Hero changes are not a new thing in Overwatch. One need only look at Torbjorn and Symmetra as they were back in the day to understand that Blizzard does rework heroes as necessary. And here we are today. In the Overwatch 2 PvP Beta. And after 2 years of being in the works, here are all the Overwatch 2 character changes for the current pool of heroes of Overwatch plus the new hero: Sojourn.
First things first though, let’s go through a quick refresher of the new class passive all heroes got in Overwatch 2.
- The new Tank Class Passive applies 30% reduced knockback and will generate 30% less Ultimate charge to enemies who damage them. That’s good news for Roadhog mains who involuntarily helped the enemy team by being a bullet sponge and ult farm.
- The new Damage Class Passive applies a flat movement speed bonus so these heroes can traverse the map more easily. Yes, this applies to Heroes without movement abilities like Mei and Torbjorn.
- The new Support Class Passive applies a 15 health per second generation if they manage to not get hit after 1 second. This basically improves their survivability in most situations that are not a fully charged headshot from Widowmaker.
With that out of the way, let’s head straight to the Hero changes.
Tank Hero Changes
The tanks in Overwatch 2 have been super buffed. This is because the PvP games are now 5 vs 5 from Overwatch 1’s 6 vs 6. The removal of 1 tank means the remaining tank is now the focal point of any assault and deserves every bit of respect in terms of their ability to create space.
DVA
Total Hitpoints increased from 600 to 650
- Health increased from 300 to 450.
- Armor decreased from 300 to 200.
Fusion Cannons
- Movement speed penalty was reduced from 50% to 40% while firing.
- Weapon spread reduced from 4 to 3 degrees. Tighter weapon spread means better accuracy.
Beta tester’s notes:
It’s strange playing as Dva now as she got most of her value as the off-tank hunting down vulnerable supports and out-of-position flankers. In the brave new world of Overwatch 2, the DPS and the supports will have to learn to fight around a Dva that’s mostly there to disrupt enemy formations and delete abilities and ultimates through her Defensive Matrix.
Doomfist
Overall Hitpoints increased from 250 to 450. All of which is health.
Hand cannon
- Damage reduced from 6 to per pellet.
- Ammo regeneration increased from once every 0.65 seconds per shot to 0.4 seconds per shot.
Ability: Rocket Punch
- Impact damage reduced from [50 to 100] to [15 to 30] depending on how low the punched has been charged.
- Wall impact damage reduced from [50 to 150] to [20 to 40].
- Maximum charge time was reduced from 1.4 seconds to 1.0 seconds.
- Rocket punch can now impact enemies behind the primary target.
Ability: Uppercut
- Removed.
New Ability: Power Block
- Enters a blocking stance wherein damage taken from the front of Doomifst is reduced by as much as 90%.
- In this state, all damage received supercharges Doomfist’s gauntlet, empowering the next rocket punch to deal 50 increased damage. Doomfist also travels 50% faster and goes further.
- the radius of the multi-stack punch is twice as large and targets that hit the wall are stunned for an additional 0.5 to 1 second.
Ability: Seismic Slam
- New rework sees the ability changed the arc trajectory of the ability depending on where you are aiming the ability. If you are looking forward, the arc goes longer on the horizontal. The same goes if you are looking higher up, the resulting arc will have more vertical movement to it.
- No longer pulls enemies in.
- Creates a large shock wave upon landing dealing 50 damage.
- Slows enemy movement speed by 30% on impact.
- Can now be canceled by pressing the ability key again but allows you to carry your momentum in that direction.
Ultimate: Meteor Strike
- Cast time was reduced from 1 to 0.5 seconds.
- The outer ring damage range has been reduced from [15 to 200] to [15 to 100].
- Enemies caught in the inner ring of the ult still do a flat 300 damage.
- Knockback effect has been removed. Instead, enemies hit have their movement speed reduced by 50% for 2 seconds.
