Overwatch 2 Tier List (December 2024)

Overwatch 2 released on the 4th of this month, and we have already seen quite the number of changes to its hero characters’ kits and overall effectiveness in the now 5v5 battles. Nerfs will certainly be coming to some of its newest characters but for now, here’s how we rank them all in terms of how useful and necessary all 34 of its heroes are when battling it out. We will go in order of role (Tank, Support and Damage) and in alphabetical order.

This list will be subject to change once updates and kit changes are implemented.

Update: November 15 Patch Notes Update has been implemented into our list ranking as of 16/11/2022.

S-Tier List

• Zarya — Zarya is a monster in the current version of Overwatch 2. Now equipped with two bubbles that blocks damage and increases her power, she’s one of only two of its toughest Tanks to successfully take down. The entire team will have to deal with her at once, but no matter how you try to play around her, she can take ages to eliminate each and every time she comes into battle. Her Ultimate of Grav is also just as difficult to deal with unless you have the appropriate units on your team to mitigate the damage in time – such as Bastion’s makeshift, lifesaving shield ability.
• Orisa — Unlike the majority of the tanks, Orisa is suited to both short range and long-range fights, giving her more basic utility. Her newly changed kit has her in a more protective role to better defend her squishier comrades whilst still being able to dish out a nice amount of damage. She’s just as tricky to eliminate as Zarya is as she needs to be heavily focused to down in every situation due to her additional health and sturdiness coming from Fortify. Her Energy Javelin can cancel out all sorts of attacks and her team protecting Javelin Spin move gives her even more survivability.
• Baptiste — Baptiste will be a life saver often if on your team, what with the Ultimate cancelling out Immortality Field and his own Ultimate of Amplification Matrix that doubles damage and healing numbers when shot through it. This makes any hit scan even more of a problem to deal with as a foe. His three-round burst gun also makes him an unassuming adversary in shoot outs, so have a nice balance of both healing and damaging with him.
• Lucio — Lucio is an amazing support no matter what your rank is due to his character exclusive skill of providing a speed boost that can be a game saver in its own right during overtime situations. His Sound Barrier can also prevent a team wipe and his passive ability of Wall Ride makes him a troublesome foe to down more often than not.
• Mercy — Mercy is the easiest Support hero to get to grips with, made all the more friendly to access and master due to her super jump now being a visible bar that automatically launches her into the sky as long as players have tapped guardian angel for a long enough period to activate it. Plus, her healing and damage beams will always be viable, be it to boost Soldier: 76’s Ultimate or for mass healing when she pops her own Ultimate of Valkyrie. Don’t forget to pull off a strategic Resurrection here and there!
• Reaper — As the best damage dealer when it comes to close courter combat with a wide hit marker, Reaper shreds through tanks like no-one’s business. His Death Blossom is a wide-reaching onslaught of damage, his Wraith Form makes it easy for him to exit from a fight when his health is low, and Shadow Step gets him back into the action in no time. He’s also able to heal himself with his passive when dealing damage. He’s a killing machine.
• Sojourn — Sojourn’s gun can charge up an additional secondary fire that is a thicker beam of energy instead of her usual hit scanner that has no indicator to its max level. Popping it will immediately destroy squishy targets, making her a terror to face. She can throw out a big ball of energy that does damage in an area and her Ultimate provides her with full secondary fire hits for a few seconds. You better duck and hide. She is the hit scan unit you want on your team in the current meta.

