments in this update, we are implementing additional quality-of-life settings and additional input options for several hero abilities to give you the ability to custom-tailor your experience of playing your favorite heroes.
TANK
D.Va
Added the hero-specific options:
Light Gun Input – Primary Fire by default.
Relative Light Gun Aim Sensitivity – 100% by default.
Relative Light Gun Gyro Aim Sensitivity – 100% by default (only available on gyro-supported platforms.
Doomfist
Added the hero-specific option:
Swap Meteor Strike Confirm and Zoom Out Inputs – Off by default.
Junker Queen
Added the hero-specific options:
Hide Commanding Shout Timer – Off by default.
Hold to use Jagged Blade – Off by default.
Orisa
Added the hero-specific option:
Hold to use Terra Surge – Off by default.
Ramattra
Added the hero-specific options:
Void Barrier Confirmation Input - Secondary Fire Release by default.
Void Barrier UI – On by default.
Changed the hero-specific option:
Annihilation Cancel Input options changed from Ability 1/Ability 3 to Ability 1/Ability 3/Off.
Reinhardt
Added the hero-specific option:
Charge Cancel Input – Ability 1 by default, with Primary Fire, Secondary Fire, or All as additional options available.
Roadhog
Whole Hog
Whole Hog can now be fired with Secondary Fire.
Added the hero-specific options:
Relative Aim Sensitivity During Whole Hog - 100% by default.
Relative Gyro Aim Sensitivity During Whole Hog - 100% by default (Only available on gyro-supported platforms).
Sigma
Added the hero-specific options:
Experimental Barrier UI - On by default.
Hide Gravitic Flux Timer - Off by default.
Gravitic Flux Confirmation Input - Primary Fire by default.
Winston
Primal Rage
Primal Rage melee attacks can now be fired with Secondary Fire and Quick Melee along with Primary Fire.
Added the hero-specific options:
Relative Aim Sensitivity During Primal Rage - 100% by default.
Relative Gyro Aim Sensitivity During Primal Rage - 100% by default (Only available on gyro-supported platforms).
Wrecking Ball
Added the hero-specific options:
Hide Adaptive Shields Timer - Off by default.
Adaptive Shields UI - On by default.
Piledriver UI - On by default.
DAMAGE
Echo
Added the hero-specific options:
Toggle Glide – Off by default.
Secondary Fire Activates Glide on Gamepad - On by default.
Genji
Dragonblade:
Dragonblade melee attacks can now be fired with Secondary Fire and Quick Melee along with Primary Fire.
Added the hero-specific options:
Hide Dragonblade Timer – Off by default.
Relative Aim Sensitivity During Dragonblade - 100% by default.
Relative Gyro Aim Sensitivity During Dragonblade - 100% by default (Only available on gyro-supported platforms).
Hanzo
Added the hero-specific option:
Toggle Primary Fire – Off by default.
Mei
Added the hero-specific option:
Cryo-freeze Cancel Input – All by default.
Pharah
Added the hero-specific options:
Relative Aim Sensitivity During Rocket Barrage - 100% by default.
Relative Gyro Aim Sensitivity During Rocket Barrage - 100% by default (only available on gyro-supported platforms).
Reaper
Added the hero-specific option:
Wraith Form Cancel Input – All by default.
Soldier: 76
Added the hero-specific options:
Relative Aim Sensitivity During Tactical Visor – 100% by default.
Relative Gyro Aim Sensitivity During Tactical Visor – 100% by default (Only available on gyro-supported platforms).
Torbjörn
Molten Core:
Molten Core can now be fired with Secondary Fire along with Primary Fire.
Added the hero-specific options:
Relative Aim Sensitivity During Molten Core - 100% by default.
Relative Gyro Aim Sensitivity During Molten Core - 100% by default (Only available on gyro-supported platforms).
SUPPORT
Lifeweaver
Added the hero-specific options:
Tree of Life Cancel Input – Ability 3 by default.
Lúcio
Added the hero-specific option:
Toggle Wall Ride - Off by default.
