Overwatch 2 characters list: Every character and their abilities detailed
An introduction to every character in Overwatch 2 and how to play them effectively
Looking for a full list of all the characters in Overwatch 2? Only if you've been living under a rock for the past 6 years (goodness, has it really been 6 years?) could you not have heard about at least some of the colourful, larger-than-life characters in the Overwatch 2 roster. These characters hail from all over the Earth - or beyond, in some cases - and they each come equipped with a set of unique abilities that allows you to play them completely differently from any other character.
If you're fairly new to Overwatch 2, then allows us to catch you up with our list of every character in the game. Below we'll go into detail on each of the 35 characters in Overwatch 2 and their abilities, along with handy tips and information on their strengths and weaknesses, and how to play them effectively.
Overwatch 2 characters list
Here's the full list of all Overwatch 2 characters:
- D.Va
- Doomfist
- Junker Queen
- Orisa
- Reinhardt
- Roadhog
- Sigma
- Winston
- Wrecking Ball
- Zarya
- Ashe
- Bastion
- Cassidy
- Echo
- Genji
- Hanzo
- Junkrat
- Mei
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Sojourn
- Soldier: 76
- Sombra
- Symmetra
- Torbjörn
- Tracer
- Widowmaker
- Ana
- Baptiste
- Brigitte
- Kiriko
- Lúcio
- Mercy
- Moira
- Zenyatta
Here they are again, organised by role:
| Tank characters | D.Va, Doomfist, Junker Queen, Orisa, Reinhardt, Roadhog, Sigma, Winston, Wrecking Ball, Zarya |
| Damage characters | Ashe, Bastion, Cassidy, Echo, Genji, Hanzo Junkrat, Mei, Pharah, Reaper, Sojourn, Soldier: 76, Sombra, Symmetra, Torbjörn, Tracer, Widowmaker |
| Support characters | Ana, Baptiste, Brigitte, Kiriko, Lúcio, Mercy, Moira, Zenyatta |
That's a grand total of 35 characters making up the overall Overwatch 2 roster. Quite the selection! If you're new to the world of Overwatch or if you've simply been away from the game for a while, then below we'll provide a brief rundown of each character's abilities and strengths so you know what to expect from each one.
If, on the other hand, you want to get a feel for which are the best characters in the game, then take a look at our Overwatch 2 tier list. You can also check out the ideal hero matchups with our Overwatch 2 counters guide.
D.Va
D.Va spends most of her time piloting a powerful and highly durable mech. This mech is fantastic at soaking up huge amounts of firepower thanks to its Defensive Matrix, which can block projectiles in front of it when activated. Because of this, D.Va is an excellent frontline tank character.
D.Va's mech also has considerable firepower of its own, thanks to a combination of fast-firing fusion cannons, Micro Missiles, and - most dangerous of all - the ability to plow forward and self-destruct in a massive explosion capable of wiping out whole teams. But if the mech is destroyed, D.Va herself is very vulnerable. As a pilot, she's a flimsy character with a simple pistol for a weapon, and should try to remain out of danger until she can call down her mech once more.
D.Va Abilities:
Doomfist
Doomfist likes to get up close and personal with enemies. A strong character with a massive mechanical arm concealing a powerful short-range hand cannon, he's surprisingly durable thanks to his Passive, The Best Defense..., which gives him temporary health whenever he damages enemies with his abilities.
Despite his stature, Doomfist is a very mobile character. His Rocket Punch allows him to charge towards enemies, dealing high damage particularly if he ends up pinning them against a wall. And his Ultimate, Meteor Strike, sends him leaping into the air to target a large area in which to land, dealing massive damage. A good Doomfist player looks for opportunities to barrel towards unsuspecting opponents and dismantling them without overextending himself too much.
Doomfist Abilities:
Junker Queen
Junker Queen was added specifically for Overwatch 2. Her whole toolkit revolves around wounding enemies with her axe and throwing knife. Each wound inflicted deals damage over time, and heals Junker Queen up simultaneously, making her quite a self-sufficient character on the frontline.
