Overwatch 2: Season 18 Battle Pass - Is It Worth Buying?

Last Tuesday (on the 26th), Overwatch 2 got its latest update. Season 18 arrived with a new hero, exclusive skins in a revamped Battle Pass, and gameplay changes in Standard and Stadium modes. You can learn more about all the new features by reading our full update overview!

In this article, we'll focus on the cosmetics you can acquire over the next few months - including an analysis of the Battle Pass' free and premium rewards track. Check it out!

The Overwatch 2 Battle Pass system is already familiar to players: accumulating experience is the key to unlocking each tier and securing exclusive rewards. To progress along the track, you need to earn 10,000 XP per tier.

How to Level Up the Battle Pass

Progression happens automatically through playing matches, but the most efficient method is to complete daily and weekly missions. New objectives show up every day, and the first three completed get you 3,000 XP each.

Weekly missions are also essential: each one usually grants 5,000 XP or 150 Credits, the currency used to purchase some skins. Also, completing three weekly challenges gets you a generous 20,000 XP bonus, significantly speeding up your progress on the pass.

Seasonal events also factor into this equation, offering special missions tied to holidays, new game modes, or collaborations that bring new cosmetics.

One example is the collab with basketball player Luka Dončić, which is active during the first weeks of the Season. Completing this event’s missions grants additional XP for those who want to reach the final rewards faster.

Following the familiar format, this Battle Pass offers 80 reward tiers, 28 of which are available to all players at no cost. Completing this main track unlocks an additional set of prestige tiers for free, allowing you to unlock up to 8 exclusive player titles - but reaching the final one requires reaching level 200.

Throughout this review, we'll highlight some of the most interesting items given this season. At the end, you'll also find a video summarizing all the rewards, if you'd like to check them out in detail and draw your own conclusions.

Free Items

The free version of the track guarantees the following rewards: 2 Player Icons, 2 Victory Poses, 3 Sprays, 5 Voice Lines, 1 Legendary Loot Box, 1 Weapon Charm, 2 Epic Skins, 2 Emotes, 1 Player Card, 1 Souvenir, 600 Overwatch Coins, and 1,500 Credits, in addition to the 8 titles available in the Prestige part.

The first free skin is Wrecking Ball Watermelon. The fruit itself is a summer reference, but Blizzard made this detail better with the mouse's outfit. The skin is fun and of good quality compared to the average Epic skin - a good choice.

The other outfit goes to Tracer - and it's also great. Of course, skins of this rarity don't promise any new additions to the character, but Streetwear isn't just a recolor; the heroine's pants have her name in a different style, along with new accessories like the beanie and sneakers.

Because this look is given to a beloved and popular character in the community, it's bound to get even more attention!

If you have the famous "love duo" in Overwatch, you're sure to be happy with this rewards track. Two of the new Sprays are basically declarations depicted in in-game drawings! You can unlock them at levels 13 and 29, respectively.

This season also has a strong summer theme, with new cosmetics that evoke a relaxing day by the pool!

Premium Items

In the Premium edition of the Battle Pass, in addition to all the items already mentioned, players receive bonus Credits, Legendary Loot Boxes, and several cosmetics, including five Legendary skins and one Epic skin. Another highlight is the offer of 80 Mythic Prisms, the special currency used to unlock Mythic weapon and hero skins.

Each season, Overwatch 2 brings an exclusive set of these top-quality cosmetics. This year's highlights include Sojourn's mythic skin - Ultraviolet Sentinel - and Cassidy's mythic weapon skin - Blazing Sunsetter. Both reinforce the commitment to delivering unique and collectible content for those looking to further customize their heroes.

Each of these mythic skins requires 50 Prisms to unlock, with the option to spend an additional 10 Prisms per upgrade level. To upgrade to the full version, the total cost also reaches 80 Prisms. As the skin improves, you unlock new chromas and accessories, giving you more customization options. So, you can choose one to purchase and fully upgrade, or if you prefer, you can save your Prisms and use them later to purchase mythic weapon skins or cosmetics from future seasons.

Due to their mythic rarity, the abilities of these skins have animation effects. Check it out:

Moving on to the premium track itself, a big compliment to Blizzard is that they improved the rewards here. Instead of having five legendary skins and one epic, as it was in the past, all six Premium Pass skins are now legendary!

The available skins are: Poolside Lifeweaver, Streetwear Lúcio, Streetwear Pharah, Gladiator: LXXVI Soldier: 76, Chrysanthemum Hanzo, and Streetwear Kiriko. They’ll be unlocked upon reaching the respective tiers 1, 20, 30, 50, 60, and 80.

Starting with the incredible Streetwear line, Lúcio, Pharah, and Kiriko join Tracer in this interesting theme that’s never been so explored. The style perfectly matches the Brazilian and Japanese styles and brings excellent quality!

In fact, Kiriko equipped with this cosmetic will look amazing in this Victory Pose!

I just don't think Pharah, who’s always had a more serious and military feel, is the best hero to get this outfit.

As mentioned among the free items, one of the main themes of this Season is summer. The new Lifeweaver style, together with some cosmetics, delves deeper into this concept.

Finally, the only skins that deviate from these Battle Pass themes were for Hanzo, with the Chrysanthemum style, and Soldier: 76, who now wants to represent a great gladiator.

You can check out all the rewards in the video below. Keep reading the article after this to learn about other versions of the Battle Pass, as well as our conclusion on whether it's worth buying!

Ultimate Battle Pass

Those who choose to invest in the Battle Pass can choose between different versions. The Premium costs 1,000 coins, while the edition that includes an immediate 20-tier advancement costs 2,200 coins. The Ultimate package, sold for 39,99 USD, delivers the complete Premium with the 20 tiers of initial progress, 2,000 Overwatch Coins and two exclusive skins on top of that: Lily, for Roadhog, and Poolside, for the new hero, Wuyang.

Both are excellent, but it's hard for Roadhog to keep his spotlight next to such a great skin choice for the new hero!

Wuyang has just arrived, and he’ll likely be one of the most played characters this season. He wields a staff with aquatic powers, launching waves and water orbs. Giving him a Poolside look not only makes perfect sense, given his powers, but also maintains the focus and standard of one of the themes covered in the track!

Blizzard continues to outdo itself, and with each new Season, I feel like the Battle Pass track is improving! The chosen themes are interesting, the quality remains remarkable - and a sixth legendary skin adds even more value!

The Ultimate version may still be undoable for most, but the resource gains and exclusive styles can make sense if you have the financial resources to make that kind of investment.

But I firmly believe that the Premium version of the Pass - which costs 1,000 Overwatch Coins - will be enough to satisfy you, especially if you've already saved some coins from previous months to reduce your real-world investment. With a more affordable price, you'll not only get countless incredible styles but also earn 80 Mythic Prisms to purchase and upgrade one of the Season's mythic skins.

At the end of the day, the decision is yours, but I hope this article helped! I'm available in the comments for questions or suggestions.