Overwatch 2 recently rolled out a balance adjustment hotfix geared towards Stadium, with a buff for Orisa, nerfs for D.Va, Junker Queen, and Pharah, and a little bit of both for Brigitte. These tweaks, plus a handful of bug fixes and Stadium rank loss adjustments, are live in Overwatch 2 now.

ow2 season 18 stadium heroes brigitte pharah zarya soldier 76

Season 18 of Overwatch 2 kicked off on August 26, bringing some massive changes to the game. Core Overwatch 2 got a new support hero named Wuyang and a sweeping refresh to the Perks system, while the Stadium game mode received the Payload Race game mode, along with three heroes: Winston, Pharah, and Brigitte.

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Overwatch 2 Reverses Controversial 'Noob' Ban

Overwatch 2 reverses course on a controversial decision after a player claims they were previously banned for saying 'noob' in the game's chat.

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Now, a little over a week after the major release, Overwatch 2 has put out a small hotfix that introduces a handful of balance adjustments specific to Stadium. Orisa lucked out in this Overwatch 2 Stadium patch, with her Refraction Tiles Item now reducing beam damage by 75% while using Javelin Spin, up from 50%. Likewise, support newcomer Brigitte had the range of her healing with the Righteous Cleave Power doubled from 5 meters to 10.

overwatch 2 season 18

Unfortunately, a few heroes had their Powers or Items reduced in strength instead. This Overwatch 2 Stadium update nerfed Pharah's Recursion Batter Power, Blitz Barrage Power, and Overcharged Ordnance Item, D.Va’s Facetanking Power and Multitask-Mod Item, and Junker Queen’s Royal Bullets Power. Additionally, Brigitte’s Scavenged Steel Item caught a nerf to balance out her Righteous Cleave buff.

overwatch 2 july 8 stadium updates buffs nerfs

Outside of balance adjustments, there were a few other changes to Overwatch 2 in this update, too. Beyond a handful of critical bug fixes, Stadium will now also take into account victorious rounds when tallying lost Stadium Points or earned Competitive Points after a defeat in Competitive Stadium. This should make those losses feel less punishing and more rewarding for players who put up a hard fight throughout the multi-round skirmish.

Three different events are live in Overwatch 2 right now: a rerun of the Cowboy Bebop collaboration until September 9, and the Summer Games 2025 and Play Like Luka events, both of which end September 16. Completing these in-game challenges can earn gamers tons of rewards, including the Ein Wrecking Ball skin, new sprays and Player Icons featuring Hazard, Juno, Freya, and Wuyang, and 77 Loot Boxes in Overwatch 2. What’s more, Junkrat’s Loot Hunt returns from September 12–14, giving fans the chance to add nine more Loot Boxes to their collections.

Overwatch 2 Hotfix Patch Notes (September 4, 2025)

Hotfix Balance Update

This is a gameplay and bug fix update. Replay codes from the August 26, 2025 patch are still available.

Stadium Updates

Loser Consolation

  • When a player loses a Competitive game, each individual round that a player wins now reduces the total amount of Stadium Points lost and grants Competitive Points.
  • Disabled at All-Star and Legend leagues.

TANK

D.Va

Developer Comments: D.Va’s early weapon power spike created by the low cost 20% weapon power epic was providing disproportionate efficiency compared to similar options. This allowed her to secure early eliminations too reliably and snowball matches ahead of curve. Additionally, her Facetanking builds offered above-average durability relative to other tanks. This update reduces both the efficiency of her early weapon power scaling and the overall survivability of Facetanking strategies to better align with intended balance.

  • Facetanking - Power
    • Healing decreased to 30% (Down from 40%).

  • Multitask-Mod - Epic Weapon Hero Item
    • Weapon power decreased to 10% (Down from 20%).

Junker Queen

Developer Comments: Royal Bullets was winning duels a little too royally, popping targets with minimal setup. This trim keeps it snappy and satisfying without letting it wear the crown in every build.

  • Royal Bullets - Power
    • Damage decreased to 40 (Down from 50).

Orisa

Developer Comments: Orisa was having a tough time holding her ground against beam-heavy foes like Zarya. This update gives her a sturdier answer so she can stare down beams a bit longer and keep the frontline strong.

  • Refraction Tiles - Rare Survival Hero Item
    • Damage reduction increased to 75% (Up from 50%).

DAMAGE

Pharah

Developer Comments: Pharah’s mini barrage build has been raining down a little too much fire, melting teams before they knew what hit them. This is the first step in dialing back that bursty damage while keeping the build exciting, with more tuning planned in future updates.

  • Recursion Battery - Power
    • Lifesteal decreased to 25% (Down from 50%).

  • Blitz Barrage - Power
    • Rocket number reduction increased to 75% (Up from 60%).

  • Overcharged Ordnance - Rare Ability Hero Item
    • Cost increased to 5500 (Up from 4000).

SUPPORT

Brigitte

Developer Comments: Scavenged Steel was previously allowing players to chain Rallies together, making it feel like she had Rally every fight. This change should lower Rally uptime so there are greater windows of opportunity to counterplay. We're also lightly increasing the healing reliability of Brigitte's Weapon Power build.

  • Righteous Cleave - Power
    • Healing Range increased to 10m (Up from 5m).

  • Scavenged Steel - Epic Ability Hero Item
    • No longer grants Ultimate Charge while Rally is active.

Bug Fixes

  • Stadium
    • Brigitte
      • Fixed an issue where repeatedly pressing Shield Bash after casting would grant multiple On Ability Triggers.

    • Junkrat
      • Fixed an issue where Junkrat's Concussion Mine wasn't properly scaling with Ability Power.

    • Items
      • Fixed an issue where Amari's Antidote was working on all Healing instead of just Weapon Healing.
      • Fixed an issue where Divine Intervention was also working on self damage from removing Overhealth.
      • Fixed an issue where Ogundimu Reduction Field was not properly interacting with Nebula Conduit's self damage.

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6 /10

Overwatch 2
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Top Critic Avg: 77 /100 Critics Rec: 65%
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Released
August 10, 2023
ESRB
T For Teen // Blood, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco, Violence
Developer(s)
Blizzard
Publisher(s)
Blizzard
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