HomeGuidesOverwatch 2
Overwatch 2 changes: The biggest changes and hero reworks in Overwatch 2Here are the biggest things that Overwatch 2 changes
Here are the biggest things that Overwatch 2 changes
What are the biggest changes in Overwatch 2?Compared to the original,Overwatch 2looks and feels startlingly similar. It could even be the same game at first glance. That is, until you look a little closer and realise just how the little differences stack up to create a markedly different experience.
Here we’ve laid out all the biggest Overwatch 2 changes to get you up to speed. So if you haven’t been keeping track of the dozens and dozens of patches, buffs, nerfs, removals and additions over the past year, fear not. Read on to learn about all the major differences betweenOverwatch1 and Overwatch 2.
To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settingsOverwatch 2 is not a sequel, in the traditional sense, but we still think it’s really good.Watch on YouTube
To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settings
To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settings
Biggest Overwatch 2 changes
Overwatch 2 may on paper look a lot like the original Overwatch, but under the hood there’s a number of very significant changes that add up to a rather different player experience.
Here are all the major changes in Overwatch 2 compared to the original:
Below we’ll walk through each of these changes in more detail so you know exactly what to expect when you dive into Blizzard’s new(ish) hero shooter.
Overwatch 2 is free to play
Overwatch 2’s most substantial change is that it is free to play with microtransactions. This was one of the largest reasons for the development of Overwatch 2 in the first place, and it’s possibly the biggest indicator that this really is a new era of Overwatch. Now, Blizzard will get their money not from the game purchase, but from in-game microtransactions and purchases of Overwatch 2’s brand new Battle Pass.
Matches are now 5v5 instead of 6v6
The biggest in-match departure from Overwatch 1 is that teams are one person smaller, bringing the matches down from 6v6 to 5v5. No longer will you have 2 Tanks, 2 DPS, and 2 Support heroes on each team in role queue. With the new 5v5 meta, only one Tank is allowed per team in role queue.
This may not sound like a big difference, but the lack of two tanks severely lowers a team’s ability to create an impenetrable defence against the enemy team’s push. Blizzard wanted to do away with the long-since-stagnant meta of shooting endless bullets into Reinhardt walls and Zarya bubbles, and they’ve achieved just that with the switch to 5v5. Compared to its predecessor, matches in Overwatch 2 are faster-paced and more aggressive, with teams constantly attacking and counterattacking in order to gain the advantage.
New Tank hero Junker Queen wounds enemies while healing herself
3 new heroes are being added to the roster with the release of Overwatch 2 - one for each hero role. Junker Queen is the new Tank hero. She’s one of the most heavily armed heroes out there, with a shotgun for her primary attack, a massive two-handed axe, and a knife that she can throw and recall at will. The latter two weapons inflict Wounds on hit, which heal up Junker Queen as they damage the afflicted enemy over time.
Junker Queen’s abilities almost all revolve around this use of Wounds. It’s less about the damage over time, and more about the surprising amounts of healing that she can glean from repeated attacks with all her abilities. She’s a very self-sufficient front-line hero, which is a very good thing in Overwatch 2’s more aggressive matches. If you want to read more about her, check out ourOverwatch 2 Junker Queen guide.
New Damage hero Sojourn comes with powerful beam attacks
Sojourn is the new Damage hero arriving with Overwatch 2, and she’s a very dangerous individual built in a similar vein to Soldier: 76. Her primary attack is a powerful fast-firing rifle which also builds up energy as it damages enemies. She can then use this energy to power up her secondary attack, a hitscan beam, for large nuking potential.
New Support hero Kiriko makes a fantastic pocket healer and flanker
Kiriko is the new Support hero in Overwatch 2, and is probably the closest rival we have to Mercy when it comes to having a dedicated pocket healer on your team. Kiriko’s primary unleashes a burst of healing projectiles which add up to a very high rate of healing per second. This combined with her ability to instantly teleport to an ally within 30 metres makes her a fantastic hero for tailing a single ally on dangerous flank attacks and keeping them alive against all odds.
Kiriko isn’t just a healer though. She can also deal some amazing damage herself on flank attacks thanks to her ranged Kunai knives, which deal low base damage but massive headshot damage to enemies. She can also climb high walls very quickly, giving her further mobility that can make her a difficult adversary to pin down unless caught unawares or vastly outnumbered.
New role passives for each hero class
Another big change to the heroes themselves in Overwatch 2 is the addition of three brand new passive abilities - one for all Tanks, another for all Damage heroes, and the third for all Supports. Here’s what each of them do:
Orisa has received a substantial rework
Orisa has received perhaps the most comprehensive rework of any hero in Overwatch 2. Only one of her original abilities has been retained, and she also has a brand new primary weapon. Overall these changes are very positive, giving Orisa a lot of new survivability and pushing potential to match the new one-tank meta.
Here are all the changes to Orisa in Overwatch 2:
Doomfist is now a Tank hero
Doomfist has received the next biggest rework in Overwatch 2 after Orisa. He’s now classed as a Tank rather than a Damage hero, and as a result he’s able to soak up a lot more damage than before, while also making use of much of his previous brawler playstyle.
Here are all the changes to Doomfist in Overwatch 2:
Bastion can now move while in tank mode
Bastionis the last hero to recieve a truly substantial rework for Overwatch 2’s release. The headline change is that its can now move while in tank mode, but the configuration only lasts for 6 seconds.
Here are all the changes to Bastion in Overwatch 2:
Stuns are far less prevalent
New Push game mode adds a tug-of-war spin to Escort
Overwatch 2 brings with it a brand new mode called Push. Much like Escort, Push involves bringing a payload to the opposing team’s side of the map. But whereas in Escort there is one team attacking and the other defending, in Push both teams are attempting to push the payload all the way back to the other team’s base, in a sort of reverse tug-of-war.
6 new maps have been added across all game modes
Along with new heroes and game modes, we’ve also got a host of new maps to try them out in. In total there are 6 new maps, listed below along with their applicable game modes:
Those are all the biggest changes you should prepare for when you first load up Overwatch 2. No doubt you want to just get stuck in playing now, but in case you want a fuller idea of what to expect, check out ourOverwatch 2 review in progress.
