Here are Overwatch 2’s ‘very serious’ April Fools' Day patch notes
This update is no laughing matter, and you should definitely take it seriously. Definitely.
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What you need to know
April Fools' Day is quite an amusing time to be an Overwatch player, as over the last few years, the folks at Blizzard Entertainment have taken it upon themselves to add animated googly eyes to every hero’s face each time the holiday rolls around on April 1. This year, though, the developers have truly gone above and beyond in the name of wackiness.
In addition to the aforementioned googly eyes, Blizzard has also updatedOverwatch 2with a patch that significantly alters the kit of every hero in the game in someverysilly ways. This includes a complete rework of the tank, damage, and support role passives, as well as hilarious changes to one or more of each hero’s abilities. For example, Reinhardt can now fly while using his Charge by holding the Jump input, Cassidy is out here playing Dark Souls with his new stamina-based Combat Roll, and Lucio can reflect projectiles like the Team Fortress 2 Pyro with his Soundwave boops. Because why not?
Every hero has a comical new Ultimate voice line, too, and you’ll likely get to hear them pretty often since all players will save up to 50% of their Ultimate charge when swapping heroes. Note that these changes are exclusive to Overwatch 2’s Arcade Mode, so you don’t need to worry about the April Fools' Day fun ruining the gameplay integrity of Quick Play or Competitive matchmaking.
“These changes are only being applied to Arcade Mode for the moment, because [Overwatch 2 Game Director] Aaron Keller claims he can convene with Pachimari, and they told him to make this patch,” reads a notice on the update’s patch notes page. “He only plays the new arcade modes, so he shouldn’t notice otherwise.”
We’ve included all of the update’s “very serious” patch notes in the section below to give you an idea of what to expect from these temporaryOverwatch 2 hero changes and reworks, as well as Blizzard’s developer comments. Note that while it’s not clear exactly how long the changes made in this patch will stick around, it’s safe to assume that they’ll last until the end of the April Fools' Day weekend.
Overwatch 2 April Fools' Day update: Patch notes
Here are the full patch notes for Overwatch 2’s 2023 April Fools' Day update. Remember, these “balance changes” only apply in Arcade Mode, so stick to Quick Play or Competitive if you want to avoid playing in games where they’re active.
Hero Updates
ALL HEROES
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Developer Comment: Veteran players have an advantage over newer ones when it comes to voice line recognition. In order to level the playing field, we’ve written and recorded new Ultimate voice lines for every hero.
To help players learn these new callouts, we’ve also increased the amount of Ultimate charge retained when swapping heroes.
TANK ROLE PASSIVE
Developer Comment: Tank heroes are the raid bosses of teams. You should be fairly rewarded for defeating them, right?
DAMAGE ROLE PASSIVE
Developer Comment: It’s frustrating when you dive the backline by yourself and get no healing, especially when your team’s support heroes are busy respawning. This change should help keep you alive, at least.
SUPPORT ROLE PASSIVE
Dev Comment: It’s tough to stay alive when flankers are about. This change should even out the odds a bit when you get ambushed. Please don’t use this offensively.
Tank
DOOMFIST
Developer Comment: The empowered Fist can also level a skyscraper or open a glass jar in a single attempt.
D.VA
Developer Comment: It turns out the beams used to destroy projectiles also really hurt when used on people.
JUNKER QUEEN
Developer Comment: Junker Queen yells so loud she damages the eardrums of her foes. Don’t worry though, it’s still a “friendly shout of encouragement” for her allies.
ORISA
Developer Comment: It is believed that the threat of Orisa’s aerial body slam is the biggest crime deterrent in Numbani.
RAMATTRA
Developer Comment: Ramattra is a lot more effective when he’s in Nemesis Form, so he’ll stay like that until everyone has suffered as much as he has.
REINHARDT
Reinhardt Comment: I COULDN’T CHARGE THE ENEMIES THAT WERE IN THE AIR SO I ASKED TORBJORN TO HELP ME OUT. NOW I AM THE ULTIMATE CRUSHING MACHINE, EVEN IN THE SKY!!!!!
ROADHOG
Developer Comment: In order to further align Roadhog as a tank who punishes bad positioning, we’ve increased the range of Hook to make all positioning bad positioning.
SIGMA
Developer Comment: Gravitic energy is quite potent. If it’s strong enough to lift a giant rock, it can lift anyone.
WINSTON
Dev Comment: Winston!
Winston?
