Overwatch 2: All hero changes and character reworks

Update 12/6/2022: This list has been updated with the changes made with the arrival of Overwatch 2 Season 2.

As developer Blizzard Entertainment transitions Overwatch into the Overwatch 2 era, fans can expect several large balance changes for each of the game’s heroes. As Overwatch 2 brings Overwatch PvP to a 5v5 format with one fewer tank, many of the game’s heroes needed adjustments to remain balanced and viable. Some heroes got changed more than others, but very few heroes (if any) have remained just like they were in the original Overwatch.

The Overwatch 2 betas gave fans a taste of some of the balance adjustments that would come with the full release of the game, and now that the sequel is officially available, nearly all of the changes introduced during the betas have been brought to the live game. We’ll catalog all of Overwatch 2’s hero changes and reworks here. On top of that, we’ll also go over how each hero fits into Overwatch’s metagame and what you need to know about their strengths and weaknesses. Keep in mind that all of the changes listed below are subject to change, as the developers will no doubt make future adjustments based on player feedback and other data.

If you don’t see a hero on this list, it doesn’t mean that we forgot them. It just means that they haven’t gotten any changes in Overwatch 2 yet.

Global changes

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

These changes have been made globally to all heroes and hero abilities.

  • Players retain up to 30% of their Ultimate charge when switching to a different hero.
  • All damage heroes now gain a 35% 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 will have its damage reduced by that armor dynamically, with higher damage attacks being reduced less.

The introduction of role passives in Overwatch 2 gives each type of hero in the game distinct advantages. The ability to retain a 30% Ultimate charge when swapping between heroes encourages all players to be more flexible, while the 35% reload speed boost on elimination for damage heroes encourages aggressive and active playstyles. The 30% knockback resistance and 50% reduction in Ultimate charge given to tanks make them harder to forcibly move around and “farm” for Ultimates. Support heroes being able to rapidly heal after not taking damage gives them a significant self-sustaining boost, ensuring that enemies can’t easily whittle them down with chip damage over time.

The introduction of Overhealth also simplifies how getting extra health from abilities works, though it directly nerfs both Brigitte and Torbjörn since Brigitte’s Inspire Ultimate and Torbjörn’s Overload used to provide damage-reducing armor. They now provide Overhealth, which doesn’t have damage reduction properties, although it does reduce the amount of Ultimate charge that enemy players get when they damage you. 

Notably, armor health across the board has been buffed, and now reduces all damage by 30% instead of reducing damage taken by five points flatly. This means that armor will be more effective against large chunks of damage caused by abilities like Junkrat’s Concussion Mine or heavy-hitting projectile weapons like Pharah’s Rocket Launcher. There are some situations where the new armor is worse — weapons that shoot a high number of weak pellets like Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns used to struggle a lot more against armor since each individual pellet’s damage was reduced by five points — but overall, armor is more effective than it used to be.

Ana

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

The following changes have 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 14 seconds.
  • Ana’s Biotic Grenade duration has been reduced from 4 to 3 seconds.

Since Overwatch 2 has significantly reduced the presence of stun and boop abilities in the game, Ana’s Sleep Dart is one of the last few forms of hard crowd control. This makes it incredibly powerful, so Blizzard gave it a three-second cooldown nerf to lower its uptime. Ana’s ability to prevent the enemy team from healing with her Biotic Grenade is also incredibly powerful since there aren’t two tanks that can try to block it anymore, so the duration of its effects has been reduced by a full second. Finally, Ana’s primary Biotic Rifle weapon has been buffed with three more rounds in its magazine, allowing Ana to heal her teammates or damage enemies more before having to reload.

Overall, Ana is one of the strongest support heroes in Overwatch 2 despite the nerfs to her abilities. Her Sleep Dart can stop deadly Ultimates like Genji’s Dragonblade in their tracks, and it also gives her a defensive option against damage heroes who attempt to dive on her. Biotic Grenade’s anti-heal properties are also as valuable as they ever were. The additional rounds in her Biotic Rifle also give Ana more uptime in general, which is always a good thing.

Ashe

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Ashe hasn’t been changed much in Overwatch 2, though she has gotten one adjustment:

  • B.O.B. (Ashe’s Ultimate) has had his health reduced from 1,200 to 1,000 HP.

Ashe is a great mid-to-long-range hitscan hero in Overwatch 2. While Soldier: 76 and Widowmaker will generally be more effective in most cases, Ashe is a strong alternative if you’re going up against compositions with tanks like Reinhardt or Orisa. Her Dynamite area-of-effect ability is powerful against grouped-up enemies, and despite the nerf to B.O.B.’s health, he’s still great for contesting objectives like capture points or payloads.

Baptiste

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Baptiste got the following changes 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’s Regenerative Burst healing and Biotic Launcher healing uptime have been buffed in Overwatch 2 to make him more active in teamfights. You can heal groups of teammates much more with Regenerative Burst now, and the extra healing ammo in the Biotic Launcher makes it easier to effectively heal as Baptiste whenever your team isn’t grouped up.

