Rise as a new era of Overwatch 2 is about to begin as Season 9 goes live today on February 13, 2024! Gear up for the biggest changes since the game's launch in 2022, with a fresh new Battle Pass, a new limited-time cosmic game-mode, and balance changes for ALL heroes in the FPS.

Blizzard Entertainment have confirmed that every hero will get some form of change, whether that's a larger health pool, passive healing abilities, or bigger projectile sizes. As previously speculated, players can also expect massive changes to how Competitive Play works, including the arrival of all-new Jade Weapon skins.

Here are the Overwatch 2 retail patch notes for Season 9, including all hero balance changes and the new Battle Pass. 

OVERWATCH 2 SEASON 9: RELEASE DATE

Overwatch 2 Season 9, titled Champions, will go live on Tuesday, February 13, 2024. All the exact release times are below.

  • 10 AM PT
  • 6 PM BST
  • 7 PM CET
  • 2 PM ET

As the new patch notes become live, Overwatch 2 will be completely disabled to allow the changes to take effect. Players will have to install the new updates for Overwatch 2 from the Battle.net launcher.

OVERWATCH 2 SEASON 9: COMPETITIVE PLAY UPDATES

With previous player community feedback in mind, Blizzard has made considerable changes to Competitive Play, aiming to provide more feedback on their progress after each match. They've also introduced the new Jade Weapon variant for players to spend their hard-earned Competitive Points on.

Look below for all the Competitive Play changes coming in OW2 Season 9.

Placement Matches

  • Placement matches have been rebuilt. A player's predicted rank will be displayed after each placement.
  • Players must complete ten placements to receive their Skill Rank for that role.

Competitive Updates

  • Instead of requiring five wins or 15 losses to get a Competitive Update, players will now get an updated Rank after each match.
  • Competitive Updates will now contain information about a player's progress in both Role Queue and Open Queue.

Skill Modifiers

  • Modifiers now appear on the Competitive Updates page after each match. These consider loss/win streaks, rank instability, and match favorability. For example, you're more likely to lose progress and go down a Skill Tier while on a losing streak.

New Skill Tier: Champion

  • A new Rank, Champion, has been added above Grandmaster. Only a master number of players will ever reach their rank, designed to hold the upper echelon of Overwatch players.

Grouping Requirements

  • Bronze through to Diamond players may group with other players within two Skill Tiers of their current Rank. For example, a Silver 1 player can group with up to Bronze 2 and Silver 3.
  • Master players can group with other players within 1 Skill Tier of their current Rank.
  • Grandmaster players may group with other players within three Skill Tiers of their current Rank.

Competitive Points

  • Each win grants 10 Competitive Points.
  • Each draw grants five Competitive Points.
  • Each loss still grants zero Competitive Points.

New Competitive Rewards

  • New Jade Weapon cosmetic reskins are introduced, costing 3,000 Competitive Points.
  • All players will start Season 9 with zero Competitive Points. as a reset
  • Existing Competitive Points have been converted to Legacy Competitive Points, which they can use to buy the older Golden Weapon variants.

OVERWATCH 2 SEASON 9: HERO BALANCE UPDATES

General Changes

  • All heroes now regenerate 20 health per second after five seconds of not taking damage.
  • Quick Melee damage increased from 30 to 40.

Projectile Sizes

  • +0.05 meters for hitscan projectiles with a high rate of fire or spread, like Tracer's Pulse Pistols.
  • +0.08 meters for more precise hitscan projectiles, like Cassidy's Peacekeeper.
  • +0.05 meters for travel-time projectiles that are either shotguns or have a high rate of fire, like Ramattra's Void Accelerator.
  • +0.10 meters for travel time projectiles with a speed greater than 50 meters per second, like Zenyatta's Destruction Orb.
  • +0.15 meters for travel time projectiles with a speed less than or equal to 50 meters per second, like Pharah's Rocket Launcher
  • Large projectiles with a base size greater than 0.5 meters are excluded from these changes, including Reinhardt's Fire Strike and Orisa's Energy Javelin.

Hero Combined HP (Base health/armor/shields) increased by 15% - 25%

  • 150 - 175 HP heroes increased by 25 HP to reach a maximum combined health value of 175 - 200.
  • 200 - 300 HP heroes increased by 50 HP to reach a maximum combined health value of 250 - 350.
  • 300+ HP heroes (Tanks) increased by 75 - 100 to reach 375+.
  • Each hero's precise health increases are listed below.

Ultimate Charge

  • All Ultimate ability costs increased by 10%.

Crosshair Updates

New crosshair reticles have been added to the Crosshair Customization options, including a Heart-shaped crosshair to align with the Valentine's Day festivities. New color options are also available (Brown, Dark Red, Light Red, Gray, and Teal).

  • Square
  • Box
  • Line
  • Triwing
  • Falloff
  • Ring
  • Triangle
  • Heart
  • Cross

Tank Hero Changes

D.Va

  • Pilot health increased from 150 to 175.
  • Mech armor increased from 300 to 375.

Self Destruct

  • Explosion maximum damage increased from 900 to 1,000.
  • Inner explosion radius (range for maximum damage before falloff) increased from four to six meters.

Doomfist

  • Health increased from 300 to 375.

Rocket Punch

  • Max impact damage increased from 50 to 75.
  • Max wall slam damage increased from 30 to 40.

Junker Queen

  • Health increased from 300 to 375.

Rampage

  • Wound damage over time increased from 60 to 90.

Mauga

  • Health increased from 300 to 400.

