Biggest Overwatch 2 Character Changes from Overwatch 1

Overwatch 2 has been released and we are going to cover the biggest changes its original characters have had upon the launch of its sequel. As a character focused guide, we will be going over the biggest changes for each of the Overwatch 1 characters who have had the most significant overhaul in their kit design that you should know about before exploring Overwatch 2. We will also highlight the most game changing elements of the few who had slight tweaks to their kit.

The Overwatch 1 characters with the biggest changes to their kits

Firstly, all roles now have a passive ability that all the Heroes within the role share. That is:

• Tank: 30% knockback resistance and 30% reduced Ultimate charge taken from damage and healing sustained.
• Damage: +25% movement and reload speed for 2.5 seconds upon an elimination.
• Support: self-heals 15 health upon taking no damage after 1.5 seconds

The biggest character specific changes are as follows:

• Doomfist — Has become a Tank. He now has the ability to ‘Power Block’ that allows him to block frontal attacks and beefs up Rocket Punch’s power when blocking heavy attacks.
• Orisa — Orisa has been one of the heaviest character kit changes the original cast has seen. She now has two new abilities, one being the ‘Energy Javelin’ that players launch at enemies to stun and knock them back. It’s best played to push enemies into a wall or other obstacle to deal additional damage. The other is ‘Javelin Spin’ that blocks projectiles and prevents melee attacks from hitting. Her speed is increased during this ability, and it pushes back enemies. She also has an entirely new Ultimate. Terra Surge involves her Javelin sweeping nearby opponents together, going into Fortify mode and charging up a surge of damage that can be activated early or maxed out for its maximum damage amount to hit.
• Reinhardt — Can now steer his charge and it can be cancelled to avoid Reinhardt’s continously falling off the maps.
• Winston — Has a brand-new secondary fire that charges up a ball of energy.
• Bastion — Has a complete rework. Configuration: Assault is now his turret form that can now move with infinite ammo. A-36 Tactical Grenade allows Bastion to get onto different platforms and positioning by jumping off of it and can deal damage by bouncing it near opponents that it can attach to for additional damage. His Ultimate is now called Configuration: Artillery that launches three shots from above across a long distance. Bastion can therefore be out of sight when pulling this off.
• Cassidy — Flashback has been replaced by a Magnetic Grenade that can attach to enemies and deals additional damage.
• Solider: 76 — Tactical Visor Ultimate now allows headshots.
• Sombra — Hacked targets can now be seen through walls for all allies and she can hack enemies when in Stealth.
• Symmetra — Her Teleporter now has a time limit of being used (that of 20 seconds) and her fire rate is far quicker with her secondary projectile firing.
• Mercy — Her super jump is now visually indicated as a meter, making it much easier for everyone to pull off the move with little manual input. She now has more manoeuvrability overall with her being able to now change direction when in the air and even moving backwards whilst airborne.
• Zenyatta — Can now kick and bounce back enemies.

Those are the biggest changes within Overwatch 2 in regard to its pre-existing characters. For more information about the changes, read through and stay up to date on all its altercations on the developer’s website with the patch notes.

Related: Overwatch 2 Tier List (October 2022 Launch)