Junker Queen's primary weapon, her pump-action shotgun, is low-to-mid range but packs a real punch. She's not great at dishing out damage, but she can wear down enemies over time with her wounds, and stop herself from dying against all odds with her health regeneration and her Commanding Shout ability, which provides immediately temporary health and movement speed to all nearby allies as well as herself.
Junker Queen Abilities:
Orisa
Orisa, a heavily armoured robot from Numbani built from scrap by an 11-year-old genius, offers a good balance between defence and offence. She has good ranged capabilities thanks to her fast-firing primary weapon (which uses an overheating mechanic rather than reloading ammo) and her javelin, which she can throw in a skillshot to damage and stun an enemy. And she's also extremely effective at soaking up damage with her Fortify damage reduction ability, and her Javelin Spin, which blocks all frontal attacks for a short time.
Orisa's signature move, however, is her Terra Surge Ultimate, which draws in nearby enemies as she charges up and then releases a massive shockwave that deals huge, potentially team-killing damage. Concentrated firepower can bring her down during the charge-up time though, so you have to be careful to use it at the right moments.
Orisa Abilities:
Reinhardt
Reinhardt is the quintessential tank of Overwatch. His modus operandi is to hold the frontline and wade through the enemy team's attacks from behind his massive Barrier Field. He can also charge forward into the fray at will, and fire off damaging projectiles with his Fire Strike - useful for ensuring the kill against a retreating low-health enemy.
Pushing as a Reinhardt can be dangerous, as he and his Barrier are such massive targets. But if he does get in melee range, he can deal huge damage with his primary hammer attacks, as well as his Earthshatter Ultimate, which knocks down all enemies in front of him, potentially stunning the entire team if they're grouped together.
Reinhardt Abilities:
Roadhog
Roadhog is a big beefy tank whose signature Chain Hook is one of the most feared abilities in Overwatch. His ability to grapple enemies towards him combines perfectly with his devastating short-range shotgun blast, and makes him a terror for frail Damage and Support characters who thought they were safe.
Roadhog's Ultimate gives him access to a torrent of powerful automatic shotgun blasts which damage and knock enemies backwards. He can be focused down more easily than some Tanks, although his Take A Breather ability gives him a quick and powerful heal during times of need. He's big, slow, and requires a fair bit of skill to make use of his grapple. But in the right hands, he's a terror.
Roadhog Abilities:
Sigma
The first thing to understand about Sigma is that he packs a lot of damage into his primary weapons. They're slow and limited in range, but they hit hard. He's not the tankiest Tank in the game, but his Experimental Barrier provides some Reinhardt-esque team protection, and his Kinetic Grasp can be used to absorb projectiles and replenish his shields, giving him a fair bit of personal survivability.
A good Sigma can keep his team safe while also finding alternative ways to engage the enemy besides head-on attack. He's a good aggressive brawler thanks to his high health and damage output - and he can temporarily drop dangerous adversaries with his Accretion boulder too. This, combined with his bouncing Hyperspheres and a powerful Ultimate that can kill weaker enemies in one hit, means he's by far at his most effective when the enemy doesn't see him coming.
Sigma Abilities:
Winston
One of the most familiar faces of Overwatch, Winston is a giant gorilla with a huge amount of mobility and survivability thanks to his Barrier Projector sphere, and his leap, which he can activate at a moment's notice to pounce upon a vulnerable enemy. With his electric Tesla Cannon he can easily burst down weaker characters, and his abilities all synergise very nicely, allowing him to pounce on the backline, Barrier himself to avoid punishment, and then take out an enemy healer or DPS character before leaping back to safety.
Winston isn't capable of soaking up as much damage as many other Tanks in Overwatch 2, but his speed makes him one of the best at hit-and-run attacks. What's more, his Primal Rage Ultimate allows him to send a fortified enemy team into absolute chaos in seconds, and is extremely hard to deal with for anyone who isn't called Ana.
Winston Abilities:
Wrecking Ball
Wrecking Ball is the most mobile Tank in Overwatch 2. A giant mech piloted by a super-intelligent hamster named Hammond, at the touch of a button it can transform into a ball and roll around at high speed. Combined with a grappling claw which allows it to attach to the environment and swing around at high speed, and Wrecking Ball can be very hard to pin down despite its size.
