After a series of beta tests, Overwatch 2 finally launched as a full-fledged title. Overwatch fans and FPS enthusiasts had been waiting for this title for a long time. Additionally, Blizzard made it a free-to-play title. So, hundreds of thousands of players overflowed the servers within a short time.

Blizzard massively succeeded in transferring its old resources from Overwatch to the newly released Overwatch 2. However, as many things were changed, Blizzard included many new features, including Heroes and more, into the game.

Nonetheless, since Overwatch 2’s launch, the game has maintained a steady player base worldwide. The game also has a huge viewership on Twitch. So, without further ado, let’s find out how many players play Overwatch 2 in 2023.

Read More: Overwatch Anniversary Remix: Vol. 3 to start on August 9th

Player Count in Overwatch 2 in 2023

Blizzard Entertainment does not publicly announce information such as player counts and active concurrent players, as it may hinder players’ privacy. However, according to the information retrieved from Active Player, Overwatch 2 averaged 24.01 million monthly players starting from October 4, 2022, to November 30, 2023. The average number of Overwatch 2 players in November 2023 alone was 25.84 million players.

Read More: Overwatch 2: All Hero Changes and Reworks

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Overwatch 2 is a newly released 5v5 team-based action shooter. The game is a sequel to its predecessor, Overwatch, which was released back in 2016. Overwatch was massively popular and became the inspiration for most hero-shooter games today.

After six years, Blizzard has published the sequel that players have been waiting for quite some time. Additionally, Blizzard has made Overwatch 2 a free-to-play title. As a result, hundreds of thousands of players are flooding the servers with the expectation of finding out what’s new.

Although Overwatch 2 has implemented various new elements to the game, the core gameplay and features remain the same. The Heroes in Overwatch 2 are also no different. Every specific Hero in Overwatch 2 has a unique personality and features.

Similarly, these Heroes also have different voice lines in-game. These voice lines are distinguishable from each other. As a result, knowing these voice lines is a nice advantage to have as a player.

Read More: Overwatch 2 Support Heroes Tier List: All the Support Characters Ranked

This article was updated after the official launch of Overwatch 2 Season one.

How Many Heroes are There in Overwatch 2?

Although there were 32 Heroes in the prequel, Blizzard added three new Heroes to this newly released Overwatch 2. Later, Blizzard added two more heroes to the game. So, currently, there are a total of 37 Heroes in Overwatch 2.

Like before, the Heroes in Overwatch 2 are also divided into three categories: Tank, Damage, and Support. Among them are 11 Tank Heroes, 17 Damage Heroes, and 9 Support Heroes in Overwatch 2.

All the Ultimate Voice Lines

As mentioned earlier, every Hero in Overwatch 2 has specific voice lines. Their Ultimates are no exception in this regard. Before popping the Ultimate ability, every Hero uses a specific voice line or sound that alerts their teammates as well as enemies.

So, when you are in the middle of a nail-biting match against your opponents in Overwatch 2, knowing these Ultimate voice lines will help you make rational decisions no matter which team you are playing. So, this article will list all Ultimate voice lines for Overwatch 2 Heroes.

The Heroes in Overwatch 2 come from different places and backgrounds. As a result, some of the Ultimate voice lines for specific Heroes have diverse languages or sounds. So, for your convenience, we’ll also put English translations for those voice lines.

Here are all the Ultimate voice lines in Overwatch 2:

D.va: “Nerf this!”

Doomfist: “Meteor strike!”

Junker Queen: “Time for the reckoning!

Orisa: “Meet your fate!”

Reinhardt: “Hammer down!”

Roadhog: *Angry Roadhog sounds*

Sigma: “The universe sings to me!” (Dutch)

Winston: *Primal rage roar*

Wrecking Ball: “Area denied!”

Zarya: “Fire at will!” (Russian)

Ashe: “Bob! Do something!”

Bastion: *Robotic sounds*

Cassidy: “It’s high noon!”

Echo: “Copies the ultimate of an opponent.”

Genji: “Take the blade of the dragon god!” (Japanese)

Hanzo: “Let the dragon consume my enemies!” (Japanese)

Junkrat: “Fire in the hole!”

Mei: “Freeze! Don’t move!” (Chinese)

Pharah: “Justice rains from above.”

Reaper: “Die…die…die”

Sojourn: “This ends now!”

Soldier 76: “I’ve got you in my sights!”

Sombra: “Turning out the lights!” (Spanish)

Symmetra: “This is the true reality!” (Hindi)

Torbjorn: “Molten core!”

Tracer: “Time to drop the bomb.”

Widowmaker: “No one can hide from my sight.”

Ana: “You’re powered up! Get in there.”

Baptiste: “Light them up!”

Brigitte: “Rally to me!”

Lucio: “Oh, let’s break it down!”

Mercy: “Heroes never die!”

Moira: “Surrender to my will!”

Zenyatta: “Experience tranquility.”

Kiriko: “Let the Kitsune guide you!”

Ramattra: “Suffer, as I have.”

Lifeweaver: “Life protects life.”

Read More: Overwatch 2 Tank Heroes Tier List: All the Tank Characters Ranked

These are all the Ultimate voice lines for each Hero in Overwatch 2. More voice lines will be added with every new Hero added to the game. So, as soon as Blizzard adds a new Hero to the game, we’ll update this article as quickly as possible.

The post All Heroes Ultimate Voice Line in Overwatch 2 appeared first on GameRiv.

Overwatch 2 Season 5 will kick off on June 13, 2023. Blizzard has made some nice changes to the game to improve the overall gameplay experience. To begin with, starting from season 5, the incomplete weekly challenges will no longer reset to zero. Meaning 100% of the progress made in weekly challenges in the previous week will be kept and carried over.

Blizzard is also returning the popular “On Fire” feature from the previous Overwatch. The feature was one of the most requested features from its prequel. Now it’s finally coming to Overwatch 2. Moreover, it’ll return with some additional twists.

Not to mention, the developers are improving the matchmaking and competitive system even more this season. Blizzard hopes these continuous changes will make the game more exciting to play.

And as always, several Heroes’ buffs and nerfs will go through alongside the Season 5 update. 10 Heroes, including Lifeweaver, will undergo major to minor nerfs. On the other hand, new lighting effects will be added to Busan and Rialto to add little spices to the game’s visuals. Not to mention, tons of bug fixes will also be there to improve the QoL of the game.

Read More: Overwatch 2 Player Count Tracker: How Many Players Play Overwatch 2?

Overwatch 2 Season 5 Patch Notes

GENERAL UPDATES

CHALLENGES

• Lifeweaver unlock challenges added.
• Lifeweaver can now be unlocked by completing all his challenges!
• Incomplete weekly challenges will no longer reset to zero. 100% of the progress made in weekly challenges in the previous week will be kept and carried over.
• All weekly challenges requiring wins have been converted to “Complete games. Wins grant double progress.”
  • This change results in the required amounts becoming higher, but the average total number of games needed to complete the challenges has not.

Developer Comment: Our goal is to ensure every game played contributes to weekly challenge progress. With the progress carry-over change, when weekly challenges reset, all progress on incomplete challenges will be carried over into the next week. Completed challenges will still reset.

The change from winning games to completing games increases the required amount to complete, but the average number of games required for completion remains the same. For example, “Win 10 games” could take any number of games to complete—around 20 games on average—and “Complete 30 games. Wins grant double progress.” takes between 15-30 games, also averaging around 20. While this increased number of games looks big and scary, the maximum number of games it takes is now capped, and the average remains the same.

ON FIRE

Fire returns to highlight your incredible plays with these new features:

• New State: BLAZING – What’s better than being On Fire? Being even more On Fire! A team’s most exceptional playmakers will now begin Blazing. Blazing cannot be maintained as easily as regular Fire, so you’ll need outstanding play to keep the heat on.
• Reignited Visuals and Sound Effects – Fire returns to the hero portrait and the scoreboard with new animations. Fire makes its debut in the kill feed as well.
• Catching Fire – Killing enemies that are On Fire grants Fire.
• Fan the Flames – The Fire has spread to more than just Genji players. Beyond eliminations and damage, Fire comes from mitigated damage, saves, healing, assists, capturing/contesting objectives, boosted damage, and crowd control. Pay attention to which heroes on your team are On Fire and help them out to increase your Fire score.

