Overwatch 2 season 5 has officially begun, bringing a brand new theme to the game and starting a fresh new competitive season along with golden gun points for everyone. We are not getting a new hero this time around, or even a new map, but there are still a lot of changes to talk about. Especially since the long-awaited PvE mode got canned, Blizzard has a lot to live up to with Season 5.
Let’s get started.
Overwatch 2 Season 5 – New Skins and Battle Pass
There cannot be a new season without new skins and a battle pass. This time, the theme is all about fantasy, adventure, and roleplaying, much to the delight of all Dungeons & Dragons fans. Tracer is the star of the show for this season, flaunting an “Adventurer” mythic skin that can be upgraded like RPG games as you level up.
Other heroes also got some love with the new battle pass including Orisa, Zenyatta, Ana, Genji, Reinhardt, Wrecking Ball, Mei, Kiriko, and Echo. Out of these, only Kiriko and Echo skins are free, while the rest can only be unlocked if you buy the battle pass. The free skins are epics while the premium ones are legendaries.
You also get a whole bunch of credits, player icons, sprays, charms, and other minor items for free in the battle pass.
New shop skins include a Plague Doctor skin for Moira, my personal favorite Cleric for LifeWeaver, and a Lifeguard skin for Mercy that should certainly start appearing on some other particular websites for obvious reasons. Widowmaker also got a new paid skin and so did Torbjorn, Symmetra, and my second favorite skin of the season, Marioneta for Sombra.
There is also a Sojourn skin, a Reaper skin, a Pharah skin, Cassidy, Ramattra, and Junker Queen.
Overwatch 2 Season 5 Patch Notes
We have already covered patch notes for the start of Overwatch 2 season 5 in a separate article, but here is a quick rundown to get you up to speed.
Junker Queen has been nerfed for season 5 after dominating the ranks in the second half of season 4. Now she gets less of a health boost with her Commanding Shout and also gains her ultimate a bit slower. Roadhog can gain extra healing for a few seconds after his Take a Breather ability similar to Ana’s Biotic Grenade. Cassidy’s Magnetic Grenade now disables movement abilities, slows down enemies, does less explosive damage, and can be thrown much further away.
Genji’s maximum ammo has increased, Hanzo’s damage has been slightly reduced and his sonic arrow is now more noticeable for enemies. Mei’s primary fire damage has been reduced, but she slows down enemies more than before. Tracer’s maximum weapon spread has been increased slightly and Widowmaker got a massive range nerf, therefore she can no longer one-shot enemies at really long distances.
LifeWeaver got some much-needed buffs to his healing and damage and his Petal Platform and Life Grip have also been buffed. However, his Tree of Life (ultimate) now builds up a bit slower.
For more details, check out our Overwatch 2 Season 5 patch notes article here.
Overwatch 2 Season 5 – Events
There are no ongoing events as of yet, but Overwatch 2 season 5 will soon feature a brand new event called Mischief and Magic. It will be a prop hunt where some players will be able to turn into props while others will have to hunt them down. As you would expect, the props will win if hunters can’t find them, while hunters will win if all props are killed. Knowing Overwatch, there is also going to be a twist, but we don’t know the details just yet.
The age-old Summer Games are also coming back this season, but other than the usual Lucio Ball game mode, there is also going to be a Winston Volleyball mode. Given its name, we will probably have to jump into the ball to toss it to the other side or melee it.
Other Changes With Season 5
The Watchpoint: Gibraltar map has been reworked, giving more cover to the defenders at the final point and some to the second point. There are also more ways out of spawn doors to curb spawn camping and snowballing. Busan now features overcast weather and Rialto is set in the evening time instead of midday.
Overwatch 2 is also celebrating Pride Month and has given free pride-themed name cards to everyone. There are also some subtle design changes to the Midtown map such as a pride flag on the first point, rainbow confetti as well as a rainbow crosswalk.
The On Fire status from Overwatch 1 has made its return as well, except it has two levels now. Most of you already know that you can be on fire for doing well in a game, but you can also be ‘Blazing’ now for doing even better. Not just that, but you will also be able to catch fire by killing enemies on fire or helping teammates that are doing well.
As always, there are a ton of new voice-line interactions between different heroes with the update, which should reveal more of the game’s lore or just add some humorous one-liners.
