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Overwatch 2‘s launch hasn’t exactly gone according to plan, but the competitive team shooter has proven to be shockingly popular so far. Of course, that sudden surge in popularity means that Overwatch players everywhere are suddenly finding themselves wondering which Overwatch character is right for them.
Even veteran Overwatch fans are still figuring out which of the game’s heroes are really the “best.” Not only were some legacy Overwatch characters drastically reworked for the sequel, but Overwatch’s 2‘s new 5 vs. 5 format (and the addition of a few new heroes) upended the nature of the game’s competitive meta. Strategies, team compositions, and hero picks that once worked suddenly feel questionable or even useless. It’s a whole new ballpark (even if the game itself is surprisingly similar to what came before).
Before we get into all that, though, here are a few points to keep in mind regarding these rankings.
- With a couple of possible exceptions (more on those in a bit), there really aren’t many Overwatch 2 characters that are so powerful that you’re basically forced to pick them. There are many times when the best character will still be the one that you’re most comfortable with.
- Consistency was the biggest determining factor in these rankings. The more reliable a character is in a greater variety of situations, the more likely they were to rank higher on this list.
- These rankings were determined with players of average skill level in mind. In other words, it doesn’t account for the possibility that you might be very, very good at a particular Overwatch character. Having said that, I have identified a few instances where the relative skill level of a player may impact the relative ranking of a specific character.
- Finally, Overwatch 2 is very much a work in progress. While these rankings reflect a character’s current standings, you should expect these rankings to change as subsequent balance updates are released.
With that out of the way, here are our rankings of every character in Overwatch 2.
Overwatch 2: Every Healer Character Ranked Worst to Best
8. Zenyatta
7. Baptiste
6. Brigitte
5. Mercy
4. Kiriko
3. Moira
2. Ana
1. Lucio
A great Zenyatta player is still a wonderful thing to have on your team, but the difference between a great Zenyatta and a good one is more noticeable than ever at the moment. You really need to be able to manage his orbs as well as take care of yourself when an enemy jumps on you. The right Zenyatta is the best asset a team can have. The wrong Zenyatta will cost you a game. The swing is wild.
Baptiste exists in a strange kind of “meta void” at the moment. He’s a fine healer who is pretty easy to turn into a decent damage dealer. The problem is that Baptiste doesn’t really excel at anything at the moment. He’s a perfectly fine pick that is best thought of as a nice companion to a great Lucio player.
Brigitte is no longer the stun lock powerhouse she used to be, and you’ll certainly never be able to use her as a primary healer. However, Brigitte can be used as a kind of off-tank in a surprising number of situations. She won’t completely replace the second tank that Overwatch 2 got rid of, but she can open up some neat strategies.
Mercy is interesting. You can’t really replace what Mercy brings to the party, but since Overwatch 2 only lets you roll out with one real tank, Mercy isn’t quite the obvious pick that she used to be. While Mercy still pairs well with a pure tank like Reinhardt, how much value you get out of her beyond that really depends on how good you are at bouncing between DPS players and keeping yourself alive. Such as it is, Mercy’s slow, single-target healing and lack of defenses are both notable drawbacks.
I worry that I’m underrating Kiriko, but I’m not entirely sold on Overwatch 2’s newest hero quite yet. She’s a surprisingly capable damage dealer who is blessed with some fantastic defensive abilities and an amazing Ultimate. At the moment, though, I find that too many Kiriko players tend to focus too much on either healing or dealing damage rather than finding a way to balance both aspects of this character. That may be more of a user error issue than a character design flaw, though.
Some players hate (or just don’t care about) Moira, but I’m rarely sad to see one on my team. She was built for the kind of damage/healing role that a lot of second support characters need to emphasize at the moment. She has all the right tools (even if her Ultimate can sometimes whiff) needed to thrive at the moment, and she’s pretty easy to learn.
It’s hard to go wrong with Ana once you’ve learned how to use her toolkit. Her Ultimate and Biotic Grenade are two of the best support abilities in the game, and her Sleep Dart is now one of the few “stun” abilities left in Overwatch 2. It’s hard to properly use Ana if your aim is less than great, but her potential is undeniable.
Finally, there’s Lucio. Lucio was basically built to thrive in Overwatch 2’s speedy meta. There’s not a single situation in which a good Lucio player can’t help their team, and a great Lucio player can do so much more than that. At some point, something is going to have to be done about this character. He’s just that good.
Overwatch 2: Every Tank Character Ranked Worst to Best
10. Roadhog
9. Wrecking Ball
8. Winston
7. Reinhardt
6. Sigma
5. Junker Queen
4. Doomfist
3. Orisa
2. Zarya
1. D.Va
Roadhog is really the odd tank out at the moment. As a secondary tank in the original Overwatch, he occupied a strange place in most of that game’s meta. As a solo tank in Overwatch 2, he doesn’t really have a clear home. Unless you’re a 1%, top-tier Roadhog hook user, you should look elsewhere.
Wrecking Ball and Winston suffer from a similar problem. As off-tanks, they were disruptive nightmares. As primary tanks, they can too often be liabilities that aren’t always equipped to handle the attention they draw. Winston is definitely the better of the two so far as that goes, but they’re two tanks that demand a very well-coordinated team of speedsters.
Reinhardt has the opposite problem. He’s still the best shield tank in the game, but the increased speed of the Overwatch 2 meta can sometimes make his purely defensive style a liability. While he’s undeniably invaluable in specific situations, those situations aren’t as common as they once were. At the very least, you need to play him more aggressively than you’re probably used to.