Beta tester’s notes:
Doomfist is now a tank. That alone is pretty big news. But as someone who played as the new Doomfist and someone who’s supported them, Doomfist is very good at disrupting enemies just by Rocket Punching in, drawing attention and Seismic Slamming out of trouble when needed. And with that being said, you see A LOT of Doomfists in the current Beta. Can’t blame them. He is really fun to play with at the moment.
Orisa
Overall Hitpoints increased from 450 to 500.
- Health: 200 -> 250
- Armor: 250 -> 250
Augmented Fusion Driver
- Fusion Driver has been renamed to Augmented Fusion Driver.
- Shoots 10 projectiles per second. The projectiles shrink and do less damage the further it travels.
- The initial damage starts at 10.5 per shot and then gradually falls to 4 damage at the furthest point at 35 meters.
- Orisa no longer reloads her weapon like normal. Instead, it goes by a cooling system when not in use.
Ability: Fortify
- 20% movement speed reduction while active.
- Duration increased from 4 to 4.5 seconds.
- Adds an additional 125 HP of Overhealth on top of her base Hitpoints, potentially increasing Orisa’s Overall Hitpoints to 625.
- While in Fortify, Orisa’s gun generates 50% less heat. Meaning she can fire her gun for longer. Still has the 40% damage reduction and no headshot multiplier from OW1.
Ability: Halt!
- Removed
New Ability: Energy Javelin
- 80 flat damage.
- 0.2-second stun on hit.
- 6-meter knockback.
- If the target collides with a wall, causes 40 additional damage and 0.3-second stun.
Ability: Protective Barrier
- Removed
New ability: Javelin Spin
- Destroys incoming projectiles for 1.75 seconds.
- Increases forward movement speed by 60% while active, 20% for 2 seconds after the ability finishes its animation.
- Rapidly damages up to 90 damage, constantly knocking the target back.
Ultimate: Supercharger
- Removed
New Ultimate: Terra Surge
- Pulls enemies in, charge up for an area-of-effect attack for up to 4 seconds.
- After charging, Orisa sends out a short blast that deals up to 225 damage.
- Gains the Fortify effect while the Ultimate is channeling, causes damage over time, and slows enemies caught in the area by 30%.
Beta tester’s notes:
Orisa is the new hot tank in Overwatch 2. You can see many players start the match as Orisa and only changing off if the match wasn’t looking good. She is very good at bullying enemies using her new Javelin Spin ability and Ultimate, Terra Surge. The extra burst damage from her Energy Javelin can finish off enemies or force them to think twice about committing to a push.
Reinhardt
Overall Hitpoints increased from 500 to 650.
- Health: 300 -> 350
- Armor: 200 -> 300
Passive: Steadfast
- Removed
Reinhardt, like every other tank, now has the tank class passive. 30% knockback resistance, 30% less ult charge to the enemy attacking them.
Abiliity: Barrier Field
- Shield health reduced from 1,600 to 1,200.
- Shield Health Regen reduced from 200 health per second to 144 health per second.
Ability: Charge
- Increased steering turn rate by an additional 50%.
- The Charge can also be canceled at any time by pressing the charge button again.
- Damage has been reduced from 300 to 225.
- Cooldown has been reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
Ability: Fire Strike
- Has 2 charges instead of 1 charge.
- The recharge timer starts the moment the attack launches. And it’ll keep charging as long as you have less than 2 charges. You can initiate it again as soon as you have one full charge.
- Damage has been reduced from 100 to 90.
Beta tester’s notes:
Old Reliable himself remains as solid as ever, if not more in Overwatch 2. Reinhardt is the go-to for any decent tank player. He does all the things he did in the first game, only better now.
Roadhog
Overall Hitpoints increased from 600 to 700. All health.
Ability: Take a Breather
- Health restored increased from 300 to 350.
Beta tester’s notes:
The Big Hog is very impactful in Overwatch 2. In the hands of the right skillful player, that is. Roadhog’s value lies entirely in his ability to land hooks. And if a player can land hooks and instantly delete a support, that’s pretty much handing a victory to your team for that team fight. Of course, the same applies on the other end. If you cannot land hooks, you might as well switch out before you cost your team the entire match.