Like in the original Overwatch, Baptiste is strongest when you take a defensive position on high ground with his Exo Boots jumps. Though Ana will likely be the better pick in most situations because of the power of Sleep Dart and Biotic Grenade, Baptiste can be a strong alternative if you have ranged damage characters like Soldier: 76, Sojourn, Ashe, or Cassidy. This is because the Amplification Matrix Ultimate boosts their damage significantly, and Immortality Field prevents them from being picked off by snipers like Widowmaker or Hanzo.

Bastion

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Bastion is one of the heroes that has gotten a complete rework in Overwatch 2. Here’s what you need to know:

  • 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.
    • Delay before projectile drops reduced from 1 to 0.6 seconds
    • Explosion damage reduced from 300 to 250
    • No longer deals explosion damage to self
    • Minimum delay between placing shots reduced by 20%
  • Ironclad passive is enabled again.
    • Provides 20% damage resistance while in Assault or Artillery form.
  • Reconfigure
    • Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds

Bastion’s rework in Overwatch 2 allows him to be more mobile than ever before while leveraging his minigun’s vicious power. His new A-36 Tactical Grenade ability is also very useful as both a burst damage weapon and as a tool for grenade jumps, allowing Bastion to get in unorthodox positions easily. The removal of Self-Repair makes him less self-sustainable, though his Ironclad passive that provides 20% damage reduction while in Assault or Artillery form makes him more durable than most damage characters. 

The Artillery Ultimate can be very powerful if used well, though players may escape the radius of your artillery rounds unless you pair it with an immobilizing Ultimate like Graviton Surge. It also leaves you unable to defend yourself while you’re aiming your shots, so make sure you use the Ultimate from a safe location.

Bastion was best used as a tank buster in the original Overwatch, and that’s largely the case in Overwatch 2 as well. He’s very powerful when played against Reinhardt and Sigma, though he struggles more against mobile heroes like Genji, Tracer, Reaper, and D.Va. In general, he’s still a very niche character, though he can still be quite effective in the right hands.

Brigitte

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Brigitte was one of the most frequently changed support heroes in the original Overwatch, and she got plenty of Shield Bash tweaks in Overwatch 2 as well. Here’s what you need to know:

  • 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.

Brigitte largely plays just like she did in the original Overwatch, with the key difference being her Shield Bash’s lack of a crowd control stun. Shield Bash is now more of a damage and utility tool, and it can quickly be used to escape from a bad position or deal a quick chunk of 50 damage for initiation or cleanup. While the lack of a stun on Shield Bash makes her less effective at fighting close-range damage heroes overall, the reduced cooldown on the ability allows Brigitte to use it more frequently.

Overall, Brigitte is best played alongside brawly close-range characters like Reinhardt, Doomfist, Roadhog, Reaper, and Mei. Her Inspire healing is incredibly easy to continuously proc since her Shield Bash can trigger it, and her Rocket Flail damage is quite good as well.

Cassidy

Cassidy

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Cassidy mostly plays like he did in the original Overwatch, but with one large change:

  • 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
  • Now grants 40% damage reduction.
  • 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. 
  • Ultimate cost has also been increased by 10%.

By far, the most significant change in Cassidy’s kit is the removal of his Flashbang. The Magnetic Grenade that replaces it is a powerful burst damage ability, but the lack of a stun means that Cassidy is now more vulnerable to close-range heroes such as Reaper, Tracer, and Doomfist. With that said, the Deadeye Ultimate is considerably more viable now than in the original Overwatch since it reduces incoming damage significantly and can be channeled for longer. The 10% cost increase is mostly compensation for the new Magnetic Grenade’s damage, so Cassidy players won’t notice it much.

Cassidy is one of Overwatch 2’s best mid-range duelists now that he has a burst damage ability to compliment the power of his Peacekeeper revolver, and also because his Combat Roll now gives him significant damage resistance. However, he’s not very effective against long-range heroes like Widowmaker. Additionally, since you no longer have a stun that can keep enemies in place, you shouldn’t use Fan the Hammer often unless you’re shooting into tank barriers.

D.Va

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

D.Va hasn’t been changed radically, though the adjustments she did receive have quite an impact. Here’s what they are:

  • 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 3.75.
  • Boosters impact damage increased from 10 to 15.
  • Micro Missiles cooldown reduced from 8 to 7 seconds.
  • Call Mech Ultimate cost reduced by 12%.

These changes make D.Va slightly less tanky overall than she was before due to the loss of 100 armor health. However, since armor is better overall in Overwatch 2, her armor health will be harder for enemies to get through. The extra 50 total health also gives her mech a better chance to survive instances of massive burst damage such as Roadhog’s Chain Hook into Scrap Gun combo. The buff to her movement speed and the reduction of her primary fire spread means that D.Va is now more mobile in combat and can land critical hits easier, making her more versatile and powerful.

By increasing the impact damage of her Boosters and slightly reducing the cooldown of Micro Missiles, D.Va will now be able to aggressively deal strong bursts of damage against her opponents more frequently. The lowered cost of her Call Mech Ultimate in “Baby D.Va” form will also make it easier for players to get their mech back if they lose it in combat.

Similar to the original game, the best way to use D.Va is to nullify enemy projectiles and abilities with her Defense Matrix while harassing foes with her Fusion Cannons and Micro Missiles. Her Boosters are also as useful as ever for chasing down enemies and bullying ranged heroes off high-ground positions.

