Overwatch 2 Beta May 5 Patch Notes: Open Queue Arrives and More

A new update for the Overwatch 2 PVP beta has arrived today, May 5, and here’s the full list of changes and fixes added with this patch. The Overwatch 2 beta has already received a ton of player feedback, most notably about the major shift to 5v5 instead of the usual 6v6 that players have been accustomed to since the game’s initial launch in 2016. This update adds open queue, allowing players to matchmake without selecting a defined role beforehand. It also contains a ton of balance adjustments for several heroes, giving a few Support heroes some much-needed buffs. Here’s everything new with the May 5 update for the Overwatch 2 beta.

Overwatch 2 Beta May 5 Patch Notes

Here are the official patch notes directly from Blizzard themselves.

Heroes

Damage

• Sojourn
  • Railgun Alt Fire
    • Projectile width increased from 0.05m to 0.1m
  • Power Slide
    • Cooldown reduced from 7 to 6 seconds
  • We saw a lot of players at varying skill levels struggling to land shots with her Alt Fire, so we are making the projectile width wider.
  • Sojourn is all about mobility, and we wanted her to move around the maps more freely. We think this will help increase her effectiveness and make her even more fun to play.
• Soldier: 76
  • Heavy Pulse Rifle
    • Damage reduced from 20 to 18
  • Sprint
    • Movement speed reduced from 50 to 40%
  • Tactical Visor
    • Now allows for critical hits, if a shot would have been a critical hit outside his ultimate
    • No longer removes damage falloff from his Heavy Pulse Rifle
  • We believe Soldier 76 was over tuned during the first week of the PvP beta. He was extremely mobile with the new damage passive that increases movement speed by 10%. We brought his Sprint ability down a bit with the new passive in mind.
  • Soldier 76 has always been a high damage output hero, but we are seeing fewer counters to him with one less tank per team. We lowered the damage of his Heavy Pulse Rifle to fit with 5v5.
  • We wanted to make Tactical Visor a more interesting ultimate for players who want to push their aim skills through the ability. The point of this change isn’t purely to buff him or counterbalance the nerfs. We wanted to make Soldier 76 more fun to play while rewarding mechanical skill.
• Sombra
  • Stealth
    • Movement speed reduced from 65 to 50%
  • After a week of testing the new damage passive, we decided to balance Sombra’s Stealth speed with the 10% movement speed increase in mind.

Tank

• Roadhog
  • Whole Hog
    • This ability has changed from a ‘Channeled’ ultimate (e.g. Pharah, Reaper, Cassidy), into a ‘Transform’ ultimate (e.g. Soldier: 76, Genji, Winston). This is what that means:
      • The weapon no longer automatically fires, and you must press Primary Fire to use the ultimate
      • You can use normal abilities during Whole Hog without canceling the ultimate
      • Stuns will no longer cancel the ultimate
  • We saw Roadhog underperforming, so we are making his ultimate more interesting, effective, and fun. Roadhog was dying frequently while using Whole Hog, so we are trying to give him more options and flexibility in his ult.
• Winston
  • Tesla Cannon
    • Secondary fire ammo cost reduced from 20 to 12
  • The change to Winston’s secondary fire enables him to use it more often without sacrificing as much of his primary fire. We want his secondary fire to feel less restrictive to use and more fluid like his kit. 
• Wrecking Ball
  • Roll
    • Knockback increased by 36%
  • We are reverting Roll’s knockback to the original value from when Wrecking Ball was launched. We wanted to give Wrecking Ball a more unique role as a dive tank that can split up enemy teams. We made this change with the Tank passive of 30% knockback resistance in mind.
• Zarya 
  • Graviton Surge
    • Duration reduced from 4 to 3.5 seconds
  • There are less counters to Graviton Surge with one less tank per team and phase effects no longer escaping Zarya’s ultimate. We observed the ultimate over-performing, so this change brings it in line with 5v5 gameplay.
• Lucio
  • Crossfade
    • Self-healing penalty increased from 30% to 60%
  • Lucio had incredible survivability with Crossfade stacked with the new support role passive, so we reduced the amount it heals himself.
• Baptiste
  • Biotic Launcher Alt Fire
    • Healing ammo increased from 10 to 13
  • Baptiste is under-performing because teams aren’t playing as grouped up right now. Increasing his healing ammo will let him heal more targets who aren’t necessarily grouped up.
• Ana
  • Biotic Rifle
    • Ammo increased from 12 to 15
  • Biotic Grenade
    • Duration reduced from 4 to 3 seconds
  • Ana’s Biotic Grenade was too effective with one less tank and more infrequent barriers, so we are reducing the duration of the ability. We also saw Ana using her grenade less frequently on herself because of the new support passive ability. To help compensate for her grenade, we wanted to give her power back through increasing her Biotic Rifle’s ammo.
• Zenyatta
  • Base shields increased from 150 to 175
  • Snap Kick
    • New Passive Ability
    • Increases Quick melee damage by 50% and significantly increases its knockback
  • Zenyatta has trouble fighting at close range, so he was at a disadvantage if an enemy flanked or jumped on top of him. His new passive, Snap Kick, will help him create space and put enemies at his fighting range.
  • We think this new passive will be a fun adjustment to his kit, but we also want this change to acknowledge community concerns. We understand 5v5 has made support heroes feel more vulnerable, and we wanted to give Zenyatta tools to help create space between him and enemies.
• Brigitte
  • Shield Bash
    • Knockback doubled
  • It’s difficult to tell when Brigitte lands a Shield Bash because the impact of that ability was not easily noticeable. This is a subtle change that will make the ability feel more satisfying.

The Overwatch 2 PVP Beta is currently live on PC.