MATCHMAKING

Matchmaking Improvements

• Added new matchmaker functionality that should create matches with a narrower range of player skills. The initial tuning of the system at the start of the season will not be aggressive, but we will be making continual tuning changes throughout the season.
• The matchmaker now prioritizes placing similar groups with wide skill ranges into the same match, which means solo players will see a lower chance of being placed in those matches.

Matchmaking – Bug Fixes

• Addressed some issues with backfills in Quick Play that could cause the backfill to take a long time or never occur.
• Fixed an issue where the matchmaker sometimes initialized new players’ competitive MMRs to a value that did not reflect their skill. Players will continue to adjust to their accurate MMR as they continue to play.

FFA Player Skill Ratings – Bug Fixes

• We recently noted a major issue that affected how the matchmaker updated the internal ratings representing player skill in our “free for all” game modes, such as Deathmatch, where players are not on a team. This issue resulted in incorrect skill ratings that could create longer queue times and worse match quality than expected.
• The underlying issue causing incorrect updates has now been addressed, but unfortunately, these skill ratings are no longer meaningful. The best way forward is to do a complete reset of the FFA MMR used by these specific game modes. After this reset, match quality is expected to be suboptimal until players are able to play more games of Deathmatch. We do not take this action lightly, but it is the best course for the future.

COMPETITIVE PLAY UPDATES

RANKED INACTIVITY CHANGES

• Players that did not play any matches during the previous competitive season will become Inactive. Inactive players do not have a visible Skill Tier and Division. Each role in Role Queue can become Inactive separately, while in Open Queue, a player only has one rank that can become Inactive. Once an Inactive player returns and achieves a Competitive Update after winning five games, their Skill Tier and Division will become visible again.

COMPETITIVE MYSTERY HEROES

• Competitive Mystery Heroes returns for an entire season of randomized hero action! The competitive challenges are also back, providing mysterious titles and competitive points.

COMPETITIVE BUG FIXES

• Improved how the matchmaker computes its initial skill estimation, aka “MMR,” for a player queuing for their first competitive game.

HERO UPDATES

JUNKERQUEEN

Rampage

• Ultimate cost increased by 15%.

Commanding Shout

• Temporary health reduced from 200 to 150.

Developer Comment: The last round of Junker Queen changes increased both her sustained damage and self-healing. Hence, she ends up staying alive and in the fight longer, which was the intent, but naturally, her ultimate charges much more quickly on average as a result.

The passive Adrenaline Rush healing becoming more potent has been interesting for gameplay as it’s tied to landing her abilities. To bring her survivability more in line, we’re shifting some of the power out of the Commanding Shout temporary health gained for Junker Queen herself.

ROADHOG

Take a Breather

• Now amplifies healing received by 50% for 2.5 seconds after finishing Take a Breather.

Developer Comment: We would like Roadhog to be even sturdier as he’s an immobile tank with minor damage-blocking ability. His self-sustainability is already quite powerful when alone, so this is more of a team-oriented change. Take a Breather briefly increasing healing received will enable the support heroes on Roadhog’s team to help him recover more quickly.

CASSIDY

Magnetic Grenade

• No longer has a maximum projectile travel range of 10 meters.
• The projectile now magnetizes toward an enemy target from 1.5 meters away and chases them for up to 1 second.
• Impact damage increased from 0 to 10.
• Explosion damage reduced from 120 to 70.
• Stuck targets now have their movement slowed by 30%.
• Stuck targets are now affected by a “Hindered” status effect, interrupting and preventing movement abilities from being activated.

Developer Comment: The overall goals for Magnetic Grenade are to shift its use from purely damage into more of a utility, and change its deployment behavior from a close-range lock-on to more of an aimed projectile that magnetizes if it gets close to an enemy target. The previous “Stuck” banner text alert confused Tracer’s Pulse Bomb message, so this mobility-locking status effect is being referred to as “Hindered.”

HANZO

Sonic Arrow

• Impact sound effect now plays for enemies.
• Visual effect is now briefly visible to enemies when first deployed.

Storm Bow

• Maximum damage reduced from 125 to 120.

Developer Comment: The Storm Bow damage adjustment is a small but significant change so that heroes with 250 health won’t be eliminated with one critical damage shot. We’ve also updated the sound and visual for when Sonic Arrow initially lands to give nearby enemies more awareness that the ability was used.

MEI

Endothermic Blaster

• Damage per second reduced from 100 to 55.
• Primary fire slow is no longer always 40% and now scales from 30-50%.
• Primary fire impacts now build up to a slowing effect that sticks to the enemy target for 1.5 seconds and slows them for 75%.
• Secondary fire impacts can detonate this new slow effect, dealing an additional 40 damage.

Developer Comment: This set of changes is intended to bring back some of the gameplay and feeling Mei’s primary fire used to have previously, though without the hard crowd control of a full freeze stun.

REAPER

Wraith Form

• Can no longer be activated while affected by mobility-locking effects (Magnetic Grenade, Steel Trap, Graviton Surge, etc.).

Developer Comment: The Reaper and Moira changes are addressing an inconsistency with the interaction of Wraith Form or Fade with mobility-locking effects such as Junkrat’s Steel Trap, Sigma’s Gravitic Flux, Zarya’s Graviton Surge, and Cassidy’s Magnetic Grenade. They are now disabled similarly to Tracer’s Recall or Sombra’s Translocator, which are abilities that also phase out and can move the player.

TRACER

Pulse Pistols

• Spread increased by 15%.

Developer Comment: We uncovered a bug that was setting Tracer’s maximum weapon spread smaller than intended. We’ll be monitoring the results of this one closely, as fixing it may have a significant impact on her overall effectiveness.

WIDOWMAKER

Widow’s Kiss

• Scoped shot damage falloff min-max range reduced from 70-100 to 40-60 meters.
• Scoped shot maximum damage falloff scalar increased from 30 to 50%.

Developer Comment: These changes to Widowmaker’s weapon falloff are intended to reduce her one-shot capabilities on maps with extremely long sightlines. The average range to still eliminate a 200 health hero at full charge is around 50 meters. A fully-charged critical shot will still eliminate 150 health targets regardless of range.

LIFEWEAVER

General

• Petal ornaments on his back have had their size and hit volume reduced by 10%.

Healing Blossom

• Maximum healing increased from 65 to 75.

Thorn Volley

• Damage per projectile increased from 5 to 6.
• Projectile radius increased from 0.1 to 0.125.
• Ammo increased from 60 to 70.

Petal Platform

• Walkable area increased by 15%.
• Area to trigger lift now shrinks from a radius of 2 to 0.75 meters after initial placement.

Life Grip

• Cooldown reduced from 20 to 16 seconds.
• Now heals the target ally for 50 health.

Tree of Life

• Ultimate cost increased by 8%.

Developer Comment: Lifeweaver’s stats have been improving over time, but he is still underperforming. These adjustments are primarily straightforward improvements to nearly every aspect of his kit, outside of his ultimate ability, which received a small cost adjustment for the increased healing and damage output. The Petal Platform area shrinking is a quality-of-life change intended to help avoid accidentally activating the lift after it has been placed.

MOIRA

Fade

• Can no longer be activated while affected by mobility-locking effects (Magnetic Grenade, Steel Trap, Graviton Surge, etc.).

Developer Comment: The Reaper and Moira changes are addressing an inconsistency with the interaction of Wraith Form or Fade with mobility-locking effects such as Junkrat’s Steel Trap, Sigma’s Gravitic Flux, Zarya’s Graviton Surge, and Cassidy’s Magnetic Grenade. They are now disabled similarly to Tracer’s Recall or Sombra’s Translocator, which are abilities that also phase out and can move the player.

