The test server has been updated to now include upcoming changes for Overwatch Season 2 and the full patch notes have been released. Here is a summary of what to remember!
Ranking
Instead of having a ranking between 1 and 100, we will have a ranking between 1 and 5000. Also, we will have a tier system that will depend on it:
- Bronze - 1-1499
- Silver - 1500-1999
- Or - 2000 - 2499
- Platinum - 2500-2999
- Diamond - 3000-3499
- Master - 3500-3999
- Grandmaster - 4000-5000
Note that by reaching the Bronze to Diamond levels included, we will no longer descend a level, even if we fall below its minimum required ranking.
There are also different rules, especially for Diamonds, Masters and Grand Masters who will lose points if they have not participated in competitive games for 7 days. Players with more than 3000 points will also lose 50 points every 24 hours (this stops if 3000 is reached). Finally, if a player in the top 500 has not played for 7 days, he will be removed.
Speaking of the top 500, a player will only be able to be there if they have won at least 50 competitive games.
Finally, it will no longer be possible to group together in a competitive game with players with more than 500 ranking points difference.
Competition points
Our remaining points from season 1 are kept and multiplied by 10. From now on, we will get 10 for a win, and 3 for a draw. The cost of golden weapons remains proportional, now 3000. A cap of 6000 points has been added.
Other
"Sudden death" has been removed and matches ending in a tie will result in a draw. In addition to this point, some rules have been changed to make a tie less likely, it would take a long time to list them all, but these are often additional rounds with time remaining (details here).
The heroes have obviously undergone a new balancing which you can find below:
Hero balancing
General
- Ultimates that consume the ultimate meter when activated will now drain the meter more quickly (.25 second instead of 1 second)
- Reverted a recent change to reduce size of heroes' projectiles
D.Va
- Defense Matrix
- After being activated, Defense Matrix will begin regenerating following a 1-second delay (formerly .5 seconds)
Hanzo
- Hanzo will now experience a 30% decrease in speed while aiming (formerly 40%)
- Maximum projectile speed has been increased by 30%
May
- Blizzard
- The Blizzard projectile now pierces barriers
- Radius has been increased from 8 meters to 10 meters
McCree
- Deadeye
- Now drains over a .25-second period (instead of displaying a 50% reduction on the ultimate meter when activated and 0% when confirmed)
Mercy
- Caduceus Staff
- Healing Beam
- Healing-per-second has been increased by 20%
- Resurrect
- Resurrected allies will be able to maneuver after 2.25 seconds (reduced from 3 seconds)
Genji
- Double jump no longer resets when wall climbing
- Dash
- No longer deals damage to traps like Widowmaker's Venom Mine or Junkrat's Steel Trap
- No longer bypasses Junkrat's Steel Trap
- Swift Strike
- No longer interrupts quick melee attacks
- Dragonblade
- Duration of Genji's ultimate has been reduced from 8 seconds to 6 seconds
Pike
- Amp It Up
- The boosting of movement speed has been decreased by 30% (from a 100% increase to a 70% increase)
Roadhog
- Chain Hook
- If the hooked target isn't in Roadhog's line of sight when retracting the hook, they will be moved back to the position where they were originally hooked
Zenyatta
- Orb of Discord
- The amount of damage amplified by a target with Orb of Discord has been decreased from 50% to 30%
- Orb of Destruction
- Damage has been increased from 40 to 46
This new season promises to be much more interesting than the first which has certainly been put in place to occupy the players while waiting for the improvement of their system!
