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As developer Blizzard looks to transition regular Overwatch into the Overwatch 2 era, fans can expect several large balance changes for each of the game's heroes. As Overwatch 2 is moving Overwatch PvP to a 5v5 format with one fewer tank, many of the game's heroes needed adjustments to remain balanced and viable. Some heroes will likely get changed more than others, but very few heroes (if any) will stay just like they currently are in the original Overwatch.

The arrival of the Overwatch 2 beta has given fans a taste of some of the balance adjustments that will come with the full release of the game, and as the developer continues to tune and tweak each hero, we'll catalog all of Overwatch 2's hero changes and reworks here. On top of that, we'll also go over how each hero fits into Overwatch's metagame and what you need to know about their strengths and weaknesses. Keep in mind that all of the changes listed below are subject to change, as the developers will no doubt make future adjustments based on player feedback and other data.

If you don't see a hero on this list, it doesn't mean that we forgot them. It just means that they haven't gotten any changes in Overwatch 2 yet.

These changes have been made globally to all heroes and hero abilities.

The introduction of role passives in Overwatch 2 gives each type of hero in the game distinct advantages. The 10% movement speed buff to damage characters means that it will be easier for them to get into good positions for scoring kills, while the 30% knockback resistance and 50% reduction in Ultimate charge given to tanks makes them harder to forcibly move around and "farm" for Ultimates. Support heroes being able to rapidly heal after not taking damage gives them a significant amount of self-sustain, ensuring that enemies can't easily whittle them down with chip damage over time.

The introduction of Overhealth also simplifies how getting extra health from abilities works, though it directly nerfs both Brigitte and Torbjörn since Brigitte's Inspire Ultimate and Torbjörn's Overload used to provide damage-reducing armor and now provide Overhealth, which doesn't have damage reduction properties. Armor health across the board has been buffed, though, as it now reduces all damage by 30% instead of reducing damage taken by 5 points flatly. This means that armor will be more effective against large chunks of damage caused by abilities like Junkrat's Concussion Mine or heavy-hitting projectile weapons like Pharah's Rocket Launcher. There are some situations where the new armor is worse — weapons that shoot a high number of weak pellets like Reaper's Hellfire Shotguns used to struggle a lot more against armor since each individual pellet's damage was reduced by 5 points — but overall, armor is more effective than it used to be.

The following changes have been made to Ana in Overwatch 2:

Since Overwatch 2 has significantly reduced the presence of stun and boop abilities in the game, Ana's Sleep Dart is one of the last few forms of hard crowd control. This makes it incredibly powerful, so Blizzard gave it a three-second cooldown nerf to lower its uptime. Ana's ability to prevent the enemy team from healing with her Biotic Grenade is also incredibly powerful since there aren't two tanks that can try to block it anymore, so the duration of its effects has been reduced by a full second. Finally, Ana's primary Biotic Rifle weapon has been buffed with three more rounds in its magazine, allowing Ana to heal her teammates or damage enemies more before having to reload.

Overall, Ana is one of the strongest support heroes in Overwatch 2 despite the nerfs to her abilities. Her Sleep Dart can stop deadly Ultimates like Genji's Dragonblade in their tracks, and it also gives her a defensive option against damage heroes who attempt to dive on her. Biotic Grenade's anti-heal properties are also as valuable as they ever were. The additional rounds in her Biotic Rifle also give Ana more uptime in general, which is always a good thing.

Ashe hasn't been changed much in Overwatch 2, though she has gotten one adjustment:

Ashe is a great mid-to-long-range hitscan hero in Overwatch 2, and while Soldier: 76 and Widowmaker will generally be more effective in most cases, Ashe is a strong alternative if you're going up against brawly compositions with tanks like Reinhardt or Orisa. Her Dynamite area-of-effect ability is powerful against grouped up enemies, and despite the nerf to B.O.B.'s health, he's still great for contesting objectives like capture points or payloads.

