Season 18 Is Stacked: New Support, Stadium Overhaul, Payload Race, Perks And More ⇒ OverwatchCentral

Overwatch 2 is about to level up in a huge way. Season 18 lands on August 26 and it is jam packed with a brand new support hero, a Stadium overhaul, a fresh competitive twist, big perk additions, a soft rank reset, returning Arcade favorites, and shiny cosmetics that will make your highlights reel pop. Here is everything you need to know, fast.

TL;DR For Season 18

New support hero Wu Yang with water themed kit
Advanced hero info panel with real time stats
Progression 2.0 with prestige portrait frames at hero levels 20, 40, and 60
Soft competitive rank reset plus Hero Skill Rating per hero
Lever forgiveness if a teammate leaves early
Console mouse and keyboard support that places users in the PC pool
New universal emote for all heroes and a skateboard emote for Kiriko
Sojourn gets the mythic hero skin, Cassidy gets a mythic weapon
Lucioball returns in 3P
New skin themes: Pool Party, Floral Gods, Neo Streetwear
Stadium additions: quickplay with crossplay, hero draft in competitive, three new Stadium heroes at launch and one at mid season, new Payload Race mode with two maps
Roadhog rework that restores classic feel
Over 60 new perks, at least one for every hero
New hero status website for pick, win, and ban rates

Meet Wu Yang, A Long Range Water Bender

Wu Yang is a support who plays at range and controls space with water. His primary is a steerable water orb that you can quick fire or guide mid flight like a laser guided shot. Restorative Stream wraps allies in a ring that delivers passive healing while you maintain line of sight, with a secondary channel to amp it up that consumes its own resource. Rushing Torrent boosts your speed and jump height, while Guardian Waves surges team healing. His ultimate, Tidal Blast, surrounds a target in a water shield that detonates after a short delay, knocks down enemies, and delivers a massive burst heal to the host. The presentation is a showpiece, with new shader tech that sells the fluid look while keeping the Overwatch style.

Roadhog Rewind

Roadhog is rolling back toward his classic identity. The trap experiment is gone, the right click is back to put bite into medium range duels, and Take A Breather sits on ability two to keep survivability in reach. The goal is to restore the feel Hog mains loved, then tune it for today’s pacing.

Perks Get A Power Spike

Season 18 ships more than 60 new perks, with at least one for every hero. The design target is simple and fun that does not restrict play. Highlights include Torbjorn’s Hammer Time sprint while the hammer is out, Moira’s mid flight reverse toggle on Biotic Orb, and a protective bubble for Wrecking Ball when using Adaptive Shield. Expect perk experiments that feel exciting and worth theorycrafting.

Progression 2.0 And Prestige Frames

No one loses progress. Your current hero levels carry over. Every hero track now features hero specific cosmetics and even legendary loot boxes. Hit hero level 20, 40, and 60 to upgrade the frame around your portrait. These frames show on hero select and the kill cam so your hours shine through. A typical path to level 20 on a fresh hero is roughly 20 hours.

Competitive Refresh And Hero Skill Rating

A soft rank reset kicks off the new competitive year. After placements, you unlock Hero Skill Rating that shows your rank for each hero you play. Get credit by playing a hero for at least three minutes in five matches. Your hero SR moves up or down as you queue through the year, and it resets with the next competitive year. It is a personal dashboard to double down on strengths or expose weak spots.

Advanced Hero Info Panel

No more guessing between 19 or 20 damage. The new panel surfaces real time stats such as cooldowns, overtime healing, movement bonuses, and more. It is designed to help you learn a new hero faster and squeeze extra value from your mains without alt tabbing.

Stadium Gets Quickplay, Drafts, New Heroes, And Payload Race

Stadium is expanding with a quickplay queue that is best of five, faster paced, and crossplay enabled. Power unlocks are accelerated on rounds one, two, three, and five. Backfill is supported, and backfillers receive catch up currency plus time in the shop. You must win 10 Stadium quickplay matches before entering competitive Stadium, which should shield ranked from first timers.

Competitive Stadium introduces a hero draft. Teams alternate picks, can swap draft positions with teammates to set up timing, and there are no mirror matchups. The strategy layer is the point, while quickplay keeps free selection.

Three heroes enter Stadium at launch, with another in the mid season update. Winston leans into electricity with barrier damage fields, a personal mini barrier, and a chain lightning secondary. Brigitte can go full berserker with 360 whirl attacks, or opt into a Repair Pack build for consistent healing, or a long range Whip Shot that sets targets on fire. Pharah has a tanky Rocket Barrage build with more frequent, longer barrages and mid ult movement, plus weapon paths that reward direct hits, three shot volleys, and extended air time for the classic jet style. Tracer is planned for the mid season.

A brand new mode, Payload Race, puts two payloads on the map at once. Each team pushes its own cart, chases checkpoints, and plays through a dramatic final stretch. The mode launches with two maps set near familiar haunts, one close to King’s Row and one near Route 66. To support the mode and flyers in general, Season 18 adds a couple of cheap items to handle long range burst and air threats, plus buffs to underused items so the armory feels like a true toolbox.

Rewards, Cosmetics, And Quality Of Life

Sojourn takes the mythic hero skin this season. Cassidy receives a mythic weapon skin. Lucioball returns in 3P. New skin lines include Pool Party, Floral Gods, and Neo Streetwear. A universal emote works across the roster, and Kiriko’s skateboard emote lets you cruise the map. There is a new Galactic competitive skin for the core ladder, plus three elite skins and one All Star skin for Stadium. Lever forgiveness now protects your rank if a teammate leaves early. Console players can use mouse and keyboard, and those users are matched in the PC pool for competitive integrity. A new hero status website will publish pick, win, and ban rates so the meta is visible to everyone.