Overwatch 2 Reveals Mid-Season 18 Update Patch Notes

Overwatch 2 has officially kicked off its halfway update for Season 18, which introduces Tracer to Stadium, implements some hero changes, and starts several in-game events. This massive update promises to refresh the second half of Overwatch 2 Season 18 and is live in the game right now.

On August 26, Overwatch 2 began Season 18, Stadium Quick Play. This update introduced some massive improvements to the game, including the eponymous unranked Stadium game mode with crossplay, a re-reworked Roadhog, and a reset to Competitive ranks.

Now, Overwatch 2 is ready to reignite Season 18 with its halfway mark update. The patch introduces tons of new stuff to the game, including the debut of Overwatch poster child Tracer to the Stadium roster. Additionally, two different limited time events began with the update: The Persona 5 crossover and the Overwatch 2 anniversary event. The former includes new Phantom Thief cash shop skins and challenges, while the latter brings back popular Overwatch 2 game modes like Mirrorwatch and Overwatch Classic, and gives away free Epic and Legendary Loot Boxes, the Vampire Regent Lifeweaver skin, and 20 Mythic Prisms.

Of course, no major Overwatch 2 update would be complete without hero balance adjustments. Ramattra, Roadhog, Torbjorn, Widowmaker, and Brigitte all received buffs to their core hero kits. Meanwhile, Orisa, Sigma, Mei, and Juno all had tune-ups to their Stadium Items and Powers.

Unfortunately, some heroes were not quite so lucky. Hazard, Wrecking Ball, Genji, Hanzo, Tracer, Lucio, and Wuyang all got hit with a few nerfs to their core kits, while two of Kiriko’s Items in Overwatch 2 Stadium were reduced in power. Likewise, several “On Ability” general items were nerfed as well to keep them from being too broken on heroes with low ability cooldowns now that Tracer is in the mix.

Fans who feel like this mid-Season update came pretty quickly after the initial patch would be correct; Season 18 is scheduled to end on October 14, a solid week shorter than the average length of Overwatch 2 seasons. This was likely done to accommodate the holidays to ensure Season 20 did not literally drop on Christmas Day. Either way, that hasn’t stopped Blizzard from pulling out all the stops – Overwatch 2 even began a Twitch Drop campaign full of free Loot Boxes and Wuyang-themed cosmetics for the midseason update. Needless to say, Overwatch 2 is making sure the second half of Season 18 will have plenty for players to enjoy.

Overwatch 2 Mid-Season 18 Patch Notes – September 16, 2025

Season 18 continues – Blink, build, and flip the meta!

Tracer is diving headfirst into Stadium midseason, ready to stir things up alongside more big updates! Tracer thrives on timing and movement, making her the perfect pick for players who like to live on the edge of danger and dart back out before the dust settles. And we’re adding full support for Advanced Custom Games plus AI Bot Integration, so you can play your way and remix the rules like never before. Get ready to build a whole new flow for Stadium’s evolving meta!

Overwatch 2 x Phantom Thieves

The stage is set for a daring new caper! The Phantom Thieves have slipped into Overwatch 2, ready to steal your heart and fight for the future with a little rebellious flair and their signature masked style. This collab fuses Heroes and Hearts, delivering bold skins, UI swagger, and in-game surprises pulled straight from the Metaverse. From neon-soaked aesthetics to hidden map secrets, the Overwatch 2 x Phantom Thieves crossover invites you to join the crew and make your mark before time runs out.

The heist runs September 16–29. Don’t miss your shot to steal the spotlight!!

©ATLUS. ©SEGA.

Overwatch 2 Anniversary 2025

Anniversary 2025 lets you relive the game’s most memorable moments, from OG Arcade chaos to fan-favorite LTMs, while unlocking loot, skins, and Mythic Prisms along the way. Whether you’re hiding as a prop, laughing through April Fools, experimenting in Junk’s Lab, or altering your allegiance in Mirrorwatch again, every week is a different throwback with modern rewards on the line. Relive the highlights of Overwatch history while stacking serious rewards from September 16 to October 13.

• Week 1 kicks off with Mischief & Magic and Overwatch Classic Launch Meta where you can earn a Legendary and Epic Loot Box, a Legendary Lifeweaver Skin, souvenirs, icons, and more!
• Week 2 dive back into the Mirrorwatch and Overwatch Classic Moth Meta and earn a Legendary and Epic Loot Box, weapon charms, and other exciting rewards.
• Week 3 doubles down on chaos with Totally Normalwatch and Overwatch Classic Goats Meta and earn another Legendary Loot Box alongside player icons, sprays and other surprises!
• Week 4 closes strong with Junkenstein’s Laboratory and Overwatch Classic Golden Meta and get Mythic Prism bonuses alongside more souvenirs, sprays, icons, weapon charms, XP, a namecard, and an epic lootbox!

