Overwatch 2: Everything New in Season 4

Looking at the biggest season 4 changes coming to Overwatch 2.

Season 4 has finally come to Blizzard's team shooter. Following their initial promise to make each season feel distinct, Overwatch 2 fans are in store for a lot of exciting in-game events and cosmetics that will take the game to new heights. As with every season change, Season 4 will come with a lot of tweaks, especially after the release of Overwatch 2's new support hero, Lifeweaver. Here are all the major changes coming in Season 4!

The Tank Meta Gets Dialed Back

Season four will see two of the most prominent “offense-tanks” in the Overwatch 2 play scape nerfed, albeit slightly.

Reinhardt has seen tremendous use ever since his offensive capabilities were given a boost in the mid-season 3 patch. Increased barrier health and an extra charge on his “Fire Storm” ability made the venerable crusader an extremely reliable pick in season 3. To rein in his overperformance, the developers have given him less “shield” health and more base health, which should hopefully emphasize teamplay instead of encouraging players to charge in solo.

One of Sigma's signature abilities also received adjustments. Seeing how his Accretion – Primary fire combo was eliminating 200 HP heroes instantly, something had to be done. Accretion's damage has now been reduced to a total of 80. Its stun duration however was increased to 1.1 seconds to give teammates opportunities to follow up.

Sombra Receives Another Buff

In the Damage category, only two hero changes were introduced, so we'll have to wait for the eventual S4 hotfix for more.

First and foremost, Sombra's EMP can now cancel another ultimate ability: Mei's Blizzard. Talon's stealthy operative was recently given the ability to hack Orisa's Terra Surge, and if this trend keeps up, Overwatch 2's resident hacker going back into the meta pretty soon.

Next we have Cassidy, who the developers feel is better suited fighting from a distance. His previous buff removed his falloff damage, letting Cassidy deal consistent amounts of hurt at long range. To balance this out, his health was reduced to 200, and his Magnetic Grenade was nerfed.

A Support Rework

We finally have Brigitte's long-rumored Overwatch 2 rework, and it's putting her back into the meta.

Placing more emphasis on her ultimate ability's defensive capabilities, Brigitte's Rally now only gives the squire a restorable 100 HP pool. However, her Shield Bash's stun has returned, along with a new and improved barrier that expands whenever her ultimate is active. Her improved barrier can also stun multiple targets.

Secondly, Mercy's recent changes were (thankfully) reverted after the controversial nerfs received significant negative feedback. This means that her support passive healing is back, along with her old healing output of 55 HP/second. Her Guardian Angel cooldown was also reduced to 1.5 seconds. Other notable tweaks to Overwatch 2's main healer can be found here.

Next on the list, Ana's Sleep Dart now sleeps enemy tanks for 3.5 seconds instead of the usual 5 seconds. This, in turn can be seen as a buff to the entire Tank category.

Lastly, the developers for Overwatch 2 sacrificed some of Moira's healing for a skill buff. Her Fade ability can now be used in the middle of Coalescence, giving her more survivability.

Long Overdue Competitive Mode Changes

These were a long time coming. If you've been following the game, then you're no stranger when it comes to the lacking ranked system, and not to mention the obviously flawed matchmaking system. To remedy this, Blizzard's latest patch is giving us more info on our match history, rank progression and an average rank rating in team lobbies. Rank decay is out, and more competitive points are being rewarded in lower-tier play.

Removed Map Pools

A change lauded by many in the community. We're finally getting more maps to play in!

More Accessibility

You can now customize the color of your UI for HP, armor, shields and overhealth.

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