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Fans of Overwatch should anticipate numerous significant balancing adjustments as the developer, Blizzard Entertainment, transfers the game into the Overwatch 2 era. Many of the game's characters need changes to be balanced and viable as Overwatch PvP transitions to a 5v5 model with one reduced tank in Overwatch 2.
Some characters underwent greater changes than others, but a few heroes have remained exactly as they were in the first Overwatch. The Overwatch 2 betas gave players a preview of some of the balancing changes that would be made once the game was fully released. Now that the successor is formally ready, nearly all modifications made during the betas have been incorporated into the live game.
Here, we'll list every update and improvement made to a hero in Overwatch 2. In addition, we'll discuss how each character fits into the Overwatch paradigm and what you should know about their abilities and limitations.
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The following changes are all tentative, so keep in mind that the developers may make more modifications in the future in response to player comments and other information.
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Disclaimer: This article reflects the writer's opinion.
All character reworks made in Overwatch 2
1) Global changes
An overview of the global updates:
- Players retain up to 30% of their Ultimate charge when switching to a different hero.
- All damage heroes now gain a 25% movement and reload speed buff for 2.5 seconds whenever they eliminate an enemy player. Does not stack, but will refresh if additional eliminations are scored while active.
- All tanks now have 30% knockback resistance and provide 50% less Ultimate charge when damaged.
- All supports now heal 15 HP/second after not being damaged for 1.5 seconds.
- All forms of extra health from abilities (e.g., Brigitte's Inspire or Lucio's Sound Barrier) are considered Overhealth (green health bar) instead of a secondary type of armor or shield health.
- Overhealth reduces Ultimate charge gained by opponents by 50% when it's damaged.
- Armor health now reduces all damage by 30% instead of flatly reducing it by 5 points.
The last attack that fully depletes a hero's armor in Overwatch 2 will have its damage reduced by that armor dynamically, with higher damage attacks being reduced less.
Each class of heroes in Overwatch 2 has a unique advantage due to the addition of role passives. The option to keep a 30% Ultimate charge when switching heroes encourages all players to be more adaptable. In comparison, the 25% movement and reload speed increase on annihilation for damaging characters encourages aggressive playstyles.
Tanks are more difficult to maneuver in Overwatch 2, thanks to the 30% knockback resilience and 50% decrease in Ultimate charge. Supporting heroes gain a strong self-sustaining boost from their ability to recover quickly after not taking damage, making it more difficult for adversaries to chip away at them over time.
In Overwatch 2, armor health has improved overall and decreases all damage by 30% rather than merely deducting five points from it. This implies that armor will be more resistant to significant damage from special abilities like Junkrat's Concussion Mine or powerful ballistic weapons like Pharah's Rocket Launcher in Overwatch 2.
There are certain instances when the new armor is worse than the old armor, such as when used in conjunction with weapons that fire a lot of weak pellets, such as Reaper's Hellfire Shotguns, which used to struggle much more against armor since five points lowered each pellet's damage. In the latest iteration of the game, armor is generally more effective than it once was.
2) Ana
The following rework has been made to Ana in Overwatch 2:
- Ana's Biotic Rifle ammo has been increased from 12 to 15 rounds.
- Ana's Sleep Dart cooldown has been increased from 12 to 15 seconds.
- Ana's Biotic Grenade duration has been reduced from 4 to 3 seconds.
Ana's Sleep Dart is one of the few examples of effective hard crowd control since Overwatch 2 drastically lowered the game's number of stun abilities. Due to its extreme power, the developers have reduced the cooldown of this ability by three seconds to decrease its uptime.
Since there are no longer two tanks that can attempt to counter it, the Biotic Grenade's effects last only a fraction of a second longer, making Ana's ability to stop the opposing team from recovering with it much more potent.
Last but not least, Ana's primary Biotic Rifle has improved with three extra rounds in its magazine, enabling Ana to heal her teammates or deal more damage to foes before needing to reload.
Despite having several of her skills nerfed, Ana is still one of the finest supporting heroes in Overwatch 2. Her Sleep Dart may stymie lethal Ultimates like Genji's Dragonblade, providing her with a defensive alternative against damaging heroes who try to dive on her.
The anti-heal abilities of Biotic Grenade are still extremely useful and effective in Overwatch 2. Ana is also more active overall due to the spare ammo in her Biotic Rifle, which is usually advantageous.
3) Ashe
No major rework for Ashe but only one minor adjustment:
- B.O.B. (Ashe's Ultimate) has had her health reduced from 1,200 to 1,000 HP.
In Overwatch 2, Ashe excels as a hero with a mid-to-long-range hitscan. Ashe is a good alternative if you're facing off against compositions featuring tanks like Reinhardt or Orisa, even if Soldier: 76 and Widowmaker will typically be more effective in most situations.
Although B.O.B.'s health has been reduced, he is still excellent at contesting goals like capturing points and payloads because of her Dynamite area-of-effect ability's potency against groups of foes in Overwatch 2.
4) Baptiste
The following adjustments were made to Baptiste in Overwatch 2:
- Biotic Launcher primary fire damage increased from 24 to 25.
- Damage falloff range increased from 20 to 25 meters.
- Regenerative Burst healing to allies increased from 75 to 100 HP.
- Biotic Launcher Alternate Fire healing ammo increased from 10 to 13 rounds.
Baptiste is much more active in team battles thanks to Overwatch 2's improved Regenerative Burst and Biotic Launcher recovery efficiency. Teammates can now be healed by Regenerative Burst a great deal more effectively even when they aren't partnered up, thanks to the Biotic Launcher's extra healing ammunition.