Mercy
Added the hero-specific options:
Toggle Angelic Descent - Off by default.
Secondary Fire Activates Angelic Descent on Gamepad - On by default.
Moira
Added the hero-specific options:
Swap Biotic Orb Heal and Damage inputs - Off by default.
Hide Coalescence Timer - Off by default.
Relative Aim Sensitivity During Coalescence - 100% by default.
Relative Gyro Aim Sensitivity During Coalescence - 100% by default (Only available on gyro-supported platforms).
Zenyatta
Added the hero-specific option:
Toggle Secondary Fire - Off by default.
MAP UPDATES
ROUTE 66 DESIGN CHANGES
There are now additional places for the attacking team to take cover around their initial spawn. The doors on the first checkpoint will now only close one of the two doors after the payload passes giving attackers more options to work through the difficult choke points. There will also be fewer places to take cover in the later parts of the map.
LIGHTING FOR SEASON 7
Push
New Queen Street – Morning
Colosseo – Evening
Esperança – Morning
Hybrid
Blizzard World – Night
Eichenwalde – Morning
Hollywood – Morning
King’s Row – Night
Midtown - Night (New)
Numbani – Morning
Paraíso - Evening
Escort
Dorado – Evening
Havana – Morning
Watchpoint: Gibraltar – Morning
Junkertown – Morning
Circuit royal – Morning
Rialto – Evening
Route 66 - Overcast (New)
Shambali Monastery – Night
Control
Antarctic Peninsula – Night
Busan – Morning
Ilios – Evening
Lijiang Tower – Dawn
Nepal – Morning
Oasis – Morning
Samoa – Morning (New Map)
Flashpoint
New Junk City – Morning
Suravasa – Morning
BUG FIXES
GENERAL
Fixed a bug where some players were unable to capture Plays of the Game using the in-game capture system.
Fixed an issue with the ‘Random’ option for Victory Poses and Highlight Intros not saving.
Fixed a bug that could result in Support Heroes losing the ability to see allied health bars in Control matches.
Fixed an issue with the camera breaking during Plays of the Game if the player used a Souvenir during the play.
MAPS
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Fixed an issue with the end-of-game line-up camera clipping into the environment.
Junkertown
Fixed an area of the map that allowed turrets to be placed inside the environment.
New Junk City
Fixed some areas of the map that caused players to get stuck.
Fixed lighting in some areas around the map.
Fixed areas of the map that had gaps in its collision.
Rialto
Fixed an area near the boat docks that could result in players becoming stuck.
Suravasa
Fixed lighting in several areas on the map.
Fixed some collision on the map that could cause some odd interactions with certain ultimate abilities.
STORY MISSIONS
Toronto Mission
Fixed a few areas on the map that could trap Tracer.
HEROES
Cassidy
Fixed a bug that caused Magnetic Grenade to not detach from eliminated targets.
Illari
Fixed an issue that prevented the Perfect Placement achievement from completing in some cases.
Fixed an interaction with Healing Pylon and Lifeweaver’s Tree of Life, the pylon should now pass through the tree’s canopy.
Fixed an issue with Captive Sun that resulted in the normal primary fire being used if fired at the end of the ultimate duration.
Fixed a bug with Illari’s secondary fire that could cause performance issues.
Kiriko
Fixed an interaction that prevented the ‘Debuffs Cleansed’ emblem from counting Captive Sun effects cleansed with Kiriko’s Protection Suzu.
Fixed an issue that allowed Kiriko to teleport outside of the playable space.
Lifeweaver
Fixed an issue where Lifeweaver would call out an enemy Petal Platform as his own when pinging.
Mei
Fixed a bug that prevented damage from Mei’s alternate fire from being counted toward the progress of the ‘Weapon Damage’ emblem.
Sigma
Fixed an issue with Kinetic Grasp that prevented the following abilities from being converted into overhealth: Ramattra’s Ravenous Vortex, Mei’s Blizzard, Sojourn’s Disruptor Shot.
Symmetra
Fixed Symmetra’s footsteps failing to play while crouched.
