Overwatch 2 Update 4.30/1.000.094 Ushers in Season 3 on June 16
Blizzard Entertainment released the Season 3 update for Overwatch 2 on June 16, and this brings a new damage hero, Shion! Console gamers will see this as Overwatch 2 update 4.30/1.000.094, and this also applies balance changes to a lot of heroes.
Aside from that, perk changes, massive Stadium adjustments have been made and a lot more.
There’s a lot to take in, so read on for the official patch notes and our breakdown.
Overwatch 2 New Season Update Brings Shion
Reign of Talon: Season 3 – Into The Tiger’s Den
Reign of Talon – Season 3: Into the Tiger’s Den takes Overwatch to a place where bright lights cut through the shadow and who you stand with matters most. Shion arrives as a fast and deadly new Damage Hero leading the notorious Hashimoto Clan, testing your resolve at every turn. Plus, explore the first new Hybrid map in the Anima Strike Meta Event, uncovering secrets and earning rewards by playing your way through the story. Then blaze into battle as Mythic Ascendant Phoenix Illari, wield Hanzo’s Tokyo Rebel Mythic weapon, and suit up in a brand-new Ultra Skin cosmetic tier to bring more spectacle and style to your fight for a better future.
A shadow looms over Tokyo…
With support from Overwatch, Kiriko and her companions – the Yōkai – fight to loosen the grip of the Hashimoto criminal organization over the city. To do so, they must face off against the Hashimoto’s vicious leader, Shion.
Over the course of three weeks from June 16th – July 6th, players will battle their way through different locations in Tokyo by completing challenges. Each week features a unique 2D hub layout themed around a different location:
- Neon Junction
- Yōkai Hideout
- Hashimoto Headquarters
Each layout has branching paths, narrative unlocks, and new rewards – available for only that week. There’s also a new Prestige track to tackle each week for the most dedicated players.
After completing the Prestige track, players unlock the ability to complete the path(s) they didn’t choose for that week’s layout; however, once the week resets and a new week begins during the event, a new map with new rewards becomes available, and the previous week’s layout becomes inaccessible.
In total, players can earn:
- 18 Lootboxes
- 3 Epic Lootboxes
- 3 Legendary Lootboxes
- 3 Voice Lines
- 1 Victory Pose (from Milestone challenge)
- 3 Sprays
- 4 Namecards
- 90k BP XP
- 5 Titles (3 from Milestone challenges)
- 4 Avatars
- 2 Charms
- 1 Souvenir
COMMUNITY CRAFTED
What if Ana had a jetpack? What if Junker Queen could throw her axe? What if Widowmaker could place an explosive tripwire? Well wonder no more, because we’ve worked with four of your favorite creators – Guxue, Apply, Ocie, and mL7support – to change every single hero based on their ideas! From June 30 until July 13, play this brand new version of Overwatch in the Arcade and earn the following rewards:
- Zenyatta Pachi Icon
- Reinhardt Spray
- Sombra Pachi Icon
- Hanzo Pachi Icon
- Genji Feather Weapon Charm
- Cassidy BAMF Weapon Charm
- “Doomscroller” Rare Title
EXCAVATION INITIATIVE
It’s time to break out the excavator and find some treasure! Join us for this new season-long event from June 16 to August 10th, unlocking lootboxes along the way!
- Win one game per day, on any 3 days during the week to complete a dig and earn a lootbox. Dedicated players can complete two digs a week to earn an additional lootbox.
- Complete a dig twice during the season to gain access to an additional lootbox.
- Complete a dig 4 times during the season for an epic lootbox.
- Our most dedicated archaeologists can complete 6 digs during the season to unlock a legendary lootbox
- Track daily/weekly progress directly from the lobby
- View your season progress from the event hub
JUNKRAT’S LOOT HUNT
- Junkrat’s Loot Hunt is back again, running from July 10 – July 14! Earn lootboxes by completing challenges that unlock as you play!
GENERAL UPDATES
- Our Nintendo Switch™ client will be receiving a rebase, which will result in longer download times for users on that platform.
- Continued to expand our Advanced Info Panel keywords for some of the more opaque ability interactions with:
Crush, Heal Amp Cap, Ignore Energy, Reduction Cap and Strong Reduction – Read them to find out more!
Sound
- Added a new Option under Sound → General → Sounds to control the volume of Teammate/Enemy Eliminated Sound Effects.
Controls
- Removed the default keybind for Toggle UI (previously ALT+Z). Players who wish to use this feature can reassign it manually under Options > Controls.
Accessibility
- Added two new Options under Accessibility → General → Chat.
- High Contrast Chat lets players have a dark background that makes chat easier to read.
- Chat Background Opacity lets players control how dark the background is if High Contrast Chat is disabled.
Social
- In a previous update, added a Favorites category to the Friend Panel to help players quickly find favorited friends.
COMPETITIVE PLAY UPDATES
Hero Bans
- The Roster (described in more detail in Core Game Updates below) gives players the ability to share their favorite heroes with their teams to enable better coordination.
- A player’s Preferred Hero (their #1 hero in the Roster) now contributes 3 negative votes during Hero Bans. This would nullify one player’s 3rd place vote.
- Lobby Bans are a 5th ban slot that can break the 2 hero Role Limit. Unlike all other hero bans, Lobby Bans are calculated by adding together all votes from both teams. If both teams had at least 1 vote for a hero and there were 10 total votes for a hero (such as one first place and one third place vote), the hero will be Lobby Banned.