Sigma
Overall Hitpoints Increased from 400 to 550.
- Health: 300
- Shield: 100 -> 250
Ability: Accreretion
- Damage increased from 70 to 100.
Ability: Experimental Barrier
- Regeneration rate decreased from 120 health per second to 100 health per second.
Beta tester’s notes:
Since Sigma hasn’t changed much for the Overwatch 2 Beta, you won’t see him too much in games. Since the Beta started, I’ve only seen a handful of Sigma’s, and those players have been very good with the character. I guess it’s worth knowing how the character stacks up in a 5 vs 5 game, and as the solo and primary tank.
Winston
Overall Hitpoint: Increased from 500 to 550.
- Health: 300 -> 350
- Armor: 200
New Ability: Testa Cannon secondary attack
- Fires 30-meter jolt of lighting does up to 50 damage and costs up to 20 ammo per shot.
Ability: Barrier Projector
- Cooldown decreased from 13 seconds to 12 seconds. However, the duration has decreased from 9 seconds to 8 seconds.
Ultimate: Primal Rage
- Ultimate cost increased by 10%.
Beta tester’s notes:
A good Winston player knows when to jump when to drop their bubble, and when to peel for their support. With the added secondary attack, they have another option than just walking out their bubbles. Of course, the team has to learn to be around Winston and prepare themselves to pounce the moment he does. The Ultimate cost, however, is a bit punishing, in my humble opinion.
Wrecking ball
Overall Hitpoints increased from 600 to 700.
- Health: 500 -> 550
- Armor: 100 -> 150
Ability: Adaptive Shield
- Range increased from 8 meters to 10 meters. The increased range means it has a greater potential the more targets within the radius. Additionally, health gained per nearby enemy has increased from 75 to 100.
Beta tester’s notes:
Look, right now Hammond is in an iffy spot. Unless you are a very good Wreckingball player, you are pretty much throwing… no matter how you think you are “disrupting” the enemy while swinging around a fixed location. Positioning is everything in Overwatch. And in Overwatch 2, it is even more important for a tank.
Zarya
Overall Hitpoints: Increased from 400 to 475
- Health: 200 -> 250
- Shield: 200 -> 225
Ability: Particle Barrier
- Now shares charges with Projected Barrier for a 2 charge system that has a 10-second cooldown. Cooldown begins upon usage instead of barrier expiring.
Ability: Projected Barrier
- The targeted ally cannot be bubbled again for 2 seconds.
Passive: Energy Charge
- Decay rate has increased from 1.8 per second to 2.2 per second.
Beta tester’s notes:
Zarya is very, very strong in Overwatch 2. Despite having her charge nerfed, she is able to maintain a high charge easily because of the barrier changes. And everyone knows, a fully charged Zarya is something to be feared.
Damage Hero Changes
As for damage heroes, Genji, Pharah, Soldier 76, Symmetra, and Torbjorn all did not receive any changes. And among those heroes, only Genji and Soldier 76 are consistent picks. The rest are conditional picks depending on the situation. Or just picked for the fun of it.
Since the changes to the tanks and 5 vs 5 lineup change, damage heroes are more fun to play since they can focus on doing the thing they are designed for, to get kills. In Overwatch 1, damage heroes and tanks used to slam barriers together and that wasn’t fun to play… nor to watch. So, it’s good that we’re finally moving away from such barriers and stuns.
Ashe:
Ultimate: B.O.B.
- Health decreased from 1200 to 1000.
Beta tester notes:
You can tell good Ashe players apart from the way they use their coach gun for mobility purposes and the exact location where their dynamite is going to be before detonating it. In Overwatch 2, she can talk high ground rather reliably and be a threat to the enemy’s backline.
Bastion: (Complete Rework)
Passive: Ironclad
- Removed
Configuration: Recon
- Damage increased from 20 to 25
- Weapon Spread decreased from 1.2 degrees to 0 degrees
- Fire rate reduced from 8 to 5 shots per second
- Ammo reduced from 35 to 25
Configuration: Sentry
- Removed
New Configuration: Assault
- Bastion is now a mobile turret for 6 seconds.