Competitive Play Updates

Leaver Compensation

• Players who have leavers outside of their own group during a Core Competitive Play match will have reduced Rank Progress lost whenever there is a leaver in the match.
• This compensation will be reduced at higher Skill Tiers.
• Players who leave Core Competitive Play matches and their group members will receive the full loss penalty.
• Leavers themselves will still be suspended from all Competitive Play modes.

Developer comments: After seeing successful results from Stadium Competitive Play with Leaver Compensation, we’re now ready to apply the same rules to the Core Competitive Play mode.

Hero Updates

TANK

• Hazard
  • Spike Guard – Secondary Ability
    • Damage reduction reduced from 65% to 60%.
  • Violent Leap – Ability 1
    • Damage reduced from 80 to 70.
• Ramattra
  • Nemesis Form – Ability 1
    • Bonus armor increased from 250 to 275.
• Roadhog
  • Scrap Gun – Primary & Secondary Fire
    • Critical multiplier increased from 1.5 to 2x.
  • Take a Breather – Ability 2
    • Resource regeneration rate increased from 10 to 12.5 per second.
• Wrecking Ball
  • Quad Cannons – Primary Fire
    • Maximum ammo reduced from 100 to 80.
  • Minefield – Ultimate
    • Mine duration reduced from 20 to 16 seconds.

DAMAGE

• Genji
  • Deflect – Ability 2
    • Cooldown increased from 8 to 10 seconds.
• Hanzo
  • Storm Arrows – Ability 2
    • No longer have a larger projectile size compared to regular arrows.
• Torbjörn
  • Overload – Ability 1
    • Duration increased from 5 to 6 seconds.
  • Molten Core – Ultimate
    • Damage per second increased from 160 to 190.
• Tracer
  • Perk cost increased by 25%.
• Widowmaker
  • Grappling Hook
    • Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds.
  • Venom Mine
    • Total damage increased from 75 to 125.

SUPPORT

• Brigitte
  • Shield Bash – Primary Ability
    • Damage increased from 50 to 70.
  • Combat Medic – Minor Perk
    • Fixed a bug where it triggers on damaging non-player entities.
• Lúcio
  • Sonic Amplifier – Primary Fire
    • Damage per projectile reduced from 22 to 20.
• Wuyang
  • Rushing Torrent
    • Cooldown increased from 7 to 8 seconds.
  • Guardian Wave
    • Healing amplification duration reduced from 4 to 3 seconds.

Stadium Updates

TANK

Orisa

Developer comments: These updates give Orisa more durability and impact. Scorched Earth hits harder, her barriers scale better with her role, and Supercharger now has the staying power to anchor big moments in a fight.

• Scorched Earth – Power
  • Damage increased to 25% (Up from 20%).
• Shield Divergence – Power
  • Barrier now gains extra health from passive health gain.
• Supercharger – Power
  • Supercharger base health increased to 400 (Up from 200).

Sigma

Developer comments: Several of Sigma’s items and powers have proved too situational and we’re giving them a tune-up. Additionally, his Beam counter item should now be more effective against other Tanks on the roster (looking at you, Reinhardt).

• Maestro – Power
  • Added: Gravitic Flux refunds 50% of Ultimate Charge if no enemies are affected.
• Volatile Gravel – Rare Ability Hero Item
  • Bonus Ability Power reworked to now deal damage with Accretion and grants 5% Ability Power until the end of the round, stacking up to 4 times.
• Beam Splitter – Rare Survival Hero Item
  • Now also reduces Melee damage while active.
  • Damage reduction increased to 75% (up from 50%).
• Synced Shielding – Rare Survival Hero Item
  • Weapon Power and Attack Speed granted while behind Experimental Barrier increased to 10% (up from 5%).
  • Move Speed and Lifesteal granted while in front of Experimental Barrier increased to 10% (up from 5%).

DAMAGE

Mei

Developer comments: Based on player feedback, we wanted to reward precision with Slowball. Landing crits now gives a stronger slow, letting Mei players who hit their mark feel extra frosty while making it clearer when enemies are in real trouble.

• Slowball – Power
  • Added: Critical hit applies 30% instead.

