Perks have officially arrived in Overwatch 2 Season 15, “Honor & Glory.” First revealed during Overwatch 2‘s Spotlight Event, Perks are the latest addition to Blizzard’s hero-shooter, offering new unlockable passives across Minor and Major stages. With this new system in place, Team 4 has delivered on its promise of introducing “groundbreaking PvP gameplay changes” in 2025.
With 42 heroes currently on Overwatch 2‘s roster, players now have 168 Perks to analyze and study. The Minor Perks, Death’s Shadow and Soul Reaving, and the Major Perks called Dire Triggers and Ravenous Wraith should be interesting for Reaper players. In particular, Dire Triggers is turning out to be a miniature rework for the Shadow Stepping damage hero.
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Overwatch 2 Abandoned Its Reaper Overhaul, But It Really Didn’t
Reaper’s Perks May Be Similar To His Scrapped Rework
The February Spotlight event saw many of Team 4 sit down with popular streamers and content creators to detail what to expect from Overwatch 2 in 2025. During a conversation with Overwatch 2 streamer Emongg, Blizzard Systems Designer Gavin Winters mentioned that Moira and Reaper are no longer being considered for reworks. For some, this was disappointing news, considering Reaper has been targeted for an overhaul since late 2023.
Leader Hero Designer Alec Dawson mentioned in a February 2024 interview with streamer mL7 that Blizzard was attempting to modernize “some of his other abilities like Shadow Step.” This would have also included a fresh secondary ability. Though this concept never came to fruition, some believe that Reaper’s Dire Triggers Perk was born from these experiments.
It has not been officially confirmed whether Dire Triggers is the same ability or a similar one that was eventually scrapped.
Dire Triggers is one of two selections upon reaching level 3 in the Perks progression system. For PC players, pressing right click will “fire a volley with long range accuracy from both Hellfire Shotguns.” While this alt-fire ability costs two ammo, its short three-second cooldown helps Reaper finish off players escaping his typical damage radius. Interestingly, this Perk closely aligns with what fans speculated Reaper’s 2023 rework would be.
Reaper’s Perks Allow For Varying Playstyles
Notably, the alternate pick for Reaper’s Major Perks is Ravenous Wraith. This ability grants 40% additional lifesteal for three seconds when exiting Wraith Form. Paired with Soul Reaving from his Minor Perks, which allows him to collect Soul Globes from dead enemies for 50 health, this build doesn’t stray too far from Reaper’s usual abilities in Overwatch 2. Of course, Death’s Shadow, another Minor Perk selectable at level 2, also has potential. According to the ability breakdown, when using Shadow Step, this passive “reloads Hellfire Shotguns and has 25% increased range.” Coupled with Dire Triggers, Reaper can become a hero even distant squishy targets may respect.
Though there have been some criticisms regarding Reaper’s Perks not being impactful enough, it’s undeniable that the variation in the Perks gives players some creative freedom in whether they’d like to lean into the brawl or assassination archetype more. As a damage hero that is typically picked to burn tanks, Dire Triggers delivers on Team 4’s vision of giving Reaper a few “non-tank buster buffs.” It also aligns with information from Blizzard’s teaser in 2024 about Reaper’s changes, which were originally planned for Season 11 or later. Now that Season 15 of Overwatch 2 is underway, it seems appropriate that Reaper has finally received a rework of sorts, though it’s still possible that Team 4 will adjust his passives as they analyze the Perks system.
Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
- Released
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August 10, 2023
- ESRB
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T For Teen // Blood, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco, Violence