Summary
A new update inOverwatch 2has added a slew of balance changes that include huge buffs to most of the game’s tank heroes. With this newfound strength, strugglingOverwatch 2tanks like Reinhardt and Zarya should be able to better hold their own on the battlefield.
The transition from 6v6 to 5v5 inOverwatch 2has put its tank heroes in a rough place. Over the course of the last year and a half since its launch, many tanks have either struggled to keep up, or completely dominated most games they are in, leading to plenty of buffs, nerfs, and reworks.
Now,Overwatch 2has rolled out some major balance changes that will make tank mains very happy. All12 tanks inOverwatch 2received buffs to at least one of their active or passive abilities, with heroes like Reinhardt and D.Va getting a power increase across their kits. On top of that, the DPS passive is now half as effective against tanks, and the flat damage reduction from armor has been doubled from 5 to 10 – a buff that helps some DPS and healers in addition to many tanks.
That said, there are a few nerfs tank players should be aware of. Tanks will now generate less ultimate charge to counterbalance these buffs, and their knockback resistance has been reduced slightly. Mauga, one ofOverwatch 2’s most controversial tanks, also received a nerf. Though his Overrun was buffed, his Cardiac Overdrive now only lasts three seconds, and while its personal effects were increased, nearby allies get less of a boost from it.
A few other heroes received balance changes in this update as well. Ana’s Sleep Dart is less effective on tanks now, Cassidy’s range has been reduced, andPharah’s Concussive Blast is back to how it was before herOverwatch 2rework, while Zenyatta’s ultimate now charges faster, and B.O.B. now gains the benefits from the tank passive, reducing the effectiveness of critical damage and knockbacks against the omnic when Ashe summons him.
Beyond these balance updates,Overwatch 2also began theTransformerscollaband the Summer Games, and added its first Mythic Weapon Skin in the form of the Bound Demon Weapon for Reinhardt. It also introduced new optional player surveys that will occasionally appear after some matches, and implemented audio adjustments to make it clearer what kind of health they are hitting. All of these changes are live inOverwatch 2right now.
Overwatch 2 Retail Patch Notes – Jul 22, 2025
OVERWATCH 2 X TRANSFORMERS
Join the epic battle between the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS with Optimus Prime as Reinhardt, Megatron as Ramattra, Bumblebee as Bastion, and Arcee as Illari. Pick up these limited-time skins in the in-game Premium Shop today. You can also play now through July 22 to collect new Player Icons, Name Cards, and Titles in a series of limited-time challenges to show your allegiance to the AUTOBOTS or the DECEPTICONS.
TRANSFORMERS and its associated characters are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission. © 2024 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.
SUMMER GAMES
The Summer Games are back! Jump into the arcade and play your favorite Summer Games in the arcade, including Lucioball and Winston’s Beach Volleyball. Play to earn new sprays, player icons, and more through a series of event challenges available now through July 29. Then once the games are done, be sure to pick up new Lifeguard skins for Roadhog, Lifeweaver, and Kiriko from the in-game Premium Shop starting on July 30.
INTRODUCING MYTHIC WEAPONS
New Mythic Weapons are elevated weapon skins for some of your favorite heroes and will be available in the Mythic Shop that you may redeem with your Mythic Prisms. The Mythic Bound Demon Weapon Skin for Reinhardt changes based on your gameplay, showing epic, dynamic effects that respond to your achievements and cool moments. Whether charging into battle or holding the line, the Mythic Bound Demon Reinhardt Weapon Skin reacts to your every move. Add the Mythic Bound Demon Weapon Skin to your arsenal on July 23.
GENERAL UPDATES
Introducing Player Surveys
After a match is done, you may occasionally be invited to participate in a web-based survey that you can complete on PC or using your mobile device by scanning the on-screen QR code. This is your chance to let us know how you have been enjoying Overwatch 2 and help identify areas where the game can be improved.
Audio Updates
Adjusted the volume levels of health pool impacts. When shooting enemies with Base Health, Shields, Armor, or Overhealth, made the sound cues clearer as to what health type you are damaging.
HERO UPDATES
GENERAL
Developer Comments: The armor changes have had a positive impact on which heroes and damage types are slowed down by armor health. We’re increasing the damage reduction on it to further widen the pool of heroes that are significantly affected by armor’s defense.
TANK
Tank Role Passive
Developer Comments: Dealing damage to Tank heroes and will be slightly less rewarding with the increased reduction to ultimate generation and will help to balance out the increased healing they may receive with the change to the Damage role passive in this patch. While the knockback resistance was generally useful for tank heroes and their emphasis on positioning, it was also reaching the point where it was difficult for players to tell if knockback abilities were having any effect on them.
Defense Matrix
Micro Missiles
Developer Comments: The maximum duration of Defense Matrix is increased by half a second by reducing the rate at which the resource meter drains when in use, so it won’t take longer to regenerate. The increased damage on Micro Missiles will help the ability feel relatively more impactful against larger health pools.