As in the original Overwatch, Baptiste performs best when he adopts a defensive strategy at a high point and jumps while wearing his Exo Boots. If you have characters that provide long-range damage, such as Soldier: 76, Sojourn, Ashe, or Cassidy, Baptiste might be a viable choice in Overwatch 2.
Nevertheless, given the efficiency of Sleep Dart and Biotic Grenade, Ana will probably be a preferred option in most situations. This is to ensure that they are protected from long-range sharpshooters like Widowmaker and Hanzo and also inflict significantly more damage, thanks to Amplification Matrix Ultimate.
5) Bastion
One of the heroes who has gotten a complete rework in Overwatch 2:
- Configuration: Sentry and Configuration: Tank removed.
- Self-Repair removed.
- Configuration: Recon damage increased from 20 to 25. Weapon spread reduced from 1.2 to 0. Fire rate reduced from 8 to 5. Ammo reduced from 35 to 25.
- Gained Configuration: Assault. Allows Bastion to transform into a tank and fire his minigun while moving. Reduces movement speed by 35%, lasts 6 seconds, and has a 12-second cooldown. Bastion has infinite ammo while this ability is active.
- Gained A-36 Tactical Grenade. Can bounce off walls and stick to enemies, and does 130 damage. Also has moderate knockback. 8 second cooldown.
- Gained Artillery Ultimate. This Ultimate allows Bastion to fire three artillery shells anywhere on the map. Each shell deals over 200 damage.
- Ironclad passive is enabled again, providing 20% damage resistance while in Assault or Artillery form.
In Overwatch 2, Bastion was given a makeover that made him more maneuverable than ever while still utilizing the devastating power of his minigun. Bastion may now quickly enter unconventional positions thanks to his new A-36 Tactical Grenade ability, which works well as both a burst damage weapon and a tool for grenade leaps.
Though his Ironclad passive, which offers 20% damage reduction while in Assault or Artillery form, makes him more resilient than most damaged characters, the elimination of Self-Repair makes him less self-sustainable in Overwatch 2.
Unless you combine Artillery Ultimate with an immobilizing Ultimate like Graviton Surge, players may evade the vicinity of your artillery rounds. Overwatch 2 lets you employ ultimate from a secure spot because it also makes it impossible for you to protect yourself while directing your shots.
The first Overwatch, Bastion, was most effective when employed as a tank buster, and Overwatch 2 continues this trend. Although he struggles more with characters who move about, such as Genji, Tracer, Reaper, and D.Va, he is highly potent when played against Reinhardt and Sigma.
6) Brigitte
Being one of the most often swapped-out support characters in the first iteration of Overwatch, Brigitte also received a lot of Shield Bash adjustments in Overwatch 2.
What you need to know is as follows:
- Shield Bash no longer stuns enemies. Cooldown reduced from 7 to 5 seconds. Distance traveled increased from 7 to 12 meters. Movement is no longer stopped when impacting barriers. Damage increased from 1 to 50. Knockback doubled.
- Inspire now also triggers off Shield Bash damage.
- Inspire duration reduced from 6 to 5 seconds.
The main difference between Brigitte's gameplay in Overwatch 2 and the original Overwatch is that she lacks crowd control to stun in her Shield Bash. Shield Bash is now more of a utility and damage tool that may be utilized to swiftly get out of a poor situation or deal a quick 50 damage for initiating or cleanup.
While Brigitte is less effective overall against close-range damage heroes in Overwatch 2 due to Shield Bash's absence from the stun, she can use it more frequently due to the ability's lowered cooldown.
The brawny close-range characters Reinhardt, Doomfist, Roadhog, Reaper, and Mei are the ones that Brigitte is best paired with. She can trigger her Shield Bash, which makes it exceedingly simple for her to consistently proc Inspire healing, and her Rocket Flail damage is also quite effective.
7) Cassidy
The character plays like he always does in Overwatch, but with one major change in Overwatch 2:
- Flashbang has been removed.
- Gained Magnetic Grenade. This ability sticks to enemies and explodes, dealing 131 damage.
- Peacekeeper "Fan the Hammer" fire rate increased by 7.5%.
- Combat Roll grants 50% damage reduction when used.
- Deadeye Ultimate grants 40% damage reduction and the maximum duration is increased from 6 to 7 seconds. Deadeye also builds at 130 damage/second for 2 seconds and then ramps up to 260 damage/second. Deadeye Ultimate cost has also been increased by 10%.
Cassidy's absence from the Flashbang is by far the most notable modification to his equipment. Cassidy is now more susceptible against close-range heroes like Reaper, Tracer, and Doomfist due to the absence of a stun. The Magnetic Grenade that takes its place is a potent burst damage ability.
Deadeye Ultimate is far more viable now than it was in the first Overwatch game because it drastically decreases incoming damage and can be channeled for longer. Players who use Cassidy won't notice the 10% cost increase because it makes up for the damage of the new Magnetic Grenade.
He now possesses a burst damage ability to complement the potency of his peacekeeper revolver. Since his Combat Roll now grants him a sizable amount of damage resistance, Cassidy is one of the strongest mid-range duelists in Overwatch 2.
For long-range heroes like Widowmaker, he is not particularly effective. Furthermore, because you no longer have a stun that can keep foes in place, you shouldn't use Fan the Hammer very often unless you're blasting into tank barriers.
8) D.Va
Although the modifications D.Va did receive had a significant impact, they didn't significantly alter her.
