Overwatch 2 Battle for Olympus Patch Notes Jan 5th

The latest Overwatch 2 new patch notes are set to bring some big changes to the game, along with kicking off 2023 with the Battle for Olympus and Lunar New Year events. Overwatch 2 has successfully brought OW back into the spotlight by making some well-needed changes to the game, and this looks to continue with every new update as they tweak the game to the community's liking. So, take a look at our breakdown of the Overwatch 2 new patch notes, and the brand-new events.

• Want to make your weapons stand out from everyone elses? Check out how to get Golden Guns in Overwatch 2. 

Overwatch 2 New Patch Notes: Events

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To kick off the new year, starting January 5, you'll be able to play the first unique limited-time mode for Season 2, Battle for Olympus. The mode is set to be available until January 19, giving players exactly two weeks to test it out.

Battle for Olympus is a free-for-all mode Arcade mode with a limited selection of characters, all of whom have unique powers and skins inspired by Greek mythology. The heroes you'll be able to play with in this mode are Junker Queen, Pharah, Ramattra, Reinhardt, Widowmaker, Roadhog, and Lucio.

Of course, each of the unique looks these heroes have will also be available for players to purchase in the store for a limited.

Another event expected to start in January is the Lunar New Year event, which is set to last from January 17 to February 6 according to the Season 2 roadmap revealed in November. There are no limited-time modes occurring during this event from what we know, but it's possible the modes from last year's celebration, such as Bounty Hunter, CTF, and CTF Blitz will return.

It's also expected there will be some unique cosmetics for the event, but only Mei wearing a rabbit costume has been revealed so far, as it appeared in the Season 2 trailer.

• Here's our Overwatch 2 tier list, which ranks every hero in the game from best to worst. 

Overwatch 2 New Patch Notes 

Poseidon Ramattra
Divine Annihilation

• Ravenous Vortex is a large whirlpool that pulls in enemies then launches them upward
• Pummel throws large water blasts that deal more damage and travel further

Zeus Junker Queen
Divine Rampage

• Lasts 20 seconds
• Damage done with Scattergun has the chance to apply additional lightning damage to her abilities

Minotaur Reinhardt
Divine Earthshatter

• Lasts 20 seconds
• Heals when he charges and slams an enemy into a wall
• Charge can pin up to 3 targets at once
• Charge cooldown is reduced to 3 seconds
• Wall slams deal lethal damage, extend the divine power, and set the next Charge cooldown to 0.5 seconds

Cyclops Roadhog
Divine Whole Hog

• Lasts 15 seconds
• Greatly increase your size, gaining 600 health
• Hurl boulders that deal massive damage instead of his normal ultimate fire
• Melee deals 5x damage and push enemies away

Hades Pharah
Divine Rocket Barrage

• Lasts 20 seconds
• Can move during the ultimate ability
• Rocket Launcher fires 3-headed rockets
• Jump Jet fuel consumption is greatly reduced
• Kills heal Pharah and extend the duration of this effect

Medusa Widowmaker
Divine Infra-Sight

• While scoped in, enemies looking at you turn into stone

Hermes Lúcio
Divine Sound Barrier

• Lasts 20 seconds
• Always able to jump again after jumping off a wall
• Boop can always knock enemies into walls for extra damage and a short stun
• Attack and move speed greatly increased
• Infinite ammo

That's all for our coverage of the Overwatch 2 Battle For Olympus patch notes, and now you know about the changes coming in the latest update and how the two events taking place in January will work.

Competitive Play

Fans of the Capture the Flag game mode can rejoice as the 2023 competitive season will begin soon on January 10th. You can find it in the Competitive Play menu.

Speaking of which, the Competitive Play loading screen has been updated slightly. It's minor, but also good to have a bit of variety!

Hero Updates

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Now let's get to the good stuff - how exactly have some of our favourite Overwatch 2 heroes been changed in the patch notes for Jan 5? Here's everything you need to know:

Junker Queen

Adrenaline Rush

• Now heals for the remaining wound damage when an enemy dies with wounds on them

Carnage

• Cooldown is now reduced by 2 seconds for each enemy it impacts

Jagged Blade

• Thrown impact damage reduced from 80 to 50
• Thrown direct impacts now add a 30 damage wound to the stuck target. Stacks with wounds caused by Quick Melee or returning Jagged Blade hits.

Zarya

Energy

• Energy degeneration reduced from 2.2 to 2 per second
• Delay before energy degeneration begins after gaining energy increased from 1 to 2 seconds

Brigitte

Barrier Shield

• Health increased from 250 to 300

Moira

Biotic Orb

• Dealing damage with Biotic Orb now restores a small amount of Biotic Energy

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed a bug with Souvenirs being incorrectly placed on Ramattra
• Fixed an issue with Kiriko's Ofuda displaying black textures during her Whirlwind emote
• Fixed an issue with Reaper's animations when ending his 'Take a knee' emote
• Resolved an issue with placeable abilities (turrets, mines) floating after the destructible environment they were placed on was destroyed
• Fixed an issue that resulted in some users seeing a black screen as their Main Menu background
• Fixed a bug that caused "Group Up" to say "I'm on my way" in unintended circumstances.
• Fixed an issue on some consoles that resulted in blurry graphics
• Fixed an issue where some players were not able to invite across certain consoles
• Fixed some performance issues in the Hero Gallery on Console platforms
• Resolved an issue where Daily Challenges were not rolling over for some users
• Fixed an issue where the end-of-game 'DRAW' text would not appear for players if a colorblind setting was active
• Resolved an issue with 'Invite to Custom Game' not appearing as an option in the Social Menu

Maps

• Watchpoint Gibraltar
• Fixed some areas that allowed players to escape the map boundaries

• Shambali Monastery
• Fixed some areas where players could become stuck
• Fixed some areas where some abilities could be 'eaten' by the environment
• Fixed lighting and geometry in several areas across the map

Heroes

• Bastion
• Fixed an issue where Bastion's sound effects could loop at the location of death
• Fixed an issue where Bastion's whole screen would turn yellow when healed by a Brigitte Repair Pack

• Kiriko
• Fixed a bug with Swift Step in Capture the Flag that would send the Flag to the destination instead of dropping it where the ability was activated

• Mercy
• Fixed Mercy's Guardian Angel sometimes allowing her to escape Ramattra's Ravenous Vortex

• Ramattra
• Fixed an issue with missing assets on Ramattra's Hero Information page
• Fixed an issue with Ramattra's Primary Fire effects not displaying the correct amount of projectiles for other players
• Ramattra should now play rumble effects on gamepads/controllers
• Ramattra can no longer have more than one barrier active at a time. Note: This could not happen in standard modes, only Custom Game or modes with low cooldowns

• Tracer
• Fixed an issue where Pulse Bomb would not damage Tracer if it was 'Stuck' to an enemy

We also have guides for all the heroes that cover their abilities, tips on how to use them, and how to unlock them. Why not start with our Overwatch 2 Ramattra guide?