Overwatch 2 is gearing up for Season 17, launching June 24, with some meaningful buffs aimed at its DPS heroes. The update could disrupt the gameplay by making damage dealers more competitive against supports and tanks.
Scott ‘Custa’ Kennedy, a former pro turned developer, shared insights on the upcoming patch in a blog post. He explained that the DPS role’s passive effect—where dealing damage reduces how much healing enemies can receive, is getting a bump from 25% to 30%. That might sound small, but it’s a solid step to make damage heroes more threatening when they land hits.
Also, the global passive health regeneration delay is increasing from 5 to 6 seconds. This means enemies won’t just bounce back immediately after taking damage, giving DPS players more breathing room to finish their targets. The combined effect? Eliminating foes should become less forgiving, and the damage role overall more impactful.
Now, here’s a quirky one: Bastion isn’t getting more armor or health, but he’s shrinking—literally. Blizzard decided to reduce his size by 10%, dropping from an initially planned 15% because, apparently, he looked too “cute” at that smaller scale. I gotta say, I never thought size tweaking would be the answer for balancing a tanky Omnic, but hey, the devs are trying different angles.
Meanwhile, the devs are still keeping an eye on Sombra, who’s notoriously banned at a crazy rate in competitive play. A rework is under discussion, but it won’t come with Season 17. Sombra’s kit is complex enough that it’ll take time to get right, especially if new abilities or visual effects are involved.
Season 17 will also introduce the long-awaited map voting feature, giving players more say on where and how they battle it out. That’s a welcome change for many who’ve wanted more control over the game’s flow.
Season 17 Patch Highlights
- Damage role passive healing reduction increased from 25% to 30%
- Global health regeneration delay increased from 5 seconds to 6 seconds
- Bastion’s size reduced by 10%
- Map voting introduced
- Sombra rework discussions ongoing but not part of this update
More updates and balance changes are expected before the season drops, with a full trailer scheduled for June 17. I’m curious how these changes will affect the meta—will DPS finally get the spotlight they deserve, or will tanks and supports still hold sway? Either way, it’s eager up to be an interesting season.