They are listed below:
- Total mech health increased from 600 to 650. Normal health increased from 300 to 350.
- Primary fire movement speed penalty reduced from 50% to 40%.
- Fusion Cannons weapon spread reduced from 4 to 3.5.
- Boosters impact damage increased from 10 to 25.
- Micro Missiles cooldown reduced from 8 to 7 seconds.
- Call Mech Ultimate cost reduced by 12%.
D.Va's overall tankiness has marginally decreased due to these modifications because she no longer has 100 armor health. However, since armor is more effective overall in Overwatch 2, it will be more difficult for adversaries to penetrate her armor.
Her mech has a better chance of surviving situations with extremely high burst damage thanks to the additional 50 overall health, such as when Roadhog uses Chain Hook and Scrap Gun together.
D.Va is now more maneuverable in battle and can land critical strikes more easily in Overwatch 2 because of the increased movement speed and decrease in the primary fire spread, making her more powerful.
D.Va will now be able to attack her enemies more frequently by dealing powerful bursts of damage by upping the physical damage from her Boosters and somewhat lowering the cooldown of her Micro Missiles.
Similar to Overwatch, D.Va's Defense Matrix, Fusion Cannon, and Micro Missiles are best used to negate opposing projectiles and abilities while harassing opponents. Her boosters are still helpful in pursuing adversaries and pushing ranged heroes away from the high ground.
9) Doomfist
Another character in Overwatch 2 who has undergone a thorough overhaul is Doomfist; he is now a tank rather than a damage dealer.
The overall rundown of his new gear is as follows:
- Doomfist is now a tank hero.
- Base health increased from 250 to 450.
- Rising Uppercut has been removed.
- Hand Cannon damage reduced from 6 to 5 per pellet. Ammo regen rate increased from 0.65 seconds/shot to 0.4 seconds/shot.
- Rocket Punch impact damage range reduced from 50-100 to 15-30 damage. Wall slam damage range reduced from 50-150 to 20-40 damage. Maximum charge up time reduced from 1.4 to 1.0 seconds. Impacting a target now causes a secondary larger cone area to grab extra targets, dealing damage and knockback to them as well.
- Gained Power Block. This ability allows Doomfist to block 80% of incoming damage, but reduces his movement speed by 35%. Blocking 100 damage empowers your next Rocket Punch with 50% more damage, 50% more speed and distance, a larger secondary knockback area-of-effect, and an additional 0.5 to 1 seconds of stun after the target hits a wall (dependent on punch charge amount).
- Seismic Slam now launches Doomfist into the air in the direction the player is aiming and creates a wide shockwave after landing that deals 50 damage. It can also be canceled by pressing the ability button again.
- Meteor Strike Ultimate damage range reduced from 15-200 to 15-100 (still does 300 damage to targets in the center of the impact zone). The Ultimate's knockback has also been removed, but all enemies hit by the ability are slowed by 50% for 2 seconds. Cast time reduced from 1 to 0.5 seconds.
Doomfist's primary function in combat has changed from assassinating soft targets with his Rocket Punch to absorbing damage with Power Block and drawing anger from adversaries. He can still do a lot of damage consistently and use his knockbacks to mess with enemy formations.
While Rocket Punch is no longer as effective as it once was, its ability to drive back several targets allows Doomfist to free up adversaries for follow-up damage from his teammates. The Seismic Slam now functions similarly to Winston's leap, enabling him to easily and quickly enter the action.
Due to the relative ease with which heroes like Tracer and Genji can dodge their punches, Doomfist typically performs best against teams with little mobility. In contrast, grounded characters like Reinhardt, Orisa, Sigma, Bastion, and Soldier: 76 find it difficult to evade Doomfist's powers in Overwatch 2.
As neither Zenyatta nor Baptiste can rapidly escape Seismic Slam dives or Rocket Punch stuns, Doomfist is also an extremely effective counter to static support like them.
10) Echo
Although Echo has undergone substantial changes from her appearance in the first Overwatch, she remains largely the same.
What the developers altered was as follows:
- Focusing Beam maximum DPS reduced from 200 to 175.
- Duplicate max health reduced from enemy hero HP total to a maximum of 300. For example, even though D.Va has 650 health, duplicating her will only give Echo 300 health.
Echo's kit in Overwatch 2 differs little from the original, save for a modest nerf on her Focusing Beam and a 300 HP maximum on her Duplicate Ultimate. Due to their enormous health pools, many Echo players thought duplicating tanks was the greatest strategy.
As a result, this alteration was introduced. Additionally, having two tanks on the field without restrictions would probably have given Duplicate an unfair advantage because tanks have been given considerable general improvements in Overwatch 2.
In Overwatch 2, Echo isn't the best at doing damage, but she may still be useful with the correct equipment. She has reliable and valuable mobility thanks to her Flight and Glide skills and can provide good burst damage with her Sticky Bombs and Tri-Shot weapon.
Despite the recent adjustments, Echo's Focusing Beam still ranks among the finest in-game abilities for confirming kills because it ramps up to double damage if the target is at half-health or less.
Her ideal playing partner is Mercy, who can keep up with her flying motions while healing or damage-boosting her. She also naturally works well with Zenyatta, whose Orb of Discord enhances the effectiveness of her Focusing Beam in killing wounded heroes. She is susceptible to being hooked by Roadhog and weak against characters using hitscan weapons like Soldier: 76, Cassidy, and Ashe.
11) Hanzo
In Overwatch 2, Hanzo has only undergone one modification, a modest weakening of his Storm Arrows.
