Overwatch 2: 29 May Hotfix Patch Targets a Meta Damage Hero

Freja has run rampant in Overwatch 2 in the past couple of weeks. Once players figured out her playstyle, she quickly rose to the best Damage hero in the game. She appears in most professional games, except when teams ban her. The Hotfix Patch takes a swing at nerfing Freja to a more manageable position. The hotfix also sees a host of changes to Stadium heroes.

Overwatch 2 29 May Hotfix Patch Notes

The extensive Overwatch 2 Hotfix Patch Notes:

Hero Balance Updates

Damage

Freja

Take Aim – Secondary Fire

• Slow momentum time reduced from 1.5 to 1.0 seconds.
• Reload time increased from 1.35 to 1.5 seconds.

Quick Dash – Ability 1

• Cooldown increased from 4.0 to 4.5 seconds.

Updraft – Ability 2

• Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds.

Stadium Updates

Tank

D.Va

Focused Fusion – Power

• Decreased Fusion Cannon spread to 50% (Down from 66%).

Ignition Burst – Power

• Increased Lava damage to 80 (Up from 30).

Vesuvius Protocol – Rare Ability Hero Item

• Increased Lava damage to 80 (Up from 30).

Junker Queen

Royal Bullets – Power

• Increased range to 15 meters (Up from 12 meters).
• Increased damage to 50 (Up from 30).

Twist The Knife – Power

• Increased Wounds extension to 1 second (Up from 0.5 seconds).

Blade Parade – Power

• Increased Damage to 100% (Up from 35%).

Merciless Magnetism – Power

• Increased range to 15 meters (Up from 12 meters).

Thick Skull – Epic Survival Hero Item

• Increased Damage Reduction to 75% (Up from 50%).

Orisa

Scorched Earth – Power

• Increased damage to 20% (Up from 10%).

Electro Lights – Rare Hero Weapon Item

• Increased recovery rate to 50% (Up from 25%).

Reinhardt

Barrier Reconstruction – Power

• Increased Barrier Health Restoration from Damage to 15% (up from 10%).

Feeling the Burn – Power

• No longer applies to Smashing and Dampener Grip.

Dampener Grip – Epic Weapon Hero Item

• Increased Ability Power to 15% (up from 10%).

Damage

Ashe

Out with a Bang – Power

• Decreased Explosives damage reduction to 30% (Down from 66%).

Molten Munitions – Power

• Increased damage to 80 (Up from 50).
• This change will not be represented correctly on the tooltip, but it will be functionally set to 80. This information in the tooltip will be fixed next season.

Reload Therapy – Power

• Increased heal to 10% (Up from 3%).

Sidewinder – Epic Weapon Hero Item

• Increased attack speed to 15% (Up from 10%).
• Increased damage to 25% (Up from 15%).

Freja

Lille Fælde – Power Re-enabled.

• Bola from Lille Fælde slow is decreased by 60%.
• Bola from Lille Fælde no longer pulls enemies upon a direct hit.
• These will be reflected in the tooltip in a future update.

So Cooked – Power

• Decreased increased damaging zone damage to 30% (down from 50%).
• Decreased increased damaging zone duration to 2 seconds (down from 3 seconds).

Deep Pockets – Power

• Max Ammo restored from using an ability reduced to 25% (down from 50%).

Forager – Power

• Max Life heal per hit increased to 4% (up from 3%).

Portable Zipline – Epic Weapon Hero Item

• Decreased Weapon Power to 5% (down from 15%).

Volley a Deux – Power

• Increased damage to 33%, reduced damage on additional bolts (up from 50% reduced).

Magnetic Maelstrom – Epic Ability Hero Item

• Disabled.

Mei

Blizznado – Power

• Increased Heal per second to 15% (up from 5%).

Soldier: 76

Hunker Down – Power

• Increased Biotic Field duration to 50% reduced duration (up from 30% reduced).

Chaingun – Power

• Decreased Weapon Power per shot to 0.4% (down from 0.5%).

Battery Pack – Rare Ability Hero Item

• Increased Biotic Field Duration to 40% (up from 30%).

Rapid Response Radius – Epic Ability Hero Item

• Increased Biotic Field radius to 40% (up from 30%).

Compression Fatigues – Rare Survival Hero Item

• Removed 5% Attack Speed.
• Added 5% Ability Power.

Support

Ana

Tactical Rifle – Power

• Reduced aim tracking angle by 50%.

Dash Boots – Rare Ability Hero Item

• Increased Movement Speed bonus to 10% (Up from 5%).
• Decreased cooldown to 3 seconds (Down from 4 seconds).

Cluster Core – Epic Ability Hero Item

• Biotic Grenade cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds for each target it hits (up from 1 second).

Juno

Hyper Healer – Power

• Increased Overhealth to 100 (Up from 50).

Black Hole – Power

• Increased Slow duration to 2 seconds. (Up from 1 second).

Kiriko

Self-Care – Power

• Increased heal to 15% (Up from 5%).

Bug Fixes

Stadium

D.Va

• Fixed a bug where Fusion Cannon was shooting fewer pellets when equipped with the Focused Fusion power.

Freja

• Fixed an issue where the direct hit of the Bola from Lille Fælde was doing more damage than intended.
• Fixed an issue where the lingering damaging zone from So Cooked didn’t apply effects that triggered from Ability Damage.

Closing Patch Notes Thoughts

Freja has dominated the Stadium and Competitive Overwatch 2 meta since her release in both game modes. It comes as no surprise to see her receiving nerfs in both. While there are multiple nerfs to her hit on the live game, it is unlikely we will see this shift Freja out of the meta. Her damage potential is still incredibly high, and she will still dominate most matchups. The Take Aim nerfs are negligible, while the nerfs to her mobility should help players hunt her down. Hopefully, we see more nerfs to her Take Aim damage output in future Patch Notes to have a more balanced Overwatch 2 meta.