A-Tier List

• D.Va — D.Va has always been able to have two chances to live in the game due to her mech being destroyed and being able to call it back that, if played right, even kills squishy enemies caught under it. She’s able to boost to quickly eliminate pesky snipers and get back to her team quickly and can Defense Matrix to block projectile damage. The cherry on top is that she has one of the best zoning Ultimates, so even if you haven’t eliminated anyone, don’t worry, you’ve made them panic at least! She’s the most persistent Tank your enemies will have to deal with – be aggressive with her!
• Sigma — Sigma’s damage output and Ultimate is best used in a gathering of enemies, and luckily for him in Overwatch 2, all enemies will usually be in a huddle together. As long as he has the right support, he’s a near on unstoppable tank thanks to his Experimental Barrier and Kinetic Grasp that absorbs projectiles and converts them into shields.
• Winston — Winston was always a troublesome widespread tickle damage dealer, and with Overwatch 2, it’s become even more difficult to deal with. Everyone bundling up together when facing Winston will get his Ultimate going in no time thanks to his electric Tesla Cannon that attacks multiple targets at once. Plus, his Jump Pack can be used to initiate or escape fights, even inflicting damage onto enemy units under it.
• Ashe — Ashe’s attack is able to do long-range and close counter damage, the latter being encouraged with increased damage. Her Coach Gun protects her and punishes enemies near drop off points, her Dynamite chips away at multiple enemies’ health points and her Ultimate is one of the most distracting ones to disrupt enemy formation and attention. She’s greatly beneficial as long as you’re hitting your shots.
• Genji — Genji can be one of the tricker heroes to master due to his difficult to get to grips kit but he is one of the greatest annoyances within any Overwatch battle when being controlled right. His Deflect is highly useful, his Swift Strike resets after every final blow it does to an enemy and his Dragon Blade still makes all squishes pray for their lives. Hone him well and you’ll be a difficult target to down.
• Sombra — Sombra can be a nightmare to deal with when in the right hands, making her a technically hero difficult to master. Her close-range firing means that she needs to be up close and personal to enemies, but this can get her easily punished. The same goes for her Translocator placements that can be destroyed or tracked to when she teleports to it. She’s difficult to control but learn to wield her Hacking and EMP skills and stopping the flow of the enemy has never been such a piece of cake. If you’re a good Sombra, you are going to be the hardest enemy to put down for any team composition for how disruptive your gameplay proves to be.
• Torbjorn — Torbjorn’s gun makes him able to hit both short range and long-range attacks. He’s also able to deploy a turret and wield a hammer for close courter damage. His Ultimate, Molten Core is a heavy damage dealer for anyone caught in it and when most opponents are huddled together now, it makes it all the easier to successfully pull off.
• Ana — Ana’s kit remains as one of the best for its supportive utility with Bionic Grenade damaging and preventing healing for opponents (its only counter is Kiriko’s ability) and increased healing for allies and her Ultimate of Nano Boost increasing an ally’s damage and reducing damage inflicted upon them. She also has better survivability as long as players can pull off a well-timed Sleep Dart and keep positioning in mind.
• Moira — Moira has a nice balancing of damaging and healing as indicated by her Biotic Orb that can either deal damage to opponents or heal. To sustain her healing, she needs to consume biotic energy with her Biotic Grasp. Her Ultimate Coalescence compliments other Ultimates when used together, such as Zarya’s or Genji’s and her Fade ability adds some survivability to her.

B-Tier List

• Reinhardt — Reinhardt’s combo of his Earthshatter Ultimate followed up by a Fire Strike and finally a Charge remains as deadly as it always has been, but his slow movement and short reach with his hammer makes him another situational pick. At least you know that he will always be right beside his team keeping them safe (unless he’s charging off the map).
• Wrecking Ball — Wrecking Ball is also extremely situationally based. Wrecking Balls are best suited in disrupting enemy backlines so ensure that your line-up can withstand damage coming from the front without the only tank not hanging around them so often.
• Echo — Her high mobility in Flight and Glide whilst being able to carry out punishing attacks that target low health enemies like Focusing Beam are her more valuable moves in her kit. Her Ultimate that allows her to copy an enemy’s character that has accelerated Ultimate charge also makes her a highly dangerous foe. She has a tiny hitbox and has high manoeuvrability for swift takedowns and escaping when your team numbers dwindle.
• Cassidy — Cassidy’s slight tweak of his Flashbang now being a Magnetic Grenade makes his kit much more menacing to deal with this time around. He may be one of the slowest moving damage dealers in the game, but with less shields around, his Ultimate Deadeye is even more difficult to avoid now.
• Junkrat — Junkrat’s trap now keep all enemies within its grip when triggered even if you attempt to wraith out of it as Reaper or Moira. He’s one of the best damage dealers in the game and can even punish those foolish enough to be too close to his eliminated body due to explosives falling from his body that can kill enemies near them. Play him smart or chaotically and see your eliminations increase in no time.
• Soldier: 76 — Soldier: 76 is one of the most basic Heroes and easiest to first pick up within the Damage role. His kit is straightforward whilst providing his own means of healing with the Biotic Field, quick movement as often as you like with Sprint, and an Ultimate that instant locks onto foes as Tactical Visor. He’s easy to use and highly effective.
• Kiriko — Kiroko is a deft healer. She comes with a burst of healing, a Kunai that deals increased critical damage and a light foot in her Swift Step that can be her way of either getting back into the action quicker or retreating to safety. Her Protective Suzu is an extremely helpful ability if timed right that gives brief invulnerability to allies touched by it and cleansed of negative effects. Her Ultimate that increases movement and attack speed and decreases cooldowns is also especially beneficial but not always easy to pull off effectively. Combo it well with other characters like Lucio and Bastion to completely shut down your opponents.