- Storm Arrow damage reduced from 70 to 65 per shot.
This implies that you'll require four Storm Arrows instead of three to kill a 200 HP hero, which is probably an adjustment that the creators made considering Overwatch 2's reduced amount of shielding. Besides that, Hanzo performs the function of a mid-to-long-range sniper exactly as he did in the first Overwatch game.
Because of her amazing range and hitscan sniper rifle, Widowmaker will typically be far more efficient than Hanzo in most situations. However, in Overwatch 2, Hanzo may be a superior option on maps like King's Row with fewer long-range sightlines. With his improved ability to keep up with the back-and-forth aspect of the mode, Hanzo is also possibly superior against Widowmaker on Push maps.
Generally speaking, Torbjörn and his turret, as well as projectile characters like Pharah and Junkrat, are what Hanzo does best. However, he can also effectively duel with heroes like Cassidy and Ashe.
Hanzo typically struggles against Reinhardt and Sigma-led shield-focused formations in Overwatch 2 because such opponents' defenses make it challenging for him to deliver real damage.
12) Junker Queen
The following modifications have been made for Junker queen in Overwatch 2:
- Commanding Shout radius reduced from 20 to 15 meters. Allied health bonus reduced from 100 to 50 HP. Maximum duration reduced to 3 seconds. Cooldown increased from 11 to 15 seconds.
- Rampage radius reduced from 6 to 5 meters.
Junker Queen is now playable because Overwatch 2 has gone live after the second Overwatch 2 beta. She is among the most aggressive tank characters that Blizzard has ever created, with a variety of abilities that enable her to close the gap with enemies before doing powerful damage.
Junker Queen is one of the finest heroes for breaking past heavily guarded chokepoints because she may benefit herself and her teammates with a speed boost and a burst of extra health when she uses Commanding Shout. Her primary fire, the Scatter Gun, and her Carnage axe slash ability provide her options for doing close-range burst damage.
She may also stick enemy players with her knife and draw them closer to her with secondary fire. Junker Queen's Ultimate Rampage allows her to jump forward and slash at enemies in a broad arc, doing damage and inflicting an anti-heal debuff similar to Ana's Biotic Grenade.
Moreover, she possesses two inactive traits. The first transforms her rapid melee attack into a knife slash that injures opponents and deals bleed damage. The second enables her to recover from any harm brought on by the injuries received as a result of her knife slash, carnage, and rampage.
13) Junkrat
In Overwatch 2, Junkrat's kit hasn't altered much generally, but his Frag Launcher has been given a significant upgrade.
- Frag Launcher projectile size increased from 0.2 to 0.25.
- Steel Trap damage has been increased from 80 to 100, and its projectile speed has been increased from 10 to 15.
The hitbox of the projectiles fired by Junkrat's Frag Launcher has increased, making it simpler for players to throw grenades straight at their adversaries and deal maximum damage. Due to its additional 20 damage and quicker placement in Overwatch 2, Steel Trap is also more efficient than it was in the original.
Junkrat, in our opinion, is a hero on whom many players slumber. With the use of Concussion Mine leaps, he can still move around the map rather swiftly despite not being as mobile as heroes like Genji, Tracer, or Sombra.
Additionally, if you can master his Frag Launcher's projectiles, it can deal amazing damage, and when combined with one of his Concussion Mines' burst damage, it can result in some extremely swift kills.
He can also blow through Reinhardt and Sigma barriers, and since the Steel Trap stops Doomfist in his tracks and prevents him from employing the skills he needs to survive, he also makes good choices against him.
If you're having trouble dealing with tanky compositions or want to surprise your opponents with an off-meta hero, don't underestimate Junkrat, even though other heroes are often far more dependable and consistent.
14) Kiriko
Since Baptiste's release in 2019 as the second new support character, Kiriko is the third and last new Overwatch 2 launch character. Similar to Brigitte, she is a "battle healer" who excels on the front lines due to her ability to deal both potent healing and damaging blows.
Her secondary Kunai provides tons of good damage when she hits critical hits with them, and her Healing Ofuda has great single-target healing that is simply aimed because they track her allies.
When Kiriko uses her Protection Suzu ability, she can also fire a bell that temporarily renders her and her allies indestructible. This bell can be used to protect teammates from fatal Ultimates and other potent abilities.
It even removes debuffs and stunned effects, enabling Kiriko to block opposing Reinhardt Earthshatters, Ana Biotic Grenades, and other attacks. Kiriko can employ her Swift Step when she has to withdraw or move closer to a teammate. Her quick teleportation to an ally is made possible by this technique, which also penetrates walls.
Kitsune Rush Ultimate by Kiriko is the last. This power erects a wide route on the ground that grants Kiriko and her allies bonuses like as faster movement, attack, and reload speeds, shorter cooldowns for abilities, and higher movement and reload speed. It works great for advancing goals, but it can also be employed well in defense when your team is advancing to engage the opponent in a second round of combat after successfully repelling their original assault.
15) Lucio
Apart from some significant balance changes, Lucio is another Overwatch 2 hero who hasn't undergone many alterations.
- Crossfade self-healing penalty increased from 30% to 60%.
- Sound Barrier Ultimate cost reduced 12%.
Lucio's Sound Barrier Ultimate is substantially faster in Overwatch 2. At the same time, his ability to heal himself with Crossfade has been nerfed to match the fact that he can now self-heal an extra 15 HP per second because of the new support hero passive.