Doomfist

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Doomfist is another hero who has gotten a complete rework in Overwatch 2; he’s now a tank instead of a damage character. Here’s a full breakdown of the most recent changes to his kit:

  • Rocket Punch
    • Impact damage range (minimum-maximum) increased from 15-30 to 25-50 damage
    • Wall slam damage range (minimum-maximum) reduced from 20-40 to 10-30 damage
    • Empowered Rocket Punch wall slam stun duration range reduced from 0.5-1 to 0.25-0.75 seconds
    • Non-Empowered Rocket Punch now stuns for the minimum 0.25 second duration on wall slam
    • Empowered Rocket Punch knockback radius reduced from 4 to 3 meters
    • Minimum time before cancel option becomes available reduced from 0.25 to 0.12 seconds
    • Cooldown reduced from 4 to 3 seconds
  • Power Block
    • Cooldown reduced from 8 to 7 seconds
    • Duration increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds
    • Minimum damage mitigated required to empower Rocket Punch reduced from 90 to 80 damage
  • Meteor Strike
    • Now empowers Rocket Punch on landing
    • Enemy slow duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds
  • The Best Defense…
    • Maximum temporary health increased from 150 to 200 health
    • Temporary health gained per target hit with abilities increased from 30 to 40 health

As a tank, Doomfist’s overall role in combat is now to soak up damage with Power Block and draw aggro from enemy players instead of assassinating squishy targets with his Rocket Punch. However, he can still dish out plenty of consistent damage and disrupt enemy formations with his knockbacks. While Rocket Punch isn’t nearly as powerful as it once was, its ability to push back multiple targets allows Doomfist to open enemies up to follow up damage from his allies. Seismic Slam now also works like Winston’s leap, allowing him to quickly get into the thick of the fight easily. The recent buffs given to him in Season 2 make him more deadly and less exploitable, which should raise his overall power level considerably.

Generally, Doomfist is most effective when fighting team compositions that don’t have much mobility, as heroes like Tracer and Genji can avoid his punches with relative ease. In contrast, grounded heroes such as Reinhardt, Orisa, Sigma, Bastion, and Soldier: 76 struggle to avoid Doomfist’s abilities. Doomfist is also a very strong counter to immobile supports like Zenyatta and Baptiste, as neither of them can quickly escape from Rocket Punch stuns or Seismic Slam dives.

Echo

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Echo is largely the same as she was in the original Overwatch, though her Ultimate has been nerfed in a significant way. Here’s what the developers changed:

  • 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.

Aside from a slight nerf to Echo’s Focusing Beam, the only difference between her kit in Overwatch 2 compared to the original is a 300 HP cap on her Duplicate Ultimate. This change was made because many Echo players felt like duplicating tanks was always the best option in fights due to their high health pools. Also, because tanks have been buffed significantly overall in Overwatch 2, being able to have two of them on the field without any limitations would likely have made Duplicate feel too strong.

Echo isn’t the strongest damage hero in Overwatch 2, but she’s still viable in the right hands. Her Flight and Glide abilities give her consistent and valuable mobility, while her Tri-Shot weapon and Sticky Bombs are capable of good burst damage. Her Focusing Beam is also one of the best abilities in the game for confirming kills despite the new nerf to it, as it ramps up to double damage whenever Echo’s target is at half health or below. 

She’s best played alongside a Mercy who can keep up with her airborne movements and heal or damage boost her. She also has a natural synergy with Zenyatta since his Orb of Harmony can keep her healed consistently while his Orb of Discord makes her Focusing Beam even better at finishing off injured heroes. She’s weak against characters with hitscan weapons such as Soldier: 76, Cassidy, and Ashe, and she’s also particularly vulnerable to being hooked by Roadhog.

Genji

(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Due to his recent resurgence in Overwatch 2, Blizzard has made some adjustments to his kit in an effort to tweak his overall effectiveness and uptime.

  • Maximum ammo reduced from 30 to 24.
  • Shuriken damage reduced from 29 to 27.

Genji has proven to be one of the deadliest DPS heroes in Overwatch 2 since the 5v5 metagame favors aggressive and mobile play. Though these nerfs reduce his damage uptime and make his shurikens a bit less deadly, he’s still a force to be reckoned with and one of the best damage characters you can play in “dive” compositions.

Hanzo

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Hanzo has only gotten one change in Overwatch 2, which is a slight nerf to his Storm Arrows:

  • Storm Arrow damage reduced from 70 to 65 per shot.

Assuming you don’t hit any headshots, this means that you’ll need four Storm Arrows to kill a 200 HP hero instead of three, which is likely a change that the developers made with Overwatch 2’s lower amount of shielding in mind. Aside from that, Hanzo plays just like he did in the original Overwatch, effectively fulfilling the role of mid-to-long-range sniper.

Widowmaker will generally be much more effective than Hanzo in most situations due to her longer range and hitscan sniper rifle, though Hanzo can be a better choice in maps with fewer long-range sightlines such as King’s Row. Hanzo is also arguably better than Widowmaker on Push maps, as he’s able to keep up with the back-and-forth nature of the mode more effectively. 

Generally, Hanzo is best against projectile characters like Pharah and Junkrat as well as Torbjörn and his turret, though he can also duel heroes like Cassidy and Ashe effectively, too. However, Hanzo struggles when facing shield-focused compositions lead by Reinhardt or Sigma, as their barriers make it difficult for him to deal effective damage.

