Overwatch 2 Season 10 Guide: Play Mirrorwatch Today

Season 10 of Overwatch 2 brings back the best part of Overwatch 1 (instant access to new heroes), along with the usual seasonal goodies and a new limited-time mode. It's a strong achievement following the significant changes in Season 9, which changed health pools for all heroes and added size changes for all damage projectiles. The new season launched on Tuesday, April 16, and while there are few balance changes, there's a lot to like for new and returning players.

Here's your guide to Overwatch 2 Season 10.

Mirrorwatch swaps the forces of good and evil

I haven't been this excited about a seasonal event and battle pass theme since Season 4's space opera theme. Season 10 introduces Mirrorwatch, an alternate universe where the heroes of Overwatch and the villains of Talon have switched sides – Doomfist, Sombra and Widowmaker lead Overwatch against the villainous versions of Ana, Reinhardt and Mercy. Some skins are available in the Battle Pass, others can be purchased in the shop. (I can't tell you if the Arch Commander Ana skin is worth $40 for the Ultimate Battle Pass, but I personally couldn't resist.)

The limited-time Mirrorwatch event begins today and gives heroes a twist on their usual abilities, such as Doomfist's Power Block, which provides a shield for his team. The Mirrorwatch event pits the twisted versions of Overwatch and Talon against each other on the Watchpoint Gibraltar map and will be available until May 13th.

New Hero: Venture

Venture is the first new damage hero since Sojourn joined the roster at launch and is a dynamic addition to the game. Her excavation exercise quickly wears down enemies at close range, and both abilities provide nice mobility options. Venture's ultimate ability emits powerful shockwaves in a conical pattern, causing enemies hit to suffer major damage and be thrown several feet into the air

I played Venture a few weeks ago during the test weekend and had a lot of fun. When playing the damage role, I usually prefer sniper heroes like Ashe and Widowmaker, but I really liked how fluid and dynamic Venture's gear was. Unlike previous hero releases, Venture in Overwatch 2 is available immediately in competitive mode.

New heroes released from Battle Pass prison

One of the biggest complaints about Overwatch 2 upon release was that new heroes were stuck behind battle passes. Players can unlock her at level 45 with the free Battle Pass or purchase the Premium Battle Pass for $10 this season for instant access. This was a drastic change from Overwatch 1, where every new hero was released for free to everyone.

In a developer update last month, Overwatch 2 game director Aaron Keller revealed that new heroes will be immediately available to all players starting in Season 10, without the need for a Battle Pass. This represents a huge improvement to the game, removing a point of friction for returning players and giving new players the opportunity to jump in when a new hero piques their interest. This is the best change the game has made since its release in October 2022.

More ways to unlock Mythic Skins

Mythic skins are one of the coolest features Overwatch 2 added to the game. They allow players to customize the appearance of their heroes and enjoy unique voice acting, visual effects, and sound effects – like the lightning that strikes players when Zeus Junker Queen lands a knife and throws them at it. In previous seasons, players with the Premium Battle Pass were only able to unlock the Mythic skin introduced this season. But starting with Season 10, players can earn Mythic Prisms, which can be used to unlock Mythic skins from every season, including this season's Vengeance Mercy. Players can earn Mythic Prisms in the Premium Battle Pass or purchase them separately in the Shop. If you're not a fan of this season's Myth and missed out on a previous Myth, now's your chance to save and grab something from the vault.

New game mode trial: Clash

During the first two weeks of the season, you can try out an upcoming game mode called Clash. As Blizzard describes it in its Season 10 blog post: “This ultimate tug-of-war challenges teams to capture points along a linear path. With five capture points strategically placed on a mirrored map, teams must maneuver skillfully to capture and defend points to achieve victory.”

Clash feels like a mix of the Flashpoint and Push game modes, where you fight for capture points, but the areas you fight over change location if you or your opponents successfully take control. My first experience is that it's fast and frantic, with less downtime than other game modes. Clash will be available until April 29th and will officially be added to the map rotation in a future season.

Grouping of changes in competition

Overwatch is responding to a long-requested change by allowing players to queue for competitive matches regardless of their rank. No more having to be left behind by your Grandmaster friend while the rest of you languish in Plat, or having to leave your Silver friends behind when you hit Diamond. Now competitive groups are classified as either narrow (players are close in ranks) or wide (players are unusually far apart in ranks or are in the Grandmaster or Champion queue regardless of rank imbalance).

Large groups will experience longer wait times and slower rank gains the larger the gaps between your team members' ranks. If you are in a large group, the system will notify you before queuing for a game. According to a developer blog post, the matchmaker will attempt to match wide groups against wide groups and narrow groups against narrow groups, meaning large groups of four players will not be allowed (thus preventing single players from joining a wide group game). to be thrown). from strangers). Good news, solo players: You now compete exclusively against other solo players and tight groups.

Overwatch 2 is free to play on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5 as well as Xbox One and Series X/S.