- While in this form, Bastion’s movement speed is reduced by 35%.
- Infinite ammo
- Receives a weapon spread of 2 degrees
- Each bullet deals 12 damage
- At the end of the 6 seconds, the ability goes on a 12-second cooldown
Ability: Self-Repair
- Removed
New Ability: A-36 Tactical Grenade
- Bastion is now able to launch a grenade that bounces off walls and sticks onto enemies.
- Deals 130 points of direct damage after a short delay.
Ultimate: Configuration: Tank
- Removed
New Ultimate: Artillery
- Fires up to 3 artillery shells that deal upwards of 200 damage. Line of sight applies even indoors.
Beta tester’s notes:
Bastion is very effective in this new world of Overwatch 2. Its pick rate is already going up as more people want to try the reworked character. From my personal experience, when a Bastion is on the field, you’d best bet is to dance around sightlines and hope that the enemy doesn’t have a good Roadhog. For as good as Bastion can potentially be, it is still hard to ignore the fact that Bastion makes for a good hook target.
Cassidy:
Ability: Fan the Hammer
- Fire rate increased by 7.5%
Ability: Flashbang
- Removed
New Ability: Magnetic Grenade
- Automatically homes in on enemies and then sticks onto them.
- Deals a total of 131 damage split between the 1 impact damage from the grenade sticking onto the target, 65 from the small blast, and lastly 65 direct damage to the enemy stuck by the grenade at the moment of explosion.
Ultimate: Deadeye
- Gains damage reduction while channeling the ability.
- Damage reduced from 100 for 0.8 seconds -> 275 for 0.7 seconds -> 550 onwards to 130 for 2 seconds -> 260 damage onwards.
- Duration increased from 6 to 7 seconds.
- Ultimate cost increased by 10%.
Beta tester’s notes:
Cassidy is the hero you don’t want to see when you turn the corner. The cowboy may have lost his flashbang but the revolver is more impactful in a match than ever. Sucks that Deadeye takes longer to build charge though.
Echo
Ability: Focusing Beam
- Max DPS decreased from 200 to 175.
Ultimate: Duplicate
- Copied target Hitpoints can no longer exceed 300 Hitpoints. This only applies to tanks.
Beta tester’s notes:
I’m going to be completely honest, I have barely come across any Echos in the Overwatch 2 Beta. I don’t know if it’s because of the Duplicate nerf or what. But in all the matches I’ve been to, the DPS player using Echo doesn’t usually stay on Echo for the entirety of the match.
Hanzo
Ability: Storm Arrows
- Damage reduced from 70 to 65 per arrow.
Beta tester’s notes:
Hanzo is still a common sight in Overwatch 2. The combination of arrow spam and random dragon out of nowhere is still potent. But of course being Hanzo, it’s either feast or famine depending on where the arrows land.
Junkrat
Ability: Steel Trap
- It no longer prevents all movement. Instead, it now slows trapped targets down by 65% until they reach max chain length. At which point, the chain breaks.
- Still prevents movement abilities like blink and fade.
- Damage increased from 80 to 100.
- Speed of throwing the trap increased from 10 to 17 meters per second.
Beta tester’s notes:
Kind of the fun pick in the Beta, the Junkrats I’ve seen mainly use their mines as a movement tool, and very rarely do they drop the mine and steel trap combination anymore. Guess they weren’t updated to the changes yet.
Mei
Endothermic Blaster
- No longer freezes enemies solid. It now slows targets down by a flat 50%.
- Slow duration decreased from 1 to 0.5 seconds.
- Damage per second increased from 55 to 100.
- Ammo increased from 120 to 150.
Ability: Cryo-Freeze
- No longer removes effects of Zarya / Sigma’s Ultimate.
Ability: Ice Wall
- Individual pillar health reduced from 400 to 250.
- Max range reduced from 35 meters to 20 meters.
Ultimate: Blizzard
- Cost increased by 15%.
