Junkerqueen
Carnage’s uptime is high due to its cooldown refund on individual or multiple hits. Increasing the base cooldown reduces this while preserving its rewarding potential.
Carnage
- Cooldown increased from 8 to 9 seconds.
From 12/9 to 1/7, Winter Wonderland is back to Overwatch!
Removed Aim Assist Legacy Mode
We are removing Antarctic Peninsula from the game for 2 seasons. The team has long since wanted to rework parts of the map and we're really excited about the changes! We hope players will be excited when the changes go live. We can't wait to share the updates with you all, but in the mean time - we hope you won't miss it too much (and the penguins). We'll see you in Antarctica in S22!
This upgrade changes our existing leaderboards into a season-long race between the best players with better rewards and real recognition for players. A player maintaining multiple accounts on the leaderboard becomes considerably more difficult in this new paradigm (we're sure some of you will still try)! Social links on the leaderboards are intended to give aspiring creators and seasoned streamers a chance to show off what it means to be the best at the game. Challenger Score shifts the focus away from camping a high position to continually battling for top placement, and in doing so elevates the prestige of the system. Top placement at the end of a season will be more competitive than in the past, and this is very intended. The Heat Bonus ensures that as time passes in a season each new victory counts for slightly more. Overall, we believe that being on the leaderboard should be about a continual push for excellence, instead of a brief burst of high rank wins followed by a long period of inactivity that it often is today.
Carnage’s uptime is high due to its cooldown refund on individual or multiple hits. Increasing the base cooldown reduces this while preserving its rewarding potential.
Carnage
With recent adjustments to Hazard’s block effectiveness, we’re restoring some of Jagged Wall’s previous strength. These changes make the Wall a more reliable option for both defensive and offensive pressure.
Jagged Wall
Earthshatter has the potential to swing fights and is often generated quickly in close-range engagements. Increasing the ultimate cost better aligns its charge rate with its overall impact.
Earthshatter
Sigma can struggle to secure eliminations in certain matchups. Increasing direct impact damage rewards precision and improves key breakpoints when comboing with the rest of his kit.
Hyperspheres
Recon mode damage is often weak compared to other heroes, making Bastion overly dependent on Sentry mode. A higher fire rate helps smooth out the weapon’s flow and increases his threat while in Recon mode.
Configuration: Recon
Freja’s long-range kill potential primarily comes from landing two explosive bolts in quick succession. These changes shift power and breakpoints away from Take Aim and more toward her base kit, reducing distant lethality while improving her consistency elsewhere.
Revdraw Crossbow
Take Aim
Quick Dash
Bola Shot
The travel speed of Junkrat’s grenades is limiting, especially with the overall increase in hero mobility. Increasing projectile speed without altering the arc should improve consistency while preserving weapon feel. The Frag Cannon perk adjustments keep its bonus within reasonable bounds while removing the perk’s downside.
Frag Launcher
Frag Cannon (Perk)
Reaper’s sustain from his passive leads to high survivability in close-range duels. A slight reduction in lifesteal maintains his durability while reducing his self-healing reliability in extended engagements.
The Reaping
Vendetta performed well during her hero trial though her effectiveness fell off some at the higher ranks. These changes are mainly aimed at making her abilities feel more responsive to better flow between them. We're reducing a few of the longer recovery times and making the passive easier to upkeep through the projectile speed adjustment. To help keep her engagement range in check we're reducing the maximum distance you can throw the sword with Soaring Slice, but this means it'll also take less time to perform and be a bit snappier. The survivability perks have been buffed slightly to make the choices more competitive.
General
Projected Edge
Soaring Slice
Siphoning Strike - Perk
Swift Vengeance - Perk
Venture’s shield generation on ability use provides strong and consistent survivability. Reducing the shield amount slightly maintains their gameplay loop while offering more opportunities for opponents to apply pressure.
Explorer’s Resolve
While Immortality Field remains one of the stronger abilities in the game, its extremely long cooldown can feel difficult to use effectively for such a reactive tool. Reducing the cooldown gives Baptiste more flexibility without increasing its overall effectiveness.
Immortality Field
Captive Sun’s projectile size allows it to be intercepted from farther distances than intended. Reducing the hit volume clarifies its perceived size and improves counterplay for enemies.
Captive Sun
Juno has limited defensive options against close-range threats. Allowing Mediblaster to critically hit improves her ability to defend herself while rewarding accuracy.
Mediblaster
Kiriko’s Kunai has strong damage output given its high critical damage and lack of falloff. Reducing projectile size increases the accuracy requirement while maintaining her lethality.
Kunai
Wuyang’s movement burst from Rushing Torrent allows for quick repositioning but can be difficult to punish due to how high the speed bonus is over its duration. Slightly reducing the boost lessens how elusive he becomes throughout the ability.
Rushing Torrent
We are very excited to bring Challenger Tier support to Stadium for Season 20! This not only brings top 500 support to Stadium, but also inclues many of the new features and upgrades of the Challenger Tier system.
