Overwatch 2 introduces chaotic new deathmatch mode and equally chaotic bugs

Overwatch 2’s latest patch introduces a limited time deathmatch mode that makes the game’s most absurd abilities even more absurd.

Battle for Olympus, which is available as an arcade mode with unique challenges to complete, is a free for all deathmatch with seven heroes to choose from. Each hero has their abilities tweaked and their ultimates reworked entirely to fit with the season’s Greek mythology theme. Reinhardt gains a buff when he uses his ult and is able to charge and pin up to three targets at once. When Roadhog ults, he gets even bigger and shoots giant rocks. And if you look at Widowmaker while her Infra-Sight ult is up, you turn into stone.

The eight-player deathmatch plays out like the Total Mayhem arcade mode as heroes zoom around the map throwing ultimates and abilities at each other. It’s complete chaos and a stark departure from the tactics in the game’s regular team-based modes. I’m not a fan of deathmatch in Overwatch 2, but I can see why the absurdity of Battle for Olympus could be a ton of fun for people looking for a vacation from ranked or quick play. Wall-riding as Lucio and slamming enemies into walls with a boop like you’re Doomfist is just funny, I can’t deny that.

There are a series of challenges to finish in the mode, most of which require you to get boat loads of kills on each hero, so many that players are already anticipating the grind for the unique titles you can earn. If you finish six of the challenges, you’ll receive the Winged Victory Mercy skin that was originally released in 2017. 

Outside of the new mode, Junker Queen received a list of buffs, including one major unintended buff to her axe ability that players found almost immediately. The raucous brawler has the unique ability to cleave enemies with her huge axe and inflict a chunk of damage and lifestealing wounds on them. In the new patch, the axe’s cooldown is “reduced by 2 seconds for each enemy it impacts,” according to the notes on the website.

When testing it out, players found the buff is a lot better than that. Almost any breakable object, turret, or shield in the game triggers the cooldown reduction as long as the ability counts as colliding with it, which doesn’t line up with the “enemy” part of the notes.

Given the amount of breakable objects in the map and the potential for shields and turrets to be in the mix, Junker Queen’s axe attack can have its cooldown completely removed, letting her spam it like Reinhardt’s hammer. One shield with two to three people behind it is all she needs to start swinging. And, if she eliminates someone, she gets healed for the leftover wounds duration on the target, too.

There are certain maps and long-range heroes that might prevent the bug from happening often, but Overwatch 2 frequently squeezes teams together around objectives. Junker Queen might inadvertently become the best tank in the game if you make use of the bug. That is, unless she’s removed for two weeks like Blizzard has done to other misbehaving heroes. Junker Queen might stick around for now though, as Blizzard says it’s “tracking an issue regarding Junker Queen’s Carnage ability cooldown,” in its known issues post. 

Sojourn’s cyberpunk-themed Cyber Detective skin was removed in the patch because it caused her to go invisible. Twitch streamer Questron shared a clip of an Echo using her ult to copy a Sojourn wearing the skin, which made her invisible too. If it were not for the unfair part of the bug, it could have been a nice nod to the launch state of Cyberpunk 2077. Oh, well. 

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