Beta tester’s notes:
The Ice Queen herself… well, what can I say? It’s a far different world now that Mei no longer freezes enemies and drives an icicle through their skulls. I kind of miss that Mei, and at the same time, I don’t. You’ll see some Mei’s running around matches but not too many of them.
Reaper
Hellfire Shotguns
- Damage per pellet reduced from 6 to 5.4.
- Spread increased from 6 to 8 degrees.
Ability: Wraith Form
- Can no longer escape Zarya / Sigma’s Ultimate.
Beta tester’s notes:
Reaper is in an OK spot in Overwatch 2. I’m glad that he’s more in line with the Edgelord character that we know and sigh about. With Reaper, you just have to be aware of his location at all times. If he’s gone for even a little bit, chances are, he’s teleported before enemy lines for a PHAT Death Blossom Ultimate.
New Hero: Sojourn
Railgun
- Primary – Projectiles generate energy on hit
- Secondary – Hitscan high impact shot that consumes stored energy generated by primary fire.
Ability: Disruptor Shot
- Large energy field that deals damage over time. Generally used for area denial.
Ability: Power Slide
- Ground slide that can cancel into a high jump.
Ultimate: Overclock
- Automatically charges railgun to 100 and can first roughly around 6 bursts while the ult is active.
Beta tester’s notes:
It might be super early to judge Sorjourn’s effectiveness at the moment. But even at this early stage, she’s making her presence felt. With the right kind of mechanics, she can a handful to deal with as support or opposing damage hero. Her frag potential is currently on another level. Mostly because players aren’t used to dealing with her quite yet.
Sombra
Machine Pistol
- Damage reduced from 8 to 7 per shot.
- Spread reduced by 10%.
Ability: Hack
- Cooldown reduced from 8 to 4 seconds.
- Cooldown no longer reduced when hacking health packs.
- Cast time increased from 0.65 seconds to 0.85 seconds.
- Health pack hack duration was reduced from 60 seconds to 30 seconds.
- Ability lockout duration reduced from 5 seconds to 1 second.
- Hacked enemy’s location is now revealed through walls for Sombra’s team to see for 8 seconds.
- Interrupting hack incurs a full cooldown.
- Hack duration on B.O.B. reduced from 5 to 2 seconds.
- Now destroys Baptistes’ Immortality Field.
Ability: Stealth
- Faster fade-in time by 50%.
- Enemy detection radius increased from 2 to 4 meters.
- Can now Hack while in Stealth but temporarily reveals her locations for 0.75 seconds as she hacks a target.
Passive: Opportunist
- Now deals 50% increased damage to hacked targets.
Ultimate: EMP
- Now deals 40% of the current health of all enemies caught in the wave.
Beta tester’s notes:
On paper, Sombra is an interesting character to play at the moment. This is strange because I’ve been on the Beta for a while now and I’ve rarely seen her in matches. Maybe it’s because having one less frontline attacker is detrimental to the team. I don’t know yet. I suppose when I run into a Sombra, she’s going to be very, very good.
Tracer
Pulse Pistol
- Damage per bullet reduced from 6 to 5.
Beta tester’s notes:
Tracer still does Tracer things. But I have felt the nerf on her primary fire. Certain heroes that I used to one clip from a bit of distance actually walk away with health now. Maybe this will encourage Tracer players to take more risks than before.
Widow Maker
Overall Hitpoints increased from 175 to 200.
Beta tester’s notes:
Man… If you have even a half-decent Widow Maker on your team, you are pretty much set for the whole match. Against someone like Widow, it doesn’t matter if you have escape abilities or a passive regen. All it takes is one charged bullet and you’re out from the next minute or so, which is HUGE in team fights. If the enemy doesn’t counter that accordingly, it’s going to be a short match.
Support Hero Changes
Supports are in a weird sport right now. Ever since the change, supports players need to watch their backs at all times. The loss of one whole tank meant that getting picked off is a very real possibility. Positioning has never been more important to a support than it is now in Overwatch 2.
