With Stadium, Overwatch 2 will make significant changes to what you know the game to be to deliver a new experience unlike anything you will see in Quick Play or Competitive. Blizzard feels so confident with this new mode, they are billing it to be a new pillar to stand alongside those other modes as what you think of when you hear the name “Overwatch.” Here is what you need to know about Overwatch 2 Stadium.
How is Overwatch 2 Stadium different from Quick Play and Competitive?
Overwatch 2 Stadium has quite a few drastic changes to differentiate itself from other modes in the game. While it remains 5v5, this mode is played in third-person, though you can switch it to first-person if you wish. When in third-person, your camera will always be sitting right behind your character as you play and you can swap the shoulder it looks over. Additionally, it rotates between Clash, Push, and Control, with a best of seven format to decide the victor. If either team wins the first three rounds of Stadium, a mercy rule is enacted and they win the match.
The biggest change with Overwatch 2 Stadium is the armory, which we will get into in the next section.
Overwatch 2 Stadium armory explained
As you play in Stadium, you will earn currency for your performance. At the beginning of every round, you will have a little time to purchase items and powers for your hero. Essentially, Overwatch is incorporating more MOBA elements into this mode.
Items you purchase during these times include buffs to your health, damage, healing, ultimate charge, and much more. Once the shop closes, you can not purchase more until the next round. You can get a full refund for items you don’t want anymore.
At the start of rounds 1, 3, 5, and 7, players are able to choose a trait or power for free. These abilities change your hero in pretty significant ways, like Kiriko throwing out three kunai at a time instead of one. These choices are permanent for the rest of the game.
As you play, you can pull up the scoreboard to see the upgrades your teammates and enemies have been applying to themselves.
Currency and the bounty system
Obviously, you need to earn currency to buy more from the armory. At the start of every round, every player is given 3,000 points to work with. On top of that, you earn more for your performance in the previous round. This includes eliminations, assists, and your damage or healing dealt.
As the game goes on, you will notice numbers appearing below the portraits of players. These are bounties. The more eliminations you get in a life, the higher your bounty will be, so whoever takes you down can earn up to 1,500 points. Every life starts with a bounty of 500, but lowers depending on how many times you die without getting an elimination. If a player gets on a five player kill streak, their bounty will begin to show both at the top of your screen and above the player.
Changes to Clash, Control, and Push
To make sure that a game of Stadium doesn’t take forever, the game types you can find in the mode have been adjusted to go faster.
- Control runs for only a single round and the capture rate has been increased.
- Push has been shortened with forward spawn rooms removed.
- Clash is shortened to the first team to get two captures wins that round.
That’s about all we know about Overwatch 2 Stadium as of this writing. The mode isn’t being added until Season 16 in April, so we have a little waiting to do, but people who have wanted Overwatch to embrace its MOBA roots more might like this new mode.