MAP UPDATES

BUSAN

New lighting scheme – Overcast

RIALTO

New lighting scheme – Evening

WATCHPOINT: GIBLARTAR

• Completely redesigned the final defender spawn area
• Added an exit route from the forward defender spawn
• Route adjustments and changes made around first capture point outside of the hangar
• Covers and route adjustments made inside the hangar

BUG FIXES

GENERAL

• Fixed Lifeweaver platform ping VO not playing.
• Fixed ping stems not appearing for Last Seen pings with no line of sight.
• Fixed Lifeweaver Tree and Platform from appearing as enemies when directly pinged by allies.
• Disabled ping wheel movement shortcut for controller.
• Disabled locking the crosshair in place for controller when the Ping Wheel Press Delay is active.
• Fixed performance issues some consoles were experiencing.
• Healing projectiles now make contact with targets who are phased out (i.e., Moira’s Fade).
• Fixed an issue with on Ultrawide monitors that resulted in black bars appearing on the edges of the screen.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the end of match flow not playing for Top 500 players.
• Fixed the issue that caused Antarctic Peninsula’s image to be missing from its entries in the History menu.

AUDIO

• Due to a bug, we temporarily need to change the audio reverb settings used throughout the game to an alternate method. We hope to have this fixed in an upcoming patch.

MAPS

Colosseo

• Fixed an area of the map that allowed players to leave the playable space.

Hollywood

• Fixed some haybales that did not correctly block D.Va Self-Destruct damage.

King’s Row

• Fixed a bug that allowed some gameplay elements to be placed inside the bus and taxi.

Lijiang Tower

• Fixed an area in Night Market that allowed players to stand outside of intended map boundaries.
• Fixed a location that allowed Torbjorn to almost completely hide his turret.

Nepal

• Fixed some drums on the map that players could become stuck on.

Numbani

• Fixed the vines hanging above the tunnel (the one just before the final point) having collision and blocking projectiles and explosives.

Oasis

• Fixed several areas Kiriko could become stuck when using Swift Step.

HEROES

Ana

• Fixed a bug with Sleep Dart not counting toward the Accuracy stat when performed as the final blow.

Baptiste

• Fixed a bug with Immortality Field not correctly displaying its active cooldown through Hero swaps.

Doomfist

• Fixed an issue that allowed stunned targets of Rocket Punch to escape the stun early by jumping after being hit.
• Fixed an interaction between Tree of Life and Meteor Strike that allowed Doomfist to be healed while not in the field of play.
• Fixed an interaction that resulted in Doomfist’s Rocket Punch doing no damage to Lifeweaver’s Petal Platform.
• Fixed an issue with Powerblock not reducing the area of effect damage correctly.
• Fixed an issue with Powerblock was being incorrectly applied to Junkerqueen’s Bleed.

D.Va

• Fixed a bug with D.Va’s primary fire increasing its rate of fire when it was set to the mouse wheel.

Echo

• Fixed an interaction with Duplicate destroying the duplicated ultimates when Duplicate ends (Symmetra and Wrecking Ball).
• Healing effects that were started during Echo’s ultimate will now continue to heal Echo after the ultimate has ended.
• Fixed a bug where a duplicated Lifeweaver’s Tree of Life would not heal anyone after Echo’s ultimate had ended.
• Fixed a bug with Sticky Bombs not detonating if used right after Duplicate ends.

Lifeweaver

• Life Grip will now correctly nudge targets around payload obstacles.
• Healing Blossom and Life Grip targeting now consider both the head and chest of the target as a valid line of sight, allowing targeting around vertical obstructions, such as payloads, to be more consistent.
• Fixed a bug that prevented Petal Platform from being used if Secondary Fire was set as the confirmation input.
• Fixed a bug with Life Grip not consistently pulling allies onto ledges if Lifeweaver was airborne.
• Fixed an issue where Life Gripped allies falling off the map would still die to the death plane.
• Fixed the issue that resulted in a friend Lifeweaver’s Petal Platform highlighting red when pinged.
• Fixed an issue that prevented Lifeweaver’s footsteps from playing sound when crouched.
• Resolved a bug that prevented the Tree of Life from being placed on an enemy Torbjorn turret (it now destroys the turret).
• Fixed a bug that allowed Tree of Life to be attached to the Pushbot and pulled along.

Mercy

• Resolved an issue with Resurrect not retaining cooldown through Hero swaps.
• Fixed a bug where Mercy wasn’t properly resetting her Guardian Angel cooldown when entering Valkyrie.

Orisa

• Fixed a bug where Orisa would use the animation for receiving critical shots for all damage received.

Ramattra

• Resolved an interaction with Nemesis Form and Annihilation that sometimes resulted in the ultimate not performing damage and lifesteal.
• Fixed an issue where Block was being incorrectly applied to Junkerqueen’s Bleed.
• Fixed a bug with block that prevented it from correctly stacking with Ana’s Nanoboost.

Sojourn

• Modified the screen effect applied by an enemy Sojourn’s Disruptor Shot to apply more accurately, making it easier to tell when you’re taking damage.

Sombra

• The translocator can no longer stick to loose objects on the map (i.e., Basketball).
• Fixed a bug that prevented Sombra from Hacking Petal Platforms in FFA Deathmath.

Torbjorn

• Fixed an interaction between Lifeweaver and Torbjorn’s turrets that allowed them to be placed on walls.

WORKSHOP

• Fixed a bug with the ‘Set Ability Cooldown/Charge/Resource’ not working for all abilities.
• Fixed a bug where the ‘Communicate’ Action did not work.
• Fixed a bug where ‘Set Ability 1 Enabled’ Action did not work for Orisa.
• ‘Set Ammo’ and ‘Set Max Ammo’ was not working for all heroes, but we have fixed this issue.
• The ‘Is Communicating’ Condition is now functional.

Read More: Overwatch 2 Season 4 Patch Notes

The post Overwatch 2 Season 5 Patch Notes: Heroes Buffs and Nerfs, On Fire Returns, & More appeared first on GameRiv.

Overwatch 2 Season 4 will release on April 11, 2023. It will be one of the biggest updates since the launch of Overwatch 2 as a full-fledged FPS title. A new Support Hero named Lifeweaver is joining the roster alongside many other changes to the game.

Apart from introducing a new Hero, Blizzard is also making a number of changes to some of the existing Heroes across all categories, including Reinhardt, Sigma, Cassidy, Sombra, Ana, Brigitte, Mercy, and Moira.

To have fun with the Heroes in the game, Overwatch 2 is improving its matchmaking system for the Unranked modes. Now, the game will prioritize finding players with similar skill levels, which will improve the overall gameplay experience.

What about the Competitive mode? Don’t worry, Blizzard is making many adjustments to the Competitive modes and ranks. For starters, there’ll be a slight change to the top 500 leaderboard eligibility. Prior to this change, players simply needed to compete in 25 games to earn a place in the top 500 leaderboards. However, as of Season 4, a player must win 25 games in order to rank among the top 500 players.

Also, starting in Season 4, the competitive leaver penalty will not reset like previously. However, Blizzard will be focusing on the leaver penalty, as from now on, leaving Competitive play will have a negative effect on players’ skill tier and division.

There’s also good news! The number of Competitive Points earned from wins has been increased from 15 to 25. The Competitive Points from seasonal challenges have also been increased until someone reaches the Diamond rank. For Masters and Grand Masters, however, the Competitive Points have been slightly reduced compared to prior.

One of the issues that created a ton of confusion among players was the seasonal rank decay. Fortunately, Blizzard took notice of that, and starting from Season 4, the rank decay will be removed. The change will also reset the previous seasons’ rank decay. So, depending on how many games they played during the previous seasons, most players will see their skill tier and division increase.

As for maps, there’ll be no more map pools in Season 4. That means every map will be included in the rotation. Like always, the maps will go through lighting changes to give players a fresh experience. Tons of bug fixes will also be made to ensure that the game runs smoothly without giving players any trouble. To learn more about the upcoming season, let’s dive into the in-depth patch notes from Blizzard.

