The latest set of Overwatch 2 patch notes are here, and you’d be a fool not to miss them. That’s right, it’s April Fool’s Day, officially sanctioned silly season, if you will, and Blizzard has introduced its usual novelty balance patch for multiplayer play to get into the spirit of the joke. However, the beast they created is so much fun that players are already clamoring for some parts to stick around after the event ends. Winton? Winton!
Along with their usual googly eyes for all heroes (and payloads), the April Fools Overwatch 2 update gives every hero new ultimate voice lines, as well as a host of ridiculous balance changes that can be found in a special arcade mode. Blizzard says game director Aaron Keller “says he can meet Pachimari, and they told him to make this patch. He only plays new arcade modes, so he shouldn’t know otherwise.”
Hearing Hanzo shout “Who’s a good dragon?” or just muttering “Omnomnomnonmon” while firing her Dragonstrike makes me laugh every time, as does Moira’s Dragon Ball Z-inspired enthusiastic scream of “Kamehameha” as she unleashes her ultimate. Cassidy now screams a random selection of times, Echo proclaims she’s better than you for the hero she’s copying, and Ramattra talks at length about her suffering as her ultimate remains. Winston, on the other hand, simply says “Winston”. A lot.
“These voice lines are TOO good to throw away after April Fool’s Day is over,” comments a highly upvoted thread on Overwatch Reddit. “I would say it would make sense and create a lot of fun moments if there was a 1% chance of all heroes saying these versions” in the more casual arcade and quick play modes. Personally I am in favor.
As for the new game mode itself, we encourage you to switch between heroes with 50% of your max load saved while trading. Damage players heal on kills, while support gains 30% increased movement speed when low on health (though Blizzard jokes, “Please don’t use it offensively”). Tanks will get their ultimates faster, but give a portion of their ultimate charge on death – they’re essentially raid bosses, after all!
The heroes themselves are full of silly changes. Reinhardt’s Charge now allows him to fly through the sky, Sigma’s Accretion Rock causes enemies it hits to float helplessly for several seconds, Wrecking Ball Mines creep very slowly towards enemies and the Ice Wall from Mei is now a huge trap. Symmetra’s turrets will shoot enemies in the air, Baptiste can infinitely bounce as if on a jumper, and Battle Mercy is queen with a massively polished blaster.
Perhaps best of all, Genji will sometimes regain health when calling for healing, which ultimately makes all voice line spams useful for something. Perhaps the only downside is that Ashe’s dynamite, which now spreads fire among enemies, seems to be overly effective currently, making her a dominant force on the battlefield that’s almost a go-to choice.
However, the mode is an absolute delight to play and people are having a lot of fun with it. My favorite so far has been playing as Bap, constantly jumping around and raining down health and bullets from above. These ridiculous patch notes may be a joke, but they certainly breathed some life into the proceedings as we wait for the new season to arrive.
The match chat is also full of people having fun, and that’s always welcome. While we won’t keep these new changes around for very long, they capture a pure spirit that I think most games could benefit from. Here’s hoping Blizzard finds other ways to carry this overarching philosophy forward as we head into Overwatch 2 Season 4.
Prepare for some mischief with our Overwatch 2 list of the best characters right now, and take a look at the best Overwatch 2 builds to make sure you’re getting the most out of your game. We’ll also keep you updated. aware of the Overwatch 2 PvE release date and all things co-op story mode in the game.