Baptiste got the following changes in Overwatch 2:

Baptiste's damage falloff range has been reduced to make his ability to hit enemies from afar less potent in Overwatch 2, but his Regenerative Burst healing and Biotic Launcher healing uptime have been buffed to compensate for this. You can heal groups of teammates much more with Regenerative Burst now, and the extra healing ammo in the Biotic Launcher makes it easier to effectively heal as Baptiste whenever your team isn't grouped up.

Like in the original Overwatch, Baptiste is strongest when you take a defensive position on high ground with his Exo Boots jumps. Though Ana will likely be the better pick in most situations because of the power of Sleep Dart and Biotic Grenade, Baptiste can be a strong alternative if you have ranged damage characters like Soldier: 76, Sojourn, Ashe, or Cassidy. This is because the Amplification Matrix Ultimate boosts their damage significantly, and Immortality Field prevents them from being picked off by snipers like Widowmaker or Hanzo.

Bastion is one of the heroes that has gotten a complete rework in Overwatch 2. Here's what you need to know:

Bastion's rework in Overwatch 2 allows him to be more mobile than ever before while still leveraging the vicious power of his minigun. His new A-36 Tactical Grenade ability is also very useful as both a burst damage weapon and as a tool for grenade jumps, allowing Bastion to get in unorthodox positions easily. The removal of Self-Repair and the Ironclad passive that provided Bastion with 30% damage resistance make him less self-sustainable, though, so you do have to play near your team. The Artillery Ultimate can be very powerful if used well, though players may escape the radius of your artillery rounds unless you pair it with an immobilizing Ultimate like Graviton Surge.

Bastion was best used as a tank buster in the original Overwatch, and that's largely the case in Overwatch 2 as well. He's very powerful when played against Reinhardt and Sigma, though he struggles more against mobile heroes like Genji, Tracer, Reaper, and D.Va.

Brigitte was one of the most frequently changed support heroes in the original Overwatch, and she got plenty of Shield Bash tweaks in Overwatch 2 as well. Here's what you need to know:

Brigitte largely plays just like she did in the original Overwatch, with the key difference being her Shield Bash's lack of a crowd control stun. Shield Bash is now more of a damage and utility tool, and it can quickly be used to escape from a bad position or deal a quick chunk of 50 damage for initiation or cleanup. While the lack of a stun on Shield Bash makes her less effective at fighting close-range damage heroes overall, the reduced cooldown on the ability allows Brigitte to use it more frequently.

Overall, Brigitte is best played alongside brawly close-range characters like Reinhardt, Doomfist, Roadhog, Reaper, and Mei. Her Inspire healing is incredibly easy to continuously proc since her Shield Bash can trigger it, and her Rocket Flail damage is quite good as well.

Cassidy mostly plays like he did in the original Overwatch, but with one large change. Here's what changed in Overwatch 2:

By far, the most significant change in Cassidy's kit is the removal of his Flashbang. The Magnetic Grenade that replaces it is a powerful and relatively easy to hit burst damage ability, but the lack of a stun means that Cassidy is now more vulnerable to close-range heroes such as Reaper, Tracer, and Doomfist. With that said, the Deadeye Ultimate is considerably more viable now than it was in the original Overwatch, as it reduces incoming damage significantly and can be channeled longer. The 10% cost increase is mostly compensation for the new Magnetic Grenade's damage, so Cassidy players won't notice it much.

Cassidy is one of Overwatch 2's best mid-range duelists now that he has a burst damage ability to compliment the power of his Peacekeeper revolver, though he's not very effective against long-range heroes. Since you no longer have a stun that can keep enemies in place, you shouldn't use Fan the Hammer often unless you're shooting into tank barriers.