Wrecking Ball fulfils a similar chaos-sowing role to Winston. It can launch itself into an enemy's backline, knocking everyone back with its bulk, and making use of its Adaptive Shield to become tanky enough to survive such hit-and-run tactics. If used while surrounded by enemies, its Minefield Ultimate can be a team-killer, capable of killing smaller enemies and wounding fellow Tanks. Wrecking Ball is hard to master, but a menace when it comes to flank attacks and pouncing on enemies.
Wrecking Ball Abilities:
Zarya
Zarya has access to two barriers: her Particle Barrier, which protects herself; and her Projected Barrier, which can be applied to an ally to protect them. Thanks to her Passive, any damage blocked by either barrier boosts Zarya's primary beam weapon damage. This makes it very annoying to deal with a team whose Zarya keeps protecting everyone, because any damage you deal will simply buff Zarya further.
Zarya's primary weapon has two modes: a short-range beam, and a grenade launcher for longer-ranged attacks. The former is her main damage dealer, and is particularly good against other Tanks like Sigma and D.Va because the beam doesn't count as a projectile and so isn't blocked by their abilities. The latter is great for ensuring the kill against low-health retreating enemies.
Zarya Abilities:
Ashe
Ashe is a very effective mid-range sniper. Like Widowmaker, she can aim down sights to zoom in with her rifle, slowing her fire rate in exchange for increased damage and accuracy. The dual purpose nature of her primary weapon allows her to cover a decent range as the situation requires.
Ashe's Dynamite can be thrown and then shot to explode prematurely, giving her a lot of unexpected burst damage potential. But her star of the show is B.O.B., her robotic butler, who charges forward and rams enemies in its path before firing at them with its arm cannons. By throwing B.O.B. into the mix, she can sow a lot of confusion in the enemy ranks and weaken them while remaining further back and using her rifle to finish off individual opponents.
Ashe Abilities:
Bastion
Bastion may look like a tank, but it actually sacrifices survivability for some amazing damage potential. It can switch at will between two configurations: a mobile bipedal mech, and a slow-moving tank. Particularly in tank mode, Bastion's DPS is off the charts, which makes it a great hero for bursting down Tanky characters like Reinhardt or Orisa.
The trick with Bastion is how to stay alive. It's a high-value target because everyone knows how quickly it can kill its enemies, but it's not able to withstand much damage even with its Ironclad Passive - and with its size, it's fairly easy to hit. Really it needs the reliable protection of a strong Tank to hide behind. If left unchecked though, it can sweep through enemies like very few other characters can - particularly if they can't get out of the way of Bastion's Ultimate artillery shells quickly enough.
Bastion Abilities:
Cassidy
Cassidy is the quintessential glass cannon of Overwatch 2. With his very low health, he can be burst down extremely easily, making it difficult to play him well. This is his downside; even with his quick Combat Roll to get out of danger, he is liable to be focused and killed quite quickly - as you'd expect from a sniper character.
But get a good flank or some high ground on the enemy team while they're distracted, and Cassidy can deal superb amounts of damage with his highly accurate Peacekeeper revolver. His Ultimate, if charged for long enough with the target in sight, can potentially one-shot-kill any character in the game (as long as they're not protected by Overhealth or a barrier of some sort), and his Magnetic Grenade is also a strong damage-dealing ability that he can fall back on in messier close-ranged fights.
Cassidy Abilities:
Echo
Echo's signature ability is her Ultimate, Duplicate, which turns her into a copy of the targeted enemy, able to use their character's abilities for the duration. The ability to quickly turn into a Roadhog and hook an enemy in, or a Reaper to deal with a pesky enemy tank, is extremely powerful when used well.
Without this ability, she's a fairly ordinary, albeit surprisingly mobile, damage-dealing character. Her Tri-Shot deals decent damage, particularly when combined with her volley of Sticky Bombs. Her Focusing Beam is fantastic for finishing off low-health enemies, as it deals extra damage to targets under half health. And, similarly to characters like Pharah or Mercy, Echo can fly and glide in the air, making her very manoeuvrable - albeit vulnerable if she spends too much time in the air.