Lucio will be less effective at healing himself if you're not excellent at using wall riding to avoid getting hurt. Still, he'll be more self-sufficient if you can wall ride while fighting out of enemy range or behind cover.
Since he can speed up his allies so efficiently in the 5v5 era and because he can effectively duel numerous damage heroes, Lucio is undoubtedly the strongest support hero in Overwatch 2 right now. He is also quite adaptable, thanks to his ability to speed up his allies.
He can be incredibly challenging to defeat and is very powerful in any configuration. Characters like Mei and Doomfist pose Lucio's greatest dangers because they have the ability to slow down in response to his quickness.
Though skilled Lucio players will likely find it incredibly challenging to hit with precision heroes like these, they can also struggle to face long-range opponents like Pharah, Ashe, or Widowmaker.
16) Mei
Despite being fairly similar to Mei in the first Overwatch game, Mei has undergone numerous alterations in the sequel that affect how she plays.
The modifications made by the developers are listed below:
- Endothermic Blaster freeze stun removed. Immediately slows targets by a constant 50% instead of building up over time. Slow duration reduced from 1.0 to 0.5 seconds. Damage per second increased from 55 to 100. Ammo increased from 120 to 150.
- Cryo-Freeze no longer removes Sigma Gravitic Flux effect.
- Ice Wall pillar health reduced from 400 to 250. Range reduced from 35 to 20 meters.
- Blizzard Ultimate cost increased by 15%.
While Mei's loss of the ability to freeze a player to hard stun them may seem like a drawback, her Endothermic Blaster now deals twice as much damage per second, meaning that her damage output is more reliable. Her kit is much more useful overall because the weapon may now completely slow down players instantaneously.
Due to Mei's enhanced damage output, even if the Blizzard Ultimate has a greater cost, you'll be able to obtain it just as quickly as you did in the original game. Ice Wall is still a formidable utility for dispersing opponent formations or shielding friends from harm. Blizzard is a particularly powerful object-clearing Ultimate because it still retains the potential to freeze targets.
Mei performs well when paired with or pitted against grounded, physical heroes like Bastion, Reinhardt, Sigma, Orisa, and Sigma. She's still a niche pick, given how strong more mobility heroes are on most maps, but she makes sense on smaller maps like Dorado or King's Row. But long-range heroes like Widowmaker and Pharah are difficult to counter against her.
17) Mercy
In Overwatch 2, Mercy received some improvements, including adjustments to the mechanics governing her movement:
- Regeneration now increases the support role healing passive by 50% (Mercy heals 22.5 HP/second instead of 15).
- Angelic Descent will now additionally slow ascent speed if held, not just descent speed.
- Angelic Descent can now be activated by holding Crouch while airborne.
- The Guardian Angel ability now has a meter that charges up while active.
- Cancelling Guardian Angel by jumping now launches Mercy in the direction she is facing during Guardian Angel.
- The more charge Mercy has on her meter, the more launch speed she’ll have when canceling Guardian Angel with a jump.
- Holding the backward directional input and canceling Guardian Angel launches Mercy in the opposite direction.
- Pressing Crouch during Guardian Angel now launches you straight up.
Mercy is the finest support in the game in terms of general consistency, but she lacks the powerful impact bursts that Ana and Lucio have. She is extremely valuable since she can quickly fly between teammates to heal or damage-boost them. Her flying Guardian Angel ability also makes her exceedingly "slippery" and makes her challenging for opponents' damaging heroes to take out.
She can also quickly heal after going a few seconds without taking any damage, thanks to her enhanced version of the support auto-heal passive. Additionally, Mercy's entire team can benefit from Valkyrie Ultimate's chainable healing and damage enhancements, which makes it a great tool for pushing and holding objectives.
Mercy is not very effective against hitscan heroes like Pharahor Echo and Ashe, who can easily throw others out of the air. Still, she is quite powerful against Soldier: 76 and Ashe. Notably, players can now boost themselves in any direction by glancing in that direction before jumping, which marks a significant advancement in Mercy's movement thanks to the Guardian Angel cancel-into-jump innovation.
By canceling Guardian Angel while their "boost meter" is tiny or high, players can decide how strong or weak they want their boost to be. Additionally, Mercy players can use a buddy to "springboard" themselves backward into cover by jumping and holding their rearward directional input. This could potentially save your life in several encounters.
18) Orisa
Orisa's overhaul in Overwatch 2 is likely the most important of all the changes made so far. Orisa is now an offensive-oriented character, similar to Reinhardt, who can push into enemy lines and force them back to gain ground, as opposed to the "bunker tank" she was in the first game.
The complete rundown of her new equipment is as follows:
- Protective Barrier removed.
- Halt! removed.
- Supercharger Ultimate removed.
- Base armor increased from 200 to 275. Base health increased from 200 to 275.
- Gained Augmented Fusion Driver. This weapon deals 12 damage per shot, has a critical hit bonus of 100%, and has a 15-25 meter damage falloff range. It also doesn't have a magazine and is instead heat-based. When the weapon overheats, players cannot fire for 3 seconds.
- Fortify now provides 125 Overhealth when activated, and it also prevents her from taking critical damage. It also reduces heat buildup on Orisa's Augmented Fusion Driver by 50% while active. Duration increased from 4 to 4.5 seconds.
- Gained Energy Javelin. This ability allows Orisa to throw an energy javelin that deals 60 damage, stuns enemies for 0.2 seconds, and knocks them back 6 meters. If an enemy collides with a wall when struck with the javelin, they take an additional 40 damage and are stunned for an extra 0.3 seconds. Six second cooldown.