Read More: Overwatch 2 Player Count Tracker: How Many Players Play Overwatch 2 in 2023?

Overwatch 2 Season 4 Full Patch Notes

Fight for a better future in Season Four! Our newest Support hero Lifeweaver, who hails from Thailand and wields biolight, enters the fray. Take combat to the cosmos with the new Battle Pass featuring Mythic Space Conqueror Sigma, and earn free rewards in events happening throughout the season.

INTRODUCING LIFEWEAVER

Scientist, artist, and activist: Overwatch 2’s latest hero entwines the beauty of nature with the practicality of science. He dreams of healing the world.

Lifeweaver Abilities:

Healing Blossom

• Hold to charge a healing burst. Release to heal a targeted ally.

Thorn Volley

• Rapidly fire a spread of projectiles.

Petal Platform

• Throw a platform that springs upwards when stepped on.

Rejuvenating Dash

• Dash toward your traveling direction and lightly heal yourself.

Life Grip

• Pull an ally to your location, protecting them as they travel.

Tree of Life

• Place a tree that instantly heals allies upon sprouting and continues healing periodically as it lives.

Parting Gift (Passive)

• On death, drop a gift that heals the first enemy or ally to pick it up.

GENERAL UPDATES

Accessibility

Added a setting to select custom colors for health, armor, shields, and overhealth in health bars. Improved preview feature for custom color settings with different preview backgrounds.

Stranded Spawn System

Regrouping with your team after getting stranded in a spawn room has never been easier! Spawn rooms that shut down due to capturing or losing an objective will now remain partially active for 7 seconds. While you still can’t change heroes in these spawn rooms, other new features have been activated. In these “stranded spawns,” the doors remain locked to the opposing team, the healing field remains active, and you can now use the Interact key to instantly teleport to the new active spawn room.

Matchmaking

Backfilling players in Unranked modes will now prioritize finding players closer to the skill level of the other players in the match. Minor optimizations for large groups improving matchmaking quality.

COMPETITIVE UPDATES

Top 500 Leaderboard Eligibility

Players will now be required to win 25 Competitive matches before being eligible to enter the Top 500 leaderboard for a specific role, queue, or region.

Developer comments: Previously, we only required 25 games to be completed regardless of winning prior to becoming eligible for the Top 500 leaderboards; however, this change should help make sure that players are consistently pushing toward winning matches, which should help ensure the leaderboards have the best players in each region.

Competitive Leaver Penalty Changes

Matches left in different Competitive queues are still considered separate for purposes of determining the lengths of suspensions or receiving a seasonal ban from Competitive Play.

The start of a new Competitive season also no longer fully resets the severity of these suspensions and bans. This should hopefully prevent players from leaving Competitive games at the end of a season without facing meaningful consequences at the start of the next.

Matches left in Competitive Play will also have a more negative effect on a player’s Skill Tier and Division after a 5-win Competitive Update.

Competitive Point Reward Changes

The number of Competitive Points (CP) rewarded for a win in Competitive Play has been changed from 15 to 25.

The number of Competitive Points earned from seasonal challenges based on your final seasonal rank has also been updated. Games played after your last Competitive Update during a season will still count towards your final seasonal rank. You must still compete in the season’s Competitive Play Qualification challenge to receive bonus Competitive Points.

• Ending in Bronze will now earn 300 Competitive Points (previously 65)
• Ending in Silver will now earn 450 Competitive Points (previously 125)
• Ending in Gold will now earn 600 Competitive Points (previously 250)
• Ending in Platinum will now earn 800 Competitive Points (previously 500)
• Ending in Diamond will now earn 1000 Competitive Points (previously 750)
• Ending in Masters will now earn 1200 Competitive Points (previously 1250)
• Ending in Grand Masters will now earn 1500 Competitive Points (previously 1750)

Competitive Challenge Titles

Seasonal Competitive titles earned from challenges now distinguish between whether they are earned in Open Queue or Role Queue. For example:

• Ending in Diamond rank in Open Queue will earn the “Diamond Open Challenger” Title
• Ending in Diamond rank in Role Queue will earn the “Diamond Role Challenger” Title

Developer Comments: The goal of these changes is to prevent confusion about a player’s rank from the previous season if they participate in multiple Competitive queues.

Competitive Match Rank

The initial loading screen that shows all the participants of Competitive matches will now show an icon at the top of the screen representing the average Skill Tier and Division of all players in that match. This should provide players with a better comparison of their own rank to other players in the match.

Seasonal Rank Decay Removed

Starting with Season Four, a player’s Competitive Play rank will no longer be reduced at the beginning of a season. Furthermore, the effects of this reduction of rank from previous seasons will also be removed. Depending on how many games they played during the previous season, most players will see their skill tier and division increase. A player’s skill tier and division at the beginning of Season 4 will now closely match the matchmaker’s estimate of your current skill.

Developer Comments: The previous seasonal rank decay was causing considerable confusion for players, who would see players in their Competitive games who did not appear to be of a similar rank. Often these players were actually of similar skill, but they had not played enough games during the season to compensate for the initial decay.

Competitive Skill Update and Progression

Both the Competitive progress and Competitive update screens will now include information about a player’s losses and ties as well as their wins.

The Competitive Update screen will also now provide players with an indication of their current percentage progress within a skill division. This will hopefully make it more clear how the results of games played during the update affect a player’s Skill Tier and Division.

It is possible for players to have a positive win/loss record, but not go up a skill division because the progress occurs entirely within a single division. This new message will allow players to see that they did in fact make positive progress, just not enough to reach a new skill tier or division.

There is also a similar message with Competitive Updates for players who are Grandmaster 1, but not yet on the Top 500 leaderboard. This should provide those players with feedback about their progress towards earning a spot on the Top 500 leaderboard.

HERO UPDATES

TANK

Reinhardt

• Armor health reduced from 300 to 250
• Base health increased from 175 to 200

Developer Comment: Reinhardt has been overperforming after the recent increases to his offensive capabilities. Those changes have been playing well, so to adjust his overall power, we’re reducing his overall health through this armor reduction.

Sigma

Accretion

• Impact damage reduced from 60 to 40 (80 damage total with explosion)
• Knockdown duration increased from 0.8 to 1.1 seconds

Developer Comment: Like Roadhog’s Chain Hook, Sigma’s Accretion and primary fire combo can be highly lethal and can feel like a guaranteed kill against 200 health targets. We’re reducing the damage slightly to require an additional volley of primary fire but are also increasing the stun duration to provide allies with more opportunity to follow up on successful impacts.

DAMAGE

Cassidy

• Base health reduced from 225 to 200

Magnetic Grenade

• Damage reduced from 131 to 120

Developer Comment: Magnetic Grenade only requiring one additional primary fire shot after sticking to a target was too reliable to execute on, even though it only works at close range. We’re reducing the total damage on Magnetic Grenade, evenly split between the direct target damage and explosion. The reduced falloff-damage buff his primary fire received recently enables Cassidy to play from safer engagement ranges now, so we’re reducing his health back to 200.

Sombra

• EMP can now disable Blizzard

Developer Comment: We are expanding what Sombra’s EMP turns off to keep it consistent with how it affects other device-controlled ultimates.

SUPPORT

Ana

Sleep Dart

• Maximum duration on Tank heroes reduced 30%, from 5 to 3.5 seconds

Developer Comments: We’ve been watching how effective Sleep Dart has been in 5v5 gameplay. It hasn’t been overly disruptive as a whole, but since it is significantly more reliable to land against Tank heroes due to their large hit boxes and even more valuable to do so with only one tank on the field, we’re reducing its maximum duration against those targets.