D.Va hasn't been changed radically, though the adjustments she did receive have quite an impact. Here's what they are:

These changes make D.Va slightly less tanky overall than she was before due to the loss of 100 armor health, although since armor is better overall in Overwatch 2, her armor health will be harder for enemies to get through. The extra 50 total health also gives her mech a better chance to survive instances of massive burst damage such as Roadhog's Chain Hook into Scrap Gun combo. The buff to her movement speed and the reduction of her primary fire spread means that D.Va is now more mobile in combat and can land critical hits easier, making her more versatile and powerful.

Similar to the original game, the best way to use D.Va is to nullify enemy projectiles and abilities with her Defense Matrix while harassing foes with her Fusion Cannons and Micro Missiles. Her Boosters are also as useful as ever for chasing down enemies and bullying ranged heroes off high-ground positions.

Doomfist is another hero who has gotten a complete rework in Overwatch 2, as he's now a tank instead of a damage character. Here's a full breakdown of his new kit:

As a tank, Doomfist's overall role in combat is now to soak up damage with Power Block and draw aggro from enemy players instead of assassinating squishy targets with his Rocket Punch. However, he can still dish out plenty of consistent damage and disrupt enemy formations with his knockbacks and slowing effects. While Rocket Punch isn't nearly as powerful as it once was, its ability to push back multiple targets allows Doomfist to open enemies up to follow up damage from his allies. Seismic Slam now also works like Winston's leap, allowing him to quickly get into the thick of the fight easily.

Generally, Doomfist is most effective when fighting team compositions that don't have much mobility, as heroes like Tracer and Genji can avoid his punches with relative ease. In contrast, grounded heroes such as Reinhardt, Orisa, Sigma, Bastion, and Soldier: 76 struggle to avoid Doomfist's abilities. Doomfist is also a very strong counter to immobile supports like Zenyatta and Baptiste, as neither of them can quickly escape from Rocket Punch stuns or Seismic Slam dives.

Echo is largely the same as she was in the original Overwatch in Overwatch 2, though her Ultimate has been nerfed in a significant way. Here's what the developers changed:

Aside from a slight nerf to Echo's Focusing Beam, the only difference between her kit in Overwatch 2 compared to the original Overwatch is a 300 HP cap on her Duplicate Ultimate. This change was made because many Echo players felt like duplicating tanks was always the best option in fights due to their high health pools. Also, because tanks have been buffed significantly overall in Overwatch 2, being able to have two of them on the field without any limitations would likely have made Duplicate feel too strong.

Echo isn't the strongest damage hero in Overwatch 2, but she's still very viable in the right hands. Her Flight and Glide abilities gives her consistent and valuable mobility, while her Tri-Shot weapon and Sticky Bombs are capable of good burst damage. Her Focusing Beam is also one of the best abilities in the game for confirming kills despite the new nerf to it, as it ramps up to double damage whenever Echo's target is at half health or below. She's best played alongside a Mercy who can keep up with her airborne movements and heal or damage boost her, and she also has natural synergy with Zenyatta since his Orb of Harmony can keep her healed consistently while his Orb of Discord makes her Focusing Beam even better at finishing off injured heroes. She's weak against characters with hitscan weapons such as Soldier: 76, Cassidy, and Ashe, and she's also particularly vulnerable to being hooked by Roadhog.

Hanzo has only gotten one change in Overwatch 2, which is a slight nerf to his Storm Arrows:

Assuming you don't hit any headshots, this means that you'll need four Storm Arrows to kill a 200 HP hero instead of three, which is likely a change that the developers made with Overwatch 2's lower amount of shielding in mind. Aside from that, Hanzo plays just like he did in the original Overwatch, fulfilling the role of mid-to-long-range sniper effectively.