Echo Abilities:
Genji
Genji is a popular and powerful character with very high DPS potential. His Shuriken can be fired either as an accurate shot or a close-range arc, making it a versatile primary weapon. Despite his low health he's surprisingly survivable thanks to his Deflect, which blocks melee attacks and projectiles, and the high mobility afforded by his dash and double-jump.
The most dangerous aspect of Genji's skillset is, of course, his Dragonblade Ultimate. Particularly when combined with a damage-boosting ability like Ana's Nano Boost, an Ulting Genji can easily wipe out an entire team with his extremely high damage melee weapon, which can be used alongside his Swift Strike dash to tear apart enemies faster than they can react.
Genji Abilities:
Hanzo
Hanzo is a powerful DPS sniper character whose Storm Bow arrows are fast, accurate, and extremely damaging, particularly with headshots. He's not very survivable, but just like Cassidy he can fire off a burst of arrows in quick succession when forced into a close-range engagement, and with his wall-climbing and double-jump capabilities he's almost as mobile as his brother Genji.
Hanzo's Ultimate, Dragonstrike, has the potential to annihilate whole enemy teams in one go, but it has to be used at the right time, because when an enemy sees or hears it coming, it's not too difficult to avoid. Hanzo's real strength is simply to pick off smaller targets with his bow, and also to provide situational awareness around corners and the like using his Sonic Arrows to peek at enemies through walls. He's a fairly well-rounded sniper character with a lot of DPS potential.
Hanzo Abilities:
Junkrat
Junkrat is very strong when it comes to raining damage on enemies without having to expose himself to return fire. His arcing, bouncing grenades are easy to use, and don't require great accuracy to deliver high damage to enemies, and his Rip-Tire Ultimate, if it isn't destroyed quickly enough, unleashes a massive explosion that can wipe an entire team in one go.
One-on-one, he's not very strong at all - though don't discount his ability to break apart a melee fight with his Concussion Mines, which deal high damage and blast both himself and the enemy backwards. He can also use his Concussion Mines to reach high places and travel quickly, because thanks to his Passive he is invulnerable to damage from his own explosives. He's a strong anti-Tank pick, and provides decent overall DPS in almost any team comp.
Junkrat Abilities:
Mei
Mei is a rather unusual character in Overwatch. Her primary weapon is a spray that deals damage and slows enemies, which is best when used in the midst of a teamfight because it doesn't really have the DPS output to ensure a 1v1 victory. Her long-range icicle launcher, on the other hand, is surprisingly punchy and can make her very useful as a mid-to-long-range sniper.
Mei also has a lot of defensive utility in her three abilities. Ice Wall allows you to place down a giant wall to slow the progress of the enemy team, while Mei's Cryo-Freeze gives her some extra survivability by encasing herself in invulnerable ice while she heals up for a short while. Her Ultimate, Blizzard, is capable of freezing enemies on the spot if they stay in the area of effect, which, when used as part of a teamfight, can spell the end of said fight rather quickly. She's very much meant to be used in the midst of other players. Mei excels when she's not the subject of the enemy team's attention, and can deal quite a lot of damage if they leave her alone.
Mei Abilities:
Pharah
Pharah is like an airborne version of Junkrat. Her rocket launcher primary weapon deals high damage but with their slow movement speed they're hard to land on quicker enemies. For this reason, she's mainly used as a counter to slow-moving Tanks.
Pharah should spend most of her time in the air. She can hold Jump to hover (at the cost of fuel), and her Jump Jet ability launches her upwards quickly to gain extra height or get out of a dangerous spot. Her Ultimate is high-risk, high-reward. It deals colossal sustained damage to enemies and can potentially kill the whole enemy team - but while using it she's a still target, and very easily burst down.
