Overwatch’s year-long The Reign of Talon event marks a seismic shift for Blizzard’s troubled sequel, which, after years of ups and downs, seems to have found its stride.
Officially dropping the number 2 from its title, Overwatch’s The Reign of Talon event brings us a narrative arc that will unfold throughout 2026, pitting the new Talon Empire against the title’s eponymous faction, introducing new heroes, refreshing the UI, and much more.
Overwatch The Reign of Talon Event Adds 10 Heroes and More
The heavy focus on narrative signals a change in direction for the free-to-play first-person shooter, and we’ll get to experience it all through motion comics, in-game events, a set of new voice lines for its iconic characters, animated hero trailers, and short stories. Blizzard isn’t pulling any punches, by the sound of it.
More importantly, Overwatch’s The Reign of Talon event introduces a whopping ten new heroes to its playable roster, five of which become available when Season 1 launches on February 10.
Domina, Emre, and Mizuki fight for Talon while the Overwatch faction gets Anran as well as Jetpack Cat, who finally makes their long-awaited debut.
Overwatch’s Season 1 isn’t just significantly expanding the hero roster, but also divides the three main roles of tank, damage, and support into sub-roles, as follows:
TANK
- BRUISER: Reduces critical damage received. While at critical health, gain movement speed.
- Mauga / Orisa / Roadhog / Zarya
- INITIATOR: Staying airborne lightly heals you.
- D.Va / Doomfist / Winston / Wrecking Ball
- STALWART: Reduces knockbacks and slows received.
- Domina / Hazard / Junker Queen / Ramattra / Reinhardt / Sigma
DAMAGE
- SHARPSHOOTER: Critical hits reduce your movement ability cooldowns.
- Ashe / Cassidy / Hanzo / Sojourn / Widowmaker
- FLANKER: Health packs restore more health.
- Anran / Genji / Reaper / Tracer / Vendetta / Venture
- SPECIALIST: Eliminating an enemy briefly increases your reload speed.
- Bastion / Emre / Junkrat / Mei / Soldier: 76 / Symmetra / Torbjorn
- RECON: You detect enemies below half health through walls after damaging them.
- Echo / Freja / Pharah / Sombra
SUPPORT
- TACTICIAN: You can gain excess ultimate charge, which carries over after using your ultimate ability.
- Ana / Baptiste / Jetpack Cat / Lucio / Zenyatta
- MEDIC: Healing allies with your weapon also heals you.
- Kiriko / Lifeweaver / Mercy / Moira
- SURVIVOR: Using a movement ability activates passive health regeneration.
- Brigitte / Illari / Juno / Mizuki / Wuyang
Furthermore, Season 1’s release also sees the Conquest meta-event kicking off. Spanning five whole weeks, it allows us to fight for either Overwatch or Talon.
“Each week, you will complete missions tied to the lore, with rewards going to the faction with the most successful missions,” the developer explains.
After completing the current week’s faction pass, we can change allegiance as we work towards unlocking rewards which include 75 base, 12 epic, and 7 legendary lootboxes, alongside new voice lines, titles, and various other cosmetic goodies.
A new competitive year is set to kick off, bringing with it a reset, the Crimson Wolf weapon, and a new Doomfist skin for anyone reaching Diamond rank or higher. In addition, competitive titles now have rarities.
Overwatch’s Season 1 also refreshes the UI, adds the Praise feature for an extra dash of positivity, as well as new skins.
The remaining five heroes who aren’t entering the fray on February 10 will do so one at a time in Seasons 2 through 6.
Overwatch’s The Reign of Talon event will also bring back post-match accolades, and there’s a good chance that Blizzard will reveal even more surprises throughout 2026.
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