Summary
Overwatch 2has officially rolled out its mid-Season 12 update, which includes a long-awaited nerf to D.Va and the tank passive, buffs for several other heroes, and the new Role Queue Mystery Heroes game mode. This update, along with theWorld of Warcraftcollaboration event, are live inOverwatch 2right now.
Season 12 ofOverwatch 2began on August 20, and is set to run until October 15, meaning players are officially halfway through New Frontiers. As it has in previous seasons,Overwatch 2has implemented a sizable update to keep the live-service hero shooter as fresh and balanced as possible.
This time, a few nerfs were implemented to bring certain heroes down to size, especially in the survivability of certain characters. The flat damage reduction of armor has been reduced from 10 to 7 per impact, and the knockback resistance for the tank role is now 25%, lowered from 40%. AsOverwatch 2had previously teased, D.Va also lost some of her armor and her total health on top of being impacted by both general nerfs. Venture also got hit, with their Explorer’s Resolve shield-gaining passive losing a little bit of its potency per ability use.
SeveralOverwatch 2heroescame out of this balance update with buffs, however. Orisa’s Fortify movement speed penalty has been lessened, Roadhog’s Take a Breather recharges faster, and Sigma’s Hyperspheres deal more area damage now. Bastion, Cassidy, Hanzo, Moira, Lifeweaver, and Zenyatta all also received buffs to their offensive capabilities to help them pose more of a threat in certain matchups.
This update added a new Unranked game mode called Role Queue Mystery Heroes, which works like its predecessor, but by lessening the randomness by only using characters from each player’s chosen role. This mode has replaced Open Queue Mystery Heroes on the main menu, but the original can still be made in Custom Games. Additionally, Competitive Drives are new limited-time events thatOverwatch 2will be starting near the end of each season. During each Drive, fans can earn Signatures –Overwatch 2cosmetics used to customize one’s account name– as well as even more Competitive Points.
Last but certainly not least, this patch heralds thestart of theOverwatch 2xWorld of Warcraftcollaboration event. Until the end of September, players can pick up Lich King Reinhardt, Widowmaker Sylvanas, Thrall Zenyatta, and diamond Magni Torbjorn, along with their associated cosmetics, in the cash shop, or complete in-game tasks to earn sprays, name plates, titles, and experience to finish out the last of the Season 12 Battle Pass.
Overwatch 2 Mid-Season 12 Patch Notes - July 23, 2025
Overwatch 2 x World of Warcraft
Join the celebration as Overwatch and World of Warcraft unite the realms for a legendary crossover event! From September 17-30, dive into glory with Sylvanas Windrunner Widowmaker, Lich King Reinhardt, Thrall Zenyatta, and Diamond Magni Torbjorn Legendary skins - complete with iconic voice lines, emotes, and Plays of the Game inspired by WoW. Play now to unlock up to 8 free rewards and experience the magic!
General Updates
Role Queue Mystery Heroes
Role Queue Mystery Heroes is a new variation of the popular Mystery Heroes game mode but using the Role Queue rules. Once you select your role, your heroes played will be randomly selected among the heroes in that role and will not change roles throughout the match.
Competitive Updates
Competitive Drives
Competitive Drives are limited-time events that take place near the end of seasons in Competitive Play Role Queue. As you complete a Drive you’ll earn bonus Competitive Points and a new reward called “Signatures”. Signatures are a cosmetic reward that appears on your name in most locations where your name is displayed, including your Name Card, Play of the Game Highlights, Scoreboard, and Hero Select. Signatures are upgraded as you reach Checkpoints in a Drive.
When you win a match you’ll earn Drive Score and progress toward the next Checkpoint. Losing subtracts Drive Score, but generally less than winning, and Checkpoints prevent you from losing score once you reach them.
There are 6 Checkpoints and they grant the following rewards in order of completion:
Your progression on a Drive is shared across all roles in Role Queue. You do not earn progression toward your Drive in Open Queue Competitive Play.
When you complete Drives your Signature will be upgraded to show off how many Drives you’ve completed in total.
HERO UPDATES
GENERAL
Developer Comment: The recent increase to armor’s effectiveness improved the survivability of armored heroes more than we’d like for how passive it is, so we’re tuning it down to a middle-ground value.
TANK
Developer Comment: This knockback resistance value has changed a few times as the environment of the game shifts. With Juno entering the roster and bringing more sources of speed boost to help rush down the enemy team, we’d like to make tanks more susceptible to displacement again.
D.Va
Developer Comment: There has been a lot of community feedback surrounding D.Va lately. On average she hasn’t been overperforming, but she’s quite difficult to take down. So we’re shifting some of her armor to normal health and reducing her max combined health by 25 armor. With armor’s effectiveness being hit in the same patch, we’ll keep an eye on how this plays out and adjust as necessary.
Orisa
Developer Comment: We still don’t want Orisa to easily chase enemies down while Fortified since there’s not much you’re able to do to fight back during that time, so while we’re not removing the movement speed penalty entirely, we are lowering it to a point where it will feel much better for Orisa to use.
Roadhog
Developer Comment: This is a reversion to Roadhog’s previous resource regeneration rate to improve his primary tanking ability’s uptime. There were several adjustments to reduce the power of this ability but they may not have been necessary as Roadhog has been underperforming for some time now.
Sigma
Developer Comment: This shift in damage from the Hyperspheres direct impact into the explosion component is to improve the effectiveness of the airburst explosion when playing at max range and makes it more threatening against tightly grouped enemies.
DAMAGE
Bastion
Developer Comment: The spread reduction is intended to improve the Assault mode weapon’s effective range against smaller targets while not changing much in regard to how good it is against tank heroes and their large size.
Cassidy
Developer Comment: We’re reducing how impactful the hinder effect is by lowering its duration, as this crowd control can be a significant source of frustration for players. Since now there is less time to follow up with shots from the weapon while the opponent is hindered, we’re increasing the explosion damage of Flashbang.
Hanzo
Developer Comment: This change restores Hanzo’s one hit headshot kill against 250 health heroes, though it will require more accuracy with the smaller projectile size and is now slower to charge shots to reduce the frequency of projectiles being thrown out.
After trying the recent iterations of Hanzo post Season 9, we feel the one-shot capability is too essential to the core gameplay feel of these sniper heroes (similar to Widowmaker) without a much larger rework. Being limited to a smaller range of heroes that could be one shot (225 HP and below) added some texture to the hero matchups but wasn’t a satisfying compromise for either side.
Venture
Developer Comment: As a highly mobile damage hero, Venture doesn’t need quite as much shield health from their passive as they currently get to be successful. Even though they are a close-range hero, their abilities enable them to close the gap quickly and effectively without taking much damage.
SUPPORT
Moira
Developer Comment: Moira’s ultimate didn’t feel threatening enough after the health adjustments across the cast and her own lower health value.
Lifeweaver
Developer Comment: The increased firing duration for Thorn Volley will give Lifeweaver more damage presence and it lines up better with his auto-charging heal timing to help that flow nicely.
Zenyatta
Developer Comment: With the current addition of more speed boosts in the game, Zenyatta (and generally more poke-oriented team compositions by extension) has fallen off a bit due to how immobile and vulnerable he can be. We’ve tried increasing his health in the past but it’s proven problematic, so instead we’re leaning into his glass-cannon nature. We’re improving his damage this time, which should enable new break points in how many shots are required to eliminate an enemy.
Overwatch 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
