Overwatch 2 has finally launched, with the original game getting shut down. The release brings balance changes and new heroes, with the new changes resulting in some shake ups when it comes to the Overwatch 2 damage heroes. With the switch to 5v5 with a single tank, some damage heroes have become more viable, while some aren't as useful as they were in the original game.
Overwatch 2 has had an unfortunately rough launch, with server issues, bugs, and more causing the game to not have the coming out party Blizzard was hoping for. It's not all negative though, with the new Push game mode taking the place of the universally hated two control point mode, which has been completely scrubbed from existence with the launch of Overwatch 2.
As for which damage heroes are the best in Overwatch 2, it's important to know that none of the heroes are bad picks. While some of them are relatively underpowered currently, most people aren't playing the game at the same skill tier as the Overwatch League, so team compositions are less important. But for new players or people looking to grind through up the competitive ladder, which hero you pick does matter. It's also important to keep in mind that some heroes are relatively universal, while others are better or worse depending on the game mode and if you are on offense or defense. It's also important to know what the rest of your team is picking and if there is good synergy between the heroes or not. Here's how the current Overwatch 2 damage heroes stack up.
17. Mei
Mei has received a downgrade in Overwatch 2, losing the most useful parts of her kit. Now, her ice beam no longer freezes enemies, instead only dealing damage and partially slowing them down. It doesn't deal very much damage and her alt-fire icicle shot can be pretty difficult to hit. While her zoning ability is still pretty strong, with her ice wall blocking enemies off and her ultimate ability making a wide circle inaccessible, she doesn't deal enough damage to compete with the rest of the damage characters.
Mei's biggest saving grace is her Cryo-Freeze, which temporarily makes her immune to damage and heals her. This gives her decent sustain if her healers aren't in the immediate area, but she is still going to get out damaged by the majority of other heroes.
16. Echo
If you have encountered an Echo in Overwatch or Overwatch 2, you know that she is an odd character. Her primary fire shots three projectiles in a triangle that deals decent damage. She also has sticky explosives and a short-ranged beam that melts anyone under 50% health. While her kit isn't necessarily bad, she doesn't really fit well in a ton of team comps. She can fly, but not long enough to rival a Pharah and she needs to be close to enemies to maximize her abilities.
Echo's ultimate ability also feels more like a gimmick than anything useful. She can turn into any member of the enemy team and has an increased ultimate charge rate as that character. While this can lead to you using the enemy's own abilities against them, if you take too much damage you switch back to Echo and most of the time Echo doesn't manage to use duplicated ultimate ability, making you wonder what the point was in the first place.
15. Symmetra
With the first two damage heroes out of the way, the rest of the list consists of heroes that are all decent picks, although some of them are much better than others. Symmetra is extremely situational, although she can be quite annoying to the enemy team. Her primary fire is a close range beam that increases in damage as it fires and her alt-fire shoots fast-moving projectiles. However the main focus of her kit are the three laser turrets she can deploy that will deal damage to nearby enemies. These can be shot from a distance, but can't withstand very much damage.
Symmetra's downfall is that she is focused on defense, but her close-quarters weapon means she needs to close the gap to really be useful. Overall, she can be very effective, but there are plenty of heroes that can be far more useful on defense. Her teleporter has its uses, but doesn't feel as strong as other character's abilities.
14. Cassidy
Cassidy has received a bit of a downgrade in Overwatch 2, although his primary fire is still as powerful as ever. The main difference is that instead of his flashbang grenade that would stun enemies temporarily, he now had a magnetic grenade. The magnetic grenade deals explosive damage and will stick to enemies if you throw it really close to them. While the magnetic grenade isn't bad, losing Cassidy's only crowd control ability does lessen his impact.
His gunfire still deals a pretty high amount of damage, as long as you have solid aim. His ultimate ability, Deadeye, remains unchanged, still offering a powerful ability that can either get multiple kills or at least scatter the enemy team. Overall though, if you are looking for a high precision damage hero, there are better options.
13. Tracer
Tracer remains largely unchanged from the original Overwatch, but the change to 5v5 has impacted her, both positively and negatively. On the positive side, dropping down to only one tank limits the amount of crowd control abilities that a team comp has, making it easier for Tracer to avoid getting taken down while she is flanking and disrupting the enemy. It also makes it easier for Tracer to get in and find a squishier target, since there will only be one tank for Tracer to avoid.
