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 Historical changes can be superseded; use current definitions for a match today.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.
Set chat preferences and mute individually
What changed: Voice and text chat are opt-in. Parties can choose Party-only, All Team, or Chat Disabled; individual players can be muted with ESC, and mutes persist across games.
How to adapt: Choose whether to join chat using the pre-match prompt or ESC menu, set the party mode that fits your communication, and use ESC to mute an individual when needed.
Learn the new map connections and urn rules
What changed: Two underground tunnels connect the underground shop to Bodega on Amber and Theater on Sapphire. Two teleporters were added on outer lanes, behind the Chapel and Firehouse. Carrying the Soul Urn now always slows the carrier by 15% and silences items; pickup silence begins 0.5 seconds after touching it. A dropped urn returns to its original spot faster.
How to adapt: Explore the tunnel and teleporter connections in a low-risk situation to learn their exits. When carrying the urn, plan for the 15% slow and item silence; the notes give no exact return-time reduction for a dropped urn.
Expect a contested Rejuvenator pickup
What changed: The Rejuvenator is no longer an area pickup; someone must heavy melee it after it lands. It continues dropping to its target position even if it touches player-created geometry.
How to adapt: Approach the dropped Rejuvenator ready to heavy melee it, and account for its target landing position when choosing an approach; the notes do not promise a safe pickup.
Retest changed active-item timing and effects
What changed: Rescue Beam no longer grants movement speed. Its active channels for 3 seconds, healing the user and target for up to 25% of max HP; clicking the ally again during that time pulls them to the user. It has 40m range, a 45-second cooldown, and can be self-cast. Divine Barrier’s cooldown rises from 20 to 30 seconds, bullet resistance falls from 10% to 7%, and active movement speed falls from 3 to 2. Escalating Resilience’s shared stack duration falls from 15 to 10 seconds and maximum resistance from 36% to 30%; each new stack refreshes the shared duration. Reactive Barrier’s cooldown falls from 25 to 20 seconds.
How to adapt: Test Rescue Beam’s channel and second-click pull before relying on them, and check its self-cast healing in practice. Recheck Divine Barrier and Escalating Resilience timing, and verify Reactive Barrier’s new cooldown; these changes alone do not establish which item is best.
Test the changed hero mechanics directly
What changed: Bebop’s Sticky Bomb base damage falls from 130 to 120 and hook grab radius from 40 to 36 inches; Hyper Beam DPS rises from 210 to 220, tracking speed increases 10%, and movement and dash slow rises from 30% to 40%. Haze’s Sleep Dagger damage Spirit growth rises from 2.5 to 2.8, its T3 becomes -12% Bullet Resistance for 6 seconds, and Smoke Bomb gains silent footsteps and a T1 invisibility sprint bonus increase from +4 to +5 m/s. Ivy’s Watcher’s Covenant replicated healing falls from 55% to 45%, its base ability loses +2 m/s, and its T2 movement bonus rises from +2 to +3 m/s. Lash’s Ground Strike base damage falls from 110 to 90, damage per meter rises from 6 to 6.75, and scaling after 25m height is reduced to 4.5. Kelvin’s Frozen Shelter movement slow rises from 25% to 35%, and it can be dismissed while channeling Arctic Beam. McGinnis’s Mini Turret charge delay falls from 10 to 8 seconds, and Spectral Wall can be dismissed while channeling Heavy Barrage.
How to adapt: Test Bebop’s hook reach and beam changes separately, and check Haze’s dagger and Smoke Bomb effects at their specified ability levels. Compare Ivy’s base and T2 Covenant, and Lash’s Ground Strike at different heights; verify Kelvin’s and McGinnis’s dismissal options during the named channels before relying on them.
Follow the affected decisions
- Bebop build and counter guide
- Haze build and counter guide
- Ivy build and counter guide
- Kelvin build and counter guide
- Lash build and counter guide
- McGinnis build and counter guide
- Rescue Beam item reference
- Divine Barrier item reference
- Escalating Resilience item reference
- Reactive Barrier 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.