Tracer

• Added to the Stadium Roster.
• Chronal Crux – Stadium Passive
  • Gains 25% less Health, Armor, and Shields from items and cash.
• Flash Fist – Power
  • For 1 second after using Blink, your next Quick Melee is affected by Ability Power, deals 10 extra damage, and knocks enemies back.
• Get Stuffed! – Power
  • Quick Melee hit grant 5% Ultimate Charge.
• Blink of an Eye – Power
  • Critical hits reduce the cooldown of Blink by 0.5 seconds.
• Quantum Clip – Power
  • If you use Blink while reloading, gain 25% Max Ammo and 10% Weapon Lifesteal until you reload.
• T.Racer- Power
  • Blink teleports you 3 meters farther and grants you 10% Move Speed for 1 second.
• Alternate Ending- Power
  • When you use Recall, heal allies within 6 meters for 75% of the damage they have taken in the last 3 seconds.
• Auto Recall- Power
  • Once per round, if you would die, instead use Recall for free. Spending your Ultimate Charge reduces Recall’s cooldown by 50%.
• Bullet Time- Power
  • When you use Recall, drop a temporal field that slows projectiles by 95% for 6 seconds and you take 25% less damage from Hitscan for 3 seconds.
• Temporal- Power
  • Recall leaves behind a temporal field portal. An ally can interact with it to travel back in time 3 seconds.
• Foresight- Power
  • After using Blink, your next 6 shots within 2 seconds auto-aim to targets within 10 meters.
• Timelapse- Power
  • Hitting 2 consecutive shots on the same target without missing deals 1 extra damage over 2 seconds.
• Pocket Bomb- Power
  • When you use Recall, throw a Pulse Bomb that deals 60% less damage.
• Pulse Detector – Rare Weapon Hero Item
  • 10% Weapon Power.
  • 10% Max Ammo.
  • The last enemy hit by Pulse Pistols is revealed for 1 second.
  • Cost: 5,500.
• Underworld Quickloader – Epic Weapon Hero Item
  • 10% Weapon Power.
  • 10% Attack Speed.
  • Pulse Pistols hits grant 1% Reload Speed stacking up to 30 times. Resets on reload.
  • Cost: 12,000.
• Drag Reducers – Rare Ability Hero Item
  • 10% Ability Power.
  • 100% Pulse Bomb Throw Distance.
  • Cost: 4,000.
• Chrono Bomb – Epic Ability Hero Item
  • 15% Ability Power.
  • 50% Pulse Bomb Explosion Radius.
  • Enemies Stuck or hit by Pulse Bomb are slowed by 30% and lose 30% bonus Attack Speed for 2 seconds.
  • Cost: 10,000.
• Emily’s Affection – Rare Survival Hero Item
  • 19 Health.
  • After using Recall, gain 50 Overheath for 5 seconds.
  • Cost: 4,000.
• Iggy’s Ignition – Rare Survival Hero Item
  • 5% Attack Speed.
  • 5% Move Speed.
  • If you use Blink while Airborne, gain an air jump.
  • Cost: 3,750.
• Custom Kicks – Epic Survival Hero Item
  • 38 Health.
  • When you use Blink, grant yourself and allies within 6 meters 10% Move Speed for 1 second.
  • Cost: 10,000.
• Oxton Overdrive – Epic Survival Hero Item
  • 19 Health.
  • When you use Recall, restore 2 charges of Blink.
  • Cost: 10,000.
• Slipstream Salve – Epic Survival Hero Item
  • 19 Health.
  • Recall always restores at least 70% of your life.
  • Cost: 10,000.

SUPPORT

Juno

Developer comments: PulStar Destroyers were underwhelming compared to other Epic tier options. This boost should make this hero item feel far more destructive and worthy of its name.

• PulStar Destroyers – Epic Ability Hero Item
  • Damage increased to 35 (Up from 20).

Kiriko

Developer comments: We’ve trimmed the numbers so talismans aren’t quite so magical, and donuts aren’t quite so nutritious. Sometimes too many sprinkles really are a bad thing.

• Donut Delivery – Epic Ability Hero Item
  • Cooldown Reduction decreased to 5% (Down from 10%).
  • Healing decreased to 80 (Down from 120).
• Talisman of Life – Epic Survival Hero Item
  • Ability Power decreased to 15% (Down from 20%).
  • Overhealth decreased to 80 (Down from 100).

ARMORY

General Items

Developer comments: With the introduction of Tracer, we’re adjusting some of our “On Ability” items to be more in bounds on heroes with low ability cooldowns.

• Ironclad Exhaust Ports – Rare Survival General Item
  • Overhealth now only stacks up to 1 time.
  • Added 10 Health.
• Three-Tap Tommygun – Epic Ability General Item
  • Added damage falloff to additional damage equal to target’s Life.
  • Added internal timer of 0.25s between subsequent procs of the additional damage.
  • Changed from “After using an ability, your next 3 instances of Weapon Damage deal additional damage equal to 3% of the target’s Life” to “After using an ability, for 3s Weapon Damage deals additional damage equal to 1% of the target’s Life. (Cooldown: 0.25s)”.
  • Cost reduced to 9500 (Down from 10500).
• Mark of the Kitsune – Epic Ability General Item
  • Added damage falloff to additional damage.