Pharah Abilities:
Reaper
Reaper is the obvious pick when you need someone to deal with a strong enemy Tank. His Hellfire Shotguns are incredibly damaging at close range, and he has a lot more personal survivability than his health pool suggests thanks to his lifesteal attacks and his Wraith Form, which allows him to become invulnerable and move faster for a short time.
In general Reaper's skillset makes him a fantastic character for repositioning at a moment's notice. His Shadow Step ability allows him to teleport to a target location, which combines wonderfully with his much-feared Death Blossom Ultimate, which deals colossal damage to all nearby opponents. His modus operandi is to teleport deep into the heart of the enemy team and ult immediately, giving them no time to respond before they die.
Reaper Abilities:
Sojourn
Sojourn is a versatile and powerful soldier character newly added to Overwatch 2. Her Disruptor Shot is a decent zoning and damage-over-time ability, but it's her primary weapon that makes her so fearsome. Her fast-firing Railgun deals consistent high damage and charges up her secondary fire - a hitscan beam attack which is fantastic for finishing off retreating enemies even at long range.
Her Power Slide gives her some strong mobility, as it can also be transitioned into an extra high jump that allows her to reach high ground with ease. From such vantage points, she can make great use of her primary weapon and her Ultimate, which auto-boosts her beam attacks so she can unleash six or seven full-power beams in the space of as many seconds. She doesn't have much health, but she can deal huge damage if left unchecked.
Sojourn Abilities:
Soldier: 76
Soldier: 76, like Sojourn, is a versatile damage-dealing soldier who excels at delivering steady damage to any enemy in sight. His Pulse Rifle delivers strong damage-per-second, and his Helix Rockets can be fired off fairly regularly for an extra burst of damage that can finish off opponents.
One big part of Soldier: 76's success is his unique ability to sprint at will. This ability isn't on cooldown - he can just sprint whenever he feels like it, which makes him a very manoeuvrable character. Add to this his Biotic Field, which delivers a really solid amount of team healing (particularly for a non-Support character) and his Tactical Visor Ultimate, which can quickly wipe up multiple enemies at once as long as he isn't being focused, and you've got a very adaptable and able-bodied character.
Soldier: 76 Abilities:
Sombra
Sombra is a stealthy damage-dealer whose playstyle revolves around turning invisible, and hacking nearby enemies to increase the damage they take from your Machine Pistol. She can also hack health packs in the world to prevent their use by enemies.
She's an extremely strong flanker who excels at cleaning up vulnerable backline characters. Thanks to her Passive, she can detect hacked and low-health enemies through walls, and with her Stealth and her Translocator abilities, she has fantastic mobility that allows her to move unseen through an enemy team's defences. Of course, misuse her abilities and you'll end up dying quite a lot as you tend to spend most of your time away from your team while playing Sombra.
Sombra Abilities:
Symmetra
Symmetra is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. She can place up to three Sentry Turrets at a time - weak on their own, but combined with each other and herself, they can do very well at fortifying a position, particularly indoors. And with her Teleporter, she can move her entire team in unexpected ways, giving them opportunities to flank that other teams don't have.
Symmetra's primary weapon has two modes. There's a charge-up orb that can be used for mid-range engagements, but it's not very powerful. How she really deals damage is by getting close to the enemy and using her beam attack for long enough that it starts to deal very strong damage. It's hard to keep Symmetra alive for that long, but the damage potential is very high if you can do it. You can also use her Ultimate to save a losing teamfight or protect a position from snipers or poke damage, giving her a bit of utility in almost every situation.
Symmetra Abilities:
Torbjörn
Torbjörn is known for his Turret, which he can place down somewhere on the map so that it fires at nearby enemies. It's fairly easily destroyed, but the extra damage output is well worth having, particularly in a teamfight. He also has quite a lot of damage output himself, with his Rivet Gun capable of spewing out long-ranged shots or more powerful short-ranged blasts at will.
Torbjörn isn't the most survivable damage character out there, as he lacks any real mobility. But if he can use his Overload to buff his health, speed, and damage, and then get up close and personal with enemies so he can use his close-range shots to melt them down quickly, then he can really prove his worth. His Molten Core Ultimate is a good teamfighting ability, and can also be used to lock down an area such as a capture point or chokepoint, forcing enemies to reconsider their approach or die.