Orisa

  • Armor increased from 275 to 350.

Ramattra

  • Normal health increased from 200 to 275.

Reinhardt

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.
  • Armor increased from 250 to 275.

Rocket Hammer

  • Damage increased from 85 to 100

Charge

  • Wall impact damage increased from 225 to 275.

Roadhog

  • Health increased from 550 to 650.

Sigma

  • Shields increased from 200 to 275.

Winston

  • Health increased from 200 to 225.
  • Armor increased from 200 to 250.

Tesla Cannon

  • Damage increased from 60 to 75 damage per second.

Primal Rage

  • Punch damage increased from 40 to 50.

Wrecking Ball

  • Armor increased from 100 to 175.

Zarya

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Particle Cannon

  • Primary fire beam width increased from 0.15 meters to 0.2 meters.

Damage Hero Changes

  • Passive reload speed bonus upon elimination has been removed.
  • New passive: Dealing damage reduces enemy healing received by 20% for two seconds.

Ashe

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

B.O.B

  • B.O.B's weapon damage increased from 14 to 17.

Bastion

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Cassidy

  • Health increased from 225 to 275.

Deadeye

  • Initial damage rate increased from 130 to 150.
  • Damage rate increased from 260 to 300.

Echo

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Focusing Beam

  • Width increased from 0.2 to 0.25 meters.

Duplicate

  • Maximum combined health value increased from 300 to 250.

Genji

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Dragonblade

  • Swing recovery decreased from 0.9 seconds to 0.7 seconds.

Hanzo

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Storm Arrows

  • Damage increased from 65 to 75.
  • Cooldown reduced from ten to eight seconds.

Junkrat

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Frag Launcher

  • Base projectile size reduced from 0.25 to 0.2 meters.

Mei

  • Health increased from 250 to 300.
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Pharah

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Rocket Launcher

  • Recovery reduced from 0.85 to 0.8 seconds.
  • Projectile speed increased from 35 to 40 meters per second.
  • Explosion self damage reduced from 50% to 25%.

Jet Dash

  • New Secondary Fire ability
  • Provides a quick horizontal boost in the direction Pharah is facing.
  • Eight-second cooldown.

Jump Jet

  • Now restores 50% of Hover Jets fuel. Can briefly overfill the maximum fuel amount.
  • Vertical boost height reduced by 20%.
  • Cooldown increased from ten to 14 seconds.

Concussive Blast

  • Cooldown decreased from nine to seven seconds.
  • Explosion now deals 30 damage to enemy targets.
  • Explosion radius reduced from eight to six meters.
  • Knockback reduced by 10%.

Barrage

  • Instantly refuels Hover Jets' fuel.

Hover Jets

  • Speed boost increased from 20% to 40%.
  • Now requires landing to recharge fuel.

Reaper

  • Health increased from 250 to 300.

Sojourn

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Railgun

  • Secondary Fire base projectile size reduced from 0.1 meters to 0.07 meters.

Soldier: 76

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Sombra

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Symmetra

  • Shields increased from 100 to 150.

Photon Projector

  • Primary fire beam width increased from 0.2 to 0.25 meters.

Torbjörn

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Tracer

  • Health increased from 150 to 175.

Widowmaker

  • Health increased from 175 to 200.

Support Hero Changes

  • Now reduced the delay before Support Heroes regenerate their health by half, now 2.5 seconds after not taking any damage.

Ana

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Baptiste

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Brigitte

  • Health increased from 150 to 200.

Rocket Flail

  • Damage increased from 35 to 45.

Illari

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Kiriko

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Kunai

  • Base projectile size reduced from 0.18 meters to 0.15 meters.

Lifeweaver

  • Health increased from 175 to 225.

Lúcio

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Soundwave

  • Damage increased from 25 to 35.
  • Knockback increased by 12%.
  • Movement lockout duration increased from 0.3 to 0.45 seconds.

Mercy

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Guardian Angel

  • Active duration on jump/crouch cancel reduced from 1.5 to one second.

Sympathetic Recovery Passive

  • Health recovered increased from 25% to 40% of healing dealt.

Moira

  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Biotic Grasp

  • Secondary fire damage increased from 50 to 65 damage per second.
  • Secondary fire target acquisition radius increased from 0.6 to 0.7 meters.

Zenyatta

  • Health increased from 75 to 100.
  • Shields increased from 150 to 175.

OVERWATCH 2 SEASON 9: BATTLE PASS AND SHOP

Give in to your inner madness and come face-to-face with the Eldritch horrors of old in the Overwatch 2 Season 9 Battle Pass! There are over 80 tiers of rewards to unlock, including Survivor Soldier: 76, Horror Hog Roadhog, and even the Ancient Caller Mythic Moira skin if you pick the Premium Battle Pass, available for 1,000 Overwatch Coins.

If you fancy dipping your toes in this season's shop, you'll find some out-of-this-world cosmetics and even some Valentine's Day to fall in love with. There's Rose Lily Widowmaker, Cherry Blossom Kiriko, Valentine Reaper, and even the return of Cupid Hanzo, as seen in last year's Loverwatch event.

Final Thoughts

That's all our information on the patch notes for Overwatch 2 Season 9. We're excited to see how the new Competitive Play changes pan out and whether this will invite more players to try the game and recover Overwatch 2's dwindling player count.

Want more Overwatch content? Feel free to check out our articles on the rarest skins, how to play cross-platform, a complete hero unlock guide, all character's ages, and more on our blog page!