Junker Queen

(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Following her initial release, Junker Queen has gotten a few changes:

  • Rampage radius reduced from 6 to 5 meters.
  • Torso and head hit volume size increased 12%
  • Rampage
    • Wound duration reduced from 5 to 4.5 seconds
    • Ultimate cost reduced by 10%
  • 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 reduced from 15 to 14 seconds
  • Adrenaline Rush
    • Adrenaline passive healing multiplier increased from 1 to 1.25x damage dealt by wounds

Junker Queen was playable during the second Overwatch 2 beta, and is now available since Overwatch 2 is officially live. She’s one of the most aggressive tank heroes that Blizzard has ever designed, with multiple abilities that help her close the distance with foes and then dish out strong damage.

Commanding Shout allows Junker Queen to buff herself and her allies with a speed boost and a burst of extra health, so she’s one of the best heroes for pushing through well-defended chokepoints. Her secondary fire allows her to stick enemy players with her knife and pull them towards her, while her Scatter Gun primary fire and Carnage axe slash ability give her options for dealing close-range burst damage. Junker Queen’s Ultimate, Rampage, gives her the ability to leap forward and slash at enemies in a wide arc, dealing damage and causing an anti-heal debuff similar to the one caused by Ana’s Biotic Grenade. 

She also has two passive abilities. The first turns her quick melee into a knife slash that wounds enemies and inflicts bleed damage. The second allows her to heal from all damage caused by the wounds inflicted by her knife slash, Carnage, and Rampage.

While Blizzard generally prefers to introduce new heroes in a powerful state, her Commanding Shout ability has had its overall effectiveness reduced since it was proving to be too oppressive. With that said, Season 2 buffs have improved her healing abilities and have made her Ultimate less expensive, though she’s a little easier to hit now due to hitbox adjustments.

Junkrat

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Junkrat’s Frag Launcher has been buffed considerably for Overwatch 2, though overall, very little of his kit has changed.

  • Frag Launcher projectile size increased from 0.2 to 0.25.
  • Steel Trap
    • Damage has been increased from 80 to 100.
    • Projectile speed has been increased from 10 to 15.
    • Arming time increased from 0.5 to 0.75 seconds. 
    • Trapped duration reduced from 3 to 2.5 seconds.

Junkrat’s Frag Launcher projectiles now have a larger hitbox, which will make it easier for players to directly hit opponents with grenades and achieve maximum damage. Steel Trap is also more effective in Overwatch 2 compared to the original’s version damage-wise, though it takes a little longer to arm and doesn’t trap opponents for as long.

In our opinion, Junkrat is a hero whom many players sleep on. He’s not as mobile as characters like Genji, Tracer, or Sombra, but he’s still able to move around the map relatively quickly with Concussion Mine jumps. On top of this, his Frag Launcher is capable of incredible damage if you master its projectiles, and combining it with the burst damage of one of his Concussion Mines can result in some very quick kills. 

He’s also effective at blowing through Reinhardt and Sigma barriers, and he’s even a solid pick against Doomfist since the Steel Trap halts him in his tracks and prevents him from using the abilities he needs to stay alive. Other heroes are much more reliable and consistent overall but don’t overlook Junkrat if you’re struggling to deal with tanky compositions or want to surprise your opponents with an off-meta hero.

Kiriko

(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Since her introduction, Kiriko has gotten some changes that make her Ultimate a little less powerful, but also help her feel more consistent and responsive:

  • Arm hit volumes width reduced 15%
  • Added an auto-wall climb hero option
  • Kitsune Rush
    • Ultimate cost increased by 10%
    • Movement speed bonus reduced from 50 to 30%
    • Cooldown rate reduced from 3 to 2 times faster
  • Protection Suzu
    • Cast time reduced from 0.15 to 0.1 second
  • Kunai
    • Ammo increased from 12 to 15
  • Swift Step
    • Ability input can now be held to activate

Kiriko is the third and final new Overwatch 2 launch hero, and she’s also the first new support hero since Baptiste was released in 2019. Much like Brigitte, she’s a “battle healer” that excels on the frontline since she’s capable of doling out impactful healing and powerful damage. Her Healing Ofuda provide strong single-target healing that’s easy to aim since they track to her allies, while her secondary Kunai deal plenty of good damage when she lands critical hits with them.

Kiriko’s Protection Suzu ability also allows her to throw out a bell that makes her and her allies invincible for a a brief moment, which can be used to save teammates from deadly Ultimates and other powerful abilities. It even cleanses debuffs and stuns, allowing Kiriko to counter enemy Reinhardt Earthshatters, Ana Biotic Grenades, and more. When she needs to retreat or get close to a teammate, Kiriko can use her Swift Step. This move lets her instantly teleport to an ally, and even works through walls.

Finally, there’s Kiriko’s Kitsune Rush Ultimate. This ability creates a large path on the ground that buffs Kiriko and her allied with increased movement, attack, and reload speed, as well as quicker ability cooldowns. It’s fantastic for pushing objectives, but can also be used effectively in defensive situations when your team is moving to counterattack the enemy after successfully fending off their initial assault. Even though it was nerfed at the start of Season 2, it’s still an excellent Ultimate with high game-winning potential.

