Overwatch 2 Makes More Changes to Freja in Stadium

Overwatch 2 has released a new update that makes more adjustments to Freja in Stadium. The newest Overwatch 2 patch also made a variety of tweaks to other heroes available in Stadium and made minor bug fixes.

Stadium is one of the Overwatch 2 Season 16 new features, in which players face off in a best-of-seven series. In this mode, players also create builds for their characters as the match progresses and new skills are unlocked. While not all characters from the original roster are available, gamers can play Stadium with several names, such as Freja. Aiming to improve the player experience, Overwatch 2 has brought a new round of tweaks to the new DPS.

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Overwatch 2 released a new update on May 29 that includes a series of adjustments for Freja in Stadium. After the previous nerf Freja received, the character now sees new nerfs to the increased damaging zone damage and zone duration of the So Cooked power and the ammo restoration provided by Deep Pockets. The life restoration of the Forager power has been slightly improved, and Volley a Deux has also received a buff. The Lille Faelde power, deactivated last week, is available again. The Portable Zipline Epic item has had its weapon power significantly reduced from 15% to 5%, and the Magnetic Maelstrom Epic item has been deactivated.

In addition to the Stadium adjustments, Freja has received balancing in Overwatch 2‘s regular modes, with nerfs to the Quick Dash and Updraft abilities and adjustments to Take Aim. Still focusing on the heroes available in Stadium mode, the May 29 patch brought more changes to D.Va, the second update Overwatch 2 makes to the character this month. This time, the developers buffed the damage caused by the Ignition Burst power and the Vesuvius Protocol rare item and nerfed the Focused Fusion power. Other heroes included in the update are Junker Queen, Orisa, Reinhardt, Ashe, Mei, Soldier:76, Ana, Juno, and Kiriko. Three new bugs in Stadium have been fixed, two affecting Freja, and another affecting D.Va.

While Freja was the first hero added to Stadium, the Overwatch 2 roadmap promises more new additions to the game mode. Season 17 promises the additions of Junkrat, Sigma, and Zenyatta to Stadium, while Season 18 will see the debuts of Sojourn, Winston, and Brigitte. The list of maps available in Stadium will also increase in the coming months with the arrivals of Hope and Samoa in June, Route 66, London, and two Payload maps in August, and the China map in October.

Overwatch 2 Retail Patch Notes – May 29, 2025

• Hero Balance Updates
• Damage
• Freja
• Take Aim – Secondary Fire
  • Slow momentum time reduced from 1.5 to 1.0 second.
  • Reload time increased from 1.35 to 1.5 seconds.
• Quick Dash – Ability 1
  • Cooldown increased from 4.0 to 4.5 seconds.
• Updraft – Ability 2
  • Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds.
• Stadium Updates
• Tank
• D.Va

Developer Comments: D.Va’s been having a hard time asserting space effectively, especially when trying to control key areas. Buffing Lava should help her create more threatening zones and discourage enemies from waltzing into her turf uninvited. As for Focused Fusion—the concept was solid, but in practice it struggled to keep up when enemies were practically doing laps around her. We’re adjusting just a bit, so it doesn’t feel like D.Va brought a sniper rifle to a knife fight but still have the ability to hit enemies from near and far.

• Focused Fusion – Power
  • Decreased Fusion Cannon spread to 50% (Down from 66%).
• Ignition Burst – Power
  • Increased Lava damage to 80 (Up from 30).
• Vesuvius Protocol – Rare Ability Hero Item
  • Increased Lava damage to 80 (Up from 30).
• Junker Queen

Developer Comments: Junker Queen’s axe has been doing most of the heavy lifting lately, leaving her shotgun and knife feeling a bit neglected. This update gives both of those tools some much-needed love to round out her kit and encourage more varied playstyles. We’re also adding a buff to Thick Skull to help her better withstand burst damage, giving her more staying power in fast-paced fights.

• Royal Bullets – Power
  • Increased range to 15 meters (Up from 12 meters).
  • Increased damage to 50 (Up from 30).
• Twist The Knife – Power
  • Increased Wounds extension to 1 second (Up from 0.5 seconds).
• Blade Parade – Power
  • Increased Damage to 100% (Up from 35%).
• Merciless Magnetism – Power
  • Increased range to 15 meters (Up from 12 meters).
• Thick Skull – Epic Survival Hero Item
  • Increased Damage Reduction to 75% (Up from 50%).
• Orisa

Developer Comments: Orisa’s Overheat build was underperforming, especially when it came to holding the line against aggressive pushes. It lacked the punch needed to deter advancing enemies or force them to reposition. This buff aims to bolster her ability to apply pressure and make her presence more threatening when anchoring space.

• Scorched Earth – Power
  • Increased damage to 20% (Up from 10%).
• Electro Lights – Rare Hero Weapon Item
  • Increased recovery rate to 50% (Up from 25%).
• Reinhardt

Developer Comments: The interaction between Feeling the Burn and effects that triggered off Rocket Hammer damage proved to be too strong, so we’re removing it while giving some small improvements to some underutilized powers and items.

