Reaper’s Mini-Rework: Overwatch 2’s Perks System Delivers Groundbreaking Changes

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As a film enthusiast might say, it’s finally here! The exciting perks have officially debuted in Overwatch 2 Season 15, titled “Honor & Glory.” During the Spotlight Event, these perks were first unveiled as the latest addition to Blizzard’s thrilling hero-shooter. Now, players can unlock new passives across Minor and Major stages, enhancing the gameplay experience. True to their word, Team 4 has indeed brought about “groundbreaking PvP gameplay changes” in 2025.

42 characters make up the roster in Overwatch 2, giving players a total of 168 abilities to explore and understand. The minor perks Death’s Shadow and Soul Reaping, as well as the major perks Dire Triggers and Ravenous Wraith, are especially intriguing for those who play Reaper. Notably, Dire Triggers is shaping up to be a sort of mini-rework for the character who deals damage upon shadow stepping (Reaper).

Overwatch 2 Abandoned Its Reaper Overhaul, But It Really Didn’t

Reaper’s Perks May Be Similar To His Scrapped Rework

The February Spotlight event brought Team 4 together with well-known streamers and content producers to discuss the upcoming plans for Overwatch 2 in 2025. In a chat with popular Overwatch 2 streamer Emongg, Blizzard Systems Designer Gavin Winters revealed that Moira and Reaper will no longer be receiving updates or reworks. Although some fans were hoping to see changes to Reaper since late 2023, it seems these characters are now off the table for modifications.

Alec Dawson, the designer known as Leader Hero, discussed in an interview with streamer mL7 in February 2024, mentioned Blizzard’s efforts to update certain abilities of characters like Shadow Step. Additionally, they were planning to introduce a new secondary ability as part of this overhaul. However, these changes didn’t get implemented, but many speculate that the Reaper’s Dire Triggers Perk might have originated from such experiments.

I haven’t received any formal confirmation yet, but I find it intriguing to speculate that Dire Triggers might be related to the original ability that was ultimately discarded.

At level 3 in the Perks system, Dire Triggers becomes one of your available options. For PC users, a right-click activates a long-range shot from both Hellfire Shotguns that depletes two ammo. This alternate fire ability boasts a brief cooldown of just three seconds, allowing Reaper to swiftly eliminate enemies trying to evade his usual damage area. Notably, this Perk seems to align well with fan predictions for Reaper’s 2023 overhaul.

Reaper’s Perks Allow For Varying Playstyles

Remarkably, instead of his standard Major Perk, Reaper can opt for Ravenous Wraith in Overwatch 2. This ability boosts lifesteal by 40% for three seconds upon exiting Wraith Form and when combined with Soul Reaving from his Minor Perks, it enables him to recover health from defeated enemies. While this build maintains many of Reaper’s usual abilities, Death’s Shadow, another Minor Perk available at level 2, also offers potential benefits as it reloads Hellfire Shotguns and provides a 25% range increase when using Shadow Step. When utilized with Dire Triggers, Reaper can pose a threat even to distant, squishy opponents that may now fear him.

Despite some criticism about Reaper’s Perks not being powerful enough, there’s no denying that the variety in these Perks provides players with an exciting opportunity to choose between a more aggressive brawl style or an assassin approach. As a damage hero primarily chosen for tank busting, the Dire Triggers update reflects Team 4’s aim to offer Reaper some non-tank-busting boosts. This change also aligns with the information shared in Blizzard’s 2024 teaser about Reaper’s modifications, which were initially planned for Season 11 or later. With Season 15 of Overwatch 2 now underway, it appears that Reaper has finally received a sort of redesign. However, there’s still a chance that Team 4 may adjust his passive abilities as they evaluate the Perks system further.

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2025-02-25 21:27