Developer Blizzard Entertainment is back with a new blog post dedicated to Overwatch 2: Stadium, the new permanent game mode, pitting two teams against one another in the best-of-7 multi-round fight. But it’s not that simple: players will also be able to purchase upgraded items and powers to radically transform their Heroes—all experienced through the game’s new third-person camera.
Previously, the team shared Stadium gameplay trailer & lessons drawn from player feedback. This time, the new blog post is dedicated to the keys to victory:
“There are four key pillars on the road to victory: Developing a Power Strategy; Making a Quick Buck; Spending Wisely on Items; and Watching Your Opponent’s Strategies. Each of these work in tandem to help you become the MVP of every round. Let’s dive into the playbook!”
- Develop a Power Strategy. There are 12 different Powers to pick up for each hero, with players selecting a new Power before rounds 1, 3, 5 and 7 start. Choosing Powers that complement each other can really open up new possibilities.
- Spend Wisely on Items. Where Powers support you in a unique way, Items give you the means to adapt to the evolving battle with a variety of interchangeable upgrades. Items come organized in three groups: weapon, ability, and survival, as well as three rarities: Common, Rare, and Epic. When equipping Items, you can open the stats panel to see how strong your hero becomes with each Item equipped, including total health, attack speed, cooldown reductions, and more.
- Make a Quick Buck. At the start of the game, you’ll receive 3,500 Stadium Cash, which is enough to equip three Common Items for your Hero. You will receive more Stadium Cash after every round. The better you play, the more currency you will earn.
Earning as much Stadium Cash as possible will not only help you unlock more Items between rounds, it’s also your key to increasing your survivability each round. So get out there and hunt targets with bounties on their head! The maximum bounty is 2,000.
- Watch Your Opponent’s Gameplan. Throughout the game, you’ll be able to see what Powers and Items your opponents are picking. This information will help you decide what Items and Powers you should be equipping. You won’t be able to actively see what abilities are picked during the Armory phase of each round. However, once selections are locked in, you’ll know what tricks everyone has packed and decide on how to counteract them.
“We can’t wait to see what exciting builds you’ll come up with, but we’ve got one more blog coming out your way. Tomorrow, we’ll take a dive into the exclusive rank system that Stadium will use and we’ll take a look at all of the cool rewards that you can earn in game as you climb your way to the top. Don’t forget, we’ll see you in the Stadium starting on April 22.”