Zenyatta received no changes for the Beta. And from what I’ve experienced through the current Beta, Zenyatta is seeing limited use for the simple fact that he doesn’t have an escape ability like other Supports. If he doesn’t pick off his attacker, it’s pretty much over for Zen.
Anna
Ability: Sleep Dart
- Cooldown increased from 12 to 15 seconds.
Beta tester’s notes:
Anna is as impactful as she’s always has been. Most of her value comes from your ability to land skill shots and Anti-nades. But because she is Anna, she a prime target for snipers like Widow Maker and Hanzo. Be careful not to be forced out of position as Anna, it’s very hard to escape as Zen and Anna in the current Beta of Overwatch.
Baptiste
Biotic Launcher
- Damage falloff range was reduced from 25 to 20 meters. Meaning damage starts decreasing faster past the 20-meter mark.
Ability: Regenerative Burst
- Total healing increased from 75 to 100 to allies.
Beta tester’s notes:
The best thing Baptiste can provide his team is reliable healing and the occasional Immortality Field. His damage output may have dipped by a little bit but if you were landing shots before the nerf then you’ll be fine with the current version of Baptiste. He is slightly better than Anna at the moment because he has a charged jump ability to get him out of trouble when needed.
Brigitte
Ability: Shield Bash
- Stun effect has been removed.
- Cooldown reduced from 7 to 5 seconds.
- Distance traveled increased from 7 meters to 12 meters.
- Movement no longer stopped when impacting barriers.
- Damage increased from 1 to 50.
- Shield bash now triggers inspire.
Beta tester’s notes:
Brigitte is all sort of powerful in the right hands. Not only is she somewhat tanky, but she can also create space for herself like no other Support can. Of course, you don’t want to be at the front as Brigitte, but as someone looking after Anna or Zen, Brigitte is incredibly useful. Oh, did I mention that her class passive kicks while she has her shield up? Don’t underestimate her ability to turn the tide of a team battle cause she can carry a fight if given an opening.
Lucio
Ultimate: Sound Barrier
- Ultimate cost reduced by 12%
Beta tester’s notes:
You can’t tell that this new version of Overwatch didn’t have Lucio in mind. Not only do we have a support who is very good at keeping themselves alive, but one that can go in and out of the enemy’s backlines for a cheeky pick-off. As long as you have a dedicated healer on the team, Lucio can be a flex pick who excels at multiple roles. Sound Barrier is just icing on top of the cake at this point.
Mercy
Support Role Passive now works in tandem with Mercy’s passive. The result is an increase in her passive healing by 50% or 22.5 HP per second after not taking damage for 1 second.
Beta tester’s notes:
Mercy is an interesting pick. She’s the most survivable out of all the other Supports as long as the Mercy player can make snap decisions about her using Guardian Angel on allies. The best thing, this is nothing new to Mercy mains. Even before the removal of one tank, good Mercy players keep track of abilities better than most others on the team. It’s what they’ve done for as long as the character existed in the game.
Moira
Ability: Fade
- Can no longer escape Zarya or Sigma’s Ultimate.
Beta tester’s notes:
The most Meta of support picks, Moira does everything you need as a current-day Support in Overwatch 2. Moira has pretty good healing potential, a burst heal that not only heals allies but herself as well, she has a decent drain attack that makes characters like Genji think twice about committing to an attack., and lastly, her Fade is a guaranteed escape bar Zarya’s and Sigma’s grave Ultimates. Interesting fact, the moment she exits Fade, that’s the exact time when the class passive kicks in. Giving her a bit more survivability.
In short, if you have any doubts about which Support to play, just pick Moira, she’s that good in the Beta.
And that’s it for all the hero changes in the Overwatch 2. Some are massive reworks, others are meh, and others didn’t get changes at all. Hopefully, Blizzard addresses this issue and actually makes more sweeping changes across the board. Especially for the support class! They desperately need more love than just a bunch of number changes. (Brigg is really good though. But nothing remotely in the way of a hero rework.)
You can also check out this video by Youtuber Flats where he goes into detail about every Hero change since the Overwatch 2 Alpha.
For more Overwatch 2 content, do check out:
