Overwatch 2 season 6: Invasion release time, new hero, and more

Overwatch 2 season 6 starts Aug. 10, bringing a new support hero, new maps, and the long-awaited arrival of new story content for Blizzard’s free-to-play hero shooter. It’s a big content drop, with some of it free, and some of it requiring a purchase.

To help make sense of what’s new in Overwatch 2: Invasion, here’s a rundown of the content.

New hero: Illari

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Overwatch’s 38th hero, the solar-powered healer Illari, brings a much-needed update to the support roster. Illari is armed with a Solar Rifle, which fires charged shots that heal. She also has an ultimate damage dealer and a healing Turret. Illari hails from Peru, and her name derives from the Quechua language, apparently meaning “dawn” or “new beginning” — or in its more modern usage, “electronic.” You can read more about Illari’s weapon, abilities, and ultimate in this post, which also details her skins at launch.

Flashpoint

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Flashpoint, a core PvP mode, sees players battle for control over points in large maps. To win, the team must capture 3 points ahead of the other. It’s comparable to Call of Duty’s Headquarters Pro mode, in that players will need to capture and defend multiple points across the map.

Flashpoint will launch with two maps, described as “Overwatch 2’s biggest PVP maps to date”: Suravasa, a sun-drenched map set in India, and New Junk City, an Australian metropolis with a makeshift Junkertown aesthetic and a central combat arena called The Hammer Mill.

Flashpoint is available in the role rotation and as an open queue. Initially, it will launch in Quickplay modes, then come to Competitive modes “a couple weeks after the season begins,” Blizzard says. Developer Blizzard said that it will introduce new Flashpoint maps with future updates.

Story Missions for PvE

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Overwatch 2’s ambitious Hero Missions and elaborate talent trees have been scrapped, but the game’s PvE lives on in a series of new Story Missions. These missions are similar to some of the limited-time PvE content Blizzard has released during previous events, pitting heroes from the Overwatch team against Null Sector ’bots in structured, replayable levels. Three story missions arrive with season 6, sending heroes like Reinhardt, Lúcio, Mei, Winston, Genji, and Tracer to locations like Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, and Gothenburg (an all-new location) to fend off the Omnic invasion.

The story missions can be completed either cooperatively or solo. This is based on early experience with Overwatch 2’s new Story Missions, they’re easily clearable on base difficulty by yourself, but you’ll definitely need some flesh-and-blood teammates for higher difficulties.

And in case you’re wondering, Story Missions do provide experience toward your battle pass.

Blizzard sells access to the Story Missions in Rio de Janeiro and Toronto for $15. Invasion Bundles include access to these missions, 1,000 Coins, and an Earnable Sojourn Skin. Separately, a limited-time free event co-op mission called King’s Row: Underworld will be available from Aug. 10 to Sept. 5.

Hero Mastery & Progression

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Single-player Hero Mastery is a great way to improve your skills. It’s like a hero practice area with unique challenges. The majority of the heroes are available in this mode. Overwatch 2’s overall roster is playable in Hero Mastery mode, with more to come in future seasons, Blizzard says. Hero Mastery features its own leaderboards that bring a different level of competition. Overwatch 2.

Blizzard has also brought back the progression system to Overwatch 2. As players spend more time with characters on Overwatch’s roster, they will earn badges and name cards that can be upgraded.

Battle Pass for Season 6

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Overwatch 2’s newest battle pass is themed around the overall Invasion DLC. Through the premium battle pass, players will be able to unlock skins for heroes like Ashe, Zarya, Winston, Pharah, Symmetra, and Ana — who is the recipient of this seasons’ Mythic skin, a Null Sector-inspired look.

The sixth season will continue until mid-October and include all the episodes of Season 5. Overwatch 2The anniversary event will be held on September 29th. That event will feature the return of previous limited-time game modes Battle for Olympus, Starwatch, and Mischief & Magic — and each event’s associated cosmetics.

Here’s a quick look at everything coming in Overwatch 2Invasion season 6 in infographic format.

Overwatch 2, a game on Steam

Yep! You can download the PC version. Overwatch 2 is now on Steam, making it the first title from Blizzard Entertainment to expand beyond Battle.net and onto Valve’s digital storefront. You’ll still need a Bnet account to play Overwatch 2Steam Version is not available. won’t open up Blizzard’s launcher.