Overwatch 2 Releases Big Mid-Season 19 Update

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A major update has just launched for Overwatch 2 mid-Season 19! It includes the new in-game Story missions, a limited-time game mode called Spirit Showdown, and tweaks to balance gameplay in the standard, 6v6, and Stadium modes. Everything is available to play in Overwatch 2 now.

Overwatch 2’s Season 19 launched on October 14th and includes the new Haunted Masquerade game mode, a Divine Druid skin for Lifeweaver, and other content. The season is scheduled to end on December 9th, so players are currently around the midpoint of its duration.

To keep things interesting as the season continues, Overwatch 2 has released a new mid-season update. A key part of this update is the ‘Story’ feature, which gathers videos, animated shorts, and background information about the game’s world right inside the game itself. Currently, it mainly includes recent cinematics and comics, such as the one featuring Ramattra and Zenyatta, but the developers plan to add more content over time.

This update introduces two new events: Spirit Showdown and Junkrat’s Loot Hunt. Spirit Showdown is a deathmatch mode available now until November 24th where players are randomly assigned a new hero after each elimination or twice after dying. Junkrat’s Loot Hunt, a popular returning event, lets Overwatch 2 players earn up to nine loot boxes by playing between November 20th and 23rd.

As with any big update, this one includes changes to hero balance. The mid-Season 19 update adjusts 15 heroes across all game modes in Overwatch 2. Eight of those heroes have been specifically tweaked for the standard 6v6 mode, and another seven have had their abilities modified in Stadium mode.

The recent mid-Season 19 update for Overwatch 2 includes several improvements and additions. Players can now enjoy bug fixes, changes to how they progress in the game, a new player card system, and the Cyber Fuel Mythic skin for Junkrat. Looking ahead, there are three exciting events planned: the Overwatch Champions Series World Finals (November 28–30), Season 19 Competitive Drives (December 4–9), and a hero trial for the upcoming Season 20 character. While details haven’t been officially released yet, players can expect to learn more about the new hero – a gladiator known as She-Wolf – including her abilities and backstory, within the next two weeks.

Overwatch 2 Mid-Season 19 Patch Notes – November 11, 2025

Story

You can now watch a selection of lore videos right inside the game! We’ll be adding more stories regularly, so keep checking back for updates.

Spirit Showdown

Between November 11th and 24th, a special event in the Arcade lets spirits influence your gameplay! You can change heroes either by defeating enemies or if you die twice in a row.

As you complete challenges, you’ll earn exclusive free Spirit-themed rewards!

Junkrat’s Loot Hunt

I’m so excited! Junkrat’s Loot Hunt is happening again from November 20th to 23rd! Basically, you can earn free loot boxes just by playing the game and completing the challenges that pop up. It’s a great way to get some cool stuff!

General Updates

  • Player Progression
    • Retired badges and sub-badges are accessible in the game again. Career Profile → Progression → Legacy.
    • Overwatch 1 player level has also been moved to the Legacy screen.
  • Player Cards
    • In Role Queue modes, instead of showing highest leveled heroes across the hero roster, player cards now show your highest leveled heroes in the role you are playing.
    • Non-Role Queue modes will continue to show highest leveled heroes across the entire roster.
  • Advanced Info Panel
    • Added the “Jump Cancel” keyword to abilities that can be ended early for bonus movement.

TANK

D.Va

  • Extended Booster Perk
    • Boosters now deal 100% additional damage.

Hazard

Now that Hazard’s defense against quick attacks is weaker, this update makes him more mobile, letting him move around and attack more skillfully.

  • Spike Guard
    • No longer prevents critical damage.
  • Violent Leap
    • Cooldown reduced from 6 to 5.5 seconds.

Orisa

In addition to the changes made to Hazard, these updates fix issues with certain powerful abilities—like Mauga’s increased critical damage and Reinhardt’s Earthshatter—that players were previously able to avoid using defensive skills.

  • Fortify and Terra Surge now only prevent headshot critical damage and not forced crits

Ramattra

Ramattra was already in a good spot, but could be easily defeated in some fights. Giving him more health will help him survive longer in both his normal and ultimate forms.

  • -Base health increased from 250 to 275
  • Relentless Form Perk
    • No longer has half effectiveness while in Annihilation

Zarya

  • Energy Converter Perk
  • Energy gained reduced from 3 to 2

DAMAGE

Ashe

Extending the range at which Ashe’s damage decreases will help her deal consistent damage at the distances she was designed to be effective at – medium and long range.

