Overwatch 2 is officially here! If you’re new to the game and don’t know where to start, we’re here to help. First, check out our beginner’s guide to Overwatch 2. Then, once you’ve read that, come back here to find out the best beginner characters to play in Overwatch 2.
These are some of the easiest characters to pick up and play as a newbie. Some of them also happen to be some of the best in their class.
Before you start playing, make sure that you stock up on Overwatch Coins using PlayStation Gift Cards from OffGamers!
9 Best Overwatch Beginner Characters
Best Support Characters
Support characters heal and buff to help improve their team’s survivability and damage output. Some of the top support characters in Overwatch 2 are heroes you already know and love.
Mercy
Mercy is considered one of the best healers in the game and a great choice for beginners. While she can do some serious healing, she deals very little damage.
Abilities
Caduceus Staff: Connect to a teammate to provide steady healing or a damage boost.
Guardian Angel: Fly to an ally to provide support.
Caduceus Blaster: Fire a small pistol.
Angelic Descent: A slow-fall ability.
Resurrect: Revive a dead ally.
Valkyrie (Ultimate): Get the ability to fly while enhancing all other abilities.
Passive
Mercy regains health much quicker than other support characters and can gently fall while holding the jump button.
Weapons
Caduceus Staff: Allows Mercy to heal 55 damage per second and increase ally damage output by 30%.
Caduceus Blaster: An automatic pistol that deals 20 damage.
Tips for Playing Mercy
Mercy cannot heal and do damage at the same time, so save the pistol for one-on-one encounters. Using Mercy’s ultimate ability greatly increases her healing output and allows her tethers to branch to other allies.
Resurrect takes a few seconds to complete, so make sure you’re in the clear before attempting it. Take advantage of Mercy’s flying abilities to move around as much as possible.
Moira
Support characters usually excel at healing and utility and are weak when it comes to damage. Moira is an exception to the rule. She’s an offensive support hero, and she can dish out some damage when she needs to.
Abilities
Primary Fire: Heals 70 damage per second. Sprays a healing mist in front of Moira and applies a mild heal-over-time effect.
Secondary Fire: Deals 50 damage per second. Targets the nearest enemy and locks on to deal damage and slightly restore Moira’s health.
Biotic Orb: Heals 65 damage per second up to 300. Damages 50 per second up to 200.
Fade: Moira turns invisible to greatly increase movement speed to escape.
Coalescence (Ultimate): Shoot a beam in a straight line that continuously damages enemies and heals allies.
Passive
Automatically regenerate health at 10hp per second when out of combat.
Tips for Playing Moira
Moira’s Primary Fire ability is a projectile, which means that it won’t be able to heal allies that are behind enemy barriers.
Her Biotic orb can travel through barriers, allowing you to heal allies inside barrier bubbles or other barriers. Using Secondary Fire or Biotic Orb will restore your Biotic gauge. Use Fade to escape detrimental attacks, like Ana’s Biotic Grenade.
Biotic Orb will travel faster when it’s not dealing damage or healing allies, so use it from afar to quickly come to an ally’s aid. Her Beam of Coalescence can pierce through barriers, allowing you to deal damage or heal your allies in difficult situations.
Lucio
Lucio is a fun support character to play, and he has a unique healing style. Lucio plays music to either heal allies or increase movement speed. There’s no need to target allies either. As long as they’re in range, they’ll get a heal or speed boost.
Abilities
Crossfade: Switches between Lucio’s two songs. Lucio always spawns with his speed song active.
Amp It Up: This makes Lucio’s current song stronger for three seconds. Heals increase to 52 per second and speed to 60%.
Sonic Amplifier: Fires quick bursts of audio balls, each dealing 20 damage points. This attack charges Lucio’s ultimate ability.
Soundwave: A 12-meter blast dealing 25 damage and knocking enemies back.
Sound Barrier (Ultimate): This causes Lucio to radiate a protective force across his team, giving everyone in your range 750 extra health points. This extra health decays quickly over six seconds.
Passive
Wall Ride: Allows Lucio to run along walls at 30% faster speeds. He also has passive healing over time after being out of combat for a few seconds.
Weapons
Sonic Amplifier: Launches projectiles or creates a blast wave to knock enemies back.