Lucio

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Lucio is another hero who hasn’t changed much in Overwatch 2, though some notable balance tweaks were made.

  • Crossfade self-healing penalty increased from 30% to 60%.
  • Sound Barrier Ultimate cost reduced 12%.

In Overwatch 2, Lucio gets his Sound Barrier Ultimate noticeably faster, although his ability to heal himself with his Crossfade ability has been nerfed to balance the fact he can now self-heal an additional 15 HP/second thanks to the new support hero passive. This means that Lucio will be less efficient at healing himself if you’re not good at using wall riding to avoid being damaged, but he’ll be more self-sufficient if you can wall ride out of enemy range or into cover while fighting.

Lucio is arguably the strongest support hero in Overwatch 2 right now since his ability to speed up his allies is extremely powerful in the 5v5 era, and the fact that he can duel many damage heroes effectively makes him very versatile. He’s very effective in any composition and can be quite difficult to counter. Lucio’s biggest threats are characters with abilities that can counter his speed with slowing effects, such as Mei or Doomfist. He can also struggle to fight long-range characters like Pharah, Ashe, or Widowmaker, though good Lucio players will undoubtedly be very difficult to hit with precision heroes like these.

Mei

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Mei has received a plethora of changes in Overwatch 2 that alter how she plays, though she’s very similar to the original Overwatch version. Here are the tweaks the developers made:

  • 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 losing the ability to hard stun a player by freezing them seems like a nerf, the fact that her Endothermic Blaster’s damage per second has been doubled means her damage output is more consistent. On top of that, the weapon can fully slow down players instantly now, making that aspect of her kit more useful overall. Ice Wall is still a powerful tool for splitting up enemy formations or protecting teammates from damage despite the nerf to its health, and while the Blizzard Ultimate does have a higher cost, Mei’s increased damage output means that in reality, you’ll get it just as fast as you did in the original game. Blizzard also still has the ability to freeze targets, making it a very potent objective-clearing Ultimate.

Mei is best played both with and against grounded and brawly heroes such as Reinhardt, Sigma, Orisa, Junkrat, and Bastion. She’s still a niche pick due to how powerful more mobile heroes are on most maps, but she’s a good choice in tighter maps like Dorado or King’s Row. She gets hard countered by long-range heroes like Pharah and Widowmaker, though.

Mercy

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Mercy got a few changes in Overwatch 2, including tweaks to the way her movement mechanics work:

  • 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.
  • Weapon swap time reduced from 0.5 to 0.35 seconds
  • Caduceus Blaster
    • Ammo increased from 20 to 25

Mercy lacks the huge bursts of impact that supports like Ana and Lucio have, but the tradeoff is that she’s also the best support in the game in terms of overall consistency. Her ability to rapidly fly between teammates and heal or damage boost them is very valuable, and her Guardian Angel flying ability also makes her very “slippery” and difficult for enemy damage heroes to pick off. 

Her improved version of the support auto-heal passive also allows her to heal quickly after not taking damage for a few seconds. Plus, the Valkyrie Ultimate’s ability to chain healing or damage boosts to Mercy’s entire team makes it an excellent tool for pushing or holding objectives. Mercy is weak to hitscan characters like Soldier: 76 and Ashe who can shoot her out of the air easily, but is very effective with other airborne characters such as Pharah or Echo.

Notably, the recent adjustments to Mercy’s Guardian Angel cancel-into-jump tech make her movement more advanced than ever before, as players can boost themselves in any direction by looking towards it before jumping. Players can also choose how weak or strong they want their boost to be by cancelling Guardian Angel when their “boost meter” is small or large, respectively. Additionally, the ability to fling yourself backwards by jumping and holding your backwards directional input allows Mercy players to use a teammate to “springboard” themselves backwards into cover, which has the potential to save your life in many engagements.

Orisa

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Out of all of the reworks in Overwatch 2 so far, Orisa’s is arguably the most significant. Compared to the “bunker tank” she was in the original game, Orisa is now an offense-oriented character who can push into enemy lines and push them back to take ground, similar to Reinhardt. Here’s a full breakdown of her new kit:

  • 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%.

With the removal of her shield and Halt! crowd control, Orisa players now need to make effective use of her Energy Javelin and Javelin Spin ability to push into enemies and take ground. Her extra health and armor allow her to soak up more damage than she could before, and her new Augmented Fusion Driver can deal tons of damage up close (though it becomes less effective at range). 

She’s generally pretty effective against most heroes, though she struggles to deal with airborne characters and “tank buster” heroes like Junkrat and Bastion. She’s also weak against Zarya, as Zarya can damage her through her Javelin Spin with her Particle Cannon primary fire.

Pharah

(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Pharah has received a few small buffs in Overwatch 2. Here’s what has changed:

  • Rocket Launcher reload starts 0.25 seconds faster when out of ammo.
  • Concussive Blast now deals 30 damage and deals additional knockback on direct hits.

The improvements to her Rocket Launcher and Concussive Blast are nice, but overall, Pharah continues to struggle in Overwatch 2 since the hitscan heroes that naturally counter her are very strong. She’s capable of huge damage from above if you can catch foes off-guard, but unless the map you’re on has tall structures you can use to take cover or hide your approach while flying, you’ll be easy pickings for an accurate Soldier: 76, Ashe, or Widowmaker. If you do decide to play Pharah, make sure you have a Mercy that can fly with you, heal you, and damage boost your rockets.