  • The Viper
    • Secondary Fire falloff range rescaled from 30–50 meters to 40–60 meters

Cassidy

As a Cassidy player, I always felt like the Flashbang’s stun didn’t last quite long enough to really take advantage of it. This small change, making the stun last a little longer, should give us a more consistent chance to follow up and get a kill after landing one. It’s a nice quality-of-life improvement that’ll make playing him feel much smoother!

  • Flashbang
    • Hinder duration increased from 0.9 to 1.2 seconds

Echo

Echo sometimes has trouble getting into the best position to fight. Making her move faster while flying will give her more control when starting a fight or getting away from danger.

  • Flight
    • Movement acceleration in air increased by 100% when changing directions while Flight is active.

Mei

This damage increase ensures Mei’s Primary Fire remains the consistent choice in close-range duels.

  • Primary Fire
    • Damage per second increased from 100 to 110

Sojourn

These changes improve the accuracy and consistency of Disruptor Shot, while keeping its range the same.

  • Disruptor Shot
    • Damage per second increased from 80 to 90
    • Projectile speed increased from 30 to 40
    • Maximum travel duration reduced from 1 to 0.75 seconds

Sombra

Healthy Hacker hasn’t been consistently useful because it only works for a short time. These changes make it more effective and give players more chances to take advantage of its benefits, even when they aren’t near health packs.

  • Hidden Upload Perk
    • Stealth duration on successful hack increased from 2 to 3 seconds
  • Healthy Hacker Perk
    • Time before overhealth degeneration increased from 6 to 10 seconds
    • Overhealth degeneration increased from 10 to 25
    • Overhealth granted increased from 50 to 75
    • Packs can now be picked up at full overhealth to reset the degeneration timer

SUPPORT

Brigitte

Brigitte’s healing isn’t always as strong as other support characters. Lowering the cooldown of her Repair Pack would make her healing more reliable in any situation.

  • Repair Pack
    • Cooldown reduced from 5.5 to 5 seconds

Juno

Bringing back some of Juno’s old movement style makes her feel more nimble and easier to control, but doesn’t make her impossible to hit.

  • Glide Boost
    • Movement acceleration in air increased by 50% when changing directions while Glide Boost active.

Kiriko

Kiriko’s ultimate ability is still very strong due to how much area it covers and how helpful it is to her team. Slightly increasing how long it takes to charge will make the charge time better match the ability’s overall power.

  • Ultimate cost increased by 8%

Lifeweaver

Lifeweaver was previously a relatively easy target due to his size. To compensate for his lower health, his size has been reduced, making him harder to hit. Additionally, changes to how his weapons switch make playing him feel more fluid and quick.

  • Model and hit volume size reduced by 8%
  • Healing Blossom/Thorn Volley
    • Automatic reload time for the inactive weapon reduced from 2.5 seconds to 2 seconds
    • Time between weapon swap reduced from 0.25 seconds to 0.125 seconds

6v6 Hero Changes

Generally, updates made for the 5v5 game mode also apply to the 6v6 mode, unless specifically stated. This update focuses on keeping both modes balanced, especially for tank heroes. We’ve adjusted heroes who are currently too strong or too weak in 6v6 to create a fairer gameplay experience.

D.Va

  • Health reduced from 350 to 300.
  • Defense Matrix
    • Recharge rate reduced by 15%.

Doomfist

  • The Best Defense
    • Overhealth gained per target reduced from 35 to 25 HP.
  • Power Block
    • Amount of damage to gain Empowered Punch increased from 100 to 120.

Junkerqueen

  • Base health increased from 425 to 450.
  • Adrenaline Rush
    • Self-healing from wounds damage scalar increased from 1.5x to 1.75x.

Mauga

  • Cardiac Overdrive
    • Cooldown reduced from 17 to 15 seconds.

Reinhardt

  • Barrier Field
    • Shield health increased from 1500 to 1800.

Winston

  • Jump Pack
    • Cooldown reduced from 6 to 5 seconds.

Wrecking Ball

  • Base health reduced from 500 to 475.
  • Adaptive Shields
    • Overhealth gained per target reduced from 75 to 50.

Zenyatta

  • Orb of Discord
    • Now has a cooldown per target.

