Overwatch Season 1 patch notes: new heroes, buffs and nerfs, Hello Kitty, and more

Overwatch (not “2”) had a big day thanks to all the changes that came with Season 1, which acted as a bit of a reset for the floundering hero shooter.

With five new heroes, new sub-roles, the Conquest meta event, and a completely new look and feel that pays homage to the original Overwatch, the game has seen a massive resurgence. It not only reached nearly 137,000 concurrent players at Season 1’s launch, but also saw a major shift in public reception across social media.

On top of the new content, Blizzard also balanced the entire roster, with most heroes receiving a buff or nerf for Season 1. Here is everything you need to know about Season 1.

Overwatch Season 1’s five new heroes

Getting five new heroes in one season is quite insane, but that’s exactly what Blizzard did. And it worked. Here are the five new heroes:

Dominia (Tank)

• Photon Magnum (Primary Fire) – Medium-range beam that culminates in a high impact shot
• Barrier Array – A segmented hard‑light barrier deployed in front of Domina. Each segment must be individually destroyed, creating dynamic defensive angles
• Crystal Charge – Project an explosive crystal and reactivate to denotate it
• Sonic Repulsors – Push enemies back, stunning them if they hit a wall
• Ultimate — Panopticon – Fire a hard-light barrier that imprisons enemies and detonates on expiration
• Passive – Reconstruction – Dealing damage with abilities restores shields

Emre (Damage)

• Synthetic Burst Rifle (Primary Fire) – Three-round burst weapon
• Take Aim (Secondary Fire) – Hold to zoom in, tightening accuracy and increasing fall off range
• Siphon Blaster – Temporarily wield a semi-automatic pistol with life stealing explosive rounds. Move faster and jump higher while wielded
• Cyber Frag – Throw a grenade that detonates shortly after bouncing
• Ultimate — Override Protocol – An override initiates, transforming you into a living weapon. Fires rapid explosive blasts or charged mega‑shots capable of wiping teams
• Passive – Altered Vitals – Passive health regeneration activates sooner and instantly restores 30 health when activated

Mizuki (Support)

• Spirit Glaive (Primary Fire) – Throw a spinning blade that can bounce off walls, impact enemies and rapidly deal damage
• Healing Kasa – Throw your hat to heal an ally, bouncing to nearby allies and healing you when it returns
• Katashiro Return – Leap forward, leaving behind a paper doll. Reactivate to return and gain increased movement speed while active
• Binding Chain – Launch a tethering chain that hinders the first enemy hit
• Ultimate — Kekkai Sanctuary – Create a sanctuary that heals allies and absorbs enemy projectiles from outside the area
• Passive – Remedy Aura – Heals nearby allies. Healing scales with resources generated by dealing damage and healing

Anran (Damage)

• Zhuque Fans (Primary Fire) – Hand fans that shoot fiery projectiles
• Fan the Flames (Secondary Fire) – Hot wind blast that amplifies burning damage
• Inferno Rush – Propel yourself forward and damage enemies you impact
• Dancing Blaze – Strike nearby enemies while dodging all damage
• Ultimate — Vermillion Ascent (Alive) – Charge forward, exploding on impact and instantly igniting enemies
• Ultimate — Vermillion Revival (Dead) – When dead, revive yourself in a fiery explosion
• Passive – Ignition – Hit enemies with fire attacks to burn them

Jetpack Cat (Support)

• Biotic Pawjectiles (Primary Fire) – Mid‑range projectile spread that heals allies and damages enemies
• Lifeline – Toggle into transport mode, allowing an ally to be towed. Increases movement speed and heals your ally
• Frenetic Flight – Accelerate in your movement direction. Fuel recovery is slower while carrying another player
• Purr – Pulsing area heal that increases in frequency over time. Knockback nearby enemies when activated
• Ultimate — Catnapper – Dive towards a ground location, knocking down enemies and tethering the nearest one to you
• Passive – Jetpack – Permanent flight

Overwatch new sub-roles and passives

Each role will now have multiple sub-roles, giving heroes more passive abilities.

Tank

• Bruiser: Reduces critical damage received; while at critical health, gain movement speed
  • Mauga, Orisa, Roadhog, Zarya
• Initiator: Get lightly healed while airborne
  • D.Va, Doomfist, Winston, Wrecking Ball
• Stalwart: Reduces knockbacks and slows received
  • Domina, Hazard, Junker Queen, Ramattra, Reinhardt, Sigma

Damage

• Sharpshooter: Critical hits reduce movement ability cooldowns
  • Ashe, Cassidy, Hanzo, Sojourn, Widowmaker
• Flanker: Health packs restore more health
  • Anran, Genji, Reaper, Tracer, Vendetta, Venture
• Specialist: Eliminating an enemy increases reload speed temporarily
  • Bastion, Emre, Junkrat, Mei, Soldier: 76, Symmetra, Torbjorn
• Recon: Detect enemies below half health through walls after damaging them
  • Echo, Freja, Pharah, Sombra

Support

• Tactician: Gain excess ultimate charge, carrying over after using your ultimate ability
  • Ana, Baptiste, Jetpack Cat, Lucio, Zenyatta
• Medic: Healing allies with your weapon also heals you
  • Kiriko, Lifeweaver, Mercy, MOira
• Survivor: Movement abilities activate passive health regeneration
  • Brigitte, Illari, Juno, Mizuki, Wuyang

Hero balance updates

Tank

Damage

Support

Conquest meta event

Choose whether you want to fight for Overwatch or Talon. For five weeks, complete weekly missions tied to the lore. Rewards go to the faction with the most successful missions that week. You can switch sides each week, earning these rewards:

• 75 Base Lootboxes
• 12 Epic Lootboxes
• 7 Legendary Lootboxes
• 9 new Voice Lines
• 31 2D Cosmetics
• 2 Weapon Charms
• 1 of 2 faction-themed Legendary Echo skins
• Exclusive new Rare, Epic, and Legendary titles (and a secret hidden one!)