Brigitte

Rally

• Brigitte now gains 100 restorable armor health pool for the duration of Rally
• Brigitte no longer gradually builds temporary health like her nearby allies
• Rally now upgrades her Barrier Shield, increasing both its size and health
• Barrier health increased from 300 to 750 during the ultimate
• During Rally, Shield Bash now impacts multiple enemies and briefly stuns them
• Bonus movement speed reduced from 30 to 15%

Repair Pack

• Range reduced from 30 to 25 meters

Developer Comments: Rally lost some of its power with the change from granting allies additional armor to temporary health, and overall took a relatively long time to build up its defensive benefits. This rework is intended to keep it as a defensive ultimate ability but with a more immediate impact due to gaining an increased armor health pool upfront and the enhanced barrier, which can be utilized to block for teammates while their temporary health builds or interrupt enemies with the stun.

Mercy

Caduceus Staff

• Healing-per-second increased from 45 to 55
• Healing is no longer increased for allies under half health

Guardian Angel

• Cooldown reduced from 2.5 to 1.5 seconds
• Jump and Crouch cancel active ability state duration increased from 1.0 to 1.5 seconds
• The Jump and Crouch cancel active ability state can no longer be manually interrupted to begin the cooldown early

Valkyrie

• Support role passive healing is now active for the duration of Valkyrie

Developer Comment: The recent increase to Guardian Angel’s jump-cancel mobility still needs to be kept in check in some way, but while the last iteration was simple, it also had some unintended effects, such as not being ready to use GA again after flying in and using Resurrect. This revision provides more flexibility, and allows Mercy to opt into an additional 1.5 second cooldown when using the increased mobility from the jump/crouch cancel options or otherwise waiting for the base cooldown time.

The increased healing multiplier condition on Caduceus Staff was intended to help Mercy players feel more agency in trying to save critical-health allies and to add depth to the healing mechanic without changing the total time to heal to full health. However, the overall rebalance of the healing values received significant negative feedback, both from those playing as Mercy and those playing against it. There wasn’t a satisfying middle ground where we could reduce the potency of this effect while still having it feel impactful, so we’re reverting it.

Moira

Fade

• Can now be activated during Coalescence

Coalescence

• Bonus movement speed reduced from 50 to 40%

Biotic Grasp

• Lingering heal duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds

Developer Comments: Being able to use Fade during her Coalescence ultimate gives Moira more playmaking ability by being able to reposition even more quickly and avoid potential threats with quick reactions. Due to the more spread-out playstyle of 5v5, we’re increasing the lingering heal duration from her primary fire, meaning it will heal more in total.

MAP UPDATES

General Updates

Map Pools have been disabled, all maps are now in rotation

New Arcade Map: Talantis

You designed it, we built it: an underwater Talon base with jump pads, pit traps, giant fish, and waterfalls.

Talantis will be playable for a limited time from April 25th through May 1st.

Season 4 Map Lighting

Push

• New Queen Street – Dawn (New)
• Colosseo – Morning
• Esperança – Morning

Hybrid

• Blizzard World – Morning
• Eichenwalde – Morning
• Hollywood – Night (New)
• King’s Row – Evening
• Midtown – Morning
• Numbani – Morning
• Paraíso – Morning

Escort

• Dorado – Night
• Havana – Night
• Watchpoint: Gibraltar – Evening
• Junkertown – Morning
• Circuit royal – Morning
• Rialto – Morning
• Route 66 – Morning
• Shambali Monastery – Night

Control

• Antarctic Peninsula – Night
• Busan – Morning
• Ilios – Morning
• Lijiang Tower – Night
• Nepal – Morning
• Oasis – Evening

WORKSHOP UPDATES

Introducing Workshop Projectiles

There are three new Workshop actions allowing you to create either a fully functioning projectile or a cosmetic projectile effect:

• Create Projectile
• Create Homing Projectile
• Create Projectile Effect

Additionally, there is a corresponding workshop extension that enables 19 projectile visual effects.

BUG FIXES

GENERAL

• Fixed a bug in Competitive Modes that resulted in the rank-up animation playing when a player was actually ranking down
• Fixed a bug where Relative Aim Sensitivity was unable to be set to a value of 0%
• Fixed a bug where Hero Options could become unresponsive if modified during the respawn period
• Fixed an issue where some map preview images were missing from Game Reports and Replays
• Fixed Streamer Mode failing to obfuscate BattleTags in some cases
• Fixed an issue with Custom Game Browser sorting by decreasing ping by default
• Fixed an issue where the round transition screen in Competitive could break when played on 21:9
• Fixed a bug with the Round Transition screen being significantly darker if you had colorblind options enabled
• Fixed a bug that could cause the camera to become displaced if you used a Souvenir as you loaded into the map
• Fixed a bug that prevented you from navigating the Endorsement UI while on the Challenge Progress Screen
• Fixed a controller/gamepad issue that prevented players from accessing the While you Wait menu unless the middle card on screen was highlighted first

MAPS

Circuit Royale

• Fixed multiple lighting issues in Circuit Royale

Hanamura

• Fixed multiple cases of lighting and geometry

Ilios

• Fixed areas in Ilios where players could become stuck

New Queen Street

• Fixed multiple cases of lighting an geometry in Toronto

Oasis

• Fixed areas in Oasis that blocked players and gameplay

Shambali Monastery

• Fixed areas in Shambali Monastery that allowed players to stand in unintended locations

HEROES

Ashe

• The Raijin skin has been adjusted so that Ashe’s Viper no longer takes up a large amount of screen space when scoped in
• Fixed a bug that allowed Ashe to gain Ultimate while B.O.B was active

Bastion

• Fixed a bug where some abilities were able to interact with Artillery’s targeting reticle
• Fixed a bug where Bastion’s attack animations could appear sped up (though they actually weren’t) after the effects of Kitsune Rush expired

Cassidy

• Fixed in a previous update – Fixed a bug with Cassidy’s Deadeye not taking armor mitigation into account which resulted in a Killing Blow before the enemy was marked with a skull
• Fixed in a previous update – Fixed a bug where the damage from Deadeye could be multiplied by reacquiring the same target before Deadeye completed

Doomfist

• Fixed an issue with Seismic Slam not always registering when used on uneven surfaces

Echo

• Fixed an issue with Echo’s Duplicate sometimes failing when duplicating a D.Va as she casts Self-Destruct

Genji

• Fixed an issue where some abilities did not function correctly after being Deflected by Genji

Kiriko

• Fixed an issue where in some cases Swift Step would fail to teleport the player
• Fixed an issue with Kitsune Rush appearing orange to enemies if Kiriko had ‘Terrible Tornado’ equipped
• Fixed invisible entities within Kiriko’s ultimate Kitsune Rush being pingable for a brief duration

Mercy

• Fixed a bug that allowed Mercy, when using Valkyrie to clip for extended periods into the environment and prevent critical shots
• Fixed an issue where Mercy could negate the effects of Rocket Punch in some cases
• Fixed an issue with Mercy’s footsteps being extra quiet while crouched

Moira

• Fixed an issue with Moira’s hand animations breaking during gameplay

Orisa

• Fixed a bug with the art on Orisa’s Forest Spirit Spear

Pharah

• Fixed an issue with the Barrage play of the game not using custom rockets from the selected skin

Roadhog

• Fixed an interaction with Whole Hog and Hook where the hook would clip into the camera of the hook’s target

Sigma

• Fixed a bug with Gravitic Flux picking up reviving heroes just before the Revive completes
• Fixed a typo in Kinetic Grasp’s tooltip. It now correctly states it grants ‘extra health’

Sombra

• Fixed a bug with Sombra’s footsteps remaining silent to players who had detected her

Torbjorn

• Fixed a bug where Molten Core projectiles could become stuck in the air if deflected with Orisa’s spear

Tracer

• Fixed a bug where in some cases Tracer would not get all her Blink charges back upon respawn

Widowmaker

• Fixed a bug where Venom Mine would be missing a team color if Widowmaker was wearing an Away OWL Skin

Zarya

• Fixed an issue where Zarya would not receive charge from Brigitte’s Shield Bash

Zenyatta

• Fixed an issue where Zenyatta’s ability prompts on target characters being reversed when using a gamepad/controller
• Fixed an issue where Orb of Discord could appear team-colored Blue when applied to an enemy

Read More: All Heroes Ultimate Voice Line in Overwatch 2

The post Overwatch 2 Season 4 Patch Notes: New Hero Lifeweaver, Competitive Updates, Heroes Changes, & More appeared first on GameRiv.

