The Overwatch 2 Season 3 patch notes are here, and they’re huge

What you need to know

• Ahead of Overwatch 2 Season 3’s launch, developer Blizzard has revealed its patch notes.
• Highlights include a key nerf to Ramattra’s Annihilation Ultimate, several buffs to Reinhardt, the addition of shield health to Wrecking Ball, and a partial rework of Mercy’s kit that incentivizes “triage healing” allies below half health.
• Some other changes include nerfs for Junkrat, Ana, and Widowmaker, and buffs for Roadhog and Soldier: 76.

Overwatch 2 Season 3 is only a day away, and ahead of its launch, developer Blizzard has revealed the patch notes for the seasonal update. Like the ones that came before it, the game’s third season offers players new content to enjoy while also introducing important changes and improving Overwatch 2’s progression and social features.

Many of the changes and additions mentioned in the notes were announced by Blizzard in earlier press releases, such as the arrival of the new Control map Antarctic Peninsula, the introduction of a “Streamer Protect” feature to combat stream sniping, tank health reduction in non-role queue modes, and the return of Overwatch Credits. With that said, they also highlight several significant hero balance tweaks, several of which will have a massive impact on the Overwatch 2 metagame.

The most significant of these are nerfs to Ramattra’s Annihilation Ultimate, which has been dominating ranked Competitive play since it was recently given a 20% speed boost. Once Season 3 arrives on February 7, the Ultimate will have a 12% higher cost, and affecting enemies with it will only slow its rundown timer rather than pause it. Additionally, Annihilation is being given a max duration of 20 seconds, capping how long it can be active on the battlefield.

On the flip side, Reinhardt — one of the weakest tanks in Overwatch 2 right now — is getting a variety of large buffs to his kit. His Charge cooldown is being reduced from 8 to 7 seconds, and the damage of his Firestrikes is being raised from 90 to 100, which is where it was before Overwatch 2’s release. Earthshatter’s direct hit damage is being reduced from 250 to 170 as Blizzard wants to move away from one-shots with it, but its knockdown duration is being extended from 2.5 to 2.75 seconds. The knockpack impulse of his Rocket Hammer is also being reduced from 10 to 6; while this sounds like a nerf, it’s actually a buff, as it’s meant to reduce the chances of Reinhardt’s melee attacks knocking foes out of his range.