- Gained Javelin Spin. Orisa rapidly spins an energy javelin for 1.75 seconds, destroying enemy projectiles and gaining a 50% buff to forward movement speed while active. Orisa can also use this ability to push enemies back and deal up to 90 damage. Seven second cooldown.
- Gained Terra Surge Ultimate. Orisa pulls enemies in and gains the effects of Fortify, dealing an area-of-effect attack over 4 seconds of charging. Releasing the attack deals up to 500 damage depending on how long the attack was charged. While the attack is charging, Terra Surge deals minor damage over time and slows enemy movement by 30%.
Players of Orisa must now effectively utilize her Energy Javelin and Javelin Spin ability to press into adversaries and gain territory due to the absence of her shield and Halt! crowd control. Her new Augmented Fusion Driver can deal a ton of damage up close, and she has more health and armor than she did previously, allowing her to absorb more damage.
She generally does a good job of dealing with most heroes, although she has trouble with aerial characters and "tank buster" heroes like Junkrat and Bastion. She is particularly vulnerable to Zarya, who has the primary fire of her Particle Cannon and may harm her with Javelin Spin.
19) Reaper
Overwatch 2 made some slight nerfs to Reaper:
- Hellfire Shotguns damage per pellet reduced from 6 to 5.4. Spread increased from 6 to 7.
Reaper's shotguns are slightly less effective in combat as a result of these modifications. Still, he is far more viable than he was in the first Overwatch game because the battlefields are more open and free of tanking abilities.
Since there aren't many stuns in the game that can still disrupt his Death Blossom Ultimate, he performs best against slower characters who aren't as mobile and can be easily flanked by his Shadow Step teleport. He struggles to defeat characters like Pharah, Mercy, Echo, Genji, and Tracer, who can regularly reposition or use the air as cover.
20) Reinhardt
Despite changes to make him more compatible with the Overwatch 2 metagame, Reinhardt mostly performs the same as he did in Overwatch.
What the designers modified was as follows:
- Steadfast passive removed (replace by global tank passive).
- Base armor increased from 200 to 300. Base health increased from 300 to 325.
- Barrier Field health reduced from 1600 to 1200. Regeneration rate reduced from 200 to 144 health per second.
- Charge steering turn rate increased by 50%. Can now be manually canceled. Charge Pin wall impact damage reduced from 300 to 225. Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds.
- Fire Strike now has two charges, but deals 90 damage instead of 100.
To make up for this reduction in lethality, Reinhardt's Charge and Fire Strike abilities have been made more controlled and approachable. Reinhardt is far more resilient than previously, but the changes to his Barrier Field make it tougher for him to shield his comrades for long periods of time.
When playing on narrower, less maneuverable maps like King's Row, Reinhardt succeeds while Winston and Doomfist, more mobile tanks, are outclassed by them. He can also effectively fight against Orisa because his Rocket Hammer and Charge may severely reduce her health when she doesn't have Fortify available.
21) Roadhog
Although the rest of Roadhog's kit is largely unchanged, his ultimate has been entirely reworked:
- Take a Breather healing increased from 300 to 350.
- The Whole Hog Ultimate now has to be fired manually, but it cannot be canceled with stuns. Additionally, Roadhog can use other abilities while Whole Hog is active.
With Take a Breather's increased healing, Roadhog may be a solo tank in the 5v5 era with greater fortitude and independence, and his Whole Hog Ultimate has improved a lot in terms of versatility.
The ability of Roadhog to combine Chain Hook pulls into his Whole Hog now gives him a lethal advantage over heroes that are easily wounded. As long as the Whole Hog is active, you can use Take a Breather to recover if necessary.
Roadhog is now regarded as Overwatch 2's worst tank, despite Whole Hog having improved. While unorganized teams can still be punished with the lethal Chain Hook and Scrap Gun combo, well-coordinated players can simply take advantage of Roadhog's limited combat options.
22) Sigma
Overwatch 2 has introduced slight nerfs with Sigma as follows:
- Base shields increased from 100 to 200.
- Accretion damage increased from 70 to 100.
- Experimental Barrier regeneration rate reduced from 120 to 100.
Sigma is currently the only other tank in Overwatch 2 after Reinhardt, who is able to defend his comrades with a conventional barrier. He is more resilient than previously because of the improvement in the health of his shield.
Sigma players won't be able to maintain their barrier's regeneration as frequently because of a modest nerf. However, his position still commands respect from his foes thanks to Sigma's tremendous damage output with Hyperspheres.
Sigma is ultimately a solid choice on terrain with lots of passageways and corners to bounce Hyperspheres about. Still, he will struggle against agile characters because they can quickly dodge his abilities.
23) Sojourn
Sojourn has undergone a number of balancing adjustments since her debut in the Overwatch 2 beta:
- Railgun primary fire fire rate reduced from 15 to 14 shots per second.
- Railgun secondary fire projectile radius scales from 0 up to 0.1 meters based on energy charge level. The higher the energy level, the bigger the projectile radius.
- Railgun energy gain from non-player targets (barriers, turrets, etc.) reduced by an additional 50%.
- Power Slide cooldown reduced from 7 to 6 seconds.
Though the modest nerf to her main fire and her efficacy versus non-player targets means that she can't accumulate charges as quickly as she used to, the Railgun update makes it simpler for Sojourn to score charging headshots with her sniper-like secondary fire. Her mobility options are also available on a more regular basis, thanks to the Power Slide cooldown modification.
