All hero changes in Overwatch 2 Season 18

hero changes in Overwatch 2 Season 18
Juno in Overwatch 2 (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Overwatch 2 Season 18 is here, and the new season has incorporated a massive wave of hero changes in the game. First and foremost, we have over 50 perks that have been added and altered, all of which will massively impact the hero meta. Alongside that, we also have a plethora of hero ability updates, all of which will cumulatively work towards the creation of new hero ability combos and team comps.

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In this article, we will explore all the hero changes that have been introduced with Overwatch 2 Season 18. Read below to know more.


Everything we know about the new hero changes in Overwatch 2 Season 18

Tank heroes

First and foremost, here's a detailed look at the changes incorporated for Tank heroes in Overwatch 2 Season 18:

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D.Va

Heavy Rockets - Major Perk

  • Removed.
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Precision Fusion - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Press Reload to reduce Fusion Cannon’s spread by 75% for 3 seconds.
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Doomfist

One-Two - Minor Perk

  • Hitting an enemy into a wall with Rocket Punch reloads Hand Cannon and overfills ammo by 2.

Seismic Empowerment - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Aftershock - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Enemies hit by Seismic Slam are slowed by 30% for 1.5 seconds.

Power Matrix - Major Perk

  • Damage absorbed during Power Matrix now provides equivalent Empowered Punch amount to Power Block.

Hazard

Spike Guard - Secondary Fire

  • Now only refills ammo while dealing damage to an enemy.
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Jagged Wall - Ability 2

  • Knockback damage reduced from 50 → 40.
  • Health reduced from 400 → 350.

Off the Top - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Deep Leap - Minor Perk

  • Changed to a Minor Perk.
  • Violent Leap’s range is now only increased by 15% (down from 20%).

Anarchic Zeal - Minor Perk

  • Changed to a Minor Perk.
  • Spike Guard’s spikes now only gain 25% lifesteal (down from 40%).

Reconstitution - Major Perk

  • Changed to a Major Perk.
  • Now drains additional resource before base resource.
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Explosive Impalements - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Bonespur hits mark targets with spikes. Quick Melee and Violent Leap’s Slash detonate them for 40 explosive damage.

Junker Queen

Rending Recall - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Rampant Change - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Gain Unstoppable and refresh all cooldowns when using Rampage.

Deep Wounds - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Willy-Willy

  • When recalling Jagged Blade, its radius is increased by 100% and it deals 30 additional impact damage.
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Mauga

Two Hearts - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Pyromaniac - Minor Perk

  • Igniting enemies with Incendiary Chaingun grants 50 overhealth.

Orisa

Heat Dissipator - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Fleeting Bulwark - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Defense Protocol - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Regenerate 100 health per second while charging Terra Surge.

Mobile Fortification - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • While Fortify is active, Orisa has no move speed reduction and no heat generation.

Ramattra

Ravenous Vortex - Ability 2

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  • No longer interrupts horizontal momentum when first affecting a target.

Nemesis Form

  • Bonus armor reduced from 300 → 250.

Block (Nemesis Form) - Secondary Ability

  • Block ability now triggers a 1-second cooldown.

Prolonged Barrier - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Relentless Form - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • While Nemesis Form is active, eliminations extend the duration by 1 second, half that during Annihilation.

Reinhardt

Crusader’s Resolve - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Barrier Re-Charge - Minor Perk

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  • New Minor Perk.
  • Distance travelled while using Charge regenerates your Barrier Field by 150 per second.

Crushing Victory - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Ignited Fury - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • For each enemy you hit with Fire Strike, gain 2 seconds of 25% increased attack speed.

Roadhog

Scrap Gun - Primary Fire

  • Reverted to classic Primary and Secondary Fire functionality.
  • Primary Fire no longer includes a volley of 4 extra large, long-ranged projectiles.
  • Number of projectiles for Primary Fire increased from 16 → 25.
  • Damage per pellet for Primary Fire reduced from 6.25 → 6.
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Scrap Gun - Secondary Fire

  • Secondary Fire initial volley no longer crits.

Pig Pen - Ability 2

  • Removed.

Take a Breather - Ability 2

  • Moved from Secondary Fire to Ability 2.
  • The option to toggle on the ability is now on by default.
  • Added Ability 1, Primary Fire, and Secondary Fire as additional cancel buttons while toggled.
  • Minimum time before cancelable reduced from 0.8 → 0.6 seconds.

Pent Up - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Shrapnel Launcher - Minor Perk

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  • New Minor Perk.
  • Extend the range of Scrap Gun’s secondary fire by 50% and tighten its burst spread by 25%.

Hogdrogen Exposure – Major Perk

  • Removed.

Pulled Pork – Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Gain overhealth based on how far you pull enemies with Chain Hook, up to 250.

Sigma

Massive Impact - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Hyper Regeneration - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • 50% of Hyperspheres’ damage restores Experimental Barrier’s health.

