Soldier: 76 can now activate his Stim Pack using weapon swap! Meanwhile, a couple of tanks received buffs while Sombra got nerfed. Here are the details.
The Overwatch 2 Season 16 mid-season patch notes are here, and they feature updates to a couple of tanks, a bunch of damage heroes, and two support balance changes. Read on for all of retail Overwatch 2 May 20 patch notes and details.
Overwatch 2 Season 16 mid-season patch notes
Tanks: Hazard and Reinhardt buffs
Hazard and Reinhardt get buffs in the Overwatch 2 Season 16 mid-season update. The climb animation for Hazard’s Vault passive is now faster while his Anarchic Zeal Perk has more lifesteal. These updates make Hazard more mobile and increase his survivability. Meanwhile, Reinhardt’s Fire Strike has increased projectile speed and reduced recovery time. These buffs improve the tank’s poke and pressure in the higher ranks.
Vault – Passive
Ledge climb animation time reduced from 0.6 to 0.4 seconds.
Anarchic Zeal – Major Perk
Spike Guard’s Lifesteal is increased from 25% to 40%.
Fire Strike – Ability 2
Projectile speed increased from 25 to 30 meters per second.
Recovery time reduced from 0.63 to 0.45 seconds.
DPS: Freja, Pharah, and Sombra nerfs plus Hanzo, Reaper, and Widowmaker buffs
As for the damage heroes, Freja, Pharah, and Sombra have nerfs. Freja’s Quick Dash now has a longer cooldown, which reduces how often she can stay in the air and land explosive bolts. Pharah’s Drift Thrusters Perk slows her movement during Barrage, and her Concussive Implosion Perk now pulls enemies only half as far. This limits her burst potential. Meanwhile, Sombra’s Translocator and stealth reveal updates give frustrated players more windows for counterplay. Basically, she now takes longer to exit stealth and disappear after taking some damage.
Next, Hanzo, Reaper, and Widowmaker receive buffs. The draw speed of Hanzo’s power is now faster while his Sonic Disruption Perk now hacks health packs for much longer. Reaper’s Dire Triggers Perk, meanwhile, has a shorter recovery time. As for Widowmaker, her primary fire now requires more accuracy accurate and deals slightly more damage while her Venom Mine deals double bonus damage with the Deadly Deux Perk.
“Widowmaker is a more map-dependent hero than most and now with hero bans restricting her usefulness we’re looking to make her viable in more situations.”
Blizzard Entertainment
Genji and Soldier: 76 get updates as well. Genji’s shurikens now travel faster but have reduced ammo. As for Soldier: 76, his Stim Pack Perk is easier to activate but now deals self-damage instead of applying anti-heal.
Quick Dash
Cooldown increased from 3.5 to 4 seconds
Shuriken – Primary and Secondary Fire
Ammo reduced from 30 to 24.
Projectile speed increased from 60 to 75.
Storm Bow – Primary Fire
Draw time reduced from 0.8 to 0.72 seconds.
Sonic Disruption – Minor Perk
Health pack hack time increased from 12 to 30 seconds.
Drift Thrusters – Minor Perk
Movement speed while using Barrage reduced by 20%.
Concussive Implosion – Major Perk
Distance pulled reduced by 50%.
Dire Triggers – Major Perk
Recovery reduced from 0.7 to 0.5 seconds
Stim Pack – Major Perk
Anti-heal removed. Now deals 75 self-damage on use.
Is now activated by using Weapon Swap.
Translocator – Ability 2
Fade in time increased from 0.15 to 0.3 seconds.
Stealth reveal duration on taking damage increased from 1 to 1.3 seconds.
Widow’s Kiss – Primary Fire
Maximum spread reduced from 3 to 2 degrees.
Damage increased from 13 to 14.
Support: Illari and Lifeweaver buffs
Illari and Lifeweaver are the only support heroes to get updates in this mid-season patch. Illari’s healing beam range now lets her support allies from safer positions. Next, Lifeweaver’s Healing Blossom now charges faster while his Superbloom Perk activates after fewer hits, which makes his healing more efficient.
Solar Rifle – Secondary Fire
Range increased from 15 to 20 meters.
Healing Blossom – Primary Fire
Auto-Charge rate increased by 25%.
Superbloom – Major Perk
The number of hits to trigger reduced from 20 to 16.
In addition to all of these patch notes, the latest Overwatch 2 update features the arrival of the Street Fighter 6 collaboration, the adorable mythic Merciful Magitech Mercy weapon skin, a Stadium patch, plus the return to October 2020 in the Overwatch Classic game mode.
That’s all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more Overwatch 2 news.