Doomfist
The Best Defense…
Developer Comments: Most of Doomfist’s survivability is through his excellent mobility, but this boost to his passive Overhealth generation will enable him to stay in the fight longer before disengaging, especially when hitting multiple targets with his abilities.
Commanding Shout
Adrenaline Rush
Developer Comments: Junker Queen is relatively small and fast for a tank hero so Commanding Shout doesn’t need a ton of bonus health to be effective. The increased wound healing better rewards her for managing her abilities well.
Cardiac Overdrive
Overrun
Developer Comments: Cardiac Overdrive is Mauga’s primary tanking ability that keeps him in the fight, but the previous duration was difficult to counter. It is now a more potent effect with a shorter duration to increase the importance of choosing both the right moment to use it as Mauga and when to attempt to mitigate against it as an enemy.
Orisa
Fortify
Developer Comments: The Fortify and Javelin Spin abilities were weakened further than necessary when Orisa was overly dominant. She has not been performing well since then but in this patch where we’re broadly adjusting how tanky or impactful the role is, there is room again to return some of Fortify’s effectiveness.
Ramattra
Nemesis Form
Developer Comments: The Pummel damage adjustment is notable as it reduces the number of punches required to knockout a 250 health hero.
Barrier Field
Charge
Developer Comments: One of the core design goals for Reinhardt is to be the hero that shields his team. In the past we’ve reduced the barrier health significantly in order to improve other offensive aspects of his kit to better fit the fast-paced gameplay of Overwatch 2, but perhaps it was too much. We still want to avoid barriers feeling mandatory due to how useful they can be and keep tank diversity at a healthy level. However, with this patch looking at the tank role in particular, we’re increasing Reinhardt’s barrier health again and will evaluate further.
Roadhog
Pig Pen
Developer Comments: The Pig Pen ability wasn’t very useful outside of being used in the Chain Hook combo so we’re increasing its potential threat if an enemy stays within its area.
Sigma
Accretion
Developer Comments: Sigma is a tank that does not currently have an issue with survivability when cycling between managing his barrier, Kinetic Grasp, and weapon range. We are however increasing the damage of Accretion to bring back more of the threat it used to pose and increase the satisfaction in landing it, as it also did not benefit from the global increase to projectile sizes.
Primal Rage
Tesla Cannon
Developer Comments: Winston is one of the top performing tanks at the moment, though when considering how satisfying the individual abilities within his kit are, the Tesla Cannon secondary fire felt underwhelming for how long it took to charge, so it’ll now be a bit more fluid. We also still want Primal Rage mode Winston to be killable, but adding some health to it will help avoid some of the extreme situations where it could happen too quickly.
Adaptive Shields
Quad Cannons
Developer Comments: Wrecking Ball has excellent mobility and survivability and will now be more efficient in transferring some of that survivability to his teammates, should he choose to return to them. We’re also making the automatic reload in ball form match his manual reload timing for a smoother transition between modes.
Zarya
Particle Barrier and Projected Barrier
Developer Comment: Increasing the health on these barriers also means the total energy Zarya can gain per barrier is increased, so this is a boost to both her offensive and defensive capabilities.
DAMAGE
Damage Role Passive
Developer Comment: With Tank heroes being the frontline, they have this healing reduction effect nearly all of the time and are generally the most reliant on incoming healing to support them as well. The damage role passive is providing an important function to game overall, but its effect on tanks survivability and pace of gameplay is more impactful relative to the other roles. As such, we are reducing its potency against Tank heroes.
Ashe
B.O.B.
Developer Comments: This Big Omnic Butler tanks a lot of incoming fire and will now be more resistant to knockbacks and critical damage.
Cassidy
Peacekeeper
Developer Comments: With his current tuning Cassidy is performing well in too many aspects between his range, burst damage, and survivability, leading to him being a dominant choice among the Damage heroes by an overwhelming amount. The gameplay goal for Cassidy is to be the sturdier, close-range hitscan who is more proficient at dealing with high mobility flankers. With this in mind, we’re pulling back the effective falloff range of his weapon to help align him with those gameplay goals and to open up more hero variety from the Damage role.
Pharah
Concussive Blast
Developer Comments: This is a reversion back to Pharah’s Concussive Blast from before her recent rework. Dealing even a small amount of damage with this ability increases her lethality significantly and made it too reliable in finishing off low health targets, due to its wide area and fast projectile speed, without waiting the full recovery to fire another rocket.
Ana
Sleep Dart
Developer Comments: Rather small change here but we’d like to minimize the amount of time Tanks can be taken out of the fight for and they are also the easiest targets to hit with Sleep Dart.
Illari
Healing Pylon
Developer Comments: Illari will still see this UI alert but allies generally don’t need to as it could occur fairly often and be distracting.
Zenyatta
Transcendence
Developer Comments: We’re reducing the cost of Transcendence as Zenyatta was impacted more than most by some of the changes in this patch.
Overwatch 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
