How to get experimental access in overwatch 2

There is a reason why "metas" exist in competitive and OWL Leagues, with certain heroes dominating playtime in the hardest games in Overwatch. But how do the developers of Overwatch 2 create a more balanced game play, add in experimental new features, and allow all heroes to be viable at any time? The answer: Experimental Mode.

What is an Experimental Card and Experimental Mode?

Blizzard developers wanted to incorporate an alternate mode to test changes both large or small. Before the Experimental Mode was introduced to the Arcade, you would use experimental cards and create custom game modes in Overwatch. These would give temporary boosts lasting a random amount of time.

After Experimental Cards, Overwatch developers introduced the Experimental Mode, limited-time game modes that added drastic changes. A completely separate game mode, Experimental has been vital to the evolution of Overwatch 2. Overwatch experimental mode and cards adjusted things like:

• Increased health pool
• Abilities
• Damage
  
• Cooldowns
• Increased primary fire rates
• Shortened stun duration
• Added maximum duration of abilities

These changes were made to test the balance of certain active abilities, but sometimes, Overwatch developers added things like triple damage simply for fun. The duration of Experimental Mode would usually run for about two weeks. The Overwatch team would then add new targets to experiment with and test, and the game style would start with different challenges.

Blizzard would also gather important data from player feedback and statistics for balance issues and bugs. Overwatch experimental mode gives a chance for players to offer feedback and data on abilities, team compositions, cooldown duration, and other experiments.

When is Experimental Mode coming to Overwatch 2?

At this time, Blizzard has not announced a time for Overwatch Experimental mode. The patch notes section of the Overwatch website will announce any release dates.

How can I access Experimental Mode?

To get experimental access, follow this step-by-step process:

1. Launch Overwatch from the Blizzard desktop app.
   
2. On the play menu, access "Arcade Mode."
   
3. "Experimental Mode" is in the bottom right. The screen will have an image of Moira holding a test tube, implying these game modes are an experiment by this deranged scientist.

There are times, though, that the experimental settings will be off, so that will have the lock icon over it instead.

What are the changes in Overwatch 2 Experimental Mode compared to Overwatch 1?

Changes in an experimental mode often lead to changes to the actual game, though bigger experiments like the triple damage mode are mostly done for fun. In Overwatch 2, here are some of the major features:

• Self-healing buff to the support class, completely changing gameplay for characters like Baptiste and Ana.
  
• Decreased damage to tank class
• Increased projectile speed
  
• Incresed maximum range of hit scan
  
• Lower the ultimate cost
• Shortened cast time of certain abilities.

The best place to find news about experimental changes is the patch notes released by Blizzard's Overwatch 2 team.