Blizzard released Overwatch 2 as a full-fledged FPS title on October 4, 2022. Months have passed since the game was released, and the developers are polishing the game with every new update. Apart from new skins, maps, and events, the game also brings new heroes to the game to spice up the meta and keep the game fresh and exciting.

Overwatch 2’s Season 3 had a pretty huge update. A new map named Antartic Peninsula was introduced, and Credits were brought back to life. However, Blizzard is not taking a single step back with Season 4. With all the trailers and teasers, it looks like they have big plans and content waiting for the upcoming season.

Read More: Overwatch 2 Player Count Tracker: How Many Players Play Overwatch 2 in 2023?

New Support Hero: Lifeweaver

Overwatch 2 will have its 5th new Hero in Season 4. The new Hero is known as Lifeweaver and originated from Thailand. According to Blizzard’s official Lifeweaver description:

“Lifeweaver is characterized by his love and respect for nature as well as his advanced biolight technology. This groundbreaking technology is woven throughout his abilities, and it plays a pivotal role in the healing and utility aspects of his kit.”

Like all other Heros in Overwatch, Lifeweaver will also have many special and unique abilities. And, a few days before the official launch, Blizzard has already revealed Lifeweaver’s abilities.

Here are the Lifeweaver’s abilities:

Healing Blossom

Healing Blossom is Lifeweaver’s first primary fire. With this weapon, he charges a luminescent flower and sends it to his allies. The longer he charges the blossom, the more healing it provides.

Thorn Volley

His alternate primary fire is called Thorn Volley. With this weapon, he fires biolight thorns at enemies in a scattered pattern. While mainly intended as a form of defense, Lifeweaver can deal a decent amount of damage with Thorn Volley as well.

Petal Platform and Rejuvenating Dash

Petal Platform is Lifeweaver’s secondary-fire ability. He throws a pod that blooms into a flower-like platform upon landing. Whether ally or enemy, anyone stepping on the platform causes it to elevate, and it will remain airborne for a certain amount of time.

Anyone using the platform can launch themselves high into the air by timing a jump right as the platform reaches maximum height. It won’t quite be as tall as Baptiste’s Exo Boots, but enemies and allies alike can use the platform for a well-timed thrust into the air!

Life Grip

Life Grip envelops an ally in protective biolight and pulls them to Lifeweaver’s position. While an ally is within Life Grip, they are invulnerable to all damage. You can’t disrupt an utling ally with Life Grip!

Tree of Life

For his ultimate ability, Lifeweaver places a large biolight tree that pulses with healing energy. This tree provides cover for your team, meaning you can’t shoot, be shot, or pass through it.

Overwatch 2 Season 4 Release Date

We’d like to give you a little heads-up on the release date of Overwatch 2 Season 4 so you don’t miss the big release date. According to Blizzard’s official announcement, Season 4 will go live on April 11, 2023.

Read More: All Heroes Ultimate Voice Line in Overwatch 2

Only a few days remain before Overwatch 2 Season 4 kicks in. Apart from a new Hero, many more changes will also come with it. Hopefully, with the new season, Blizzard will be able to make the necessary adjustments to make the game more exciting and keep the playerbase happy.

The post Overwatch 2 Season 4 Release Date, New Support Hero Lifewaver, & More appeared first on GameRiv.

On October 27, 2022, the lawmakers of Russia approved a bill against the expansion of an existing ban on promoting “LGBT propaganda” among children to include people of all ages. This new act aims to toughen the previous 2013 laws against promoting LGBTQ to children.

According to a report from gazeta.ru, “The first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education, Yana Lantratova, listed dozens of computer games in which “there are gays, lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals.”

Lantratova stated the reason for banning these games as “presenting a non-traditional relationship as something attractive to children.” Massively popular games such as Apex Legends, Overwatch 2, Sims 3, and Assassin’s Creed are on this proposed ban list.

Read More: Catalyst Will Allegedly be the First Transgender Legend in Apex Legends

Russia to Potentially Ban Apex Legends and Overwatch 2 Over “LGBTQ Propaganda“

“Any event or act that is thought to encourage homosexuality, whether it be online, in a movie, in a book, in advertising, or in public, might result in a hefty fine under the new law, which was unanimously approved on its first reading by the lower house State Duma.”, Reuter’s report states.

Under this condition, Lantrova listed 16 games that might get banned in Russia. More games might get banned, provided any promotion of LGBTQ behavior is present.

The mentioned games are:

• Assassin’s Creed
• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
• Assassin’s Creed: Rogue
• Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
• Borderlands
• Divinity: Original Sin 2
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Life Is Strange
• The Last of Us
• The Last of Us: Part 2
• Fallout
• Apex Legends
• RimWorld
• Overwatch
• The Sims 3

However, the deputy also clarifies that it won’t be illegal/ forbidden to play with a character of the opposite gender in a video game. So, a boy can play with a female character, and a girl can play with a male character in a video game without any restrictions.

Lantratova said in this matter, “No, this should not be banned. We are talking about the promotion of non-traditional relationships when they are presented as the norm, something attractive.”

Apex Legends and Overwatch 2 both have LGBTQ characters in the game. So, judging by the current situation in Russia, Apex Legends and Overwatch 2 along with many other popular games might get banned for good.

Read More: Why is Mei Disabled in Overwatch 2 and When Will She Return?

The post Russia May Ban Apex Legends and Overwatch 2 For Promoting “LGBTQ and Non-Traditional Relationship” appeared first on GameRiv.

Overwatch 2 is live on a full scale, and millions of players are overflowing the servers, enjoying every bit of it. Despite its bumpy launch, Blizzard has managed to make the game relatively stable with constant updates and patches.

However, there are still some major to minor issues present in the game, which is expected. Similarly, a weird bug is causing players to get stuck in the spawn. This is a pretty annoying bug to encounter, especially if you are playing Ranked or an important match.

Read More: Overwatch 2: How to Fix Screen Tearing Issue

Why Does “Stuck in Spawn Room Bug” Occur?

Unfortunately, there has been no confirmation on why players are getting stuck in the spawn room in Overwatch 2. As mentioned earlier, this is a bug and it can happen to anyone without any sign or warning, causing you and your team to lose a match.

For some players, it happens before the match starts. And for others, it happens after a match ends. Whatever the case, it is quite frustrating to deal with, and you cannot prevent it from happening beforehand.

How to Fix Stuck in Spawn Room Bug

As this might happen to you or your friends, knowing how to get out of this situation when stuck in the spawn room is good knowledge to have. Although there hasn’t been a permanent fix for this issue, there are some workarounds players may try to get out of the spawn in Overwatch 2.

Here are the workarounds:

Change Heroes

If you are stuck in the spawn room, it is most likely because the Hero you picked got glitched in the spawn. So, changing Hero is the easiest and most reliable way to get out of the spawn room if you are stuck.

Try Other Exits

For specific maps, there might be multiple exits from the spawn. So, if any particular exit is blocked, you can try other exits that may let you leave the spawn.

Try Using Heroes With Phasing Abilities

This is an inconsistent method. However, many players have said that using characters with phase abilities can help you get out of the spawn. If you keep trying to phase through the exits a couple of times, you may get lucky.

You can check out our Ultimate Heroes Tier List to find out to find such characters with phase abilities. However, this trial-and-error method might not work in every game.

Restart the Game

Although you might not want to quit the game during a match, there’s nothing else you can do at the moment to leave the spawn. So, if you have tried everything else from above, try restarting the game, and it should fix the “stuck in spawn” bug.

Read More: Overwatch 2: How to Fix “Sorry, we were unable to log you in” Error

There you go! If you follow these workarounds one by one, hopefully, you will be able to get out of the spawn. However, if you’re still facing such an issue, contact Blizzard’s Technical Support Forums and wait for an official response.