Jab Cross - Power
Rising Uppercut - Power
The Bestest Defense - Power
Aftershock - Power
Seismic Rally - Power
Slam Wham
Boomfist - Power
Overpowered - Power
Asteroid Smash
Block Party - Power
Helping Hand - Power
Loaded Knuckles - Legendary Hero Item
Wing Clipper - Legendary Hero Item
Power Bank - Legendary Hero Item
Friendly Fissure - Legendary Hero Item
Charm Crusher - Legendary Hero Item
Quickcharger - Legendary Hero Item
Dual Layer Dampener - Legendary Hero Item
Zoomfist - Legendary Hero Item
Power Matrix - Legendary Hero Item
Paindrops - Power
Undertow - Power
Wave Lance - Power
Flow State - Power
Shore Up - Power
Tidekepper - Power
Puddle Stomp - Power
Splish Splash - Power
Streamline - Power
Ebb and Flow - Power
Storm Surge - Power
Tidal Save - Power
Oscillation Orb - Legendary Hero Item
Tidefill Basin - Legendary Hero Item
Oceanic Ointment - Legendary Hero Item
Metal College Module - Legendary Hero Item
Aquajet Amplifier - Legendary Hero Item
Water College Hat - Legendary Hero Item
Wuxing Waveriders - Legendary Hero Item
Ye Family Visor - Legendary Hero Item
Hydrocache
Reservoir Refresher - Legendary Hero Item
Hydro Mender - Legendary Hero Item
Waterfall Westsuit - Legendary Hero Item
Torrential Transistor
We wanted to address some of Cassidy's least-picked Powers and create viable builds across his entire kit. Several new Fan the Hammer powers, such as Buck Wild, as well as the reworked Frankie's Fixer, should nudge Cassidy's close-range build towards building more tanky, rather than a glass cannon that deletes tanks. Cassidy's crit build has also gotten some love with the new Dead Man Walkin', which rewards him for taking aggressive duels and beating the odds in dangerous situations. We were also unhappy with Cassidy's High Noon build, feeling that it took too many powers and items to come online. Three powers have been condensed down to two, allowing the build to spike earlier in a match, while the new forgiveness mechanic in It's 12 O'clock Somewhere should allow Cassidy to recover quicker if his Ultimate scores no eliminations. Condensing the powers also allows Cassidy to branch out his AP options. No longer do you have to go all in on High Noon, instead Cass can flex into a ranged AP build built around Flashbang and the new Sticky Grenade Power or a close-range build with Barrel Roll (while both still having access to the powerful AP scaling on High Noon).
Full House (New) - Power
Bang Bang (New) - Power
Buck Wild (New) - Power
Dead Man Walkin' (New) - Power
Hot Potato (New) - Power
Bullseye (New) - Power
It's 12 O'clock Somewhere (New) - Power
Sunset - Power
Easy Rider (New) - Power
Flash in the Pan - Power
Sunrise - Power
Snakebite (New) - Item
Duck and Roll (New) - Item
Frankie's Fixer - Item
Competitive Analysis (New) - Item
Hazard’s primary fire oriented powers weren’t keeping pace so Bonerot and Twin Fang are getting some extra bite to help him feel more threatening when he commits. On the other hand, Ability Power oriented builds were doing a little too much while being easy and cheap to build.
Bonerot - Power
Twin Fang - Power
Touch-Up's Touch Up - Epic Ability Hero Item
Phreak Foil - Epic Ability Item
This update aims to strengthen Orisa’s sustain and reliability during extended engagements. Restorify used to perform perhaps too well when it used to be 10% so we are trying to find the sweet spot.
Restortify - Power
Winston is a polarizing hero where in good hands he overperforms but on average he is not as threatening. We are still trying to pinpoint adjustments for Winston at higher levels but here is an initial change that will make him less threatening overall.
Circuit Breaker - Power
Electro Cluster - Power
These changes broaden Genji’s build diversity and reinforce his identity as a highly mobile, high-skill-cap assassin. Powers like Forged Under Fire and Hanamura Healing received significant stat increases to enhance survivability and reward aggressive play. Weapon items such as Spiked Grip and Swift-Loader now offer more meaningful tempo boosts, improving Genji’s ability to chain engagements fluidly. Ability and survival items have been tuned to strengthen mobility, cooldown management, and defensive expression. Overall, this update aims to make more of Genji’s item paths viable and exciting without pushing his burst lethality beyond intended limits.
Forged Under Fire - Power
Hanamura Healing - Power
Spiked Grip - Rare Weapon Hero Item
Swift-Loader - Epic Weapon Hero Item
Traversal Kinetics - Rare Ability Hero Item
Clean Sweep - Epic Ability Hero Item
Deflecting Dash - Epic Ability Hero Item
Equilibrium Gear - Rare Survival Hero Item
Sparrowhawk Feather - Rare Survival Hero Item
Slicy Coolant - Epic Survival Hero Item
Reflex Coating - Common Survival General Item
Nano Cola - Rare Ability General Item
Iridescent Iris - Epic Ability General Item
Champion's Kit - Epic Ability General Item
Salvaged Slugs - Epic Weapon General Item
Divine Intervention - Epic Survival General Item
Exo Springs - Common Gadget
Med Kit - Common Gadget
Kitsune Charm - Epic Gadget
Colossus Core - Epic Gadget
Necrotic Repellant - Epic Gadget
Cost reduced to 9000 (Down from 9500).
We're beefing up some of the counter options in the general items, particularly against Doomfist. We're also shaving off some power from some of the vertical Ability Power items, to reduce the burst from pure damage Ability Power builds and encourage more diverse itemization there.
Wuxing University - Water College - Control
patch-2025-12-09