Overwatch 2 is set to receive another big set of changes when season three officially kicks off at the beginning of February. Players have been speculating on potential changes over the past few weeks, and Blizzard finally revealed some in a Jan. 31 retrospective post that effectively put a bow on season two.
In season three, a new battle pass will arrive with 80 tiers of skins to earn, some new hero changes that include big alterations to Ramattra will be made, new limited-time events will run, matchmaking will be improved, and players will be able to earn skins for free again.
The third season of Overwatch 2 should start on Feb. 7 and will last for around two months. This will give players plenty of time to grind through the pass and get as many skins as possible.
Here’s a detailed look at all the changes being made in Overwatch 2 season three.
Ramattra gets an effectiveness buff, but an ultimate nerf
The newest addition to the hero roster, the omnic tank Ramattra, is getting an overall buff to his viability and effectiveness in season three, with an increase to his armor and speed while in Nemesis form, plus a decrease to the cooldown on his Void Barrier. This should keep him in the running as a strong tank choice.
But the buffs come at a cost. His ultimate ability Annihilation will now no longer last indefinitely while enemies are tethered to the damage swarm. The timer on the ability, which has a base time of three seconds, will slow down while enemies are damaged, with a max cap timer of 20 seconds. This should enable more counterplay opportunities and make Ramattra’s ultimate less “hopeless” to play against.
New ranked changes
Some new changes to matchmaking and the ranking up process are coming in season three of Overwatch 2.
The number of required wins to change ranks will go to five, down from seven. The number of losses requires to change ranks will decrease to 15, down from 20. New UI updates will also provide more viewable information regarding competitive progress updates.
As for matchmaking, the team will match “pairs of players with similar MMR on each role on either team” to avoid major MMR disparities or one-sided matches. Additionally, for top-tier players, their top 500 rank will change after every match going forward.
More ranked changes are supposedly on the way in season four as well.
The return of Overwatch Credits and direct purchase of epic/legendary skins
In season three, Legacy Credits will be renamed to Overwatch Credits, and both free and premium players will be able to earn credits and spend them in new ways.
All players can earn up to 1,500 Overwatch Credits as free rewards, with premium players being able to earn an additional 500 through the premium season three battle pass. Players will be able to take these credits to the Hero Gallery and now purchase any and all pre-launch epic or legendary skins, including ones from seasonal events. The standard price of the legendary skins has also been lowered to 1,500.
The Overwatch team is also “looking into additional ways for players to use Credits in the future,” plus future changes in later seasons that will make the game more rewarding to play.
