Overwatch 2’s May 9 Starwatch patch brings a variety of changes, including nerfs to Ana and buffs to Junker Queen, Junkrat, and Echo. In addition to hero balance adjustments, the patch introduces new events, general and competitive updates, and quality-of-life improvements for several heroes.
The Starwatch: Galactic Rescue event is a new four-point Assault mode where players can side with the Watcher rebels or the Infinite Empire. Completing event challenges can unlock limited-time cosmetics, such as the Asteroid Wrecking Ball epic skin and up to 50,000 Battle Pass XP. The Battle for Olympus event also returns to celebrate Zeus Junker Queen’s victory from Season 2.
General updates include changes to the Ping System, allowing Junker Queen to ping targets through surfaces her knife is stuck in, and a Push Game Mode update that increases the respawn time for players by 2 seconds when their team’s forward spawn location is activated. Matchmaking has seen improvements to the MMR decay system for more accurate recalibration of returning players.
The 2023 Competitive Deathmatch season is set to begin on May 16th.
Junker Queen receives buffs to her Scattergun, Jagged Blade, Rampage, and Adrenaline Rush abilities, while Orisa’s Augmented Fusion Driver damage is increased. Winston’s Jet Pack damage radius is also increased for more consistency.
Echo’s Duplicate ultimate cost is reduced by 25%, but its ultimate generation is decreased while active. Junkrat’s Concussion Mine damage is increased for better effectiveness.
Ana’s Biotic Grenade explosion healing is decreased, while Baptiste’s Immortality Field cooldown is shortened. Kiriko and Lifeweaver receive adjustments to their abilities for improved gameplay.
The patch also introduces multiple quality-of-life settings for several heroes, including D.Va, Doomfist, Orisa, Ramattra, Reinhardt, Roadhog, Sigma, Winston, Wrecking Ball, Bastion, Cassidy, Echo, Genji, Mei, Pharah, Reaper, Sombra, Symmetra, Torbjörn, Tracer, Baptiste, Brigitte, Kiriko, Lifeweaver, Lúcio, Mercy, and Zenyatta.
Bug fixes in the update address issues with maps, heroes, and other general gameplay elements, ensuring a smoother gaming experience for Overwatch 2 players.
For the full batch of patch notes, head over to the official post on the Overwatch website.
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