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    Overwatch 2 Season 8 Official Patch Notes: New Hero Mauga, Balance Changes, Skins and more

    Mauga officially joins Overwatch 2 as part of the release of Season 8. Get the full patch notes and update breakdown

    Official Patch Notes for Season 8 of Overwatch 2: New Hero Mauga, Battle of the Beasts, Winter Wonderland 2023, Weapon Skins and more

    • Season 8 of Overwatch 2 adds a new tank hero, Mauga.
    • Weapon skin customizations have been added to Overwatch 2 for Reinhardt, Reaper and Mercy.
    • The Winter Wonderland 2023 event is scheduled to start on Tuesday, December 1

    Season 8 of Overwatch 2 is officially here and it brings with it a plethora of changes, updates and new content. The biggest addition in the patch notes (literally!) is the addition of the new tank hero, Mauga. Players can also look forward to Battle of the Beasts, Winter Wonderland 2023, the introduction of Weapon Skins, and much more! Check out the full patch notes below.

    Mauga, New Tank Hero

    Mauga smiles with his miniguns

    The newest tank hero to join the line-up of Overwatch 2 heroes is Mauga. With his twin-chain guns and big personality, he’s sure to shake up the game.

    Muaga’s Kit

    • Incendiary Chaingun (Primary Fire)
      • Automatic weapon that ignites enemies on repeated impacts.
    • Volatile Chaingun (Secondary Fire)
      • Automatic weapon that deals critical damage to burning enemies.
    • Overrun (Ability 1)
      • Charge forward and stomp to launch enemies. You are unstoppable while charging.
    • Cardiac Overdrive (Ability 2)
      • Nearby allies take reduced damage and heal by dealing damage.
    • Cage Fight (Ultimate)
      • Deploy a barrier that traps yourself and enemies. Gain unlimited ammo while inside.
    • Berserker (Passive)
      • Gain temporary health when dealing critical damage.

    Battle of the Beasts

    The Battle of the Beasts is a new game mode described as a powerful brawl with epic and powerful grand beasts. This PvPvE mode will allow players to play as Mauga for free, the only tank in the mode, alongside other hunter-themed heroes.

    Avoid powerful abilities and tear through the health of the Grand Beast.

    Winter Wonderland 2023

    Overwatch Season 8 skins

    The Holidays are here and Winter Wonderland returns to Overwatch 2. Check out all the new Winter and Holiday-themed cosmetic skins. Engage and beat challenges to unlock a free legendary skin of your choice.

    Overwatch 2's Winter Wonderland 2023 event officially starts on Tuesday, December 19.

    Weapon Skins

    Overwatch 2 introduces weapon skin customization for certain heroes. First introduced with Mythic Skins, weapon customization is becoming open for more players and characters starting with Reinhardt, Reaper and Mercy.

    These new weapon designs come with unique visuals and sound effects and can be equipped along with any of these heroes skins. More weapon skins will be coming in future seasons.

    General Updates

    Some of the general updates coming in Overwatch 2 Season 8 feature Endorsements, Hero Mastery and Reticle Changes.

    Endorsements

    • Endorsement Score required to reach level 5 reduced.
    • Endorsement Score decay at level 4 reduced slightly.
    • Endorsement Score decay at level 5 reduced.

    Hero Mastery

    The next set of Hero Mastery won't launch until next year on January 2, 2024, but will feature a five-week event with a new course each week with challenges and cosmetic rewards.

    • A new set of five Hero Mastery courses for Lucio, Mei, D.va, Echo and Genji have been added.
    • Lucio's courses will unlock on January 2nd, and a new course for a new hero will be available every week for the next four weeks.

    Replay Bookmarks

    • Replay Bookmarks can be enabled from the Replay Viewer at any time. Once enabled, players can instantly skip to important moments during a run.
    • A list of bookmarks, course runs and records is shown on the left side of the screen. Players can quickly choose bookmarks from here, or by tapping the indicators on the replay skimmer.
    • A new leaderboard for Hero Mastery courses released in Season 6 has been added. The previous leaderboard will return in a future patch for players to view any time.

    Reticle Changes

    Extra reticle settings have been added for specific Heroes with multiple Weapon Modes. The following Heroes have access to the new options:

    Competitive Play Updates

    • MMR Decay now only occurs for Competitive Play at the start of a new season.
    • MMR Decay is not applied to roles that qualify for a rank.
    • Example: A player that won five games and got a Competitive Update will not decay at the end of a season.
    • If a player does not have a rank already who won three games and did not get a Competitive Update, that player will decay at the end of that season.
    • If the player does have a rank, they only need to play one match in the season to keep their rank for the next season.

    Hero Updates

    • Maximum ultimate charge preserved on hero swap reduced from 25 to 15%.
    • Added Hero-Specific Options to every character to adjust the rumble strength of each of their abilities.

    Tanks

    DOOMFIST

    • Meteor Strike
      • Now regenerates 75 health per second while in the air.
      • Ultimate cost increased 16%.

    JUNKER QUEEN

    • Scattergun spread reduced 8%.

    MAUGA

    • Base health reduced from 500 to 350.
    • Base armor increased from 0 to 150.
    • Head hit volume reduced 15%.
    • Incendiary and Volatile Chainguns
      • Spread for firing both guns reduced 15%.
      • Fire rate multiplier for firing both guns reduced from 25% to 0%.
      • Damage per shot increased from 4.5 to 5.
      • Damage falloff range increased from 25 to 30 meters.
      • Max ammo increased from 300 to 350.
      • Movement speed penalty reduced from 20% to 15% per gun.
    • Overrun
      • Can no longer be interrupted by Hack.
      • Damage reduction increased from 30 to 50%.
    • Cardiac Overdrive
      • Lifesteal increased from 60 to 70%.
    • Berserker
      • Overhealth conversion rate increased from 40% to 50%.

    RAMATTRA

    • Base health reduced from 300 to 200.
    • Base armor increased from 0 to 100.
    • Void Accelerator
      • Projectile size increased from 0.075 to 0.1 meters.
      • Damage increased from 4.5 to 5.

    SIGMA

    • Experimental Barrier
      • Regeneration rate reduced from 100 to 85 health per second.

    WINSTON

    • Tesla Cannon
      • Now ignores armor damage reduction.

    Damage

    MEI

    • Endothermic Blaster
      • Maximum ammo reduced from 150 to 120.

    SOLDIER: 76

    • Biotic Field
      • Cooldown increased from 15 to 18 seconds.

    SOMBRA

    • EMP
      • Ability lockout duration increased from 1.5 to 3 seconds.
      • Damage reduced from 30 to 25% of current health.

    TORBJÖRN

    • Overload
      • Overhealth increased from 75 to 100.

    TRACER

    • Pulse Pistols
      • Damage increased from 5.5 to 6.

    Support

    BAPTISTE

    • Biotic Launcher
      • Primary fire ammo reduced from 45 to 36.

    BRIGITTE

    • Whip Shot
      • Damage reduced from 80 to 70.

    KIRIKO

    • Healing Ofuda
      • Projectile speed increased from 14 to 18 meters per second.
    • Protection Suzu
      • Invulnerability duration reduced from 0.85 to 0.65 seconds.
      • Healing explosion increased from 40 to 80 health.

    MERCY

    • Valkyrie
      • Activating Valkyrie no longer disconnects Caduceus Staff from its target.
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