Highlights
Overwatch 2 Season 7 brings new additions like the Halloween Terror event, a new Control map, and Sombra's rework.
The Quick Play Group Respawn system aims to enhance team coordination and minimize one-sided matches.
In Season 7 of Overwatch 2, one major change is the introduction of the Group Respawn system in Quick Play. Under this new system, if multiple heroes die within a 5-second window, they will respawn together. This means that some players may experience faster or delayed respawns than usual. The purpose of this change is to promote better teamwork and reduce instances where heroes fail to regroup, leading to one-sided matches. It's important to note that this change only applies to Quick Play; Competitive modes in Overwatch 2 will still feature the standard 10-second respawns.
In terms of hero balance changes for Season 7, the most significant one is the overhaul of Sombra. Her ability to go into Stealth is now a passive trait, replaced by a new ability called Virus, which throws a damaging projectile. However, Sombra is not the only character undergoing adjustments. Orisa's Fortify ability will now provide slightly less protection, Mei's Endothermic Blaster will immediately slow enemies without needing the Deep Chill status for damage, and Illari's secondary healing beam has reduced healing per second. These changes reflect Blizzard's ongoing efforts to balance the newest support hero in Overwatch 2.
HALLOWEEN TERROR 2023
NEW MAP - SAMOA
HERO REWORK – SOMBRA
Prepare yourself for the most spine-chilling event of the year as Overwatch 2 undergoes a ghastly transformation, turning into a haunted battleground. Halloween Terror returns with an array of beloved game modes including Junkenstein's Revenge, Wrath of the Bride, and a thrilling new crossover from Blizzard called Trials of Sanctuary. Join forces with the valiant heroes of Sanctuary, enhance their abilities, and vanquish formidable bosses such as the sinister Butcher Roadhog, the devastating Azmodan Wrecking Ball, and the enigmatic Lilith Moira.
Our approach to the Sombra Rework involved identifying key objectives to guide decisions during the design iteration process. These objectives included making Sombra more committed when engaging, enhancing the active feel of her ability kit, and maintaining the current Hacker fantasy. To achieve these goals, we explored various approaches within her existing kit. Additionally, we considered ideas that aimed to address frustrations players experience when playing against Sombra, ensuring that there is appropriate counterplay for enemies.
Machine Pistol
Damage increased from 7.5 to 8.
Reload time reduced from 1.4 seconds to 1.2 seconds.
Hack
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
The ability has been updated to function as a passive. After 3.5 seconds of not shooting, using a damaging ability, or receiving damage, Sombra will automatically become invisible.
The bonus movement speed while in stealth has been decreased from 60% to 45%.
The UI messaging for the Sombra player when hacking Health Packs has been changed to display "Revealed" instead of "Detected". The term "Detected" is now only used when there is an enemy player within the detection radius.
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.
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.
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%.
GROUP RESPAWN
Heroes who die within 5 seconds of each other will respawn together, resulting in some players having either a slightly longer or shorter queue than the standard 10 seconds.
Heroes who die more than 5 seconds from another player eliminated will still respawn in 10 seconds on their own.
These changes do not apply to Competitive Play mode.
UNRANKED LEAVER PENALTIES
75% XP penalty removed.
Players that reach the first penalty threshold will be suspended for 10 minutes.
Players that reach the second penalty threshold will be suspended for 30 minutes.
The queue suspension will be reinstated every time a player exits a game while being above the initial penalty threshold, except when they finish their games.
The Consecutive Match XP bonus has been updated to Endurance Bonus.
STORY MISSIONS
You can now spectate any Story Mission that your friends are playing if you own the campaign pack for that mission.
The accuracy of the bonus score granted from the time remaining in the gold bonus tier has now been improved to the hundredth of a second. Games that were completed earlier and are present in the Top 500 leaderboards remain unaffected by this change.
We have also updated the user interface to reflect this enhanced time accuracy wherever time and score are displayed.
Replays
Hero Mastery now supports replays.
PLAYER PROGRESSION
Lowered show priority for Time Played and Wins sub-badges in the Showcase.
CHALLENGES
Reduced the number of wins required to unlock Sojourn, Junker Queen and Kiriko through Hero challenges.
Illari is now unlockable through Hero challenges.
HERO OPTION AND INPUT UPDATES
Fortify
Damage reduction decreased from 50% to 45%.
Nemesis Form
Cooldown decreased from 8 to 7 seconds.
Developer Explanation: This adjustment allows Ramattra to exert his influence more frequently through Nemesis Form, resulting in heightened resilience and stronger offensive capabilities. Additionally, the increased flexibility mitigates the potential drawbacks of transitioning back to Omnic Form prematurely in order to utilize the Void Barrier.
Revised: These modifications enable Ramattra to project his influence more frequently with Nemesis Form, resulting in enhanced survivability and damage. The added flexibility also reduces the negative impact of switching back to Omnic Form early to utilize the Void Barrier.
