Overwatch 2‘s highly anticipated new support hero, Juno, has officially joined the roster as the game’s 41st character. Alongside the introduction of a new game mode called Clash and Egyptian-themed cosmetics, Overwatch 2‘s latest season is generating significant buzz for its potential to redefine gameplay strategies.
Regardless, with a plethora of content to uncover, such as new Hero Mastery courses, fresh Overwatch 2 Twitch drops, and a revamped UI, Season 12 shows great promise. As the hero-shooter continues to evolve, this season underscores Blizzard’s dedication to ongoing innovation, especially considering that more content will be released in future patches.
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Overwatch 2 Reveals Juno’s Backstory
Overwatch 2 reveals an out-of-this-world backstory for Juno, the brand-new support hero coming to the game in Season 12, New Frontiers.
A Detailed Overview of Overwatch 2 Season 12
Exploring The New Frontiers Battle Pass and Mythics
Similar to previous seasons, the free Battle Pass track provides free-to-play players with 28 rewards, while the premium track offers 80 tiers of unlockable content. The Ultimate Battle Pass bundle, priced at $39.99 USD, includes the Premium Battle Pass, 20 tier skips, 2000 Overwatch Coins, and the Aset Echo and Heist D.Va skins.
While many of the cosmetics are Egyptian-themed, there are also several rewards that don’t follow this theme.
With the reworked Mythic system, previous Mythic skins like Ancient Caller Moira and Grand Beast Orisa are now back in rotation for the Mythic Shop. Season 12’s Anubis Reaper Mythic skin, with four levels of customization, is available for 80 Mythic prisms. However, Ana’s Mythic weapon, Midnight Sun, will be introduced around the midseason patch for an additional 50 Mythic prisms. Therefore, players may want to carefully consider how they spend the currency.
Overwatch 2’s Juno Has Officially Landed
Juno was first introduced at BlizzCon 2023 under the code name “Space Ranger.” Speculation about her connection to Watchpoint Gibraltar emerged after July’s teasers, and recent Blizzard cinematics have revealed that she is the daughter of Jiayi, a Lucheng Interstellar employee. Born on Mars after her parents embarked on a secret mission for Project Red Promise, Juno was sent to Earth due to resource shortages on their planet. Currently, it seems her mission is to save her home and reconnect with Mei, an old friend of her mother’s.
In-game, Juno marks the game’s 12th support hero. Joining Competitive play on day one, Juno could potentially make the Overwatch 2 Season 12 meta more fast-paced, but it may be too early to say for sure. Although her kit seems balanced, her utility might not match that of heroes like Kiriko, Baptiste, Lucio, or Ana. Nevertheless, with her hitscan abilities, Pulsar Torpedoes, and mobility options, Juno is undoubtedly a fun pick.
World of Warcraft Targeted as Overwatch 2’s Next Collaboration
While it hasn’t been released yet, World of Warcraft is poised to be this season’s major crossover. Blizzard has a history of featuring crossovers with its own IPs, such as StarCraft in the original Overwatch and the Diablo 4 collaboration last October. Notably, previous collaborations typically implement three to five new skins alongside themed sprays and player icons.
With Widowmaker set to get a Sylvanas Windrunner skin, the Frostmourne skin teased at the end of the New Frontiers Official Trailer is likely to go to either Reinhardt, Junker Queen, or Genji. Interestingly, although Deathwing D.Va has yet to join the game despite debuting in Heroes of the Storm, Season 12 could be the ideal time for Blizzard to introduce this Dragon Aspects-inspired skin. After all, World of Warcraft and D.Va fans have been eagerly anticipating its arrival in-game for over six years.
Clash Mode Debuts in Both Quick and Competitive Play
Announced in October 2023 and with a limited-time trial in April, Clash has now officially arrived in Overwatch 2. This mode features five objectives, labeled A through E, arranged in a linear pattern on a symmetrical map. Teams win by securing all five points, but it can be challenging as getting too close to the enemy’s spawn may lead to losing objectives. This is particularly true if the opposing team is able to obtain points without ever crossing into unfriendly territory. Therefore, it can be strategic to concede one or two points near the enemy spawn to regain the positional advantage offered by the other objectives.
Clash debuted with two maps: Hanaoka and Throne of Anubis. Hanaoka is said to be on a street located near Hanamura, whereas the Throne of Anubis is a reimagined Temple of Anubis. Intriguingly, given Horizon Lunar Colony’s role in Juno’s family, it has the potential to be the next reworked Clash map.