Torbjörn Abilities:
Tracer
Tracer is a terrific flanker and one of the most annoying characters to try and pin down in Overwatch 2. She can use up to three short-ranged teleports in quick succession with her Blink ability, giving her an incredible amount of mobility - and with her Recall ability, she can also get out of sticky spots by traveling back in time to her previous location, regaining the health she had at that moment in time.
She has very low health, so if she doesn't make good use of her powers to stay moving, then she can be quickly killed by most other characters. But her Pulse Pistols fire fast enough to ruin most smaller enemies' days, and her Sticky Mine can be used to deliver a powerful burst of damage to larger targets.
Tracer Abilities:
Widowmaker
Widowmaker is the ultimate dedicated sniper character of Overwatch 2. By aiming down sights with her Widow's Kiss rifle, she can transform it from a fairly basic automatic weapon to a long-ranged sniper capable of one-shotting smaller enemies with a single headshot.
Widowmaker doesn't have much utility: she's very focused on sniping. Her Grappling Hook allows her to escape danger and reach high vantage points from which to snipe, and her Venom Mines are useful for preventing flanks and fortifying her sniping position. Her Ultimate is the only ability that's useful to the team as a whole, giving all allies the ability to see enemies through walls for a short time. Ultimately though, she has to prove her worth by getting lots of long-ranged kills on enemies, or she'll simply be holding her team back.
Widowmaker Abilities:
Ana
Ana comes equipped with a powerful Sniper Rifle with a dual function. If she shoots an enemy, she damages them. If she shoots an ally, she heals them. This duality is reflected in her Biotic Grenade, which heals allies while also damaging and - crucially - preventing healing on enemies in the area.
A player with good aim can make fantastic use of Ana, healing up allies while also neutralising enemies. Her Sleep Dart is her most important ability, as it can be used to instantly stop extremely dangerous threats like an Ulting Winston or Genji. And her Nano Boost Ultimate is a fantastic damage-boosting ability which should be combined with a high damage output ally like Genji, Roadhog, or Sojourn. Overall a fantastic character with great utility, but one which relies on very good aim.
Ana Abilities:
Baptiste
Baptiste has some very high healing potential, but his abilities really have to be used with care to get the most out of them. His Biotic Launcher, like many Support weapons, has both a damage-dealing and healing mode. Right-click with the gun and he lobs a healing grenade that deals quite a lot of healing at the point of impact. And he can double up the healing with his Regenerative Burst, which instantly heals up nearby allies and provides further healing over time.
Baptiste's Immortality Field is particularly potent, preventing allies from dying around the thrown device for a full 5 seconds. It's rare for a non-Ultimate ability to be able to completely nullify an Ult like Reaper's Death Blossom, but it has to be used correctly, because the device can be destroyed with ease if enemy players notice what's happening. Add to this Baptiste's Ultimate, which creates a pass-through barrier that double the damage of allied projectiles passing through it, and Baptiste is a fantastic Support character to have on your team - provided he can use his abilities in the right ways at the right times.
Baptiste Abilities:
Brigitte
Brigitte is what you'd get if Reinhardt were a Support character. Which makes sense, since she's his squire. She's a melee character with a barrier that protects only herself, and she can dash forward with the barrier to knock an enemy back. But she also has easy access to team healing with her Repair Pack that she can throw out at an ally, and her Passive ability to heal up nearby allies simply by dealing damage to enemies.
Because of this, Brigitte has to be played more aggressively than most other Support characters. If she isn't on the frontline dealing damage, then she isn't reaching her full potential. Of course, she isn't as tanky as an actual Tank, so you have to stick to your Tank and be careful not to overexpose yourself. But when in trouble you can always fall back on your Whip Shot to knock back enemies, and your Rally Ultimate to provide extra health and movement speed to everyone nearby.
Brigitte Abilities:
Kiriko
Kiriko is equal parts healer and assassin. Her primary Healing Ofuda unleashes a flurry of healing projectiles, which, when combined with her Swift Step teleport, makes her a very effective pocket healer, much like Mercy. And her Protection Suzu is a great panic button which renders nearby allies invulnerable for a very short - but potentially significant - time.