Sigma is interesting. While he’s not the most obvious candidate for the one-tank meta, he does bring an interesting blend of survivability and damage to the table. My biggest problem with Sigma is that there are other tanks that just offer a little more in most areas. A great Sigma player is a tremendous asset, but there may be better characters to learn at the moment.
Junker Queen is arguably a DPS character wearing a tank disguise. While she won’t be topping many damage charts, her ability to cause chaos while surviving leaps of faith into the fray is certainly notable. She only has so much to offer as far as team defenses go, but as a pushing tank, she’s a great option.
Doomfist can usually be found at the very bottom or very top of these kinds of lists. I can honestly see arguments for and against him as your tank. However, as the lead tank in a “dive comp,” he’s tough to replace. Like Winston before, Doomfist excels at jumping into a group of enemies and causing chaos while picking off stragglers. It takes a while to learn how to use him, but a great Doomfist player shows you why that process may be worth the effort.
Orisa is another divisive tank. While Orisa isn’t quite the defensive powerhouse she used to be, she does offer an undeniably appealing blend of survivability, damage, and crowd control. Think of her as a durable extra DPS that can also keep your team in the fight during big brawls. Her strengths make up for her weaknesses.
Zarya is just amazing at the moment. Her bubbles allow her to keep herself, and any otherwise squishy DPS players, alive longer than they have any right to stay alive. Her Ultimate is also still one of the best ways to turn the tide of a fight or secure a victory. I see her as the Reinhardt substitute that a lot of people are looking for in Overwatch 2.
Finally, there’s D.Va. Between her Defensive Matrix ability that can shut down some of the most valuable enemy skills in the game and her devastating combination of mobility and damage, D.Va brings a lot to most teams. She’s also fairly easy to learn (though making the most of her hit-and-run playstyle will take time).
Overwatch 2: Every DPS Character Ranked Worst to Best
17. Symmetra
16. Junkrat
15. Torbjörn
14. Widowmaker
13. Pharah
12. Bastion
11. Hanzo
10. Cassidy
9. Ashe
8. Reaper
7. Mei
6. Echo
5. Sombra
4. Tracer
3. Soldier: 76
2. Sojourn
1. Genji
Opinions on Overwatch 2’s DPS characters can vary wildly, but Symmetra, Junkrat, and Torbjörn are generally found at the bottom of most DPS tier lists. None of those characters are an obvious fit for the current meta, so either they’re going to need to change or the game will need to be changed before any of them shoot up the power rankings.
Widowmaker, Pharah, and Bastion are also all in relatively similar places at the moment. In each case, the right player (or an “ok” player working in the right scenario) can easily make them viable. Most of the time, though, they’ll stick out like a sore thumb on the game’s smaller teams. Bastion is probably the most interesting of the three (especially for new players), but they’re all a touch more niche.
Hanzo is a bit more versatile than Widowmaker, which allows him to move with his team a bit more easily while still offering some long-range defensive capabilities. Even great Hanzo players may struggle to get the most out of him in this meta, but he’s definitely a viable option for the right player.
Cassidy and Ashe suffer from some of the same basic problems. They’re “straight-shot” DPS characters who are incredibly dependent on the aim of the person using them. While I think that Ashe’s tool kit offers a little more flexibility, both characters tend to require incredible aim, great map knowledge, and the ability to understand your very specific role in most team comps. If you don’t possess sniper-like skills, they may not be the picks for you.
Reaper and Mei are two characters that could shoot up or down this list depending on the scenario and the person controlling them. Both were former tank busters who obviously can’t serve in that role quite the same way they used to but make up for it in other areas. Reaper is able to sneak in and out of a fight to wreak havoc while Mei can shut down problematic targets whenever they appear. They’re both firmly in the “great players can do great things in the right situations” tier.
Echo is one of those characters that rewards the time you put into them. Echo may not look like a devastating damage dealer on paper, but their unique skills allow them to effectively counter some of the most popular picks at the moment. The right Echo can really force an opposing team to deal with them, which means that the right Echo can force a team to change their strategy in often uncomfortable ways.
Sombra is still the ultimate disruptor, though a few changes to her kit make her a little more flexible than she was before. While Sombra is still primarily responsible for shutting down problem opponents, she’s also turning into a respectable damage dealer in her own right. It will take most players a while to learn how to use Sombra, but some of the toughest teams you’ll face in Overwatch 2 will have a Sombra with them.
Tracer is an obvious star of the speedy Overwatch 2 meta, though the fact she spends less time frustrating slow tanks than she used to means that Tracer players will have to pick on DPS characters a bit more than they used to. Anyone familiar with Tracer should be able to handle the transition nicely, though.
Soldier 76 and Sojourn occupy a somewhat similar space in the Overwatch 2 meta. While I know that some payers greatly prefer one over the other (Sojourn is getting a little more popular with each passing day), I find that both DPS characters excel at pushing out a consistent stream of damage that will benefit every team strategy. They may not be the game changers that some other DPS characters are, but consistency does matter, and they’re as consistent as Overwatch 2 characters get.
Finally, there’s Genji. While he’s still a high-skill character, Genji was made to thrive in the Overwatch 2 meta. He’s fast, he’s powerful, he’s quick, and his ultimate remains one of the best ultimates in the game. So long as you take the time to get Genji’s aim and movements down, you’ll be a consistent contributor in most flights. Once you get great with Genji, you can really take over a match.