It hasn't been long since Overwatch 2 Season 18 started, but we have already reached the mid-season point, with a new patch now available. Given that this season will last less than previous ones, it is normal that we have reached this stage quicker.
The patch not only brings adjustments, but it also adds several new content like the Persona 5 collaboration skins, Tracer to Stadium, and more. We have the patch notes of this mid-season update so you can read about all the changes.
When does the Overwatch 2 Season 18 mid-season patch come out?
The Overwatch 2 Season 18 mid-season patch is scheduled to go live on Tuesday, September 16th, at 11:00 AM PT (7:00 PM BST). The update is already available to preload through the Battle.net launcher for all PC users. Meaning you won't have to download anything extra once the patch goes live.
Season 18 is expected to last for another four weeks after this update, ending on Tuesday, October 14th, at the usual time.
Patch notes
Here are the complete patch notes for the Overwatch 2 Season 18 mid-season update that were posted on the game's official website:
Overwatch 2 Anniversary 2025
- 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.
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
- 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
- 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
- Slowball - Power
- Added: Critical hit applies 30% instead.
Tracer
- Added to the Stadium Roster.
Support
Juno
- PulStar Destroyers - Epic Ability Hero Item
- Damage increased to 35 (Up from 20).
Kiriko
- 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
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 Games Updates
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.
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