- The Ban Results page of Hero Bans has new visual updates to help players understand the snake draft and to display the Lobby Ban.
- The Hero Bans phase now displays the number of votes for each of your choices (7 for 1st place, 5 for 2nd place, and 3 for 3rd place) and the total number of votes your team has contributed together for each hero.
Top 500 Challenger Live Replays
- All players can now watch live replays of ongoing matches for players on the Top 500 Challenger Leaderboards.
- Live Replays are streamed to viewers with a delay to prevent the feature from being used for a competitive advantage by other players
- Live replays share controls with the existing replay function.
- For players on any leaderboard, this feature can be disabled in the Options under Social → Privacy → Leaderboards. The setting is called “Hide Leaderboard Live Replay” and is defaulted to Off.
Cheater Compensation
- Rank Progress compensation awarded to higher Rank players now scales down by respecting the Pressure Modifier.
Overwatch 2 Hero Updates for June 16
Developer Comments: The perk system has continued to evolve since Season 1, with ongoing additions to heroes and perks across the roster. This patch includes targeted adjustments to perks that are out of line in pick rate, win rate, or overall effectiveness, with the goal of improving viability and maintaining meaningful choice.
Read on for MP1st’s easier-to-read breakdown on the winners and losers.
Tank
Buffs
- Ramattra – Stronger Relentless Form and Nanite Repair perks.
- Reinhardt – Firestrike damage increased (120 → 125) and projectile speed increased.
- Zarya – Energy decays more slowly (2.5 → 2.0/sec).
Nerfs
- D.Va – Shield System shield conversion reduced (150 → 100).
- Doomfist – Power Matrix duration reduced (1.0 → 0.8s).
- Hazard – Multiple nerfs, including Spike Guard duration reduced (3 → 2.5s), Explosive Impalements damage reduced, and Reconstitution weakened.
Reworks
- Domina – New Corporate Retreat perk allows Barrier Array repositioning; Power Move removed.
- Hazard – Deep Leap and Reconstitution swapped between Minor and Major perk slots.
Damage
Buffs
- Anran – Faster recovery on Inferno Rush and Dancing Blaze.
- Genji – Deflect cooldown reduced (10 → 8s); Meditation healing increased.
- Junkrat – Bomb Voyage attack speed bonus increased.
- Mei – Primary fire range increased (10m → 12m); Deep Freeze stronger vs non-tanks.
- Sojourn – Friction Generators max energy increased (50 → 75).
- Vendetta – Ultimate cost reduced 15%; Onslaught speed and duration increased.
Nerfs
- Ashe – Viper Sting no longer grants ammo.
- Cassidy – Silver Bullet bleed damage reduced (70 → 50) and duration shortened.
- Echo – Partial Scan ultimate gain reduced (50% → 30%); Full Salvo loses a projectile.
- Emre – Ultimate cost increased 10%.
- Reaper – Health reduced (300 → 275); Lingering Wraith speed reduced.
- Sierra – Smaller projectile size, weaker Tight Grip and Locked-In perks.
- Tracer – Kinetic Reload ammo gain reduced (20 → 12).
Adjusted
- Ashe – Airburst now grants more ammo (3 → 6).
- Bastion – Armored Artillery removed; Smart Bomb added.
Support
Buffs
- Brigitte – Whiplash damage increased (50 → 60).
- Illari – Rapid Construction cooldown reduction increased.
- Juno – Faster Blaster attack speed increased.
- Mizuki – Katashiro Return cooldown reduced and duration increased.
- Moira – Biotic Orb damage, healing, and max output increased.
- Wuyang – Ebb and Flow now restores 100% healing on rewind.
Nerfs
- Ana – Speed Serum movement speed reduced (40% → 30%).
- Jetpack Cat – Significant Lifeline-related nerfs, including weaker Transport Shielding and slower fuel regeneration while carrying allies.
- Lifeweaver – Tree of Life cost increased 9%; overheal conversion reduced (100% → 50%).
- Mercy – Damage Boost reduced (30% → 25%); Valkyrie cost increased 7%.
Adjusted
- Jetpack Cat – Headbutt damage increased (30 → 50) and weapon damage/healing slightly improved.
- Mercy – Chain Boost now adds an extra 5% damage boost.
CORE GAME UPDATES
The Roster
- Players can now choose their Top 3 preferred heroes in each Role to be displayed to their team during all Pregame phases (Map Voting, Preferred Hero, Hero Bans).
- Players can change which heroes appear in the Roster from the Main Menu, while they’re in queue, and during Pregame phases (changes made in the Pregame are not saved, since they’d often be in response to a map or allied hero choice).
- Players can opt into only displaying 2, 1, or 0 heroes (no preference), but by default the 3 displayed heroes will be the same heroes used on the Player Cards.
- Players can see their group members’ Roster of heroes by opening the social context menu that offers other social options like Whisper and View Career Profile.
- The maps on offer should be much less likely to be maps you played within the last 5 matches. This change will help players that play for shorter sessions to be much more likely to experience more map variety.
- Floating Combat Text has been enabled for the Core Game’s Practice Range.
- Retuned many cards that showed up too often (looking at you Echo Sticky Bombs) and increased the odds of some cards appearing.
- Added many new fake names…
For the complete info on Stadium changes and the insanely long changelog for heroes, check out Blizzard’s changelog.
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