Overwatch 2 Season 12 Patch Notes: Balance Changes, Group Respawn & More
August 20, 2024
| Tags: Overwatch
| Author Paul G
The next season slashes HP for fast heroes while buffing parts of their kit in the latest Overwatch 2 Season 12 patch notes.
Overwatch 2 Season 12 is here, so we’re looking at the latest updates coming to the competitive meta.
Between Overwatch 2’s latest hero Juno, a new core game mode and the new “Throne of Anubis” map, there’s plenty to be excited about. New Hero Mastery challenges were also added for Zarya and Pharah, so fans will have a lot of content in and out of regular 5v5 play (possibly 6v6 soon?).
But the meat of every seasonal update is always in the major hero adjustments. Learn the big buffs, nerfs and other hero updates in our Overwatch 2 Season 12 patch below.
Overwatch 2 Season 12 Patch Notes
Tank
D.Va
Defense Matrix
Maximum duration reduced from 3.5 to 3 seconds.
Orisa
Energy Javelin
Impact damage increased from 60 to 80.
Zarya
Particle Cannon
Secondary fire minimum damage increased from 47 to 55.
Secondary fire maximum damage increased from 95 to 110.
Credit: Blizzard-Activision
Damage
Junkrat
Frag Launcher
Projectile size is now reduced by half after the second ricochet.
Projectiles preserve slightly more velocity on ricochet.
Echo
Base health reduced from 250 to 225.
Sombra
Base health reduced from 250 to 225.
Stealth
Bonus movement speed increased from 45 to 60%.
Virus
Impact damage increased from 25 to 35.
Season 12 replaces Group Respawn with “Wave Respawn”, a new system that lets you get back in the fight quicker when you do it as a team. With the new timer set to 12 seconds, players who start a “Wave” respawn 2 seconds faster and take recently-downed allies with them.
Sojourn
Railgun
Primary fire weapon spread reduced from 2 to 1.6 degrees.
Critical hits now grant 10 energy.
Energy degeneration rate reduced from 33 to 15 per second after 7 seconds.
Hanzo
Base health reduced from 250 to 225.
Torbjörn
Base health reduced from 250 to 225.
Base armor increased from 50 to 75.
Support
Juno
Added to the hero lineup (available in Competitive mode).
Base health reduced from 250 to 225.
Hyper RingÂ
Deploy range increased by 3.5 meters.
Cooldown reduced from 16 to 14 seconds.
Pulsar Torpedoes
Damage and Healing impact increased from 75 to 85.
Heal-over-time reduced from 60 to 50 health.
Orbital Ray
Beam travel speed increased from 1.9 to 2.25 meters per second.
Mediblaster
Burst projectile volley rate of fire reduced from 34 to 28 shots per second.
Kiriko
Base health reduced from 250 to 225.
Kunai
Critical multiplier reduced from 2.5 to 2x.
Damage increased from 45 to 60.
Recovery time increased from 0.5 to 0.55 seconds.
Illari
Solar Rifle
Maximum ammo reduced from 16 to 14.
Captive Sun
Projectile environment collision size reduced from 0.15 to 0 meters.
Credit: Blizzard-Activision
Mercy
Base health reduced from 250 to 225.
Caduceus Staff
Primary fire healing increased from 55 to 60 health per second.
Secondary fire damage boost increased from 25% to 30%.
Moira
Base health reduced from 250 to 225.
Biotic Grasp
Secondary fire damage increased from 60 to 65 damage per second.
LĂşcio
Base health reduced from 250 to 225.
Sonic Amplifier
Primary fire damage increased from 18 to 22.
Lifeweaver
Petal Platform
Duration only counts down while the platform is raised.
Platform now resets if no one is standing on it for 2 seconds.
Duration increased from 10 to 12 seconds.
Health reduced from 400 to 300.
Healing Blossom
Healing progress can now charge passively at a reduced rate.
No longer reduces movement speed when holding a full charge.
Rejuvenating Dash
Healing reduced from 60 to 45.
The Season 12 update will finally let players try out hero cosmetics in the Practice Range. This can be done from either the Hero Gallery or the Premium Shop.
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Paul started writing game guides and match predictions for ESTNN’s editorial team in 2022. Since then, he’s covered big-ticket esports events and the latest news on tech and AI.
