Battle pass life: Getting through Overwatch 2

I was pretty excited about Overwatch 2 at its release. And can honestly say that I’ve played it every day since it came out.

Sure, I’ve got mixed feelings about it, and honestly grinding the battle pass for the past few days has started to take its toll. But it’s decent enough. Not enough to be considered a sequel to a game that should have just continued, but, it’s all we have.

So, is grinding the battle pass worth it?

Meh….

Battle pass life

We all live that battle pass life these days. Every online game has one. A means in which to unlock levels and levels of cosmetic content in free-to-play games. Overwatch 2 ditched the loot boxes (law changes meant these are accepted as gambling!), and took the plunge, too.

Like a lot of people, I’ve burned through enough battle passes in different games to see what works, what doesn’t and what’s plain stingy. I’ve found the likes of PUBG to be a bit rough because XP gains match to match can be quite low, but I’ve seen myself hammer through 100 levels of Fortnite several times over the year.

Whether we like them or not, the battle pass feels like a feature that’s here to stay, particularly with so many games going free-to-play. So it’s best to know which are worth it, and which are a little bit too aggressive in wanting to take your money and dish out jack-shit in return.

Overwatch 2 has a lot to improve upon I think. And it has many peers in the marketplace to learn from.

Overwatch 2

The battle pass is often first determined by cost. Anything above a tenner is predatory in my mind. You’re having to invest significant hours into unlocking levels, and honestly, in all battle passes, some of the content is just crap.

Overwatch 2 passes the first test, it isn’t too expensive.

It does quickly show some signs of nasty money-grabbing though. Again, often with battle passes, you can buy levels with currency, so you can unlock that skin you want so badly. Prices here can be all over the place, and Overwatch 2 really doesn’t hesitate in trying to fuck you over. I checked at different stages of progress to see how much it would cost to complete the pass and often found it at £80+. Remember this is just for some random shit with a few nice skins mixed in.

The price of the battle pass is fine, but the price of currency and the price of levels are extortionate. It really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth to see how predatory Activision Blizzard is here. Particularly when looking at the cost of skins in the store.

So to hell with it. They’ve had my tenner, and they’re getting nothing else because the value just isn’t there. Overwatch 2 really needs to learn from Fortnite on level unlocking, skin prices etc.

Battle or pass?

So, 80 levels in this pass. How easy is it to level up?

It isn’t too tough, to be honest. If you’re playing the game casually and with friends, you’re already getting an XP boost and earning for every match. You get an extra 20% XP if you own the battlepass, too, if you own it instead of using the free tier.

Daily challenges that refresh every 24 hours are there for additional XP. Although you can only earn a maximum of 9000 XP (3 dailies with 3000 each) a day from those, despite there being more to work on. That annoys me. It’s purposely limiting your progress. Overwatch 2 throws-in weekly and seasonal challenges, too to help you boost.

The weekly challenges are fine. There’s some work to do to earn them, but it’s largely passive like healing, damage etc. So if you really want to push, you can.

I’ve been doing 3 dailies every day a few weeklies here and there, and then random seasonal challenges here and there and just about hit 80. That works for me, but I don’t like feeling that I have to play a game every day to get what I’ve paid for.

Add to it that the new hero of the season Kiriko is locked behind level 55 if you don’t buy the pass. There are some dirty tricks being played to extort your money.

Room for improvement

Much like every school report I ever got, I feel like Overwatch 2 needs to work on its pricing. If levels were cheaper, people would buy more. If skins were cheaper or XP was a bit more generous, people wouldn’t feel like they’re being punished for something they paid for.

It isn’t the worst battle pass out there, but the challenges are a bit stingy when you compare it to that of say, Fortnite. The currency gains on the weekly challenges are an absolute joke, too. A pittance. I would take months and months of grinding those out to get anything towards an overpriced skin.

I will say that the mythic Genji skin looks cool as hell, and now there are fewer ways to get skins, it’s been my main driver for this pass. Unlock the impressive skin at the end. Is it worth 80 levels and hours of my time? That’s all relative, but yeah, probably.

I’m getting bored now, and the last few levels feel like an effort. The pass is littered with sprays and voice lines that don’t do anything for me, but it’s hard to give everything to everyone. I just wish the XP rewards we a little friendlier so it didn’t become a chore by the end.

All being well I won’t be wooed in by another mythic skin next season. But who knows?!

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