Stadium Updates

General Stadium Changes

  • Drafts have been updated to use blind pick system. This means that both players on each time pick at the same time and their hero is revealed together.
  • Draft mode now automatically assigns tanks to the 5th slot.
  • Players are now able to unequip powers on the same round they are equipped.
  • Powers are locked at the end of the Armory timer.
  • HP bars are now displayed for your team in Stadium matches.
  • The hero stat section in the Armory has been updated to sort by your highest stat increases.
  • Detailed tooltips for each row in the Armory hero stat section have been added.
  • Impacted abilities and weapons are displayed in these tooltips.
  • Interact on any tooltip to access the full details screen.

Stadium Combat Text Changes

  • Weapon Power and Ability Power are now displayed as two separate floating numbers. This feature can be adjusted from Settings.
  • A new setting has been added to adjust the lifetime of floating text.
  • A new setting has been added to display self-healing. This setting is defaulted to off.
  • We are now dynamically adjusting the height at which floating text is displayed to improve visibility for heroes in melee range.
  • Overkill and overhealing values are now displayed when eliminating an enemy or healing a friendly target.
  • Kill cameras will now display stadium combat text.
  • Improved the stability of stadium combat text on moving targets so it’s less distracting.

STADIUM – TANK

Hazard

Hazard’s abilities that involve walls were dealing too much damage and making it difficult for opponents to approach. We’ve lowered the amount of knockback from his ‘Off The Wall’ and ‘Fortress’ abilities to make them more balanced, while still allowing him to control space and remain effective.

  • Off The Wall – Power
    • Damage decreased to 60 (Down from 80).
  • Fortress – Power
    • Damage decreased to 25 (Down from 40).

Orisa

We’ve made some improvements to a few items that weren’t performing as well. Enhanced Target Sensors and Oladele-copter Blades now provide stronger attack benefits, Efi’s Theorem helps you survive fights longer, and the HollaGram Helmet is now cheaper, making it easier for Orisa to provide powerful team support.

  • Enhanced Target Sensors – Rare Weapon Hero Item
    • Added: +10% Attack Speed
    • Added: +5% Weapon Power
  • Oladele-copter Blades- Epic Ability Hero Item
    • Added: +15% Ability Power
    • Added: +15% Weapon Power
  • Efi’s Theorem – Epic Ability Hero Item
    • Added: +25 Armor
  • HollaGram Helmet – Epic Survival Hero Item
    • Cost decreased to 9000 (Down from 10000)

STADIUM – DAMAGE

Freja

We’re updating Freja to offer more diverse ways to build her, and to make currently underused options more effective. We’re also toning down the extreme power of her Weapon Power build, and creating a new system that will allow us to easily make further adjustments in the future if needed.

  • Volley à Deux – Power
    • Spread of additional bolts reduced by 60%.
    • Additional bolts fire every 3rd shot (Down from every 5th shot).
  • Peak Performance – Power
    • Added +20% Updraft Height.
  • Forager – Power
    • Max Life per hit increased to 8% (Up from 5%).
  • Windwalker Boots – Rare Ability Hero Item
    • Added: “Take Aim Bolt Explosion damage reduces Updraft Cooldown by 1s”.
    • Removed: +20% Updraft Height.
  • Added: 5% Ability Power.
    • Removed: 5% Cooldown Reduction.
  • Aeroweave Cloak – Rare Survival Hero Item
    • Added: Restore 10% Max Ammo every 1s while momentum is slowed by Take Aim.
  • Cyclone – Power
    • Added: 25% reduced explosion damage from extra Take Aim Bolt.

Sojourn

I always felt like Sojourn’s Disruptor Shot build just didn’t quite deliver enough for how much it cost to set up. It was tough to use reliably in most matches. But the developers have tweaked things! They’ve lowered the cost of the build and made her Power Slide even better. Now it feels way easier to reposition during a fight and actually stay in the action longer, which is awesome.

  • Hard Stuck – Power
    • Damage reduction decreased to 25% (Down from 50%).
  • Liao’s Logistics Data – Epic Ability Hero Item
    • Cost decreased to 10000 (Down from 11000)
  • Energy Leech – Rare Ability Hero Item
    • Cost decreased to 4000 (Down from 5000)
  • Fine-Tuned Thrusters – Power
    • Damage reduction increased to 35% (Up from 25%).
  • Zoom Zoom Zoom – Power
    • Attack Speed increased to 35% (Up from 25%).
    • Weapon Lifesteal increased to 100% (Up from 50%).
  • Experimental Tech – Power
    • Slow increased to 25% (Up from 15%).
    • Railgun Charge increased to 50% (Up from 33%).