But Kiriko also has surprising damage potential with her Kunai, throwing knives which deal massive headshot damage. An accurate player can fell even tanks at high speed as Kiriko, particularly when they don't see her coming. And thanks to her fast Wall Climb and Kitsune Rush, which dramatically increases the fire rate and cooldowns of all allies along its path, she has potentially the highest overall DPS potential of any Support character. The only downside, of course, is that she's very easy to kill.
Kiriko Abilities:
Lúcio
Lúcio's power is subtle, but very significant. He's a very mobile character who always has an area of effect around him bestowing either healing or movement speed on nearby allies and himself. He can switch between these two modes at will, and also boost its effects for a brief time with his Amp It Up ability.
As a healer he's far from the strongest out there, but you cannot underestimate the usefulness of that movement speed boost, even just for getting to a point before the enemy team at the start of a game. Lúcio's Wall Ride, self-heal, and movement speed makes him one of the slipperiest characters in Overwatch, and a fantastic staller for time. What's more, he has a very strong Ultimate which gives all nearby allies an immediate and massive boost of Overhealth - enough to turn around a losing teamfight. He's very hard to play well because you need to juggle his abilities very quickly and effectively. But he's a top-tier character if you can master him.
Lúcio Abilities:
Mercy
The quintessential healer of Overwatch, Mercy is adept at tailing a specific ally and keeping their health constantly topped up using her Caduceus Staff, which unleashes a beam of either healing energy or damage-boosting energy upon the target ally. She can also switch to her secondary weapon - an automatic pistol - if she needs to deal some damage herself, but she's by far her most effective while healing and boosting allies' damage.
Mercy is probably the best so-called "Pocket Healer" in the game - that is, a healer who focuses all their energy on keeping one specific ally alive. With her Resurrect she can also bring recently killed allies back to life, and her Valkyrie Ultimate makes her an incredibly mobile airborne character who can easily travel to where she's most needed on the battlefield.
Mercy Abilities:
Moira
Moira, epitomises the Support role struggle of balancing healing with dealing damage. Her primary is a spray that heals all enemies in front of it, but it uses up energy which must be recharged by dealing damage with a similar right-click lock-on beam attack. Similarly, her bouncing Biotic Orb can be launched either as a damage-dealer or a healer orb (not both), and will bounce down corridors healing or damaging all nearby targets.
Moira has a surprising amount of potential as a DPS character, thanks to her primary damage dealing weapon also healing her over time. And if she gets into trouble, she can fall back on her Fade, which renders her invisible for a moment while she moves elsewhere at high speed. Her most dangerous weapon is her Ultimate, which fires a strong beam that either dramatically heals allies or severely damages enemies in a short space of time.
Moira Abilities:
Zenyatta
Zenyatta, like Kiriko, is a combination of healer and sniper. He also has the benefit of being very easy to get to grips with. One ability targets an ally and provides constant healing for a time, and another ability targets an enemy and increases the damage they take for a time. Very straightforward, but also very powerful when used proactively.
Zenyatta's primary attack is startlingly powerful, sending fast-moving orbs over long distances to deal high damage to enemies. You can also hold right-click to charge up multiple orbs at once before sending them out together in a massive quick-fire burst capable of melting an enemy if they all hit (especially if you land a headshot or two). His Ultimate is also a game-changer, rendering him invulnerable for several seconds and giving him a large area of effect within which he heals his allies at an incredible rate - often outstripping the rate at which they're being damaged even by a whole enemy team's attacks.
Zenyatta Abilities:
That's every single one of the characters in the Overwatch 2 roster explained, so hopefully you now have a better idea of what each of them can do ready for your next match. If you want to get a better idea of what's changed since you last played the first Overwatch, then check out our list of the biggest Overwatch 2 changes here. Alternatively, consult our primer on how to unlock heroes in Overwatch 2, and how to level up fast in Overwatch 2 so you can get stuck into playing each of the above characters!