WRECKING BALL
Developer Comment: Wrecking Ball unleashes his signature moves that made him the Champion of the Scrapyard battle arena.
DAMAGE
ASHE
Dev Comment: In order to be more accurate to the fantasy, Dynamite fire now spreads between players.
BASTION
Developer Comment: Bastion downloaded a software update, upgrading “Configuration: Assault” and allowing it to simulate his old “Configuration: Tank”
CASSIDY
Developer Comment: Cassidy can dodge anything using his cat-like reflexes. It’s a bit rough on his spine, though.
ECHO
Developer Comment: Echo now uses more of her fingers when shooting enemies.
GENJI
Developer Comment: Spamming a voice line for healing finally does something after everyone else has tuned you out!
HANZO
Developer Comment: Hanzo spent many years mastering the bow and geometry to pull off this feat. It DEFINITELY has nothing to do with magic.
JUNKRAT
Developer Comment: Junkrat was a bit careless when packing his grenades, so now they spill out of his pockets whenever he knocks himself back.
MEI
Developer Comment: We noticed a decrease in Mei players helping their team “group up” in spawn with Ice Wall. This is core to Mei’s gameplay, so we added additional ice pillars to help facilitate it.
PHARAH
Developer Comment: Rocket Jump? Sounds dangerous. But it is a viable means of travel when you can’t afford enough fuel.
REAPER
Developer Comment: After getting shot one too many times, Reaper no longer poses in place before teleporting despite it looking very cool.
SOJOURN
Developer Comment: Sojourn hasn’t been performing quite up to our expectations after reducing her one-shot potential. To remedy this, we’ve added a very fair stun to her kit
SOLDIER: 76
Developer Comment: Why leave it on the ground when you can keep it in your pocket instead?
SOMBRA
Developer Comment: As a safety measure, the Translocator will forcibly separate solid objects that have been teleported into each other. Unfortunately, this process is also quite painful.
SYMMETRA
Developer Comment: It turns out there was a setting on Sentry Turrets that let’s them immediately target enemies when thrown! Symmetra estimates this change increases their efficiency by 32.33%…repeating, of course!
TORBJORN
Dev Comment: We noticed that Torbjorn relies a little too heavily on his turret to deal consistent damage, so you won’t believe this one simple balance change that fixes that and makes him 1000% overpowered!
TRACER
Developer Comment: Tracer now leaves a vacuum when she Recalls into the past. We are pretty sure this is how time travel works and will be taking no questions.
WIDOWMAKER
Developer Comment: Poisonous bullets don’t work as quickly as normal ones do, but at least there’s more room for counterplay.
SUPPORT
ANA
Developer Comment: Turns out whatever is in those syringes hurts a lot more when applied to the forehead.
BAPTISTE
Developer Comment: Rumor has it that Baptiste is the record holder for both high and long jump.
BRIGITTE
Developer Comment: Whip Shot now whips YOU! Works better if you say, “wheeeeee” while flailing about.
KIRIKO
Dev Comment: Kanezaka is a big town and Kiriko has lots of protecting to do. This change should help her get to where she needs to go in a timely fashion, especially during rush hour.
LUCIO
Developer Comment: We were alerted that Soundwave was able to knock back entire heroes but couldn’t do anything to projectiles. We’ve corrected this logical inconsistency.
MERCY
Developer Comment: Our stats show that the “Battle Mercy” playstyle isn’t as common as we hoped. Here’s a small change that should nudge her damage potential in the right direction.
MOIRA
Developer Comment: You know that random Orb that killed you from across the map? That was 100% intentional. Biotics Orbs follow Moira’s every command, though they only understand “Stop” and “Go.”
ZENYATTA
Developer Comment: Zenyatta calls this technique the “Flying Kick,” but since he’s always floating should it just be called “Kick”?
Overwatch 2 Season 3is here, and the game as a whole is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. It’s arguably one of thebest Xbox shootersavailable, and since it’s free-to-play, it doesn’t cost anything to check it out. Alternatively, there’s the Overwatch 2: Ultimate Battle Pass Bundle that includes the Premium Battle Pass, 20 Battle Pass levels, 2,000 Overwatch Coins, and the Beekeeper Sigma skin for $30.
Overwatch 2: Ultimate Battle Pass Bundle
The $30 Overwatch 2: Ultimate Battle Pass Pack offers fans a variety of benefits that will allow them to get guaranteed access to a Premium Battle Pass track, 20 Battle Pass levels, 2,000 Overwatch Coins, and the Beekeeper Sigma skin.
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Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
