Overwatch 2 has been killing it for a while now, but its latest two updates have, admittedly, been on the smaller side, especially if you're not a fan of Stadium (how dare you). Luckily, OW2 Season 20 is on the horizon, and it's time for another new hero—it's hard to get more exciting than that.
We're not just getting a new character, of course, though Season 20 is, I hate to say it, another oddly small update. Stadium fans like myself certainly have the better deal, too. Below, I'll go over when you can play Overwatch 2 Season 20, and everything you can expect to sink your teeth into.
Overwatch 2 Season 20 release date and time
OW2 Season 20 begins on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 11 am PT / 2 pm EST / 7 pm GMT, which coincides with the usual update time for the game in your region. You'll be able to preload this update on PC and now console, too, thanks to a recent change.
Overwatch 2 Season 20 roadmap
Here's everything arriving in OW2 Season 20:
- New DPS hero Vendetta in standard playlists
- Two new heroes are arriving in Stadium
- Doomfist
- Wuyang
- Cassidy rework in Stadium
- Stadium changes
- Wuxing University China Control map in Stadium
- Anti-spawnkilling turrets added to maps to prevent camping
- Top 500 tier in Stadium
- Competitive changes
- If you lost a match because of a cheater who gets banned, you'll regain any lost rank
- Those in top 500, now known as Challenger Tier, will be able to add their social media/content channels to their account, alerting players when they're streaming, for example
- Two new Mythic character skins:
- Cassidy Divine Desperado at Season 20 launch
- Doomfist Mythic skin in the Season 20 mid-season update
- Orisa Capsule Cannon Mythic weapon skin
- Winter Wonderland holiday event runs from December 9 until January 7
- This year introduces a new three-path reward system to ultimately earn three cosmetics: Jingle Tracer, Krampus Junkrat, and Santa Claus Torbjorn
- You can earn Frozen Demon Junkrat and Frozen Mountaineer Cassidy through the Mischief and Magic festive event
- New festive cosmetics for Wuyang, Ashe, Juno, Mauga, and others
- New battle pass and store bundles
- The Season 20 pass has legendary skins for Genji, Soldier 76, Venture, Reaper, and Freja (yes, all DPS heroes), and epics for Tracer, Symmetra, and Illari
- The Ultimate pass comes with two exclusive legendary skins: High Society Vendetta and Reindeer Tracer
Overwatch 2 Vendetta abilities
Most importantly, yes, Vendetta launches alongside the Season 20 update on December 9, and she'll be available in all modes right away due to players having an early hands-on during the Vendetta hero trial at the end of November. If you're coming back to Overwatch 2 after a long time away, you no longer have to wait for new heroes to become available in competitive.
So, who's Vendetta? Also known as La Lupa, this gladiator is a DPS and the first true melee character in Overwatch. Given her very aggressive playstyle and design, it's easy to fall into the trap of playing like you're a dive or brawl tank, but that couldn't be further from the truth. You need to play smart and alongside key teammates like Wuyang and Zarya to stay alive and slay out as Vendetta.
Here are all of Vendetta's abilities and passive effect:
Abilities | Description |
|---|---|
Palatine Fang (primary) | Greatsword combo swings that end with a destructive overhead slash. |
Warding Stance (alternate) | Block with your sword, reducing frontal damage and deflecting melee attacks. Blocking damage depletes energy. |
Sundering Blade (ultimate) | Cleave through most defences, dealing severe damage to enemies in front of you. |
Soaring Slice (ability) | Hurl your sword in the direction you're facing and then fly to it. |
Whirlwind Dash (ability) | Rush forward into a circular slash. |
Projected Edge (ability) | Only available while Warding Stance is active. Consume energy to fire a wide projectile. |
Onslaught (passive) | Strike enemies to increase movement and attack speed. |
And here's Vendetta's perks:
Level | Perk One | Perk Two |
|---|---|---|
Minor (Level 2) | Siphoning Stance: Palatine Fang's overhead strikes gain 30% lifesteal | Relentless: Onslaught can stack three more times, increasing attack speed by 5% and movement speed by 4% per stack. |
Major (Level 3) | Swift Vengeance: The last player to land a killing blow on you becomes a target. Eliminate the target to gain 125 overhealth and reset cooldowns. | Raging Storm: Whirlwind Dash continues to spin, hitting three more times for 40 damage in a wide area. |
After extensive testing during Vendetta's hero trial, Relentless and Raging Storm are the best combination if you're confident in your ability to survive. Plus, because Relentless boosts Vendetta's Onslaught passive, you'll have bonus movement speed, which'll make it easier to avoid death anyhow. However, Siphoning Stance is also a good choice in team comps where you're less supported by divers or certain healers like Wuyang.