Tips for Playing Lucio
Riding from wall to wall can boost Lucio’s momentum significantly. You can use Soundwave to knock enemies off of the map as well.
Lucio can only heal or speed-boost allies that are nearby, so stay close to your teammates. He is best for team healing and isn’t ideal for keeping tanks alive.
Best Tank Characters
A tank’s job is to protect allies and lead the offensive. They have high survivability and abilities that help protect both themselves and others, including shields and crowd control.
There are several tank heroes in Overwatch 2. Some of the best ones include:
Orisa
Orisa has been revamped in Overwatch 2 with a new focus and abilities. She’s a great tank for attacking objectives because she’s fully capable of protecting herself.
Abilities
Augmented Fusion Driver: A quick-firing cannon that deals high damage at close range.
Energy Javelin: Throws a projectile that stuns enemies or pins them against walls.
Javelin Spin: Spin your Energy Javelin in front of you to stop all incoming projectiles. This ability also increases movement speed by 50%. Enemies hit by the Javelin Spin will take some damage and be knocked back.
Fortify: Protects Orisa by reducing damage by 40% against incoming projectiles, reduces Augmented Fusion Driver’s cooldown by 50% and adds 125 HP.
Terra Surge (Ultimate): Draws in nearby enemies and grants Orisa Fortify. Orisa begins charging up her Ultimate. You can unleash her power at any time while charging. The longer you wait, the more damage you’ll deal.
Passive
Reduces knockbacks received.
Weapons
Augmented Fusion Driver: A heat-based weapon that deals greater damage at close range.
Tips for Playing Orisa
The timing of your Terra Surge is critical. If you unleash its power too early, it will only deal a small amount of damage. If you wait too long, your enemies may have a chance to escape your range.
Use Fortify to mitigate crowd control. Javelin Spin won’t work against Zarya’s Particle Cannon, so you’ll need another strategy to counter this ability.
Reinhardt
Reinhardt is a solid tank and easily one of the best in the game. He has a powerful barrier to protect his allies, but he works best when he’s close to his teammates – especially a healer.
Abilities
Rocket Hammer: Swing a hammer to deal serious damage at close range.
Barrier Field: Create a barrier that blocks projectiles and absorbs up to 1,200 points of damage.
Charge: Rushes forward and grabs an enemy. Running into a wall while holding the enemy will deal more damage.
Fire Strike: Creates a fiery arc with your hammer and hurl it at enemies.
Earthshatter (Ultimate): Slams your hammer onto the ground to damage nearby enemies and knock them back.
Passive
Reduces knockbacks received.
Weapons
Rocket Hammer: A heavy-damage melee weapon.
Tips for Playing Reinhardt
Reinhardt excels at close-range combat and is not ideal for long-range DPS. Stick with your teammates to serve a defensive role.
Let your enemies come to you, and make sure you have a healer nearby. Use Barrier Field to quickly move past enemy lines and fulfil your objectives.
Roadhog
Roadhog is just as imposing and deadly as he was in the original Overwatch. He deals a ridiculous amount of damage and can cause plenty of chaos on the field by stunning and hooking enemies. Although he’s technically a tank, Roadhog’s style has always been more of a bruiser.
Abilities
Scrap Gun: A short-range shotgun, which has an alt-fire that can travel longer distances.
Chain Hook: Toss a hook forward to hook and grab an enemy towards you.
Take a Breather: Activate a breathing device to heal yourself and decrease damage taken.
Whole Hog (Ultimate): Attach a rapid-fire attachment to your Scrap Gun to knock enemies back and deal damage.
Passive
Reduces knockbacks received.
Weapons
Scrap Gun: Primary is a short-range that deals 165 DPS; Secondary is a medium-range that deals 50 DPS.
Tips for Playing Roadhog
Use a Chain Hook and Scrap Gun combo to close the gap between enemies and take them down quickly. Roadhog is a beast and should be at the centre of the action. Be aggressive, and enemies will have no choice but to focus on you and not your teammates.
Use Take a Breather frequently. It has a short cooldown, so use that to your advantage. Note that Chain Hook is a projectile, so it won’t pierce through shields.
