Season 9 of Overwatch 2 is fast approaching, with the devs promising a plethora of game-changing shake-ups to the meta in the upcoming season.
And with teased changes to Tank and DPS self-heal and a long-awaited overhaul to the ranked system, Season 9 is promising a lot.
Now with Season 8 slowly moving past, players are already looking ahead as to what the new season will bring. So without further ado, here’s everything we know about OW2 Season 9.
Contents:
- Release Date
- Competitive Overhaul
- Tank & DPS self-heal passives and Health Pool update
- Leaked early patch notes
- Battle Pass and Cosmetics
Overwatch 2 Season 9: Release Date
Blizzard has yet to announce an official release date, however, it is expected to go live on February 20, 2024, based on Season 8’s Battle Pass timer. This also lines up with the dev’s regular season release schedule.
But, it is important to note that the OW2 dev team has yet to give an official release date, however, deviations from the usual schedule are quite rare. We will update you here when the date becomes official.
Overwatch 2 Season 9: Competitive Overhaul
Back at Blizzcon 2023, the devs revealed that they will bring major changes to Competitive in Season 9, addressing many of the community’s feedback.
Starting in Season 9, the now 5 wins/15 lost matches to rank up will be scrapped. To replace it, players will have a progression bar so they know how far they are away from their next rank-up.
The all new page updates your competitive progress after every match 📈 pic.twitter.com/rqH4qrjWQv
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) November 4, 2023
Similar to Valorant’s Ranked system, with every game won or lost, players will get instant feedback on their rank, with Placement Matches returning this season as well.
Additionally, the overhaul is set to bring a new rank called Ultimate. This rank will be above Grandmaster.
And with the new Ranked system, Season 9 will also be launching new weapon skins players can earn with their Competitive Points, similar to Gold Weapons, called Emerald Weapons. However, there wasn’t any news on if it would cost more or less than Gold Weapons.
Overwatch 2 Season 9: Tank & DPS self-heal passives and Health Pool update
Announced on January 13 in a Director’s Take blog, Aaron Keller revealed in Season 9 a new self-healing passive will be implemented for the Tank and DPS roles.
“In Season 9, both Tank and Damage heroes will get a modified, tuned-down version of the Support self-healing passive,” Keller described the new passive. “This should give non-Support players more options in terms of sustaining themselves.”
Self-Healing passive for all roles?!? We’re back with the first Director’s Take of 2024. It’s the first in a series going over our values and vision for the coming year… and there’s a few juicy nuggets in it. Check it out!https://t.co/eV6t1LkKFQ
— Aaron Keller (@aaronkellerOW) January 12, 2024
However, after backlash from players, Keller revealed that self-haling passives are only a part of an overall balance change to roles and healing.
But players did get an early look into what the new Health Pool changes will bring, as Season 9’s early patch notes were leaked on stream by OW pro player Rupal.
In the leaked early patch notes, the Hero health pools for all heroes, which include health, armor, and shields will all be increased.
“The total Hero health pool for all heroes, including health, armor, and shields, is increased from around 15% to 20%,” reads the patch notes.
Overwatch 2 Season 9: Leaked early patch notes
Leaked on-stream by pro player Rupal, Season 9’s early patch notes were revealed for all players to see, and it includes sweeping changes to not only every character’s health, shield, and armor.
Furthermore, DPS’ are receiving a new passive, with Support receiving a tweak to their self-heal passive, with all Hero ultimates costs increasing by 10%.
Additionally, Pharah is receiving a rework, which hasn’t been announced yet. And most projectiles in the game are receiving a size increase.
You can read the full Season 9 early patch notes here.
It is important to flag these are early patch notes and they may change upon release, however, we will update you here as more information comes out.
Overwatch 2 Season 9: Battles Pass and Cosmetics
With Season 9 still weeks away, we haven’t gotten any updates on what new skins and cosmetics we can expect in Season 9’s Battle Pass and store.
However, as per usual, there will be a Mythic Skin in the Battle Pass, with a plethora of skins to be bought and gained coinciding with in-game events.
We will be sure to update you here when we get news of Season 9’s cosmetics.