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Overwatch 2 Making Big Change to Flashpoint in Season 12
Blizzard reveals some of the changes coming to Competitive Play and Flashpoint in Overwatch 2 Season 12 on August 20.
Overwatch 2’s Latest Patch Notes
The recent Overwatch 2 patch notes reduced the health of mobile heroes in damage and support roles. However, many of these heroes received a damage buff, with Moira’s secondary fire increased from 60 to 65 per second and Kiriko’s damage boosted from 45 to 60. Heroes with affected health pools include:
- Echo
- Sombra
- Torbjorn
- Kiriko
- Mercy
- Moira
- Lucio
- Juno
When Juno debuted in her Hero Trial during Season 11, she had 250 health. However, upon her official release, her health was reduced to 225 HP.
Furthermore, unlike previous seasons, when larger hitboxes were introduced and spam damage from heroes like Pharah was favored, Season 12 seems to prioritize precise aim and damage output. This shift is expected to influence the playstyle of hitscan heroes, though it’s still too early to tell exactly how this could change the meta. After all, Season 11’s tank buffs are still having a significant impact on the game, and squishy heroes like Tracer and Lucio may be punished more easily due to the damage increases of other heroes.
Despite the adjustment to D.Va’s Defense Matrix, her presence in the game is still anticipated to be impactful. Other former S-Tier Overwatch 2 tanks like Sigma, Winston, and Mauga are also expected to maintain their strong presence, particularly after the health reduction to various lower-health targets. For now, the meta appears to be quite similar to that of Season 11, but the midseason patch has the potential to bring significant balance changes.
Overwatch 2’s Competitive Changes and Mid-Year Rank Reset
Season 12 has introduced a soft rank reset similar to the one seen in Season 9 accompanied by some rank decay. However, Overwatch 2 system designer Gavin Winter noted that this soft reset is also intended to help both the lowest and highest-ranked players achieve new peaks. This decision followed an analysis showing that Champion 1 was nearly unattainable and that there were more players than desired in the lowest rank. By remodeling the target rank distribution, Blizzard hopes to alleviate these issues.
Moreover, the Group Respawn system, which was tested in Quick Play, has now been replaced by the Wave Respawn system. This new model, also active in Competitive, guarantees that a player’s respawn time will always be shorter than the default if their hero has been eliminated.
On another note, Competitive Drives are newly added events that can yield rewards such as Competitive Points payouts and Signatures. Signatures are being marketed as a decorative cosmetic that adds a unique visual to one’s BattleTag. It’s important to note, though, that these can only be earned by playing in the Competitive Role Queue.
Beyond this, Blizzard has expanded the Avoid List to fifteen slots. Players can permanently pin up to three individuals, with the remaining slots set at an avoidance of 7 days. However, for those in higher ranks, or playing during less popular times, players at the lower end of the avoid list may still appear on one’s team as wait times increase.
Sojourn Headlines Overwatch 2’s Latest Twitch Drops
To celebrate the start of Season 12, Blizzard is running a fresh campaign on Twitch from August 21 to August 31. Watching eligible Overwatch 2 streamers will yield the following rewards:
- Antlers Spray (2 hours)
- Coffee Player Icon (4 hours)
- Usual Sojourn Voice Line (6 hours)
- Latte Weapon Charm (9 hours)
- Freshly Brewed Victory Pose (12 hours)
- Barista Epic Sojourn Skin (15 hours)
Other Drops, such as Battle Pass Tier skips will likely be active as the season goes on.
Additional Season 12 Game Modes Include Mirrorwatch and New Hero Mastery Missions
Fan-favorite modes like Mirrorwatch from Season 10 and April Fools from Season 9 are making a return later in Season 12. Additionally, Pharah and Zarya now have their own Hero Mastery courses. From August 20 to September 3, players can test their skills on custom courses for these two heroes or revisit previous courses like the ones for D.Va, Reinhardt, Tracer, Lucio, and Mercy. Rewards include sprays, victory poses, and Battle Pass XP.
Overall, it appears Overwatch 2 Season 12 is off to a strong start. With its sleek UI and the valuable addition of the Competitive Progress tab for Role Queue, it seems Team 4 is continually striving to create an intuitive and engaging experience for its players. While it remains to be seen how the season will unfold, the initial signs are certainly promising.
Overwatch 2
- Franchise
- Overwatch
- Released
- October 4, 2022
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- ESRB
- T
- How Long To Beat
- 35 hours
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- n/a
- X|S Enhanced
- n/a
- Cross Save
- yes
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