• Barrier Reconstruction – Power
  • Increased Barrier Health Restoration from Damage to 15% (up from 10%).
• Feeling the Burn – Power
  • No longer applies to Smashing and Dampener Grip.
• Dampener Grip – Epic Weapon Hero Item
  • Increased Ability Power to 15% (up from 10%).
• Damage
• Ashe

Developer Comments: Ashe has been steadily climbing in overall competitiveness, but she’s still missing that extra oomph when the moment calls for it. These buffs target some of her underperforming powers and items, giving her more flexibility across different builds and helping her stay impactful in a wider range of scenarios.

• Out with a Bang – Power
  • Decreased Explosives damage reduction to 30% (Down from 66%).
• Molten Munitions – Power
  • Increased damage to 80 (Up from 50).
  • This change will not be represented correctly on the tooltip but it will be functionally set to 80. This information in the tooltip will be fixed next season.
• Reload Therapy – Power
  • Increased heal to 10% (Up from 3%).
• Sidewinder – Epic Weapon Hero Item
  • Increased attack speed to 15% (Up from 10%).
  • Increased damage to 25% (Up from 15%).
• Freja
• Lille Fælde – Power Re-enabled.
  • Bola from Lille Fælde slow is decreased by 60%.
  • Bola from Lille Fælde no longer pulls enemies upon direct hit.
  • These will be reflected in the tooltip in a future update.
• So Cooked – Power
  • Decreased increased damaging zone damage to 30% (down from 50%).
  • Decreased increased damaging zone duration to 2 second (down from 3 second).
• Deep Pockets – Power
  • Max Ammo restored from using an ability reduced to 25% (down from 50%).
• Forager – Power
  • Max Life heal per hit increased to 4% (up from 3%).
• Portable Zipline – Epic Weapon Hero Item
  • Decreased Weapon Power to 5% (down from 15%).
• Volley a Deux – Power
  • Increased damage to 33% reduced damage on additional bolts (up from 50% reduced).
• Magnetic Maelstrom – Epic Ability Hero Item

• Mei

Developer Comments: We’re looking to enhance Mei’s survivability in moments where Cryo-Freeze isn’t available by improving the synergy with Blizzard effects. This adjustment should give Mei more defensive value during her ultimate or mini-Blizzard, allowing her to better sustain herself in skirmishes and maintain pressure.

• Blizznado – Power
  • Increased Heal per second to 15% (up from 5%).
• Soldier: 76

Developer Comments: Biotic Field builds have been unpopular and underperforming, so we’re adding some additional firepower there. Chaingun has been very prevalent in all types of Weapon Power builds for Soldier, so we’re tuning it down a bit to allow for some more variety.

• Hunker Down – Power
  • Increased Biotic Field duration to 50% reduced duration (up from 30% reduced).
• Chaingun – Power
  • Decreased Weapon Power per shot to 0.4% (down from 0.5%).
• Battery Pack – Rare Ability Hero Item
  • Increased Biotic Field Duration to 40% (up from 30%).
• Rapid Response Radius – Epic Ability Hero Item
  • Increased Biotic Field radius to 40% (up from 30%).
• Compression Fatigues – Rare Survival Hero Item
  • Removed 5% Attack Speed.
  • Added 5% Ability Power.
• Support
• Ana

Developer Comments: We’re aiming to make Ana feel more agile and resilient in mid-range engagements, where she often finds herself most vulnerable. By improving her survivability, these changes should help her better reposition under pressure and stay active in fights without compromising her high-impact support role. Tactical Rifle is a well-loved power, but we’ve received consistent feedback that its targeting could feel more like a hindrance than a help. In high-pressure moments, the auto-aim was too frequently locking onto allies instead of enemies, disrupting damage output. We’re refining its behavior to better prioritize threats and ensure it feels like a reliable tool in combat.

• Tactical Rifle – Power
  • Reduced aim tracking angle by 50%.
• Dash Boots – Rare Ability Hero Item
  • Increased Movement Speed bonus to 10% (Up from 5%).
  • Decreased cooldown to 3 seconds (Down from 4 seconds).
• Cluster Core – Epic Ability Hero Item
  • Biotic Grenade cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds for each target it hits (up from 1 second).
• Juno

Developer Comments: Hyper Ring has seen frequent use in Juno’s kit, but it hasn’t kept pace with the impact of her other powers. We’re giving it a boost to bring it in line with the rest of her options, making it a more competitive pick that rewards smart positioning and timing.

• Hyper Healer – Power
  • Increased Overhealth to 100 (Up from 50).
• Black Hole – Power
  • Increased Slow duration to 2 seconds. (Up from 1 second).
• Kiriko

Developer Comments: Self-Care was falling short in terms of sustain, especially in longer engagements. This buff gives it a more meaningful impact, allowing players to recover more effectively and stay in the fight longer without relying solely on external healing.

• Self-Care – Power
  • Increased heal to 15% (Up from 5%).
• Bug Fixes
• Stadium
• D.Va
  • Fixed a bug where Fusion Cannon was shooting less pellets when equipped with the Focused Fusion power.
• Freja
  • Fixed an issue where the direct hit of the Bola from Lille Fælde was doing more damage than intended.
  • Fixed an issue where the lingering damaging zone from So Cooked didn’t apply effects that triggered from Ability Damage.

Overwatch 2

6/10

Released

August 10, 2023

ESRB

T For Teen // Blood, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco, Violence

Engine

Proprietary Engine