The negative impact is that with one less hero on each team, Tracer's absence can be felt more in head-to-head team fights. Tracer thrives by flanking, dealing damage, and getting out for heals, before heading back in for more. Being short a direct damage deal in team fights puts your team at a disadvantage.
12. Torbjorn
Torbjorn didn't receive any big changes for Overwatch 2, but his turret remains as a staple of a defensive hold. Torbjorn's gun has two fire modes, with the primary shooting a single projectile a far distance and the alt-fire attacking more like a close-range shotgun. He can place a turret, which automatically fires at any enemy in sight of it. Torbjorn's turret deals a ton of damage and can be distracting for the enemy team, making it great for defense.
Torbjorn does suffer in some game modes like Push, where the objective moves frequently, making it difficult for him to set up, especially when the team is pushing forward. His main gunfire being projectile based instead of hit-scan also makes it hard for him to fight enemies at a distance. His ultimate ability throws lava everywhere, which deals damage to enemies standing in it, making it great for zoning off the objective or a flank.
11. Sombra
Sombra suffers from similar issues to Tracer, although her hacking abilities make her more of a threat to the enemy team. Sombra is a flanker and disruptor, turning invisible to get behind the enemy team and pick them off one at a time. She does this by hacking enemies, which briefly disables their abilities, but more importantly, makes them take extra damage for a longer period of time.
Sombra's usefulness comes down to the person playing her and how frequently they are picking off the enemy team. If Sombra is playing well, she has the attention of the enemy team, letting her team push from the front. The downside is that if she isn't a nuisance, it leaves her team in constant 4v5, which can be difficult for them to handle.
10. Hanzo
Hanzo is relatively unchanged, making him a solid damage hero pick, even if he is the second best sniper in the game. Hanzo has a bow, which fires a projectile arrow that deals a high-amount of damage, able to kill most non-tank heroes with a single headshot. He also has a rapid fire ability, along with a recon arrow that shows enemies near where it lands. Hanzo's main downside is that Widowmaker is also in the game and it's hard to argue that the projectile based sniper is easier to use than the hit-scan based sniper.
One major positive for Hanzo is his ultimate ability, which sends two massive dragons across the entire map, damaging any enemies hit. This can be used to completely clear an objective or get a multi-kill, adding to his usefulness.
9. Soldier 76
Soldier 76 has a reputation for being the most "default" character in Overwatch and for good reason. Armed with a hit-scan fully automatic rifle, Soldier 76 is designed entirely around shooting other players. While he isn't the most exciting hero on the roster, his gun is quite powerful and its low level of recoil makes it great at most ranges. He also has a rocket he can shoot that deals a high amount of damage, as long as you can land it.
He also benefits from having a healing field that he can place, which gives him more survivability than some other damage heroes. His ultimate ability gives him auto-aim with his gun and a faster reload, making it great for quickly mowing down some enemies.
8. Sojourn
Sojourn is a brand-new damage hero in Overwatch 2 and she feels like an upgraded version of Soldier 76. Sojourn has a rapid-fire machine gun that fires projectiles. Dealing damage with it charges her alt-fire, which is a railgun shot. Sojourn also has a slide that can be canceled into a massive jump and a snare that will deal damage and slow enemies with a bubble. What makes Sojourn great is that the slide and jump combo lets her move very fast, making her hard to take down.
The other great thing is the railgun shot, which can one-shot headshot non-tank enemies. The railgun charges fast and lets you quickly end a firefight if you deal a decent amount of damage with the main fire. Her ultimate causes her railgun to automatically full charge for a short period of time, letting her fire off multiple high-damage shots quickly.
7. Reaper
Reaper is a close range menace, taking down tanks, healers, and damaging heroes with ease. Armed with two shotguns, Reaper can quickly kill an enemy at close range. Dealing damage with the shotguns heals Reaper and he has a wraith ability that makes him temporarily invincible and reloading his weapons. He also has a teleport and while it has a relatively long animation, he allows Reaper to close the gap against his enemies.
Reaper's big flaw is that he needs to get in close to deal damage, which can be difficult to do in some situations, especially one defense. If Reaper isn't in the middle of the action or flanking, he isn't very effective, but if you stay in the fight, Reaper wrecks shop.