The post How to Fix Stuck in Spawn Room Bug in Overwatch 2 appeared first on GameRiv.

Overwatch 2 is live on a full scale, and millions of players are overflowing the servers, enjoying every bit of it. Despite its bumpy launch, Blizzard has managed to make the game relatively stable with constant updates and patches.

However, there are still some major to minor issues present in the game, which is expected. Similarly, a weird problem is causing Overwatch 2 to crash mid-game. Even after so many updates and patches, this issue is still present in the game.

Read More: Overwatch 2: How to Fix Screen Tearing Issue

Why is Overwatch 2 Crashing Mid Game?

Several things can cause Overwatch 2 to crash mid-game. There’s no specific error or bug which is causing this issue to occur. However, this problem is very prominent to the players who fail to meet the minimum system requirement for this game.

However, corrupted game files, outdated drivers and operating systems, or in extreme cases, faulty hardware can also cause Overwatch 2 to crash mid-game.

How to Fix Overwatch 2 Crashing Mid Game

It is very annoying if your game frequently crashes while playing, especially if you’re in a heated battle or playing ranked matches. So, resolving the issue is a must if you want to enjoy the game without interruption.

Unfortunately, there’s no one size fits all solution to the mid-game crashing issue in Overwatch 2. However, there are some workarounds you can try to minimize or eliminate this particular issue in the game.

Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Minimum System Requirement.

Check if your system meets Overwatch 2 minimum system requirements. Overwatch 2 is a fairly optimized game. So, most modern and even older PCs can run Overwatch 2 without issues. So, if your computer meets the minimum system requirements, go to the next step.

Step 2: Scan and Repair Game Files.

Corrupted game files can cause frequent Overwatch 2 crashes and freezes in mid-game. When several files are missing or damaged from local game data, your game will have trouble loading the assets. So, you should scan and repair game files to ensure your game is fine.

To scan and repair Overwatch 2:

• Launch the Battle.net app.
• Click on Overwatch 2, then on the cogwheel button.
• Finally, choose Scan and Repair and click Begin Scan.
• Wait for the launcher to repair the game files.
• Once done, restart the launcher and try playing the game.

Step 3: Update Your Graphics Driver and Operating System

The latest drivers are usually more compatible with modern games. So, the companies constantly release the newest drivers and encourage players to download and install them. So, if your graphics driver and operating system are outdated, you should update them immediately.

Step 4: Hardware Troubleshooting

If nothing above works, you might have faulty hardware that is causing Overwatch 2 crashes in mid-game.

To troubleshoot hardware in your system:

• Set your components to factory default speeds to resolve crashes due to overclocking.
• Changes to the software settings on your video card drivers may cause crashes or performance issues. Reset your video driver settings to correct this problem.
• Overheating can cause performance issues, game crashes, and full computer lockups. Check for overheating components.
• Run hard drive tests to try to diagnose and repair any bad sectors.
  Note: Do not defragment a Solid State Drive (SSD).
• Run memory tests to fix any errors in your computer’s physical memory.

Read More: Overwatch 2: How to Fix “Sorry, we were unable to log you in” Error

There you go! If you follow these steps carefully, your issues regarding mid-game crashes in Overwatch 2 should be resolved. However, if you’re still facing such an issue, contact Blizzard’s Technical Support Forums and wait for an official response.

The post How to Fix Overwatch 2 Crashing Mid Game appeared first on GameRiv.

Overwatch 2 is live on a full scale, and millions of players are overflowing the servers, enjoying every bit of it. Despite its bumpy launch, Blizzard has managed to make the game quite stable, with a bunch of bugs and errors fixed with every update.

However, there are still some major to minor issues present in the game, which is expected. A few days back, Blizzard made Bastion and Torbjörn unavailable due to some issues with their kits. They were put into the game eventually.

Similarly, players have found a game-breaking exploit with Mei that caused chaos in Overwatch 2 servers. As a result, Blizzard has temporarily taken Mei down from Overwatch 2. But, in a recent announcement, they made sure to bring her back.

Read more: Overwatch 2: How to Ping On PC and Console

Mei’s Ice Wall Exploit

Many reports and clips were detected regarding a Mei exploit recently. Apparently, Mei can use her Ice Wall to send her teammate to “unintended locations” which gives them unfair advantages and ruins the fun experience for many.

So, as soon as Blizzard noticed this issue, they took Mei back from the game until they fixed it permanently. But for how long will she be unavailable?

When Will Mei Return?

Recently a community manager released an official announcement on Blizzard’s Overwatch forum.

“We are temporarily disabling Mei to address a bug with her Ice Wall ability that allowed heroes to reach unintended locations when used with their abilities. We are working to address these issues as quickly as possible and aim to bring Mei back in our next upcoming patch which is set for November 15. Thank you for your understanding and patience.”

So, if everything goes according to plan, we can expect Mei to return on November 15, 2022, with the next big update. Until then, Mei fans have to play with other Heroes.

To find out about more DPS Heroes, you can check out our DPS Heroes tier list and pick an alternative to Mei in the current Overwatch 2 meta.

Read More: Overwatch 2: How To Fix Migration Queue Keeps Resetting Error

The post Why is Mei Disabled in Overwatch 2 and When Will She Return? appeared first on GameRiv.

Lucio is a DJ hailing from Brazil. In addition to having the talent to make catchy and unique beats and music, he can also support his teammates. In fact, Lucio is one of the game’s best heroes and healers.

For team-based shooters like Overwatch 2, having a healer in your team is very important. They are in charge of keeping your team alive and standing against all enemy attacks. While they can also attack from the back lines, their ability is focused on supporting. Likewise, Lucio has excellent healing and supporting, and movement abilities. Furthermore, Lucio is also a very versatile and unique hero in Overwatch 2, which makes him a fan favorite from the start of Overwatch. If you know how to play with him, Lucio is enough to fulfill the team’s support and healing needs.

On the other hand, Lucio is easy to grasp and learn but hard to master in the game, thanks to his fast-paced gameplay style. However, you’ll learn soon below. Hence, this guide will outline and take you through everything you need to know about Lucio in Overwatch 2.

Read more: Overwatch 2: How to Fix Battle Pass Not Working Error

Overwatch 2: Lucio Profile and Ability Overview

Lucio is the only healer in the game who has excellent mobility, even as a healer. Combine it with his passive healing or speed boosting. As a result, he can focus on attacking as well. Furthermore, Lucio can ride walls with great speed, allowing him to cover short distances. When this is used with his speed boost, Lucio becomes ridiculously agile and a challenging target for enemies.

He uses his Sonic Amplifier gun to shoot sound waves in bursts. Alternatively, he can also use this gun to shoot out a sonic wave to push back enemies.

His passive healing can be switched back and forth at will to speed bosting, which is crucial when playing with an attacking mindset. His abilities also allow him to boost speed and healing temporarily, and his ultimate grants everyone within his radius immense health boosts. Enough to turn around a losing battle.

His versatility makes him a great asset and sometimes more helpful than other healers in the game. Beginners trying to learn the ropes of healer can use Lucio to adapt to the game and the healer playstyle easily and have great fun.

• Primary Attack: Sonic Amplifier
  • Fires projectiles with a 4-burst shot. It does 20 damage and has 20 ammo per reload.
• Ability 1: Soundwave
  • Create a short-range sound blast wave to knock enemies away from you.
  • It does 25 Damage and has a 4-second cooldown.
• Ability 2: Crossfade
  • Switches between two songs: granting healing and speed boost for the team passively.
  • Healing song heals 16 health/ second
  • Speed song increases movement speed by 25%
  • No cooldown or limit.
• Ability 3: Amp It Up
  • Healing song increased to 52 health/ second.
  • Speed song increased to 60% boost in movement speed.
  • 12-second cooldown and 3-second duration.
  • You can use Crossfade to switch between songs while Amp It Up is active.
• Passive: Wall Ride
  • Ride walls with raised movement speed than standard movement.
• Ultimate Ability: Sound Barrier
  • It grants substantial temporary health to nearby allies within a radius.