Reaper

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Reaper has gotten some minor nerfs to his shotguns in Overwatch 2:

  • Hellfire Shotguns
    • Damage per pellet reduced from 6 to 5.4. 
    • Spread increased from 6 to 7.

These changes to Reaper’s shotguns make them slightly less potent in combat, but since the battlefields of Overwatch 2 are more open and aren’t as clogged up with tanking abilities, Reaper is significantly more viable overall than he was in the original game. 

He’s best against slower characters who don’t have much mobility and can be easily flanked with his Shadow Step teleport, especially since there aren’t many stuns in the game that can interrupt his Death Blossom Ultimate anymore. However, he has a hard time fighting characters who can frequently reposition or take to the skies, such as Pharah, Mercy, Echo, Genji, and Tracer.

Reinhardt

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Reinhardt largely plays the same as he did in Overwatch, though he’s been tweaked to fit better into the Overwatch 2 metagame. Here’s what the developers changed:

  • Steadfast passive removed (replaced 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 cancelled. 
    • Charge Pin wall impact damage reduced from 300 to 225. 
    • Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds.
  • Fire Strike
    • Now has two charges.
    • Damage reduced from 100 to 90.

The lethality of Reinhardt’s Charge and Fire Strike abilities have been lowered, but they’ve been made more controllable and accessible to compensate. The nerfs to his Barrier Field make it harder for him to shield his teammates for extended periods, though the buff to his health and armor pool means that Reinhardt is much more durable than before.

Reinhardt is outclassed by more mobile tanks like Winston and Doomfist on maps that are more open, but he excels in maps like King’s Row that are tighter and have less room for maneuvering. He’s also effective at brawling against Orisa, as his Rocket Hammer and Charge can chunk her health down significantly whenever she doesn’t have Fortify available.

Roadhog

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Roadhog’s Ultimate has been reworked completely, though the rest of his kit is more or less the same:

  • Take a Breather healing increased from 300 to 350.
  • Whole Hog
    • Now has to be fired manually, but it cannot be cancelled with stuns. 
    • Additionally, Roadhog can use other abilities while Whole Hog is active.

Take a Breather’s increased healing allows Roadhog to be more resilient and self-sufficient as a solo tank in the 5v5 era, while the rework to his Whole Hog Ultimate makes it much more versatile. Now, Roadhog can combo Chain Hook pulls into his Whole Hog, allowing him to pick off squishy heroes with deadly efficiency. You can also use Take a Breather while Whole Hog is active to heal up if necessary.

Even with the rework to Whole Hog, Roadhog is generally considered to be the worst tank in Overwatch 2 right now. While the deadly Chain Hook and Scrap Gun combo is as effective as ever for punishing disorganized teams, coordinated players can exploit Roadhog’s lack of additional combat options very easily. On top of that, Roadhog doesn’t have any form of damage mitigation for his teammates to take advantage of, meaning that he doesn’t offer any protection.

Sigma

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Sigma has gotten some notable buffs and a slight nerf in Overwatch 2:

  • Base shields increased from 100 to 200.
  • Accretion damage increased from 70 to 100.
  • Experimental Barrier regeneration rate reduced from 120 to 100.

Aside from Reinhardt, Sigma is now the only other tank in Overwatch 2 who can protect his teammates with a traditional barrier. The buff to his shield health makes him more durable than he was before, while the increased damage of Accretion makes the ability more powerful and rewarding to land. The slight nerf to his barrier’s regeneration means that Sigma players won’t be able to keep it up as often, but Sigma’s high damage output with Hyperspheres still forces enemies to respect his position.

Ultimately, Sigma is a strong pick in maps that have lots of hallways and corners to bounce Hyperspheres around, but will struggle against agile characters since they can dodge his abilities easily. His lack of long range moves also makes him weak to snipers like Hanzo or Widowmaker.

Sojourn

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Since she was introduced in the Overwatch 2 beta, Sojourn has had a handful of balance changes that reduce her oppressiveness at longer ranges and lower her overall one-shot kill potential:

  • Railgun
    • Primary fire fire rate reduced from 15 to 14 shots per second.
    • 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.
    • Energy delay before draining reduced from 8 to 5 seconds
    • Secondary fire damage falloff starting range reduced from 70 to 40 meters
    • Secondary fire critical damage multiplier reduced from 2 to 1.5
    • Secondary fire damage now scales linearly with energy from 30 to 130 damage (1 energy converts to 1 damage added)
    • Primary fire damage per projectile increased from 9 to 10
    • Overclock energy charge rate increased by 20%
    • Railgun energy gain from non-player targets (barriers, turrets, etc.) reduced by an additional 50%.
  • Power Slide cooldown reduced from 7 to 6 seconds.

The Railgun change makes it easier for Sojourn to land charge headshots with her sniper-like secondary fire, though the slight nerf to her primary fire and her effectiveness against non-player targets means that she can’t build charge as rapidly as she could previously. Also, the Power Slide cooldown adjustment gives her access to her mobility options on a more frequent basis. The nerfs to her range and crit multiplier in Season 2 make her more of a mid-range hero than a long-range one, but aside from that, she plays just like she did in the Overwatch 2 beta. (refer to our Overwatch 2 Sojourn ultimate guide for more details on the character’s kit).