Winston

Short Circuit - Minor Perk

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  • Removed.

Barrier Toss - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Winston now throws his Barrier Projector forward when used.

Wrecking Ball

Transfer Efficiency - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Adaptive Barrier - Major Perk

  • Adaptive Barrier generates a 1.4 second barrier on activation, consuming 50 overhealth.

Zarya

Graviton Crush - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Energy Converter - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Hits with Particle Cannon’s secondary fire generate 3 energy.

Damage heroes

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With the Tanks out of the way, let us now focus on the changes introduced for the massive Damage hero roster in the game.

Ashe

Rapid Fire - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Remote Detonator - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • After using Dynamite, pressing E again causes it to detonate after a 0.5 second delay.

Bastion

Smart Bomb - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Configuration Reload - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Refresh the cooldown of A-36 Tactical Grenade when changing configurations.
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Cassidy

  • Base health reduced from 275 → 250.

Quick Draw - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Bang Bang - Minor Perk

  • Changed to a Minor Perk.
  • Now reduces the damage from both Flashbangs by 40% (up from 30%).

Silver Bullet - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Peacekeeper’s secondary fire is replaced with a piercing shot that inflicts bleeding.
  • Combat Roll and Deadeye reset its cooldown.

Echo

Friendly Imaging - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Enhanced Duplication - Minor Perk

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  • Removed.

Focused Rush - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Focusing Beam’s range increased by 4 meters.
  • Movement speed increased by 10% when active.

Partial Scan - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Duplicate starts with 50% of its ultimate charge.

Full Salvo - Major Perk

  • The damage reduction has been removed from all sticky bombs fired.

Freja

Frost Bolts - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Tracking Instinct - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Hunters Instinct - Minor Perk

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  • New Minor Perk.
  • Direct hits with Take Aim reveal enemies to Freja for 3 seconds.

Momentum Boost - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Quick Dash distance is increased by 20%.

Ready to Hunt - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Aerial Recovery - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • After using Updraft, heal for 30 health per second until Freja touches the ground.

Genji

Acrobatics - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Swift Cuts - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Quick Melee reduces the cooldown of Swift Strike by 3 seconds.
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Blade Twisting - Major Perk

  • Now Swift Strike deals 25 additional damage over time if the enemy is below half health.

Hanzo

Swift Lunge - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Arrow hits reduce the cooldown of Lunge by up to 1 second, based on charge.

Yamagami Technique - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Scatter Arrows - Major Perk

  • Changed to a Major Perk.
  • On first ricochet, Storm Arrows split into 5 shots dealing 33% damage and bounce 1 extra time.
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Junkrat

Aluminum Frame - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Mine Recycling - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Killing blows with Concussion Mine restore one charge.

Tick Tock - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Bomb Voyage - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • After launching with Concussion Mine, Junkrat gains 35% increased attack speed for 3 seconds.

Mei

Biting Cold - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Permafrost - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Skating Rink - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Allies within Blizzard gain 25% increased movement speed and heal for 50 health per second.
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Glacial Propulsion - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Double jumping creates a small ice pillar that launches Mei into the air.

Pharah

Concussive Implosion - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Sky Spy - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Concussive Blast reveals targets to Pharah for 3 seconds.
  • During this, the next direct Rocket Launcher hit per target deals 30% extra damage.

Reaper

Death’s Shadow - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Shadow Blink - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Shadow Step’s cast time and cooldown are 25% faster.
  • Range reduced by 25%.
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Sojourn

  • Base health reduced from 250 → 225.

Railgun - Primary Fire

  • Shots-per-second increased from 15 → 16.

Power Slide - Ability 1

  • Cooldown decreased from 8 → 7 seconds.

Extended Mag - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Deceleration Field - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Enemies hit by Disruptor Shot are slowed by 25%.

Adhesive Siphon - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Friction Generators – Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • While sliding, Power Slide generates up to 50 energy.

Soldier: 76

Field Emergency - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Tactical Salvo - Minor Perk

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  • New Minor Perk.
  • Helix Rockets cooldown is reduced by 80% during Tactical Visor.

Stim Pack - Major Perk

  • Changed so that Stim Pack replaces Biotic Field.
  • Now heals Soldier: 76 for 30 health per second.
  • Gains 20% increased attack speed for 5 seconds.

Sombra

White Hat - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Adept Hacker - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Hacked health packs provide up to 50 overhealth to Sombra.

Symmetra

Advanced Teleportation - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Perfect Alignment - Minor Perk

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  • Changed to a Minor Perk.
  • Now only increases the range of Photon Projector’s primary fire by 20% regardless of charge level.

Hovering Barrier - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Teleporter gains the option to create a forward-moving barrier instead.
  • Pressing E again slows down the barrier’s movement.

Torbjörn

Craftsman - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Hammer Time - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Move 20% faster while Forge Hammer is equipped.