Sonic Amplifier

Sonic Amplifier is his primary weapon. A speaker or microphone shoots slow-moving sound waves in bursts, each doing 20 damage. Hence, a total hit can do 80 damage to anyone. The slow speed of the projectiles balances this; agile players can dodge them. But if you can master your movement with Lucio, you can quickly eliminate low-health enemies and avoid attacks.

Furthermore, since Sonic Amplifier has no damage drop-off, it can be used to hit and displace enemies from afar. Especially snipers.

Soundwave

Soundwave can be used to defend, attack, and disperse enemy formations. Soundwaves shoot a short-range sound wave that knocks back enemies a lot and does 25 damage. Use this when you cannot win against an enemy to push them back and make your escape. Or you can use it while pushing sites and creating gaps between enemy team members. Especially healers.

However, the most fun use of this ability is to push off enemies across cliff ledges and open grounds and make them fall into the abyss for an instant kill.

Crossfade

Crossfade is Lucio’s primary supporting ability, and it is also passive. Therefore, you don’t have to aim for specific targets to heal or speed them up. Instead, quickly switch between healing or speed boosting depending on the situation, but be wary of obstacles or barriers as they will block Crossfade’s effects.

Amp It Up

Amp it Up is another supporting ability that boosts the effects of both modes of Crossfade. This means you can increase the healing rate and speed up your teammate by 65%. Combine Amp It Up with Crossfade for maximum utilization of your supporting potential.

Wall Ride

Jump onto walls and slide along them with great speed. Use a wall ride to increase your movement speed and jump height. Hence, Wall Ride can help you quickly escape, cover long distances or hold the objective by jumping around walls and dodging enemy fire.

You can become invulnerable when combined with Amp It Up and either healing or speed boost.

Sound Barrier

Sound Barrier gives a 750 health increase for a short time of 6 seconds. However, it decreases slowly within this time. Moreover, Sound Barrier will be applied to all team members within a 30-meter radius.

The Sound Barrier Ultimate ability gives you and your team a second life, especially during do-or-die moments. On the other hand, Sound Barrier’s defenses can block out different ultimate abilities like Reaper’s, Cassidy’s, Pharah’s, Soldiers, and much more.

Useful Tricks, Strategies, and Combos for Lucio in Overwatch 2

Master the Wall Ride

Wall Riding will be your best friend playing as Lucio in Overwatch 2. Practice and master and learn maps to know all the corners and walls. But don’t stray too far from your team.

Enemies will target healers, more so when it’s a Lucio. So jump around the map to confuse them and dodge their attacks while your teammates pick them off. At the same time, they are getting healed. This is what makes Lucio an incredible support Hero.

Know When To Switch Crossfade

Knowing when to switch Crossfade from healing to speed boost and vice-versa. Don’t just keep pressing the button; in the end, neither healing nor speeding up can be done efficiently.

Switch to the speed song when you have to push with your team, or help a member or yourself to escape. Switch to the healing song when you’re on the objective to heal everyone around you.

Moreover, combine healing and speeding up to aid mobile heroes like Genji or D.Va to penetrate enemy lines or perform a hit-and-run.

Use Speed Boost To Keep Tanks Agile

Since most Tanks are slower than any other heroes, use your speed song to quickly escort your tanks to the objectives or push the enemy.

Boop Opponents With Soundwave

Maps like Nepal and Ilios use Lucio’s Soundwave to blow away enemies from edges and out of the map. This results in instant elimination and can be done on multiple enemies simultaneously.

Don’t Shy Away From Attacking

Lucio’s gun is a powerful weapon. It can be used to damage from long distances and also does good headshot damage. Since Lucio heals passively keeps attacking enemies, especially opponent healers and snipers. This also charges your ult meter.

Team Up with Single Target Healers

Lucio’s passive and AOE healing is balanced by his slow healing rate. Therefore, Lucio alone sometimes is not enough when your team gets overwhelmed. On the other hand, you cannot leave the whole team vulnerable, trying to focus on healing one player.

Balance it by having focused healers like Ana, Mercy, Kiriko, or Moira. Their quick healing can rescue members on the brink of death but away from your range and reinforce the defenses. At the same time, these healers can also be healed by Lucio.

How to Play Lucio: Combos and Counters of Lucio in Overwatch 2

Thanks to its versatility, you have now realized Lucio is an amazing hero in Overwatch 2. Due to his supporting nature, he can team up nicely with a few heroes to make an unstoppable duo.

He’s playstyle and combination of abilities make him notably stronger against some heroes while very weak against others.

Hero Combos for Lucio in Overwatch 2

• All Tanks: Lucio complements well with tanks. Some more than others. The best ones are D.Va, Zarya, Reinhardt, and Winston. Zarya and Reinhardt can use their shields to quickly advance when used alongside speed and then heal boost to support them while they attack. On the other hand, use the same plan with Winston and D.Va but aid them as they jump into enemy territory, weaken them from the back, and help them escape.
• Brigitte: Speed boost on Brigitte gives her a significant boost in her capabilities. She can then attack faster, move faster with her shield, and in turn, allow her to use her healing more.
• Reaper: Reaper heals himself and is also very slow except for his wraith form. When in a tight spot, Lucio can give him a good healing boost, making it hard to take out Reaper as he keeps attacking as well.
• Genji: Lucio’s healing, attacking, and speed-boosting combos greatly with Genji’s playstyle of hitting and running away. Since Genji has less health, Lucio by his side gives him enough time to recuperate before ambushing.

Counters for Lucio in Overwatch 2

• Sombra: Sombra is the best counter to Lucio. Her hack makes you completely useless; she can pick you off instantly.
• Symmetra and Torbjorn: Symmetra’s and Torbjorn’s turrets, when placed at the correct locations, can drain your health considerably and rapidly if you can’t escape in time.
• Winston: Winston’s weapon doesn’t require aiming, and he can also cover large distances. Winston can quickly eliminate Lucio by just being close to him. You won’t be able to do significant damage to him.
• Moira: Like Winston, Moira can easily pick off Lucio by pressing the attack button. Moira’s orbs can also stop you from escaping.
• D.Va: D.Va’s combination of attacks and high mobility makes her a good counter for your Lucio. She will charge towards you, guns blazing and shields up.
• Roadhog: Roadhog’s weapons are potent at close range and can do considerable damage from mid-range. But he can pull you towards him with his hook chain to knock you out in one shot.

Lucio’s Strengths in Overwatch 2

• Reaper: Reaper is only effective in close-range combat. Lucio can easily avoid facing Reaper in close range and attack him from afar and wall riding. Lucio’s ultimate can also negate Reaper’s, Death Blossom.
• D.Va: D.Va can easily take out Lucio regarding head-to-head fighting, but D.Va also lacks in longer ranges, and her attack can hit multiple targets. Lucio can heal them altogether.
• Genji: Both Genji and Lucio are highly mobile and can evade attacks. You can easily escape safely if you outplay Genji with wall riding and jumping. Importantly, his Dragonblade can be negated with Lucio’s ult.
• Sigma: Sigma’s attacks hit multiple players in a poke manner. Lucio’s AOE healing ensures everyone is healed quickly to withstand his primary attack.
• Widowmaker: Use Lucio’s primary fire to harass Widowmaker from afar. Since this has no damage drop-off aiming for headshots can take her out effortlessly.
• Zenyatta: Zenyatta is one of the slowest heroes in the game. Your rapid movement and attack can quickly take him out. But he’ll mostly be at the back, so only do it if you can afford to leave your team alone. Furthermore, Zenyatta will use his ult to push with his squad and attack with all their might. To counter it with your Sound Barrier.

That is all there is to know about Lucio in Overwatch 2. If you’re looking to play support, now you know one of the best ones to pick.

Are you looking to play as Tanks in Overwatch 2? Check out our guide on D.Va and Orisa.

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