6. Junkrat
Junkrat has one of the highest damage ceilings in the game, as long as you can understand how his grenades bounce. His primary weapon is a grenade launcher, which fires bouncing explosives. These deal a ton of damage, with only a couple of hits needed to kill non-tank heroes. It can be a bit tricky to get them to bounce the way you want, but otherwise they are great. Junkrat also has two mines that he can remotely detonate, which he can use to deal damage or to launch himself.
He also has a trap, which deals some damage and stops enemies. Junkrat does not take damage from his own explosives, which lets him use his weapons and abilities at point blank, making it easy to hit enemies. His ultimate is the Riptire, a wheel that you remotely control and can detonate on enemies, dealing a high amount of damage.
5. Pharah
Pharah continues to be a great pick in Overwatch 2, one that forces the enemy team to reconfigure their heroes. Pharah is armed with a rocket launcher and the ability to fly. She has a thruster that launches her up and a displacement rocket that doesn't deal damage, but does send enemies flying. Pharah is great because she can be difficult for the enemy team to deal with due to her verticality. Without a hit-scan hero, the enemy team will likely have trouble actually killing Pharah. Her rockets deal a ton of damage as well.
Her ultimate fires an onslaught on rockets while Pharah remains stationary. While Pharah is much easier to shoot while using her ultimate, it activates nearly instantly, so the enemy team likely won't have time to react. The only downside to playing Pharah is that the enemy team might end up swapping to hit-scan characters to focus you, but a good healer will be able to keep you alive.
4. Genji
The cybernetic ninja continues to be a high-skill damage hero in Overwatch 2, but in the right hands Genji is incredibly powerful. Armed with shurikens that can be thrown three at a time, either in a straight line or spread out. He also has a sword dash that deals damage and is automatically recharged whenever he gets a kill. Genji also has a double jump, allowing him to be constantly moving, making him difficult to hit. His final ability is a reflect, which will send and non-beam weapon attacks back at the enemy he aims at.
Genji has the ability to deal a ton of damage quickly with his shurikens and the sword dash makes for a quick finisher. His fast movement and reflect ability make him difficult to deal damage too and he can disengage from a fight quickly. His biggest counters are heroes with beam weapons, but there are only a handful in Overwatch 2.
3. Widowmaker
Widowmaker snags a top spot on this list for her ability to take down enemies with her sniper rifle. While completely useless in the hands of someone with bad aim, Widowmaker can be a powerful foe due to her range and her ability to one-shot enemies. It doesn't really matter how good the enemy team's healers are if you are dropping their teammates in a single-shot. Widowmaker's sniper takes a few moments to fully charge when scoped and deals a high amount of damage.
Widowmaker can fire a gun as a submachine gun if she doesn't aim down the sights, but it's fairly weak. She also has a poison mine and a grappling hook in her kit. Her ultimate ability highlights the enemy team for everyone to see and while it isn't as flashy as some other ultimate abilities, it can be really useful to prevent flanks.
2. Bastion
Bastion is one of the most hated heroes in Overwatch and picking him will certainly get you some hate messages, but there is a reason why nobody likes playing against him. Bastion can deal a ton of damage in a short period of time. His default gun is a slow-paced hit-scan machine gun that deals high damage. He can briefly turn into his turret form, which has a much faster machine gun on it that melts enemies. Bastion also has a sticky grenade in his arsenal as well.
What makes Bastion so great is that he can deal a very high amount of damage in a short period of time and it doesn't require a ton of skill to do. He can easily melt the enemy tank with his turret form and his mortar ultimate ability can clear out an objective. You might not make many friends playing Bastion, but you will get some wins.
1. Ashe
Ashe is another character with a high ceiling for damage, able to take down enemies at range while also not being useless at close range. Ashe is armed with a lever-action rifle. When the sights are aimed-down, it has a slower fire-rate but deals more damage, while the opposite is true when hip-firing. Ashe is also armed with a stick of dynamite that can be shot to make it explode, setting enemies on fire and dealing damage overtime. Her shotgun lets her blast enemies away from her and can be used to jump up to high places.
In addition to a high capacity for damage, her ultimate ability summons Bob, a large robot armed with a powerful machine gun. Bob will shoot at any enemy in his sights, quickly killing anyone who can't find cover. If you land your shots while scoped in with Ashe, you are going to dominate the enemy team with ease.
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