Highlights
- Overwatch 2 released Hero Mastery Missions to mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the challenges and others disappointed by the limited number of heroes available.
- The Hero Mastery Roster is being expanded, giving fans their wish for more heroes to improve their skills with.
- The release schedule for the Hero Mastery courses includes popular heroes like Genji and D.Va, allowing players to hone their skills and strive for higher ranks.
Overwatch 2 released its Hero Mastery Missions in September 2023 with a lukewarm response from players. Some appreciated the developers’ efforts to give old and new players challenges to improve their skills with each hero. Others were understandably let down by the limited number of heroes in the game mode. It originally had just Reinhardt, Mercy, Tracer, Sojourn, and Winston during its Overwatch 2 Season 6 release. Now, fans are getting their wish, because the Hero Mastery Roster is being expanded.
The Overwatch 2 team announced Hero Mastery Missions in May 2023 when it released the game’s roadmap for the year. It also promised a slew of hero reworks, new events, fresh maps, and the return of fan-favorite game modes. The designers and devs haven’t put out an official roadmap for 2024 yet. However, they did announce a handful of new content set to release this year, like upcoming battle pass themes, the new damage hero, and additions to the Hero Mastery courses.
Why a New Overwatch 2 Hero Mastery Feature Could Actually Be The Unsung Hero of 2024
Hero Mastery in Overwatch 2 promises several intriguing features, but one mode in particular has the potential to be a game-changer for the community.
The Overwatch 2 New Hero Mastery Mission Release Schedule
The New Overwatch 2 Hero Mastery courses were released gradually throughout January. The full release schedule includes the following:
- January 2 - Lucio
- January 9 - Mei
- January 16 - D.Va
- January 23 - Echo
- January 30 - Genji
This roster seems to have a balanced distribution throughout the game’s different roles, with further emphasis on Damage characters. It also features the game’s more popular heroes, like Genji, D.Va, and Mei. As such, a majority of Overwatch 2’s player base now have the chance to hone their skills for their chosen character and get closer to the rank-up they strive for.
New Content and Improvements to Overwatch 2’s Hero Mastery
Better Scoring and a Fresh Leaderboard
Apart from hero additions, Overwatch 2’s Hero Mastery will also feature new rewards and enhancements to the scoring system to incentivize players to play the mode. The Overwatch 2 team mentioned plans to improve the scoring system for each course in a January 2 press release, but didn’t go into specifics about what will change exactly. The leaderboard for this mode will also be reset, giving players a level playing field to prove that they’re the best at their chosen character.
New Cosmetic Rewards for Hero Mastery
The new Overwatch 2 Hero Mastery roster also comes with an event with fresh challenges. The simpler ones, like three-starring and four-starring at least one course, offer 1,000 Overwatch 2 battle pass XP. Bigger challenges, like The Skills and All the Skills, require players to accomplish five and eight other challenges from the Hero Mastery event respectively. These will take a while to complete, but they’re worth the effort. The Skills provides 10,000 XP and a Rocket Bot souvenir upon completion, while All The Skills rewards players with a Rocket Bot weapon charm and 20,000 XP. Those gunning for a Pachimari Bot spray will need to complete the Chasing All Stars challenge, which they can accomplish by four-starring three different hero mastery courses.
Some challenges from the hero mastery event also offer rewards outside the game mode. Field Experience I, II, and III offer BP XP when players complete six, 12, and 18 games respectively. Wins double their progress. The event lasts until February 5, so players need to catch up on grinding their challenges to get the exclusive Rocket Bot and Pachimari-themed cosmetics. Each hero course also has specific Hero Mastery Challenges outside of the event. These offer rewards that show off the players’ proficiency on their chosen character, like a Hero Mastery-themed icon or name card. There are also permanent challenges that reward players with additional battle pass XP.
Overwatch 2
Overwatch 2 is Blizzard's free-to-play team-based first-person shooter. The title features some new heroes like Junker Queen and Sojourn, as well as returning favorites.