With her quick movement, area-of-effect Disruptor Shot, and adaptable Railgun, Sojourn is one of Overwatch 2's greatest all-around characters. She is successful regardless of the team's makeup. In the correct hands, her Overclock Ultimate is also incredibly potent, enabling you to achieve significant multi-kills so long as you nail your headshots with Sojourn's Railgun.
24) Soldier: 76
In Overwatch 2, Soldier: 76 has seen several nerfs that are all intended to reduce his strength at a time when tanking shields are not as oppressive.
The following is a list of the modifications made by the developers:
- Heavy Pulse Rifle damage reduced from 20 to 18.
- The Tactical Visor Ultimate no longer removes damage falloff from the Heavy Pulse Rifle, though players can now score headshots while the Ultimate is active by aiming at an enemy's head.
Soldier: 76 is still a fairly potent choice due to the lack of shields in the game, but the damage reductions make it harder for him to overwhelm his opponents with pure firepower. Soldier: 76 is a trustworthy, steady, and all-around hero, even though he lacks the immediate impact of characters like Widowmaker or Ashe.
Helix Rockets and Biotic Field combined to give him one of the most self-sufficient damage heroes in the game. Helix Rockets are also useful for confirming kills on wounded foes.
Soldier: 76 will typically be most effective on battlefields where you can occupy a vantage point high above the capture point or payload objectives. He's also a potent foil for characters like Pharah, Mercy, and Echo.
25) Sombra
In Overwatch 2, Sombra saw a substantial transformation from her previous role as a team support, becoming more of an assassin-style character.
Here are some examples of how her skills were modified:
- Machine Pistol damage reduced from 8 to 7. Spread reduced by 10%.
- Hack cooldown reduced from 8 to 4 seconds, but the cooldown is no longer reduced when hacking health packs. Cast time increased from 0.65 to 0.85 seconds. Health pack hack duration reduced from 60 to 30 seconds. Ability lock duration reduced from 5 seconds to 1.75 seconds. Reveals hacked enemies through walls to Sombra's team for 8 seconds. Interrupting Hack during the channel time now incurs the full cooldown. Stun duration on Bob reduced from 5 seconds to 2 seconds. Hack now destroys Baptiste's Immortality Field.
- Stealth fade-in time reduced by 50%. Enemy detection radius increased from 2 to 4 meters.
- Sombra can now use Hack during Stealth without ending the Stealth ability, but is revealed to enemies while hacking and for 0.75 seconds after hacking.
- Gains Opportunist passive. Damage dealt to hacked targets is now increased by 40%.
In Overwatch 2, mobility is king, and Sombra is now one of the game's most potent mobile damage characters, thanks to these modifications. Her Hack now only blocks foes from activating abilities for 1.75 seconds, but it also causes the victim to receive 40% more damage from Sombra and her teammates and gives her team eight seconds to see where the target is.
Sombra is now far more effective at taking out enemies she manages to catch off guard thanks to these adjustments, as well as improvements to her Machine Pistol and the ability for her to hack while in stealth. Sombra is one of the finest characters in the game right now because she lacks any powerful countermeasures.
26) Symmetra
The core elements of Symmetra's gameplay haven't changed.
However, many of her skills have been modified for Overwatch 2:
- Photon Projector maximum ammo increased from 70 to 100. Primary fire no longer generates ammo when damaging barriers. Secondary fire projectile speed increased from 25 to 50. Secondary fire max damage reduced from 120 to 90 (45 impact, 45 explosion). Secondary fire max charge projectile size increased from 0.4 to 0.5. Secondary fire ammo cost increased from 7 to 10. Secondary fire charge time reduced from 1.2 seconds to 1 second.
- Teleporter build time reduced from 2 to 1 second. Teleporter now has a maximum lifetime of 10 seconds. Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds (starts when teleporter is placed). Health reduced from 300 to 200 (50 health, 150 shields). Range reduced from 30 to 22.
- Sentry Turret travel speed increased from 15 to 20. Movement speed reduction on targets reduced from 20% per turret to 15% per turret.
Although Symmetra's Photon Projector's maximum ammo has been increased, the multiple nerfs on its secondary fire make it harder for Symmetra to successfully "poke" at adversaries beyond her limited primary fire range.
This decreases Symmetra's overall uptime. Additionally, a health decrease for the former ability and an effective nerf for the latter ability cancels out the gains in Teleporter build time and Sentry Turret deployment speed.
Since Symmetra lacks the range to be effective in most damage hero duels and finds it difficult to keep up with the sequel's fast-paced metagame, she is arguably the worst hero in Overwatch 2. But in general, you're better off picking a different character. Some teleporter tactics can succeed if your adversary doesn't adjust to them.
27) Torbjörn
Blizzard has increased Torbjörn's battle uptime in Overwatch 2 by quickening the speed of fights.
The modifications that have already been made are listed below:
- Rivet Gun primary fire recovery reduced from 0.6 to 0.55 seconds. Rivet Gun secondary fire reduced from 0.8 to 0.7 seconds.
With the reductions to the fire recovery of the Rivet Gun, Torbjörn is now more able to keep up with the fast-paced nature of Overwatch 2. While he's far from being a meta pick, Torbjörn is still an effective choice against flankers since his turret can easily keep up with their movement abilities.
He's also a solid pick when coming up against slower compositions, as his Rivet Gun can do a surprising amount of damage to enemy shields, and his turret can whittle down slow and tanky characters from afar.
28) Tracer
In Overwatch 2, Tracer's Pulse Pistols underwent a minor nerf:
- Pulse Pistols damage reduced from 6 to 5.
