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On October 4th, Overwatch 2 finally launched. Well…kind of. The game is currently plagued by server issues and technical problems that prevent players from logging in, or, at the very least, actually enjoying matches. Those who have logged in, however, have found that the game is remarkably similar to Overwatch, save for a few changes that range from understandable to confusing. The new “MIT” stat is certainly one of the latter.
During a match, players can pull up their scorecards (Tab on PC) to see how they’re doing. This window displays several key stats, all of which are abbreviated. For instance, the “E” on the scorecard stands for Eliminations (i.e., how many times they’ve KO’d another player), the “A” is short for Assists, and “D” represents Deaths (how many times they’ve died this match). There’s also “DMG” for the amount of damage a player has dealt and “H” for all the damage they’ve healed. But the last stat, “MIT,” is already confusing players. What does that abbreviation stand for? It’s not short for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that’s for sure.
In Overwatch 2, “MIT” is basically short for “Damage Mitigated.” Simply put, this semi-vague stat tracks the amount of damage a player has prevented (i.e., mitigated) using various abilities. How important that stat is regarding your overall performance kind of depends on which character you playing and how often you’re using certain skills.
The first “MIT” method that comes to most players’ minds is probably Overwatch‘s basic physical shields (such as Reinhardt’s Barrier Field and Zarya’s Particle Barrier). While how you use such skills is factored into your MIT score, unlike Overwatch’s “Damage Blocked” stat, “MIT” doesn’t just track projectiles that bounce off barriers. Abilities that temporarily reduce the amount of damage a character takes (such as Ana’s Nano Boost and Orisa’s Fortify) also count towards your “MIT” score. Even skills that render characters all nearly invulnerable (including D.Va’s Defense Matrix and Kiriko’s Protection Suzu) are tracked via your “MIT” rating.
While a high “MIT” score is far from the deciding factor of a match, it can be useful information for certain Overwatch players looking to improve their general performance. For instance, most of Zarya’s abilities revolve around barriers. Not only can she give herself and her allies shields, but her passive skill increases her overall damage output whenever those shields prevent damage. That synergy ties her “DMG” stat directly to her “MIT” stat, so if a Zarya player doesn’t have a high “MIT,” that likely means that they aren’t getting the most out of the character. They aren’t placing their shields in a way that will prevent the most incoming damage, and they aren’t doing as much as they can to raise their DMG score.
Granted, damage-oriented heroes like Junkrat and Pharah don’t really have to worry about their “MIT” stats, but they are in the minority. Most characters have at least one ability that lets them mitigate damage, and players should ideally use them smartly to maximize their effectiveness. After all, an enemy can’t kill you if they can’t damage you.
So while Overwatch 2‘s stats and scoreboards can sometimes contribute to the game’s notoriously toxic atmosphere, any Overwatch player can get a little something out of learning what those stats really say about their performance and any possible ways they can improve.