Whatever you do, just avoid the Swift Vengeance major perk. I've tried it, and it really is useless compared to Raging Storm, and even that isn't a broken perk by any means.
Overwatch 2 Stadium Doomfist powers
Here are all of Doomfist's powers in Stadium:
Power | Description |
|---|---|
Jab Cross | After you use an ability, gain 75% quick melee attack speed and increase its range by 1m for 3s. |
Rising Uppercut | Ability: Your next quick melee becomes a Rising Uppercut, dealing 10 extra damage (12s cooldown). |
The Bestest Defense | Quick melee hits and Hand Cannon critical hits trigger The Best Defense at 35% effectiveness. |
Aftershock | Seismic Slam's shockwave repeats itself after a 1.5s delay, dealing 50% damage. |
Seismic Rally | Every 1s while leaping with Seismic Slam, grant overhealth equal to 5% of your max life to all allies within line of sight for 5s. |
Slam Wham | Increase Seismic Slam's damage by 2% and range by 4% for every 1m travelled downward. |
Boomfist | Hitting multiple enemies with Rocket Punch grants 5% ultimate charge for each extra enemy hit and reduces the cooldown of Power Block by 0.5s. |
Jetforce Jab | Rocket Punch can go through multiple enemies and burns them for 15% bonus damage over 3s. |
Overpowered | Rocket Punch can be further empowered when blocking 150% more damage with Power Block, granting 25% more damage and 50% more range. |
Asteroid Smash | Ability: Crouching while airborne will trigger a mini Meteor Strike, dealing up to 200 direct damage based on distance travelled downward (12s cooldown). |
Block Party | While Power Block is active, heal yourself for 4% of your max life and all other allies within 8m for 10% of your max life every 1s. |
Helping Hand | The Best Defense grants additional overhealth equal to 8% of your bonus max life. Whenever you gain overhealth from yourself, grant 25% to the nearest ally. |
As you can see, there are a lot of different Doomfist builds you can roll with. You could favour quick melee using Jab Cross, Rising Uppercut, and The Bestest Defense, focus on abilities using Aftershock, Slam Wham, Jetforce Jab, and Overpowered, or even try a healing setup with Block Party, Helping Hand, and Seismic Rally.
Overwatch 2 Stadium Wuyang powers
Here are all of Wuyang's powers in Stadium:
Power | Description |
|---|---|
Paindrops | After using Guardian Wave, you can shoot two additional water orbs for 8s. Each deals 40% damage. |
Undertow | For each primary fire hit, gain 5% healing resource and reduce Rushing Torrent cooldown by 1s. |
Wave Lance | Non-empowered primary fire shoots straight and gains 100% increased projectile speed. |
Flow State | While Rushing Torrent is active, every 50 healing with Active Restorative Stream extends the duration of Rushing Torrent by 2s. |
Shore Up | Using Active Restorative Stream on an ally heals Wuyang for 75% of the healing. |
Tidekeeper | Every 1s during Active Restorative Stream reduces Guardian Wave cooldown by 1.5s. |
Puddle Stomp | While Rushing Torrent is active, landing from a jump heals all allies within 6m for 65 ability power every 1s spent falling. |
Splish Splash | While Rushing Torrent is active, airborne quick melee activates a 50% shorter Guardian Wave and a slash attack with 60 damage per second. |
Streamline | While Rushing Torrent is active, place Passive Restorative Stream on all allies within line of sight. |
Ebb and Flow | Guardian Wave rewinds to its starting location with 50% damage on the return strike. |
Storm Surge | Guardian Wave creates a second wave that splashes to targets within 6m around Wuyang. |
Tidal Save | Guardian Wave heals allies with Passive Restorative Stream for an extra 100% over 4s. |
Looking at Wuyang's powers, it seems to me like Blizzard wanted to avoid cranking up his damage any further and instead focused on healing and utility first and foremost. That's not to say he doesn't have killer upgrades, though, and his self-healing will no doubt help him in that department too.
For a damage-focused build, you could pick Paindrops, Undertow, Tidekeeper, and either Splish Splash or Storm Surge. To max out healing potential, take Flow State, Streamline, Shore Up, and Tidekeeper.
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