Overwatch 2 Season 5 reworks include Lifeweaver, Cassidy, more

Olivia Richman Published 12/06/2023

The Overwatch 2 Season 5 patch notes are now live, and there are plenty of big changes to heroes and gameplay.

While Season 5 is introducing new limited-time game modes and skins, there is plenty to uncover in the patch notes as well. Some of the big changes include the return of On Fire, a fun feature that is activated on a gamer’s logo when they are on a kill streak. It will now be called Blazing and reward more than just damage.

Now, the fire will appear from saves, healing, assists, capturing and contesting objectives, and crowd control. You can also help out teammates that are on fire to increase your own Blazing score.

Aside from new content, the hero reworks are some of the biggest updates to Season 5.

Hero reworks in Overwatch 2 Season 5

Junker Queen is getting some nerfs, including Rampage having a cost increase and Commanding Shout having health reduced from 200 to 150. Developers are hoping this will make her a bit more balanced after the last change, which made her stay alive a bit too easily.

Roadhog, on the other hand, is going to become “even sturdier” thanks to a buff to Take a Breather. It now amplifies healing by 50% for 2.5 seconds after the ability is done being used. Developers noted that this will make Roadhog more team-oriented since support heroes can help him recover a lot faster.

Cassidy is seeing a lot of changes to Magnetic Grenade. It will no longer have a maximum projectile travel range of 10 meters, and it now magnetizes toward an enemy target from 1.5 meters away. It will chase them for up to one second. The impact damage is increased from zero to ten and the target’s movement is slowed down 30%. They will also be prevented from using movement abilities.

“The overall goals for Magnetic Grenade are to shift its use from purely damage into more of a utility, and change its deployment behavior from a close-range lock-on to more of an aimed projectile that magnetizes if it gets close to an enemy target,” developers noted.

Hanzo was given some changes to their damage output. This includes the Storm Bow, which had its maximum damage reduced from 125 to 120. While it sounds small, this adjustment will make it so Hanzo can’t eliminate squish heroes with one critical damage shot.

Mei has been in a tough place in Overwatch 2 and hasn’t felt as strong as she did in the first game. Developers are hoping to “bring back some of the gameplay and feeling” of her primary fire with some changes.

The damage per second was reduced from 100 to 55, the primary fire slow scales from 30 to 50% now, and primary fire impacts will now build up to a slowing effect that sticks to the enemy target for 1.5 seconds and slows them for 75%. Her secondary fire impacts can detonate this new slow effect, dealing an additional 40% damage.

Reaper and Moira will no longer be able to activate Wraith Form when affected by mobility-locking effects. This includes Junkrat’s Steel Trap. Tracer’s Pulse Pistols will have their spread increased by 15% after developers uncovered a bug with her weapon spread.

Widowmaker’s ability Widow’s Kiss will have its scoped shot damage falloff min-max range reduced from 70 to 100 to 40 to 60 meters. The scoped shot maximum damage falloff scalar will be increased from 30 to 50%.

“These changes to Widowmaker’s weapon falloff are intended to reduce her one-shot capabilities on maps with extremely long sightlines,” developers said. “The average range to still eliminate a 200 health hero at full charge is around 50 meters. A fully-charged critical shot will still eliminate 150 health targets regardless of range.”

Lifeweaver getting massive updates in Season 5

Some of the biggest hero balances are focused on Lifeweaver. Developers said the new support hero would be getting a lot of balance changes, and it looks like Season 5 delivered on this promise.

In general, Lifeweaver is having the size and hit volume of the petal ornaments on his back reduced by 10%. Then, Healing Blossom will have maximum healing increased from 65 to 75. Thorn Volley will have the damage per projectile increased from 5 to 6, the projectile radius increased from 0.1 to 0.125. Then the ammo is increased from 60 to 70.

Petal Platform is also getting an update. The walkable area is increased by 15%, and the area to trigger lift now shrinks from a radius of 2 to 0.75 meters after its initial placement.

Life Grip’s cooldown is reduced from 20 to 16 seconds. It now heals the target ally for 50 health. The Tree of Life had its ultimate cost increased by 8%.

Said developers: “Lifeweaver’s stats have been improving over time, but he is still underperforming. These adjustments are primarily straightforward improvements to nearly every aspect of his kit, outside of his ultimate ability, which received a small cost adjustment for the increased healing and damage output. The Petal Platform area shrinking is a quality-of-life change intended to help avoid accidentally activating the lift after it has been placed.”

Here are the full patch notes.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

View full profile