C-Tier List

• Doomfist — The newly changed up role Doomfist as a tank has his still fearful combo of Rocket Punch, Seismic Slam and Hand Cannon available, but on his own, Doomfist does not provide enough coverage for his more susceptible to damage comrades. If you are in need of a more protective Tank, go for anyone else.
• Roadhog — While Roadhog’s hook remains as one of the most feared weapon combos (melee once after hooking) within the game for being able to one shot squishies, he’s mostly a walking ultimate sponge due to his size and health pool opponents will take advantage of. Make the best use of him with his ultimate and driving away opponents from the payload/goal when in overtime. Get in some tasty hook, line and sinkers on the Ilios well, too.
• Hanzo — Hanzo’s quickfire attack of Storm Arrows and the position revealing ability of Sonic Arrow are helpful abilities in their own right, but he will need more support to pull off an effective Dragonstrike. His Ultimate does best when going off alongside other Ultimates such as Zarya’s to make the most out of it, so pick him when it complements the team set-up first and foremost.
• Pharah — Pharah, having the best mobility as the only Hero needed to be airborne for the most part makes her difficult to master. She’s also the most obvious enemy to counter since hit scanners should be able to take her down easily, and there’s quite an array of options in Overwatch 2 to shut her down effectively. While her Barrage Ultimate and Concussive Blast can make quick work of eliminating opponents, she herself can be countered far too easily.
• Widowmaker — As long as you’re good enough with sniping, you will provide help to your team when playing as Widowmaker. Her kit is a lot more constricted compared to all other characters, although her Ultimate of Infra-Sight can be extremely helpful intel to you and the rest of the team. Just make sure you can hit some shots with her to make use of her.
• Brigitte — Much like Moira, Brigitte requires actually dealing damage to make use of her character and her healing due to her passive ability of Inspire. Her Rocket Flail has a devastatingly long reach to it and both her Whip Shot and Shield Bash can also push enemies off of maps, therefor making her utilization more situational but highly tactical for clever plays.
• Zenyatta — Zenyatta’s kit may be one of the weakest in healing dish out, but the rest of his abilities makes him a more than valuable team member. His Orb of Discord is especially powerful in increasing the damage the clipped opponent sustains to down them quicker when focused on, and his Ultimate, Transcendence, completely negates an Ultimate. It can be really tricky surviving as him however with Overwatch 2 now coming with one Tank only, making the backlines all the more susceptible to being eliminated.

D-Tier List

• Junker Queen — Junker Queen has been a fun and chaotic tank to wield upon Overwatch 2’s release, but that’s why she ranks so low. She’s a bigger built DPS unit. Her Jagged Blade brings those struck with it closer to her and deals additional damage over time, her Carnage swing from her axe is wide-spread and can damage multiple opponents, and her Ultimate Rampage prevents all caught in it from healing, damages them and continues to cut away chunks of health afterwards for a few seconds. Every single hit she delivers heals her too and she grants buffs to herself and allies with Commanding Shout that increases movement speed and health temporarily. Every other Tank have a lot more utility in their kits to make a bigger impact in matches, especially as singular Tanks who need to protect and mitigate damage.
• Bastion — Bastion’s entire rework has made him worse for wear despite how good it may sound on paper. His ability to now move in his Configuration mode makes him a walking target to get focused on that his team will be unable to properly protect now with shields being less common. His grenade addition and his Ultimate of the Artillery is also extremely underwhelming and fails to hit more often than it should.
• Mei — Mei is ranking here for one reason and one reason only – her gun can no longer freeze opponents that is caught in her line of fire. Her entire kit and movement can be too slow to prevent the chaos that characters like the newer ones dish out like Sojourn’s maddening damage output, and Mei’s damage dealing simply is not up to scratch to deal with it all in the current meta.
• Symmetra — Symmetra’s Photon Projector now fires far too quickly and her Ultimate of Photon Barrier no longer protects the team as well as it did in the original game now that attacks are coming in closer range considering the one and only tank can be so pressured and rushed in on. She’s even more difficult to utilize properly than before.
• Tracer — Tracer’s tendency to be relied upon and previously best used as a backline disruptor is not as viable in Overwatch 2 as she was in the first game. Her Pulse Bomb no longer does the same amount of damage it used to do, and her Pulse Pistols range requires her to be close enough to do enough damage to make picking her worthwhile. The risk is far too great in playing her in the current set-up of Overwatch 2.

Related: How to Play Junker Queen in Overwatch 2