Overwatch confirms reworks for Sombra, Lifeweaver, and Roadhog

Monitoring has just confirmed that several heroes will be reworked this year, with Sombra, Lifeweaver and Roadhog being the first on the docket. This is part of a long-term project by Monitoring to keep character sets dynamic and flexible, but not overly complicated or niche.

The year 2026 has been big for Monitoring so far. It dropped the “2” from the title, introduced five new heroes with a sixth on the way, began its first year-long storyline, and updated its user interface, breaking Steam player records in the process. During recent interviews and streams, Monitoring has hinted that several heroes may receive reworks sometime this year.

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Overwatch Confirms Multiple Hero Reworks for 2026

Now, Monitoring has officially confirmed this, giving players a soft roadmap along with a list of heroes that will change first. In a new Director's Take blog post, Monitoring Game director Aaron Keller revealed plans to rework several heroes later this year. While he didn't give an exact number, he did confirm the first three heroes to receive reworked kits: Sombra, Lifeweaver, and Roadhog.

Fans who played during Overwatch 2 era shouldn't be too surprised to see these three on this list, as they've all experienced one or more reworks before:

Sombra
- Reworked in Overwatch 2 Season 7
  - Hack cancels Stealth when used on an enemy hero
  - Translocator activates automatically after being cast
  - Virus: new projectile ability that takes damage over time, faster against hacked targets
  - Opportunistic passive removed
- Reworked again in Overwatch 2 Season 13
  - Stealth is triggered for a short time when using Translocator, rather than as a passive
  - Opportunistic passive added again
Lifeweaver
- Soon after release
  - Parting gift passive removed
  - Healing Blossom and Thorn Volley made primary and secondary fire respectively instead of separate weapons
Roadhog
- Revised below Overwatch 2 Season 7
  - Scrap gun secondary fire removed, primary fire combined both old primary and secondary fire
  - Take a Breather now uses a resource, moved to secondary fire
  - Pig Pen: new trap ability that dealt damage and slowed nearby enemies when triggered
- Reworked again in Overwatch 2 Season 18
  - The scrap gun returned to its pre-rework condition
  - Take a Breather is moved back to ability 2, but retains resource gauge
  - Pig Pen removed

These three heroes have historically fought in Monitoring due to their kits being overpowered, underpowered or just plain frustrating to deal with. That said, they're just the first of many redesigns planned for 2026, Keller confirmed Monitoring looking at heroes with “strongly defined, specific playstyles” or those “whose kits we feel have stagnated in some way” and who “don't feel as dynamic as their newer counterparts.” The goal of these reworks will be to make these heroes flexible yet easy to use, with player choice as a major factor. Fans can probably expect to learn which other Monitoring heroes get revamps after season 3.

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While none of these overhauls will be implemented in Season 2, many other changes are made in this update instead. Several must-pick perks are integrated into base hero packs i Monitoring Season 2, including Mercy's Flash Heal, Reaper's Dire Triggers, and Pharah's Drift Thrusters. Players will be able to use these new base abilities and check out their replacement perks once Monitoring Season 2 goes live on April 14.