Compared to how she fared in the first Overwatch, this update makes Tracer slightly less effective against non-armored targets. Yet, even with this damage drop, she still performs better against armored targets in Overwatch 2.
This is because while the armor in Overwatch 2 only decreases each bullet's damage by 30%, it did so in the original game's version, which lowered the damage of each bullet from Tracer's Pulse Pistols by 5 in total.
Tracer's bullets only dealt 1 damage to armored enemies in Overwatch, but 3.5 in Overwatch 2. Thanks to the strength of her Blink and Recall abilities, Tracer has always been one of Overwatch's most maneuverable heroes, and Overwatch 2 hasn't changed that.
29) Widowmaker
In Overwatch 2, Widowmaker's health has been increased, making her more resilient in battle:
- Base health increased from 175 to 200.
While the additional 25 health helps Widowmaker survive longer in the scrappier and more frantic encounters of Overwatch 2, she has largely remained unchanged so far. If you can hit your bullets, she's deadly at great ranges, but she won't be of much use in a close-quarters battle with other heroes.
She is currently one of the game's greatest damaging heroes due to the lack of effective countermeasures; your largest threat will probably be another Widowmaker or possibly a Hanzo, while Genji is also a danger due to his high mobility and Deflect ability.
30) Winston
In Overwatch 2, Winston saw some changes, including the addition of a new secondary fire skill:
- Base armor increased from 150 to 200.
- New Tesla Cannon secondary fire can be used to charge and release a 30-meter range jolt of electricity. It deals up to 50 damage and costs up to 12 ammo.
- Barrier Projector health increased from 650 to 700. Duration reduced from 9 to 8 seconds. Cooldown reduced from 13 to 12 seconds.
- Primal Rage Ultimate cost increased by 20%.
When Winston isn't leaping in to annoy heroes with squishy armor, he can use the secondary fire of his new Tesla Cannon to poke at other players. To account for this extra source of damage, the cost of Winston's Primal Rage Ultimate has been increased so that he does not receive his Ultimate at undesired rates. His barrier is now slightly more sturdy and has a shorter cooldown, while its duration has been reduced.
Winston has always been the best character in Overwatch. He got much stronger in Overwatch 2 thanks to his increased mobility, ability to break up opponent formations with his Barrier Projector bubble, and primary Tesla Cannon fire that can sever many adversaries at once.
31) Wrecking Ball
Wrecking Ball has received a buff that increases his durability, extending the time he can survive as a single tank.
The following are the modifications made to his stats and skills by the developers:
- Base armor increased from 100 to 150. Base health increased from 500 to 550.
- Adaptive Shield radius increased from 8 to 10 meters. Health gained per target increased from 75 to 100 health.
- Roll knockback increased by 36%.
The enhancements to Wrecking Ball's armor, health, and Adaptive Shield have made him more resistant than ever. This will aid him in surviving as he uses his machine guns to weaken heroes and knock the opposing squad about. Furthermore, Wrecking Ball's knockback against foes has been improved, enabling him to roll through opposing compositions and break them up more quickly.
Even with these improvements, Wrecking Ball is still viewed as a fringe pick in Overwatch 2. While Wrecking Ball is beneficial for fast approaching and contesting a location by rapidly rolling around it, other tank heroes are typically more effective. Another one of the game's top area denial moves is his Minefield Ultimate.
32) Zarya
In Overwatch 2, Zarya has undergone several changes that extend the duration her shield is active:
- Base health increased from 200 to 250. Base shields increased from 200 to 225.
- Particle Barrier (self-shield) now has a 10-second cooldown on a shared 2-charge system with Projected Barrier (shielding allies). Cooldown now begins immediately on ability use instead of when the barrier has expired. Barrier's duration increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds.
- Allies shielded with Projected Barrier cannot be targeted again by the ability for 2 seconds.
- Energy degeneration increased from 1.8 to 2.2 per second.
Zarya's ability to shield her team and deal potent damage has been greatly enhanced thanks to the addition of more health and shields, the ability to shield herself twice or protect two friends in fast succession, a slowed rate of energy degeneration, and the ability to shield herself twice.
Since her bubble shields can take a lot of damage and a few shields in the game can block her Particle Cannon, she is undoubtedly one of the strongest tanks in Overwatch 2 right now.
One of the few Ultimates, Graviton Surge also has the power to crowd-control agile heroes for simple follow-up damage. Like other grounded and brawny tanks, she is vulnerable to tank busters such as Bastion and Junkrat.
33) Zenyatta
Zenyatta is expected to be more resilient against flankers in Overwatch 2, according to the designers.
Here are some examples of the modifications made to him:
- Base shields decreased from 175 to 150.
- Orb of Discord time to fall off target when not in line of sight reduced from 3 to 2 seconds.
- Gained Snap Kick passive. Zenyatta's melee attacks deal 50% more damage (45 instead of 30) and knock enemies back significantly.
Although Zenyatta's new health Snap Kick passive helps him considerably against agile flankers, he is still susceptible to being dove by characters like Genji, Tracer, and Sombra, particularly since a recent nerf eliminated the extra 25 shield HP he previously got in the beta.
He's challenging to play in Overwatch 2's mobility-focused meta because of this. Still, he can be incredibly effective if you're willing to duel damage with heroes trying to kill you.
As a result of the Orb of Discord debuff, which makes tanks much easier to kill, Zenyatta is notable as being one of the few characters in the game that can facilitate easy kills against tanks. Because compared to Overwatch, Overwatch 2 has a metagame with substantially fewer shields.
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