Competitive year update

Season 1 marks the start of a new competitive year! This means a competitive reset as well as the new Crimson Wolf competitive weapon, to honor Talon’s new leader. We’re also giving those who reach Diamond or higher a new Doomfist competitive skin.

Competitive titles will now have rarity applied, and Top 500 players will earn dynamic titles for their finishes. Titles from Season 20 and Season 1 will be granted when the title update goes live in Season 2.*

*In the 2026 Overwatch Spotlight video, we said these are live at Season 1 launch but wanted to give our team a bit more time to polish this feature.

UI/UX refresh

A large UI/UX Refresh is coming in Season 1! After 10 years, the menus felt a bit dated, and our hope is that this helps restore some personality and hero-centric vibes while in-game.

This update includes the lobby, play cards, navigation, hero gallery, and social panel. A Notification Hub will consolidate important updates. Season 1 will feature a new 3D lobby with the selected hero displayed, and Season 4 will expand this to include all group members.

We hope you all love the new look and ease of navigation (biggest challenge is getting used to the PLAY button at the top of the screen). And be sure to share your thoughts and feedback as we’re planning even more updates and improvements in the future.

System updates

Alongside gameplay and navigation, new features have always been some of the most impactful updates we’ve made to Overwatch. This year, we want to dial in the sense of joy and positivity that is at the center of the Overwatch Universe. 

When Season 1 launches, we’re unveiling a Praise feature, allowing players to use Hero VO lines to provide positive feedback. The team has actually been recording these lines for all of our Heroes for over 10 years, but we’ve never found a way to utilize them that has felt quite right to us. And we’re really excited about what this subtle addition can mean for gameplay interactions.

Another new feature is additional sound/music control settings while in lobby! Now when you’re playing Overwatch on your second monitor, you will be able to listen in on work meetings without having to turn your OW audio down. Not that anyone on our team has ever done that.

Later this year, we are reviving an often-requested feature: Post‑Match Accolades. Unlike the former cards, this new system will use full 3D Hero models. New types of recognition will highlight key moments, including multi‑endorsements and Heroic Endorsements.

And in Season 2, we are coming to the Nintendo Switch™ 2!

Over the rest of the year, expect upgrades to map voting, hero bans, Drives, and more!

Stadium

The Reign of Talon transcends all of Overwatch, including Stadium, so of course we have to introduce Vendetta herself to the lineup! We’re also changing up the pace of Competitive Stadium: Power rounds now run 1/2/4/6, delivering a faster, best-of-seven style flow while still letting builds evolve across a full match.

We’ll be bringing the UI refresh to the Armory, seeing all 70 icons fully redone to better match the fantasy of each item. For example, the Aerial Distresser will now look like a flying drone, while Amari’s Antidote is clearly an injector.  This should make it much easier to find exactly what you are looking for at a glance.

Possibly the biggest change we’ve introduced to Stadium since launching last year is the new Hero Builder. The team is designing the Hero Builder as a way to give you greater agency and ease in crafting the best possible builds to match your playstyle. It’ll provide recommended builds based on player data worldwide, letting you see what other players are using.

This will be presented in two forms:

• The first is on round one: you will now see three options for popular builds on your chosen Hero. These starter packs combine a power with three items in a single click, making things much more streamlined. 
• And the second on rounds 2-7: you’ll see an option to continue your current build but will also see recommendations to help you counter the enemy team! 

Collaborations and Mythic Skins in Season 1

From February 10–23, Overwatch teams up with Hello Kitty & Friends to deliver a feel-good crossover that brings the beloved characters into the middle of Overwatch’s fight for the future.

Overwatch x Hello Kitty & Friends introduces six new themed Hero skins: 

• Always ready to help, kindness meets courage and looks cute doing it when Juno steps in as Hello Kitty. 
• Light on her feet and sweet as ever, Kiriko floats through as Cinnamoroll. 
• Bringing comfort, care, and cozy charm to every clutch save, Mercy suits up as Pompompurin. 
• Confident and ready to shine with playful superstar energy, D.Va drops in as My Melody. 

• Sweet on the surface, sharp underneath, Kuromi’s mischievous edge pairs perfectly with Widowmaker’s cool precision. 
• Fast beats, big smiles, and nonstop good vibes flow freely! Lucio hops into action as Keroppi. 

Skins have always been a hot topic for Overwatch, and our artists have been heating things up this year (not an Anran reference). Tied to The Reign of Talon, Season 1 will have faction-themed skins, in addition to new bundles themed after vibes like rainy days and the sweetness of Valentine’s Day.

We are also refreshing the Lootbox pool with all regular shop skins from the last six seasons!

Next up, Mythic Skins! Every season this year will bring two new Mythic Hero Skins.

• Season 1 introduces Mercy’s Celestial Guardian and Juno’s Star Shooter.

• Mid‑season will include Mei’s first Mythic.

• Future seasons will add Mythics for Soldier: 76, Illari, and Mauga, as well as Mythic Weapon Skins for Genji, Hanzo, and Sojourn.

Enjoy Season 1!