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.
DAMAGE
Cassidy
The damage mitigation provided by Combat Roll often seems coincidental, as the ability is primarily used for increased mobility or reloading. This change enables Cassidy to strategically utilize rolls to effectively avoid significant amounts of damage by timing them correctly.
Deep Chill
Removed.
Now, enemies are instantly slowed by 40% instead of the slow effect gradually building up over time.
Developer Comment: We appreciated the dynamic aspect that Deep Chill brought to the game, which added an extra level of skill for mastering the hero. However, in practice, it resulted in excessive crowd control for enemy players and reduced Mei's overall effectiveness. Instead of further increasing the slow effect or boosting the cumulative combo damage, both of which would only make the experience more infuriating for the opponents, we have decided to revert Mei's balance to her state prior to the addition of the Deep Chill passive.
Primary fire recovery increased from .48 to .51 seconds.
Overload
The overhealth bonus has been reduced from 100 to 75. The change aims to address the overwhelming nature of Torbjorn's Rivet Gun's rapid fire rate and to make it more manageable for those on the receiving end. Additionally, the defensive value provided by the Overload ability is deemed excessive, leading to the decision of lowering the overhealth bonus.
Whip Shot
Damage increased from 70 to 80.
Solar Rifle
Secondary fire healing per second decreased from 120 to 105.
Developer Comments: In order to balance Illari's burst healing output and align her with other support heroes, we are reducing the effectiveness of the Solar Rifle secondary fire.
MAP UPDATES
D.Va
Added the hero-specific options:
Light Gun Input – Primary Fire by default.
Relative Light Gun Aim Sensitivity – 100% by default.
Added the hero-specific option:
Swap Meteor Strike Confirm and Zoom Out Inputs – Off by default.
Hide Commanding Shout Timer – Off by default.
Hold to use Jagged Blade – Off by default.
Orisa
Added the hero-specific option:
Added the hero-specific options:
Void Barrier Confirmation Input - Secondary Fire Release by default.
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.
Whole Hog can now be fired with Secondary Fire.
Added the hero-specific options:
Sigma
Added the hero-specific options:
Experimental Barrier UI - On by default.
Hide Gravitic Flux Timer - Off by default.
Primal Rage
Primal Rage melee attacks can now be fired with Secondary Fire and Quick Melee along with Primary Fire.
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.
DAMAGE
Echo
Added the hero-specific options:
Toggle Glide – Off by default.
Dragonblade:
Dragonblade melee attacks can now be fired with Secondary Fire and Quick Melee along with Primary Fire.
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:
Added the hero-specific option:
Cryo-freeze Cancel Input – All by default.
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:
Added the hero-specific options:
Relative Aim Sensitivity During Tactical Visor – 100% by default.
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.
Lifeweaver
Added the hero-specific options:
Tree of Life Cancel Input – Ability 3 by default.
Lúcio
Mercy
Added the hero-specific options:
Moira
Added the hero-specific options:
Swap Biotic Orb Heal and Damage inputs - Off by default.
Hide Coalescence Timer - Off by default.
Zenyatta
Added the hero-specific option:
ROUTE 66 DESIGN CHANGES
The attacking team now has more options for taking cover around their initial spawn point. Following the payload's passage, only one of the two doors on the first checkpoint will close, granting attackers additional routes to navigate the challenging choke points. Furthermore, there will be a reduced number of available hideouts in the latter sections of the map.
LIGHTING FOR SEASON 7
Push
Esperança – Morning
Hybrid
Hollywood – Morning
King’s Row – Night
Midtown - Night (New)
Numbani – Morning
Dorado – Evening
Havana – Morning
Circuit royal – Morning
Rialto – Evening
Route 66 - Overcast (New)
Shambali Monastery – Night
Busan – Morning
Ilios – Evening
Lijiang Tower – Dawn
Nepal – Morning
Flashpoint
New Junk City – Morning
GENERAL
Fixed a bug where some players were unable to capture Plays of the Game using the in-game capture system.
The issue with the 'Random' option for Victory Poses and Highlight Intros not saving has been resolved.
A bug causing Support Heroes to lose the ability to see allied health bars in Control matches has been fixed.
Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Fixed an issue with the end-of-game line-up camera clipping into 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.
Suravasa
Fixed lighting in several areas on the map.
Toronto Mission
Fixed a few areas on the map that could trap Tracer.
HEROES
Cassidy
Resolved a problem that caused the Perfect Placement achievement to not always be completed.
Addressed a conflict between the Healing Pylon and Lifeweaver’s Tree of Life, allowing the pylon to properly pass through the tree’s canopy.
The issue with Captive Sun, where the normal primary fire was used at the end of the ultimate duration, has been resolved.
A bug in Illari's secondary fire, which could cause performance issues, has been fixed.
Fixed an issue that allowed Kiriko to teleport outside of the playable space.
Lifeweaver
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
