‘Overwatch’ Lunar New Year Event Adds New Cosmetics, Update Lets Players Equip Multiple Emotes

Over 100 new skins, emotes, sprays, and more are now available for a limited time in Overwatch. The fourth major event for the first-person shooter is underway adding the new items in special Lunar loot boxes only obtainable during the Year of the Rooster event. Players can earn them now just by playing or buy the limited-time boxes from the Blizzard Shop, the PlayStation Store, or the Xbox Store.

Like the other major Overwatch events, the Year of the Rooster adds a variety of new cosmetic items and introduces a temporary brawl. Thirteen new skins are available in boxes now or via purchase with in-game credits. Additionally, three new emotes, three new highlight introductions, and a number of sprays are all potential loot during the event.

Of course, the Year of the Rooster event brings with it more than just new cosmetics. During the event, a special brawl is now live giving players a new way to play Overwatch. The brawl is a spin on capture the flag called Capture the Rooster where two teams work to take the opposing team’s flag. The mode, which is only available for the duration of the event, only takes place on Lijiang Tower according to the game’s official website.

Year of the Rooster cosmetics and Capture the Rooster will only be available until the event ends. It started today and is expected to end on February 13. Any loot box earned through playing or purchased now until that date will be a Lunar loot box. Each Lunar loot box contains at least one new Year of the Rooster item. This includes any of the new skins, emotes, highlights, and more. Although the items will no longer be in loot boxes after the event ends, any Year of the Rooster item collected will always be available to the player after it is looted.

Seven new legendary skins are now available as part of the Year of the Rooster event. The Palanquin skin for D.Va, the Chang’e for Mei, the Luna skin also for Mei, the Wujing skin for Reinhardt, the Bajie skin for Roadhog, the Wukong skin for Winston, and the Sanzang skin for Zenyatta are now included in Lunar boxes. Each legendary skin can also be outright purchased for 3,000 credits apiece during the duration of the event. Six new epic skins are also part of the event including skins for Ana, Bastion, Junkrat, Mercy, Symmetra, and Tracer. Players can pick up those skins for 750 credits each, too. New emotes for D.Va, Junkrat, and Mei are also new with the event while Mercy, Roadhog, and Tracer have new highlight introductions.

A new patch is also live alongside the event on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The patch notes, which are located on Blizzard Entertainment’s official forums, list a number of changes and updates. In addition to kicking off the new event, the latest patch also introduces “a very small cooldown” on crouching, makes some changes to a few heroes, and updates the game’s communication wheel.

Overwatch's #YearOfTheRooster ? celebration has begun—so here's to happiness, prosperity, and lots of fun!

?? https://t.co/5t0WWUzTL7 pic.twitter.com/xsMsRCtGph

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) January 24, 2017

Ana’s Biotic Grenade is a little less effective after the update with an effect duration reduction of five seconds to four seconds. The healing boost on the grenade is also weaker after being decreased by 50 percent. D.Va underwent a few changes with her health increasing and her armor decreasing. Additionally, her Fusion Cannon damage was reduced from dealing three to two damage but it now fires 11 shots rather than eight. Finally, Lúcio can wall ride backward if the option is selected, Roadhog’s hook is updated with better physics, and Sombra’s Hack ability was improved overall.

Not to mention, the game’s communication wheel supports multiple emotes, spays, and voice lines now. Players can even bind certain and individual sprays, emotes, and lines to keyboard keys, mouse buttons, or even controller buttons. Blizzard Entertainment continues to update the first-person shooter with new events, maps, and more. As the Inquisitr reported, Overwatch updated earlier this month with the new Oasis map when the Winter Wonderland event ended.

[Image by Blizzard Entertainment]