Patch date: . Guide reviewed 2026-11-03. Historical changes can be superseded; use current definitions for a match today.
How this guide was prepared: AI-assisted analysis with a separate source-check pass against archived official notes. Practical decisions are reasoned suggestions, not player-tested results or measured win-rate evidence. A small hotfix receives a short guide rather than a reconstructed full build.
Original update sources
Recorded topics: Heroes, Items, Gameplay, Fixes, Interface. Dates refer to the update named in the notes; a mirrored post can be published later.
Matchmaking, ratings, and party options
What changed: Normal and ranked pools are no longer split; there is one primary matchmaking mode with no limited hours. Each player has core MMR plus hero-specific offsets, and matchmaking uses the selected hero’s MMR. Hero familiarity is judged from the 20 most recent games on that hero. Badges update when MMR crosses a badge threshold. The update adds regional Core MMR and per-hero Hero MMR leaderboards, with separate 30-day game requirements. Wide-skill parties may gain less MMR, and judged low-quality matches weigh less toward rank updates. Parties may be any size, but the high-MMR party limit rises from two to three for Ascendant 1 and above. Party queues can prioritize putting party members in the same lanes, and a solo-only preference is available through a convar.
How to adapt: If you are unfamiliar with or perform worse on a hero, its hero MMR may put you in an easier match; check the profile’s relative ranking and treat that as an estimate, not a guarantee. Verify the 30-day game requirements before expecting leaderboard qualification. Use the solo-only convar only if you prefer solo teammates, and consider the party-lane option when your group wants to stay together.
Objectives, souls, and respawns
What changed: Post-lane soul sharing ratios for two through six players changed from 70/45/33/25/20% to 60/35/25/20/16%; the one-player ratio remains 100%. Hero-kill souls decreased from a 175-to-2,000 range to 175-to-1,600 over 0–45 minutes. Walker Stomp now deals 10% of maximum HP, and Walker Laser deals 2% maximum-HP damage per second. Walkers grant nearby allied heroes 25% Bullet and Spirit Resistance and gain resistance based on nearby enemy count, listed as 0/8/16/24/32/40% for one to six players. Middle-lane Walker health rose from 5,800 to 8,000. Flex Slot requirements changed from all Shrines to one Shrine and two Base Guardians. Respawn-time curve changes now occur at 20 and 40 minutes instead of 17 and 30. Killing the first Patron reduces existing enemy respawn timers by 20 seconds, but not below 10 seconds.
How to adapt: Recalculate grouped post-lane farming and hero-kill reward expectations using the new ratios and range. At Walker fights, account for both its resistance against nearby enemies and the resistance it grants nearby allies; test positioning and team size rather than assuming the old siege conditions. Track the revised Flex Slot and respawn conditions when planning objective pushes.
Powerups and the temporary Urn rules
What changed: Powerups now require a heavy melee to claim and have bonuses that grow stronger from 10 to 40 minutes. Gun bonuses rise from +10% Fire Rate/+30% Ammo to +30%/+60%; Survival from +250 Health/1% Max Health Regen to +700/1.5%; Casting from +20 Spirit Power/+15% Cooldown Reduction to +40/+25%; Movement from +1 Stamina/+2 Sprint/+20% Stamina Regen/+40% Zipline Boost to +4/+4/+50%/+80%. Under the regular Urn rules, reveal time rose from 20 to 25 seconds and initial bounty fell from 4,050 to 3,000. A separate two-day weekend experiment moves delivery to the top of mid temple, reduces team bonus souls by 60% without changing the delivering player’s reward, and sets reveal time to 40 seconds; the notes say normal rules return Monday.
How to adapt: Use a heavy melee to claim powerups and compare their starting and later bonuses before planning around them. Keep the weekend Urn experiment distinct from the regular changes, and verify which rules are active before choosing a route or estimating team rewards.
Healing, anti-heal, and notable item changes
What changed: The update bundles reductions to many hero healing and lifesteal values with reductions to several anti-heal effects. Examples include Abrams’ Infernal Resilience from 14% to 11%, Soul Shredder Bullets’ Spirit Lifesteal from 20% to 18%, Toxic Bullets’ Healing Reduction from 65% to 50%, Healbane’s from 45% to 40%, and Decay’s from 70% to 55%. Lifestrike lifesteal fell from 65% to 55%. Lucky Shot’s damage multiplier rose from 90% to 110% and it now grants +150 Bullet Shield. Silencer is reworked to build up on enemies, silence for two seconds, then reduce spirit damage output by 40% for four seconds; affected enemies cannot be affected again for 12 seconds. It grants +20% Weapon Damage, +15% Spirit Resist, and 20% Debuff Reduction.
How to adapt: Recheck sustain and anti-heal assumptions rather than treating the update as a one-sided healing nerf: both healing values and healing-reduction values fell. Compare the changes to the specific items in your build, and test whether Lucky Shot’s revised damage and shield or Silencer’s buildup and immunity interval suit your intended matchup.
Hero and active-item changes to retest
What changed: Haze can use items during Smoke Bomb without breaking invisibility, and its cooldown fell from 37 to 30 seconds. Its upgrades changed: T1 grants +6 Invis Sprint Speed, T2 grants +15% Bullet Lifesteal for eight seconds, and T3 phases her out for 0.5 seconds on cast and enables charges with a 10-second charge time. Grey Talon’s Immobilizing Trap now tethers rather than roots; its 30% slow starts immediately and lasts until two seconds after the tether ends. McGinnis turrets no longer scale with hero health: base health rose from 75 to 150, they gain 20 health per boon, and Spirit Resist fell from 70% to 30%. They can take at most 33% of maximum health per second from any damage source, and their cycle time is halved with DPS unchanged. Curse, Decay, Silence Glyph, and Knockdown cast delays changed to 0.1 seconds. Slowing Hex, Decay, Withering Whip, and Knockdown no longer interrupt sliding. Silence Glyph is now an aim-based projectile that silences on impact.
How to adapt: Relearn Haze’s Smoke Bomb upgrades before relying on their former effects, and test item use during invisibility. For Grey Talon, account for a tether and persistent slow rather than a root. For McGinnis turrets, test damage across multiple seconds and remember their cycle-time change does not increase DPS. Aim Silence Glyph directly; if using the named sliding actives, verify their revised movement behavior in practice.
Quickbuy and lane swap
What changed: Quickbuy decision dialogs for item limits, imbuing, and activation slots now appear at queue time rather than purchase time whenever possible. Right-clicking an owned item adds it to the front of the queue to sell, and its sale price counts toward the souls calculation for the next queued purchase. During the opening rooftop and zipline phase, players can request a lane swap through the scoreboard; the teammate must accept, and the recipient can decline an incoming request.
How to adapt: Queue item-limit, imbuing, or activation-slot decisions early when prompted, and use queued sales to include expected sale proceeds when planning the next purchase. At the opening lane assignment, request a swap through the scoreboard if you want different lanes, but confirm that your teammate accepts.
Follow the affected decisions
- Silencer item reference
- Lucky Shot item reference
- Toxic Bullets item reference
- Slowing Hex item reference
- Decay item reference
- Knockdown item reference
- Lifestrike item reference
Verify your match build · How current recommendations are checked
Earlier and later records
Archive coverage currently ends 2026-10-30; sources last successfully checked 2026-11-01. A source check does not establish a post-patch win rate.