Overwatch 2 December 10 Patch: All Changes
Overwatch 2 is closing out the year with a major update. In this patch, Hazard will enter ranked mode and the game's highly anticipated experimental 6v6 role queue will go live. Plus, the game's 2024 Winter Wonderland event will begin with various holiday festivities. Here's everything we know about Overwatch 2's December 10 2024 patch including winter wonderland info, the new 6v6 role queue, hero updates and more.
Winter Wonderland 2024 Is Here
Overwatch 2's Winter Wonderland 2024 will include various holiday game modes and redecorate several maps with a festive theme. Players can try out Mei's Snowball Offensive, Freezethaw Elimination and other event-exclusive activities.
New 6v6 Role Queue
Blizzard is bringing back Overwatch 2's 6v6 mode by popular request. In December 2024's 6v6 Role Queue, players can "experience the dynamics of 6-player teams while maintaining structured gameplay".
Damage Passive Changes
Overwatch 2 developers are balancing out in-game duels with significant Damage updates. A passive debuff increase and a healing reduction will answer community concerns and make damage more impactful. Meanwhile, hitscan and projectile attack radiuses will become smaller and make damage less consistent. Developers state that the changes "make the threat of sustained damage more meaningful by slowing down health recovery while in combat". While these changes are crucial for DPS players to know, they will affect all hero roles in the game.
- Damage Role Passive: Debuff 2 > 3 seconds, Healing Reduction 20% > 25%
- Global Projectile Size: Hitscan radius large 0.08 > 0.07 meters, Hitscan radius small 0.05 > 0.04 meters, Projectile radius large 0.15 > 0.12 meters
In addition, Passive Health Regeneration can now be enabled or disabled in Custom games.
Tank Changes
Overwatch developers are updating Doomfist, Hazard, Mauga, Orisa, Ramattra and Winston as the new competitive season rolls in. Doomfist is facing a significant nerf while the other heroes will receive buffs or overall balances. Orisa buffs will balance out a previous severe nerf which removed her Fortify heat reduction mechanic.
Hazard
The Overwatch 2 team notes that Hazard has been "underperforming slightly" in the current hero ecosystem. In the December 10 patch, he recieves a slew of changes to bolster his in-game power.
- Bonespur: Damage per spike 6.75 > 7.5; volleys now always launch straight
- Spike Guard: Angle of protection 104 > 180 degrees; Damage per second 75 > 70
- Violent Leap: Post-slash recovery time .3 > .5 seconds
- Jagged Wall: Health 350 > 400; Knockback damage 40 > 50; Damage interval 1.5 > 1.75 seconds per target
- Downpour: Airborne momentum lost 90% > 50%
- Vault: minimum height to trigger 1.75 > 1.25 meters
Mauga
- Base Armor: 200 > 150
- Base Health: 375 > 425
Orisa
- Armor: 300 > 325
- Base Health: 175 > 150
- Terra Surge: Pull radius 8.5 >10.5 meters
Ramattra
- Ravenous Vortex: now interrupts horizontal movement when locked on a target; slow now ignores Line of Sight barriers
Winston
- Jump Pack: Damage 50 >60
DPS Changes
In addition to previously mentioned damage passive changes, Sojourn, Soldier 76, Symmetra and Torbjörn will all receive significant buffs while Venture and Ashe will have small yet notable power-ups. Pharah will be nerfed with a cooldown increase to combat her effectiveness.
Sojourn
- Railgun: secondary fire damage scaling 1-100 > 20-120
Soldier 76
- Biotic Field: Cooldown 18 > 15 seconds
Symmetra
- Teleporter: Base shield health 200 > 250
Torbjörn
- Forge Hammer: Damage 55 > 70
- Deploy Turret: Build time 3 > 2.5 seconds; Base Health 225 > 250
Venture
- Drill Dash: Cooldown rate is faster whenever Burrow is active
Ashe
- Coach Gun: can now be activated in mobility-locking abilities
Pharah
- Jet Dash: cooldown 8 > 9 seconds
Support Changes
Lúcio and Baptiste are receiving major buffs in the December 10 patch to help them stand up to other supports in terms of survivability and effectiveness. Illari is following suit with significant improvements. Meanwhile, Brigitte takes a small nerf to her Inspire passive ability.
Baptiste
- Regenerative Burst: Cooldown 15 > 14 seconds; Radius 10 > 12 meters
Brigitte
- Inspire: Duration 5 > 4 seconds
Illari
- Captive Sun: Radius 8 > 10 meters
Lúcio
- Crossfade: Self-healing penalty 60% > 40%
- Sound Barrier: falls faster when used in mid-air.
Other Changes
Hero Mastery: Ashe
DPS Hero Ashe has a new Hero Mastery course. The course is currently locked until January 15 2025. To enter the course once it opens, players can click the in-game 'Play' button and select the 'Hero Mastery' icon in the middle-right of the screen.
Players can also view their Hero Mastery progress by navigating to the in-game Heroes tab. Next, they should click Ashe's icon. On Ashe's dedicated page, a small white 'Challenges' button should appear on the right side of the screen. After clicking this, players will spot three tiers of Hero Mastery achievements. Left-click on any of the tiers for more information. Completing all mastery tiers will grant players a special Ashe cosmetic, Battlepass XP and a unique title.
For a full list of the December 10 Overwatch 2 Patch changes including various bug fixes, check the official Patch Notes here.