Junkrat

Junkrat’s builds focused on his abilities haven’t been as effective as those focusing on his weapons. We’re making improvements to both types of builds – those centered around his Concussion Mine and Trap – to give players more viable options and make them more reliable.

  • Hop Boom – Power
    • Concussion Mine damage upon landing after detonating Concussion Mine on yourself increased to 20% reduced effectiveness (Up from 30% reduced effectiveness).
  • Trap II Esquire – Power
    • Removed Arming time to spawn Mini Steel Trap.
    • Max Number of Mini Steel Traps increased to 5 (Up from 2).
  • Rainin’ Lead – Power
    • Frequency increased to every 0.25s (Up from 0.3s).
  • Jamison’s Jumpers – Epic Ability Hero Item
    • Added: “Detonating Concussion Mine on yourself reduces Concussion Mine cooldown by 15%”.
    • Removed: +20% Concussion Mine Knockback Distance.
    • Added 25 Health.
  • Refreshing Radiation – Epic Survival Hero Item
    • Cost decreased to 9000 (Down from 10000).
    • Max Life Overhealth increased to 8% (Up from 5%).
    • Overhealth Duration increased to 5s (Up from 3s).
  • Lithium Alloy – Epic Ability Hero Item
    • Cost decreased to 9500 (Down from 10000).
    • Added: +10% Ability Power.
  • Rat Pack – Rare Ability Hero Item
    • Ability Power increased to 10% (Up from 5%).
    • Steel Trap Health increased to 100% (Up from 50%).
  • Charged Chompas – Epic Ability Hero Item
    • Ultimate Charge gain now triggers on all Ability damage (Instead of just Total Mayhem damage).
  • Spiked Gloves – Rare Weapon Hero Item
    • Cost decreased to 4000 (Down from 4500).
  • Thermal Trap – Rare Survival Hero Item
    • Cost decreased to 3750 (Down from 4000).

STADIUM – SUPPORT

Juno

We’re restoring the additional healing that Medicinal Missiles previously provided. This change will help allies stay alive longer and make it even more satisfying to play as the healer when you hit your shots accurately.

  • Medicinal Missiles – Power
    • Now heals extra 30 health on pulsar hit.

Brigitte

Okay, so I’ve been playing Brigitte, and honestly, her Weapon Power build just hasn’t felt great. It’s always been a bit weak compared to the other ways you can build her. The developers are giving it a boost now – they’re adding some extra damage and making her a little tougher so it’s actually a good pick in certain situations. Hopefully, it’ll be a real option now instead of something nobody uses!

  • Whirlwhip – Power
    • Bonus Damage on 360 Rocket Flail swing increased to 125% (Up from 100%).
  • Righteous Cleave – Power
    • Healing on next Rocket Flail swing increased to 125% of damage dealt (Up from 100%).

Bug Fixes

General Fixes

  • Fixed an issue with Wuyang and Illari that caused incorrect Healing and Resource rates to be applied when affected by Attack Speed increases.
  • Fixed an issue where the Headhunter perk ignored headshot damage reduction from Bob’s Tank passive.
  • Fixed an issue where Reinhardt’s Charge did not pull Wrecking Ball out of Roll mode.
  • Fixed an issue where Mei’s Deep Freeze perk could potentially freeze enemies twice within a short timeframe.
  • Fixed an issue where characters affected by Ana’s Groggy were still slowed after using an ability that should have cleansed the Groggy effect.
  • Fixed an issue where Sojourn’s charge was lost after a primary fire when using the Overcharged perk.
  • Fixed an issue where the timer for Mercy’s resurrect was not shown in ping messages.
  • Fixed several minor color and formatting issues in Advanced Info Panel text.

Stadium Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where Kiriko’s clone could inadvertently stop the payload from moving due to too many friendly players on the objective.
  • Fixed an issue where the Salvaged Slug item interrupted Winston’s primary fire to reload the granted ammo.
  • Fixed an issue where Reaper’s aim was not accurate immediately after using Shadow Step.
  • Fixed an issue where the size of the mini Steel Trap from Junkrat’s “Trap II, Esquire” power was not accurate relative to its trigger timing.
  • Fixed an issue where Hazard’s Downpour ability did not gain benefits from life steal bonuses.
  • Fixed an issue where Torbjorn’s Clocked Power gave the benefit to all allied heroes instead of just Torbjorn.

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2025-11-12 01:45