On October 6, Overwatch launched its latest season. It brings balance changes, new and reworked heroes and, the focus of today’s article, plenty of new cosmetics!But it’s not just about the latest skins: many Battle Pass tracks from previous seasons are returning to the hero shooter, and we’ll explain how later in this article. Let’s take a look!Battle Pass SkinsThe track works a little differently this time. Rather than a single path of 80 tiers to progress through and earn rewards, the pass now starts with five levels. Once you complete them, you can choose one of five different tracks to focus on: four with 14 levels and one with 12.After completing the first track, and then all five, you can move on to two more paths focused on resources and titles. Take a look:The pass is shown above being completed in order, but you don’t have to follow that sequence. The only requirement is that you finish the initial track before starting any of the others. The last two tracks remain locked until you complete all the skin paths.For example, you can prioritize the Soldier: 76 skin track before completing the three tracks that come before it. This is great for casual players who don’t always get close to earning every cosmetic: you can choose which one to unlock first and make sure you get the reward you want!Free SkinsNow that we’ve covered the main changes, let’s take a look at the skins! One downside is that only two are free, and neither is Legendary.The first is a Bastion skin called Skeleton.It’s a really creative design: a simple skeleton drawing on Bastion’s robotic body is enough to make it stand out!The second and final skin available to all players is Witching Hour Brigitte, an Epic skin unlocked on the 12-level track:Premium SkinsThe same track that unlocks Witching Hour Brigitte also features Spectral Shroud Symmetra, though this one is for Premium users.The Epic skins this season are a pleasant surprise. They make great use of the Halloween theme and have plenty of detail compared with other skins of the same rarity—especially Symmetra’s.Moving on to the Legendary skins, which are all Premium-exclusive, the first one you can unlock is Ghostly Bride Ashe.It’s been one of the season’s most praised skins, and, in my personal opinion, the best one in the entire pass! Blizzard nailed the design: the pale style and the colors of her outfit work perfectly, while the roses add a great touch—especially on her weapon—and the makeup gives her an even more frightening look.There are four more skins of the same rarity, all final rewards on the 14-tier tracks: Autumn Fox Zenyatta, Ghostly Bride Mei, Bat Empress Junker Queen and Pumpkin Head Soldier: 76.Zenyatta’s skin is the one that strays furthest from the season’s theme, but it’s still a great addition to the character. Unlike Bastion’s skin, which is essentially just a drawing, Blizzard had to make Zenyatta look like a fox while keeping his robotic style. A design that was too rigid would strip away the animal’s defining features, while a literal fox would lose the hero’s signature look. His weapon being depicted as metal nuts is a nice touch, too!The other three all fit the Halloween theme and are excellent quality; it comes down to personal preference. You might prefer something more dramatic, like Mei’s ghostly dress or Soldier’s literal pumpkin head, or a subtler look, like the bat details on Junker Queen. Either way, the skins maintain the quality of the track!"Hacking" SkinsHere’s another change to this pass compared with previous ones: it comes with a Tier Hack that you can use on one of the four final skins we mentioned—Autumn Fox Zenyatta, Ghostly Bride Mei, Bat Empress Junker Queen and Pumpkin Head Soldier: 76—to swap it for another skin.Each season will now have a pool of skins, many of which have appeared in the game before. You can put one of them in the Battle Pass in place of one of the four skins listed above:If you don’t play one of those characters, it’s worth checking out the available swaps.Note: you can only hack (swap) skins you haven’t already unlocked. For example, if you’ve already unlocked Ghostly Bride Mei, you can’t replace it with another option. Also, you only have ONE hack available.Ultimate Battle PassAlongside the Premium version of the track, which costs 1000 Overwatch Coins, there’s an even more valuable option: Ultimate! It requires a bigger investment of real money, but in addition to the free and Premium rewards, it includes 2000 Overwatch Coins, lets you skip ahead by 20 tiers and comes with two exclusive Legendary skins!Usually, one of the Ultimate edition skins is for the new