Sojourn is one of the best jack-of-all-trades characters in Overwatch 2, as her rapid mobility, area-of-effect Disruptor Shot, and versatile Railgun all make her effective regardless of team composition. Her Overclock Ultimate is also extremely powerful in the right hands, allowing you to score big multikills as long as you hit your headshots with Sojourn’s Railgun. Her biggest counters are barrier heroes like Reinhardt and Sigma. D.Va is also strong against Sojourn since she can use Defense Matrix to “eat” her Railgun shots.

Soldier: 76

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Soldier: 76 has received some new nerfs in Overwatch 2, all of which are designed to make him less powerful in an era where tanking shields are less oppressive. Here’s a list of what the developers changed:

  • Heavy Pulse Rifle damage reduced from 20 to 18.
  • Tactical Visor
    • 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.

The reductions to Soldier’s damage make it tougher for him to overpower his opponents with raw firepower, though he’s still a very powerful pick since there aren’t many shields in the game anymore. Though he doesn’t have the burst impact of characters like Widowmaker or Ashe, Soldier: 76 is a very reliable, consistent, and well-rounded hero. His Helix Rockets are also effective at confirming kills on injured targets, and Biotic Field makes him one of the most self-sufficient damage heroes in the game.

Generally, Soldier: 76 will be the most powerful on maps where you can perch on high ground overlooking capture point or payload objectives. He’s also an effective counter to heroes like Pharah, Mercy, and Echo. However, he has a shorter effective range than Ashe or Widowmaker and lacks the vertical mobility offered by Sojourn’s Power Slide.

Sombra

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Sombra has been changed significantly in Overwatch 2, and is now more of an assassin-style character rather than a team support. Here’s a look at how her abilities were changed:

  • 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 1.5 seconds. 
    • Reveals hacked enemies through walls to Sombra’s team for 8 seconds. 
    • Interrupting Hack during the channel time now incurs the full cooldown. 
    • Hacked targets are no longer valid targets for hacking for the duration of the effect. 
    • 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 25%.

Mobility is generally the meta in Overwatch 2, and these changes to Sombra make her one of the game’s most effective mobile damage heroes. While her Hack now only prevents enemies from using abilities for just 1.5 seconds, it also makes the victim take 25% more damage from Sombra and her allies and allows her team to see their position for eight seconds. These values were recently reduced from 1.75 and 40%, respectively, as the developers felt Sombra was too strong overall.

These changes, alongside the buffs to Sombra’s Machine Pistol and the ability for Sombra to Hack while in Stealth, make her effective at picking off enemies she’s able to catch off guard. Sombra has no strong counters at the moment, making her one of the best heroes in the game.

Symmetra

(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Many of Symmetra’s abilities have been adjusted for Overwatch 2, though the fundamental way she plays has remained the same.

  • Photon Projector
    • Maximum ammo increased from 70 to 100. 
    • 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.
    • Beam charge rate and decay rate increased by 20%
    • Primary fire ammo consumption rate increased from 7 to 10 per second
    • Primary fire gains ammo from damaging barriers again
  • 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.

While the buff to Symmetra’s Photon Projector maximum ammo gives her more uptime overall, the various nerfs to its secondary fire make it more difficult for Symmetra to effectively “poke” at enemies outside of her short primary fire range. Additionally, the improvements to Teleporter build speed and Sentry Turret deployment speed are offset by a health reduction for the former ability and effectiveness nerf for the latter.

Ultimately, Symmetra is probably the weakest hero in Overwatch 2 since she doesn’t have enough range to be effective in most damage hero duels and struggles to keep up in the fast-paced metagame of the sequel. Some teleporter strategies can work if your opponent doesn’t adapt to them, but overall, you’re better off choosing a different character. She was a solid pick when Overwatch had more shields and tanks and defending chokepoints was a larger part of the game’s combat flow, but that era has passed.

Torbjörn

(Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

With Overwatch 2 increasing the pace of encounters, Blizzard has improved Torbjörn’s overall combat uptime. Here are the tweaks that have been made so far:

  • 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.

Tracer

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Tracer’s Pulse Pistols were nerfed slightly in Overwatch 2, but were recently brought back to their original power level in Season 2:

  • Damage increased from 5 to 6.

Now that Tracer’s Pulse Pistols once again do 6 damage per pellet, she plays exactly like she did during the original Overwatch. As a result, she’s one of the few heroes that still plays exactly like she did in the original game.

Tracer has always been one of Overwatch’s most mobile heroes thanks to the power of her Blink and Recall abilities, and that hasn’t changed in Overwatch 2. She’s a fantastic hero who performs well when harassing supports like Mercy and Zenyatta, and she’s also better against tanks now thanks to the way armor damage mitigation has been reworked. She can also duel most damage heroes in the game effectively, but will have a harder time killing airborne targets like Pharah or faraway enemies like Widowmaker. She’s also a weaker choice against Torbjörn, as his turret can keep up with her mobility and she can be killed in one headshot up close by the alternate fire of his Rivet Gun.

Widowmaker

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Widowmaker has received a health buff in Overwatch 2 that makes her more durable in combat:

  • Base health increased from 175 to 200.