Best DPS Characters
DPS characters are your team’s offence. They deal serious damage to the enemy and help you complete objectives more quickly. There are many DPS characters in Overwatch 2, but some of the best ones include:
Soldier 76
Soldier 76 is a former Overwatch commander turned vigilante. He travels the world searching for those who were responsible for Overwatch’s downfall. Soldier 76 comes equipped with cutting-edge weapons, and he’s a fan favourite to play. He’s also easy to play, which makes him a great option for new players.
Abilities
Heavy Pulse Rifle: An automatic assault rifle that deals damage rapidly.
Sprint: Gives you a speed boost as you move forward.
Biotic Field: Activate a field that heals you and your teammates.
Helix Rockets: Launch a big volley of explosive rockets.
Tactical Visor (Ultimate): Automatically aim your weapon at nearby targets.
Passive
Eliminations give you a burst of movement and reload speed.
Weapons
Heavy Pulse Rifle: Deals 18 DPS.
Tips for Playing Soldier 76
Take advantage of Solder 76’s Sprint ability and use it often. The quick movement will make it easier to take down enemies from different angles.
Get used to Solder 76’s recoil pattern. Try slowly tilting your aim down as you fire to account for the recoil.
Reaper
Reaper is one of the most recognizable heroes in Overwatch 2, and not much has changed with his character in this new edition of the game. Reaper is a great flanker and a close-combat fighter.
Abilities
Hellfire Shotguns: Two short-range shotguns that spread 20 pellets. These guns deal some serious damage up-close and can even one-hit an enemy if they’re in the right position.
Wraith Form: Gain 50% movement speed and invulnerability for three seconds. Reaper cannot attack while in Wraith Form.
Shadow Step: Teleport up to 35 meters ahead.
Death Blossom (Ultimate): Spin for three seconds, dealing 170 damage per second to every enemy within 8 meters.
Passive
The Reaping: Heals for 35% of all damage dealt.
Damage: Get a 25% reload and movement speed after each elimination.
Weapons
Hellfire Shotguns: Deals 120 DPS
Tips for Playing Reaper
When flanking enemies, wait until you’re in very close range to start shooting. The closer you are, the greater the damage your Hellfire Shotguns will do.
Use Shadow Step to avoid environmental deaths (being pushed off the map). Wraith Form has an 8-second cooldown, so use it wisely.
Widowmaker
Widowmaker is one of the top long-range DPS heroes in the game. She is a sniper and uses an automatic rifle to deal damage. She can also be quite the escape artist, although her mobility, in general, is lacking compared to other heroes.
Abilities
Widow’s Kiss: Can serve as an automatic assault weapon or a sniper.
Grappling Hook: Launch a hook to pull yourself toward a ledge.
Venom Mine: Launch a poison trap.
Infra-Sight: Give your team the ability to see the enemy’s location.
Passive
Damage: Get a burst of movement speed after eliminations.
Weapons
Widow’s Kiss: Deals 13 DPS as primary fire and 120 DPS (max charge) as secondary fire.
Tips for Playing Widowmaker
Widowmaker is a sniper at heart, which means she works best from the shadows. Use her Grappling Hook ability to find a spot tucked away.
Don’t stay in one position for too long. It’s only a matter of time before an enemy finds you. Time your Ultimate ability carefully, such as when your team is attacking the enemy’s position.
3 Quick Beginner Tips for Playing Overwatch
1. Practice Makes Perfect
Being a new player can be tough and at times, overwhelming. But the only way to improve your skill with any hero is to practice. Keep playing and trying new strategies to see what works for your chosen hero and your play style.
2. Analyze Your Wins and Losses
Losses can be frustrating, but they’re valuable opportunities to see where you went wrong. Each time you play a match, analyze what happened.
Wins: What went right? What change turned the tide in your team’s favour? Which abilities helped you perform well?
Losses: What went wrong? Where could you have improved with your strategies?
Analyzing your wins and losses will help you become a better Overwatch player.
3. Try All The Characters Out and Stick to One
Don’t just stick with the first character you play and like. Try out all of the heroes to see which ones you really enjoy playing.
Once you find a hero that matches your playstyle, stick with them. The best way to improve your skills is to continue playing the same character until you’ve mastered their abilities and know how to play on their strengths and weaknesses.
If you want to improve your Overwatch skills, make sure that you’re watching streamers and gameplays on YouTube and Twitch.
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