Tracer

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Recall - Ability 2

  • Cooldown increased from 12 → 13 seconds.

Blast From The Past - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Kinetic Reload - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Melee hits grant 20 ammo.

Venture

Seismic Sense - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Deep Burrow - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Drill Dash distance is 50% longer while burrowed.

SMART-R Excavator - Major Perk

  • Removed.

SMART Extender - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Empower SMART Excavator with E to increase its maximum projectile range by 100% for 4 seconds.
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Widowmaker

Focused Aim - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Sniper’s Instinct - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Scoped shots charge 100% faster for 2 seconds after using Grappling Hook.

Deadly Deux - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Seeker Mine - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Venom Mine now fires poison darts at enemies within 10 meters and remains active after triggered.

Support hero changes

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Lastly, as showcased by the official patch notes, here's a look at the hero updates for the Support class.

Ana

Speed Serum - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Nano Boost grants a 40% movement speed boost to both Ana and her target.

Shrike - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Biotic Bounce - Major Perk

  • Changed to a Major Perk.
  • Now deals 60 damage and healing (up from 25).

Baptiste

Field Medicine - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Biotic Reloader - Minor Perk

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  • New Minor Perk.
  • Hitting an entire three-round burst reloads a healing projectile.
  • Healing projectile direct hits reloads 3 primary fire ammo.

Automated Healing - Minor Perk

  • Changed: Using any ability triggers Baptiste’s Shoulder Turret, periodically firing up to 3 shots at allies, each restoring 25 health.

Brigitte

Barrier Restoration - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Combat Medic - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Melee attacks reduce the cooldown of Repair Pack by 0.5 seconds.

Quick Fix - Major Perk

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  • Removed.

Inspiring Strike - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Shield Bash grants 30% increased movement speed for 2 seconds.
  • Inspire’s healing is instant when activated by Shield Bash.

Illari

Solar Power - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Solar Flare - Major Perk

  • Press Primary Fire while using Solar Rifle’s healing beam to consume all energy, healing allies in front of Illari for up to 120 healing.

Juno

Re-boots - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Locked On - Minor Perk

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  • Changed to a Minor Perk.
  • Cooldown reduction now 1 second (down from 1.5 seconds).

Master Blaster - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Lift Off - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Martian Overboots can now triple jump.

Faster Blaster - Major Perk

  • While Glide Boost is active, Mediblaster fires continuously.

Kiriko

Shuffling - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Ready Step - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Swift Step grants Kiriko 40% increased attack and reload speed for 2 seconds.

Foxtrot - Major Perk

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  • Protection Suzu now only grants 30% increased movement speed for allies (down from 40%).
  • Now grants 100% increased cooldown recovery.

Lifeweaver

  • Base health reduced from 225 → 200.

Life Cycle - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Lifeweaving - Minor Perk

  • Changed to a Minor Perk.
  • Rejuvenating Dash now only adds 20 healing to the next Healing Blossom (down from 40).

Petal Power - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Allies gain 25% attack speed while standing on a raised Petal Platform.

Lúcio

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Bass Blowout - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Soundwave Rider - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Wall Riding empowers your next Soundwave, increasing its knockback by 25% and damage by 50%.

Mercy

Winged Reach - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Divine Momentum - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Increases Mercy’s travel speed by 15% after cancelling Guardian Angel.

Moira

Vanish - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Uprush - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Destruction’s Divide - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • Coalescence can be toggled between pure healing or pure damage, with 25% greater effect.
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Ethical Nourishment - Minor Perk

  • Changed to a Minor Perk.
  • Instant healing reduced to 30 (down from 50).

Contamination - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Reversal - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Reactivating Biotic Orb reverses its direction.

Phantom Step - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Fade lasts 0.5 seconds longer and boosts jump height by 50%.

Wuyang

  • Now available to play in Competitive Play.
  • Quick Melee now interrupts controlling the water orb and channeling Restorative Stream.
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Rushing Torrent - Ability 1

  • Initial speed boost on activation increased by 50%.
  • Jump height increased by 2 meters.

Guardian Wave - Ability 2

  • Decreased maximum range by 5 meters.
  • Shockwave drop height increased from 3 → 20 meters.

Tidal Blast - Ultimate Ability

  • Self-usage time decreased from 0.8 → 0.6 seconds.

Zenyatta

Transcendence - Ultimate Ability

  • Ultimate cost increased by 9%.

Zenith Kick - Minor Perk

  • Removed.

Transcendent Condemnation - Minor Perk

  • New Minor Perk.
  • While using Transcendence, apply Discord Orb to all enemies within range.
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Duality - Major Perk

  • Removed.

Dual Harmony - Major Perk

  • New Major Perk.
  • Gain a 2nd Harmony Orb, but both heal for 70% effectiveness.

That's all there is to know about the hero changes in Overwatch 2 Season 18.

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Edited by Jay Sarma
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