Widowmaker so far remains mostly unchanged in Overwatch 2, though the extra 25 health helps her stay alive longer in the scrappier and fast-paced fights of the sequel. While she won’t get any value fighting other heroes up close, she’s deadly at long ranges as long as you can hit your shots. 

She’s one of the strongest damage heroes in the game right now due to the lack of strong counters; your biggest threat will likely be another Widowmaker or perhaps a Hanzo, though Genji is also a threat with his high mobility and Deflect ability.

Winston

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Winston received some changes in Overwatch 2, including a new secondary fire ability:

  • Base armor increased from 150 to 200.
  • Tesla Cannon 
    • New 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%.

Winston’s new Tesla Cannon secondary fire allows him to poke at enemy players whenever he’s not diving in with his leap to harass squishy heroes. To account for this additional source of damage, his Primal Rage Ultimate cost has been raised so that Winston doesn’t get his Ultimate at unintended rates. His barrier has also been made slightly more durable and has a shorter cooldown, though the duration of the barrier itself has been lowered.

Winston has always been a top-tier pick in Overwatch, and he’s even better in Overwatch 2 since Winston is very mobile and has the ability to split up enemy formations with his Barrier Projector bubble, cleaving multiple enemies at once with his Tesla Cannon primary fire. He has the firepower to take down damage and support heroes fairly quickly, and though he isn’t able to fight with the opposing team’s tank very well, he can use his leap to stay away from them. Winston is also one of the few tanks that’s capable of effectively dealing with Widowmaker and other long-range heroes since he can leap to them from afar, forcing them to retreat or reposition. 

Winston’s main counters are characters that can dish out high volumes of damage very quickly, such as Bastion or Reaper.

Wrecking Ball

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Wrecking Ball has been buffed with extra durability that will help him stay alive longer as a solo tank. Here’s what the developers changed about his stats and abilities:

  • 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%.

Between the buffs to his armor and health and the improvements to his Adaptive Shield, Wrecking Ball is more resilient than he’s ever been before. This will help him survive as he knocks the enemy team around and softens heroes up with his machine guns. Additionally, Wrecking Ball’s knockback against enemies has been buffed, allowing him to roll through enemy compositions and split them apart more easily.

Despite these buffs, though, Wrecking Ball is considered a niche pick in Overwatch 2. In most cases, other tank heroes are more effective, though Wrecking Ball is useful for quickly getting to and contesting a point by rapidly rolling around it. His Minefield Ultimate is also one of the best area denial abilities in the game, and if you manage to get it during Overtime, it can often be game-winning.

Zarya

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

Zarya has some changes that give her more shield uptime in Overwatch 2:

  • Base health increased from 200 to 250. Base shields increased from 200 to 225.
  • Particle Barrier
    • Now has 11-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.
  • 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.

With the ability to shield herself twice or protect two allies in quick succession, a reduced energy degeneration rate, and extra health and shields, Zarya’s ability to protect her team and dish out powerful damage has been significantly increased. She’s arguably one of the strongest tanks in Overwatch 2 right now, as her bubble shields can soak up lots of damage and there aren’t many shields in the game that can stop her Particle Cannon. Graviton Surge is also one of the few Ultimates that can force agile heroes into a clump for easy follow-up damage. 

Recent nerfs to her barrier cooldown and duration make her more susceptible to damage overall, but she’s still difficult to take down once she gets high energy. Like other grounded and brawly tanks, she struggles against tank busters like Bastion and Junkrat.

Zenyatta

Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Image credit: Source: Blizzard Entertainment)

In Overwatch 2, the developers have attempted to give Zenyatta some extra survivability against flankers. Here’s a look at the changes 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.
  • Zenyatta no longer gains increased firing speed from Kiriko’s Kitsune Rush Ultimate.

While Zenyatta’s health new Snap Kick passive help him against agile flankers somewhat, he’s still vulnerable to being dove by characters like Genji, Tracer, and Sombra, especially since a recent nerf removed the extra 25 shield HP he gained in the beta previously. Because of this, he’s tough to play in the mobility-focused meta of Overwatch 2, although he can be very powerful if you’re confident enough to duel damage heroes looking to take you out.

Notably, Zenyatta is one of the few characters in the game that can enable quick kills against tanks, as the Orb of Discord debuff makes them significantly easier to take down. Since the Overwatch 2 metagame has significantly fewer shields compared to the original Overwatch, it’s much harder to mitigate the 30 percent damage amplification effects of Orb of Discord. Because of this, the hero has quickly become a popular choice at higher skill levels despite his lack of mobility. 

Recently, Zenyatta’s ability to fire his Orbs of Destruction faster when buffed by Kiriko’s Kitsune Rush Ultimate was removed. This is because he could put out a ridiculously overwhelming amount of damage this way. As a result of this change, he’s less effective than other characters with Kitsune Rush, although he still benefits from the increased movement and reload speed.


Overwatch 2 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch. It’s arguably one of the best Xbox shooters available, and since it’s free-to-play, it doesn’t cost anything to check it out. Alternatively, players can purchase the Overwatch 2: Watchpoint Pack that provides access to the current Premium Battle Pass, 2,000 Overwatch Coins, and a bundle of unique Legendary skins.

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