Stadium Custom Game Updates

Custom build your own games of Stadium with newly expanded rule options that can adjust all of the game rules of Stadium to your liking. Play single round matches with a near infinite budget or slowly grind through a first-to-10 series for the ultimate strategic showdown. Mix and match settings between Quick Play and Competitive rulesets to build your own custom version of Stadium that works for you!

AI Bots

• Custom game for Stadium now has support for AI bots.
• AI bots can be added as enemies or teammates.
• AI bots have been updated to play all Stadium game modes, including Payload Race.
• AI Bots will purchase and sell items from the Armory.

Presets

• Stadium Quick Play has been added as a new pre-set.
• The Stadium Ranked preset has been updated to enable Hero Draft in the Lobby Options by default.

Lobby Settings

Stadium Lobby settings have been added for:

• Hero Draft
• Mirror Match
• Bans

Mode Settings

You can now find a variety of new customization options for Stadium in the All Modes settings.

• Competitive Rules – When enabled the standard cash gains for Competitive Play will be used. When disabled, the increased cash gains from the Quick Play ruleset will be used.
• Score to Win – Set how many total rounds a team must win to win the overall match, up to 10.
• Starting Cash – Set the total amount of cash each player starts with at the start of the game.
• MVP Bonus Cash – Set the amount of cash awarded to each team’s MVP after each round.
• Minimum Round Earnings – Set the minimum average currency earned by a team each round.
• Round Complete Cash Scalar – Sets the percentage of cash granted passively to all players after each round.
• Damage Cash Scalar – Sets the percentage of cash earned from damage dealt during each round.
• Healing Cash Scalar – Sets the percentage of cash earned from damage healed during each round.
• Bounty Cash Scalar – Sets the percentage of cash earned from eliminations during each round.
• Item Cost Scalar – Sets the percentage of the price of items in the Armory before each round.
• Mercy Rule – Enables the Mercy rule to activate if the conditions are met after round 3.
• Merch Rule Cash Delta – Determines the amount of cash required to end the match early if a team is leading by 3 points after round 3.
• Power 1 Unlock Round – Determines the round where players can equip their first power.
• Power 2 Unlock Round – Determines the round where players can equip their second power.
• Power 3 Unlock Round – Determines the round where players can equip their third power.
• Power 4 Unlock Round – Determines the round where players can equip their fourth power.
• Armory Duration Scalar – Adjusts the total time players can spend in the Armory to select items and powers.

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed an issue that caused the Spectate and Join Game options to disappear from the Social tab.
• Fixed an issue with the “Leave as Group” option that prevented players from leaving with their group.
• Fixed an issue with the Gladiator: LXXVI skin being incorrectly labeled as a legendary.
• Fixed an issue where Baptiste’s progression rewards were not awarded correctly.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused charms and souvenirs to not appear in the Hero Gallery.
• Fixed an issue that displayed incorrect prices in certain regional stores.
• Fixed an issue where you could not use certain cosmetics with the Nerf Weapon Skin equipped on Baptiste.

Heroes

D.Va

• Fixed an issue with D.Va’s Defense Matrix drain rate reduction when using the Precision Fusion perk.

Venture

• Fixed an issue with Venture’s Burrow ability that caused a delay when attempting to use subsequent abilities after emerging.

Wuyang

• Fixed an issue with Wuyang’s “autofire after controlling orb” setting, which should now respond appropriately.

Stadium

General

• Fixed an issue where players near stadium rank convergence started to gain extremely low SP.
• Fixed an issue where some Stadium rewards were being incorrectly unequipped on logout.

Junkrat

• Fixed an issue with Junkrat’s Concussion Mine not increasing damage when using the “Champion’s Kit” mod.

Moira

• Fixed an issue with the damaging orb deployed from Moira’s “Optimal Overflow” power that could bounce off unintended surfaces.

Orisa

• Fixed an issue with visual effects on Orisa’s spear when the “Spynstem Update” power was equipped.
• Fixed an issue with deflected shots from Orisa’s Javelin Spin not aligning with the reticle when using the “Spynstem Update” power.

Pharah

• Fixed an issue with Pharah’s primary fire rocket that could visually follow the same path as the homing rocket after using the “Heat Seekers” power.

Solider: 76

• Fixed an issue with Soldier’s “Super Visor” power that could incorrectly reduce Ultimate charge after firing a Helix Rocket.