Overwatch Mid-Season 5 Patch Notes Released With Big Tweaks

Published Nov 3, 2026, 1:30 PM EST Josh is a critic, reporter, and guide writer who covers a broad range of topics, though he specializes in narrative-driven games. He's written for some of the biggest brands in publishing, including Rolling Stone, RogerEbert.com, NPR, and Wired, and he also freelances as a video game consultant. Jetpack Cat is weaker, Doctrine's cooldowns are longer, and Illari gets some welcome buffs Overwatch mid-season patch closes out game's comeback year with much-needed tweaks Image: Blizzard Entertainment Sign in to your Polygon.com account The penultimate season of Blizzard's big Overwatch revamp is coming to a close in the next few weeks, and Blizzard's got quite a lot more hero tweaks than usual in the mid-season patch notes. Some of them are minor, prompted by this season's changes to projectile sizes. Reaper's a big guy and an easier target now, for example, so Blizzard's bumped up his base health. Meanwhile, Illari's primary fire charge finally gets dropped a bit, and her healing pylon pumps out a bit more health. It's not quite the full kit overhaul folks have been asking for in the last few months, but it's a start. We've rounded up all the Overwatch season 5 mid-season patch notes below. There's a large selection of other small-but-important tweaks, too. Ana's biotic grenade is less potent (again), D.Mon has to commit to her shield and can't just pop it out for a split second save anymore, and Anran's primary fire gets a much-needed buff so she can do more than just fan the flames. There's nothing on the level of nerfing Cassidy's High Noon like Blizzard did at the start of the season, but the tweaks are still substantial enough that you'll notice the change the next time you play. D.Mon Power Barrier Recovery increased from 0.2 to 0.3 seconds. Now has a 0.25 second minimum deploy duration. Propulsors Impact damage reduced from 15 to 0. Overstrike - Major Perk Lifesteal reduced from 150% to 125%. Junker Queen Base health increased from 375 to 425. Base health increased from 450 to 500. (6v6) Carnage Cooldown reduced from 9 to 7 seconds. Commanding Shout Added a new UI element that tracks allies within range and allies currently affected by Commanding Shout. Image: Blizzard Entertainment Mauga If you thought Mauga dropped off the face of the game over the last few weeks, you weren't wrong. Blizzard said Mauga's past tweaks reduced his effectiveness, so now he's getting some of his armor back and burns opponents more effectively. Base armor increased from 125 to 150. Incendiary Chainguns Burning damage over time increased from 15 to 20. Ramattra Void Accelerator Ammo increased from 100 to 125. Winston Winston was healing far too much with his barrier perk. Now he still heals a lot — just slightly less. Revitalizing Barrier – Major Perk Healing per second reduced from 35 to 30. Anran Anran's getting tweaked quite a bit. In addition to her primary fire buff, her ultimate cast time is slightly faster now. And you can't spam her "Inferno Rush" perk to drop that skill's cooldown time so dramatically anymore. It only counts the first time you hit a target. Zhuque Fans Damage increased from 22 to 24. Inferno Rush Knockback removed. Can no longer hit the same target multiple times per use. Ultimate – Vermillion Ascent Cast time reduced from 1.2 to 1 second. Echo Aerial Munitions – Minor Perk Now additionally refills ammo on use. Image: Blizzard Entertainment Emre Blizzard still hasn't landed on the right place for Emre, but it's getting closer. Added Rotation reticle setting for default reticle. Removed Thickness reticle setting for default reticle. Fixed visual inconsistency regarding default reticle crosshairs not using Outline Thickness and Outline Shift values. Updated default reticle preview in Options to more closely reflect in - game reticle. Cyber Frag Detonation time reduced from 0.6 to 0.5 seconds. Genji Deflect Duration reduced from 2 to 1.5 seconds. Hanzo Sombra's position as supreme hacker is no longer in question. Sorry, Hanzo. Sonic Disruption – Major Perk No longer overrides Sombra's hacked health packs. Reaper Base health increased from 275 to 300. Shion I'm glad I wasn't the only one to think Shion's ultimate timing felt harder to nail down than it should be. Blizzard's reducing it slightly and dropping the initial spread for "Execution" so you can do higher damage at close range without a full charge. Execution Starting spread reduced from 8.5 to 5.7 degrees. Satsuriku Spree Cast time/move time per volley reduced from 0.6 to 0.5 seconds. Vendetta It's been a year, and Vendetta's still giving Blizzard trouble. This time, the solution is to slow her down and tweak her Whirlwind Dash perk — good news for anyone tired of getting bounced into the walls repeatedly by it. Palatine Fang Overhead leap speed reduced from 11 to 9.5. Initial swing delay increased from 0.15 to 0.2 seconds. Whirlwind Dash Raging Storm perk horizontal knockback reduced from 8 to 4. Free sign-up Get Polygon’s Wishlister newsletter A weekly cheat sheet to what you’ll eventually love to play. No buying, no commitment — just saving for later. Sign up free Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Ana Biotic Grenade Explosion damage reduced from 90 to 60. Baptiste In the spirit of helpful UI additions, you can now see who actually benefits from Baptiste's area-wide healing skill. Regenerative Burst Added a new UI element that tracks allies within range and allies currently affected by Regenerative Burst. Brigitte Inspire Internal cooldown reduced from 1.25 to 1 second. Instant healing increased from 12 to 15. Doctrine Doctrine's overperformed a bit in his debut season, so now he's getting a small set of nerfs — longer cooldowns for his mobility skill and for infusion. Shrouded Momentum Cooldown increased from 8 to 10 seconds. Infuse Cooldown increased from 8 to 9 seconds. Illari Solar Rifle Time to maximum charge reduced from 0.65 to 0.575. Healing Pylon Heal per projectile increased from 40 to 50. Jetpack Cat Playing against Jetpack Cat is equivalent to shooting a gnat with a rifle. So, Blizzard decided to nerf her health in a bid to balance any engagement she happens to zoom into. The trade-off is that Frenetic Flight is faster (again), but recovers fuel more slowly. Base health reduced from 225 to 200. Frenetic Flight Acceleration increased from 25 to 28 meters per second. Fuel regeneration rate reduced from 25% to 20% per second. Sombra EMP Now overrides enemy hack effects on health packs.