hero in the update, and this season is no exception. Doctrine has received his first Legendary skin: Crimson Regent!The newly released Support hero looks incredibly powerful in this new outfit. The vampiric, bloodthirsty aesthetic suits him perfectly, and the details on his drones make them look more like bats.The second skin in this edition is Ghostly Traveler Venture. It falls a little short of expectations: it doesn’t feel as spooky as the other skins that are also called ghostly.New Mythic SkinsThe Supports are the big winners here! Both Mythic skins were designed with this Overwatch role in mind: one for Wuyang and one for Lucio’s weapon.Shaoxia Dragon Wuyang looks stunning, especially once you unlock all its levels. The skin is a perfect fit for the character, and its effects are a great bonus. However, the community expected more substantial changes to his abilities. Other Mythic skins—such as Juno Heart of Hope—give abilities completely different heart-shaped effects.Unfortunately, Shaoxia Dragon Wuyang doesn’t do the same. His abilities already look much like they do in his standard skin. You can get a better look in the showcase below:(Fonte: SXTRE | Youtube)Of everything we’ve covered so far, this may be the only option that isn’t really worth buying unless you’re a big fan of the Support hero. The skin looks incredible, of course, but the high expectations come with the Mythic label.Thankfully, Lucio’s weapon skin, Soundwave, lives up to its rarity and has won over many players. Along with the great visual redesign, the Brazilian hero now has a tiny dancing frog as a companion!The frog reacts to Lucio’s shots, reload, some abilities and even his movement: it feels the physics of every jump and hard landing. All that attention to detail really stands out. It’s the best Mythic skin of the season!There are also extra features as you level up the cosmetic, such as a custom weapon inspect animation and elimination effects. Check out the video:(Fonte: SKLLZ | Youtube)The inspect animation doesn’t just change the way Lucio handles his weapon; it also adds a musical effect as the frog dances. It’s a real departure from the usual!Season 5 Starter PackTo wrap up the season’s exclusive skins before we get to the return of older passes, there’s Cursed Emre, an Epic skin. It’s part of the update’s usual Starter Pack, which gives you 1000 Overwatch Coins and this exclusive skin at a promotional price.It’s not the best of the Epic skins we’ve covered today, but it could be a good pick if you’re a fan of a hero who hasn’t received many cosmetics yet. Since it’s part of a promotional bundle, it makes sense if you were planning to buy 1000 coins anyway.Old Battle Passes ReturnThis is the most controversial topic of the day! These aren’t cosmetics exclusive to this season, but they’re worth mentioning because they completely change how you can acquire items in Overwatch.Previously, each Battle Pass was available for a few months, with free and Premium items, and was replaced with every major update. That’s still the case, but the items are no longer exclusive. You can now activate progression on an older track, called a Returning Pass in-game, and work toward earning cosmetics from that season.You can have only one of these tracks active at a time. Any XP you earn will count toward both the current pass and the Returning Pass you chose to activate.Note: At the time of writing, tracks from Seasons 1 to 15 are available, covering the Overwatch 2 era. One other important point: Returning Passes no longer include Mythic Prisms, Overwatch Coins, player titles or an XP boost.Players who bought the Premium version at the time will be able to earn all the Returning Pass cosmetics as they progress. Those who chose not to spend can now do so for 1000 Overwatch Coins.It’s another great way to appeal to casual players who may have bought some passes but didn’t manage to unlock all the rewards. On the other hand, every item “loses its value” when it’s always available for purchase.Giving up exclusivity could have a negative impact on collectors who spent each season earning a legacy skin that they thought would never be available again.ConclusionThere’s been a major change to skins in Blizzard’s hero shooter. Casual players are the biggest winners, especially those who bought Premium versions of previous passes, since they now have a chance to earn many of the cosmetics they missed.I hope you enjoyed this article. Feel free to leave any questions or suggestions in the comments, and let us know what you think of these changes!
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