Widowmaker will generally be much more effective than Hanzo in most situations due to her longer range and hitscan sniper rifle, though Hanzo can be a better choice in maps with fewer long-range sightlines such as King's Row. Hanzo is also arguably better than Widowmaker on Push maps, as he's able to keep up with the back-and-forth nature of the mode more effectively. Generally, Hanzo is best against projectile characters like Pharah and Junkrat as well as Torbjörn and his turret, though he can also duel heroes like Cassidy and Ashe effectively, too. However, Hanzo struggles when facing shield-focused compositions lead by Reinhardt or Sigma, as their barriers make it difficult for him to deal effective damage.

Junkrat's Steel Trap has been changed a bit in Overwatch 2, but aside from that, he's exactly the same. Here are details about the adjustments to his crowd control:

Steel Trap is less effective in Overwatch 2 compared to the version in the original Overwatch, as while it does do 20 extra damage, victims caught in it can now also move around a bit to avoid incoming fire. With that said, it's still a very powerful crowd control ability that can punish poor positioning very effectively, and it's also useful if you put it in a spot where you predict enemy damage heroes will flank.

In our opinion, Junkrat is a hero whom many players sleep on. He's not as mobile as characters like Genji, Tracer, or Sombra, but he's still able to move around the map relatively quickly with Concussion Mine jumps. On top of this, his Frag Launcher is capable of incredible damage if you master its projectiles, and comboing it with the burst damage of one of his Concussion Mines can result in some very quick kills. He's also effective at blowing through Reinhardt and Sigma barriers, and he's even a solid pick against Doomfist since the Steel Trap halts him in his tracks and prevents him from using the abilities he needs to stay alive. Other heroes are much more reliable and consistent overall, but don't overlook Junkrat if you're struggling to deal with tanky compositions or want to surprise your opponents with an off-meta hero.

Lucio is another hero who hasn't changed much in Overwatch 2, though some notable balance tweaks were made. Here's what you need to know:

In Overwatch 2, Lucio gets his Sound Barrier Ultimate noticeably faster, although his ability to heal himself with his Crossfade ability has been nerfed to balance the fact that he can self-heal an additional 15 HP/second with the new role passive that support heroes have. This means that Lucio will be less efficient at healing himself if you're not good at using wall riding to avoid being damaged, but he'll be more self-sufficient if you can wall ride out of enemy range or into cover while fighting.

Lucio is arguably the strongest support hero in Overwatch 2 right now since his ability to speed up his allies is extremely powerful in the 5v5 era, and the fact that he can duel many damage heroes effectively also makes him very versatile. He's very effective in any composition, and can be quite difficult to counter. Lucio's biggest threats are characters with abilities that can counter his speed with slowing effects, such as Mei or Doomfist. Lucio also struggles to fight long-range characters like Pharah, Ashe, or Widowmaker, though good Lucio players will undoubtedly be very difficult to hit with precision heroes like these.

Mei has received a plethora of changes in Overwatch 2 that alter how she plays, though she's very similar to the original Overwatch version of the character. Here are the tweaks the developers made:

While Mei losing the ability to hard stun a player by freezing them seems like a nerf, the fact that her Endothermic Blaster's damage per second has been doubled means that her damage output is more consistent. On top of that, the weapon can fully slow down players instantly now, making that aspect of her kit more useful overall. Ice Wall is still a powerful tool for splitting up enemy formations or protecting teammates from damage despite the nerf to its health, and while the Blizzard Ultimate does have a higher cost, Mei's increased damage output means that in reality, you'll get it just as fast as you did in the original game. Blizzard also still has the ability to freeze targets, making it a very potent objective-clearing Ultimate.

Mei is best played both with and against grounded and brawly heroes such as Reinhardt, Sigma, Orisa, Junkrat, and Bastion. She's still a relatively niche pick due to how powerful more mobile heroes are on most maps, but she's a good choice in tighter maps like Dorado or King's Row. She gets hard countered by long range heroes like Pharah and Widowmaker, though.

Mercy only got one small change to her Regeneration passive in Overwatch 2:

Mercy lacks the huge bursts of impact that supports like Ana and Lucio have, but the tradeoff is that she's also the best support in the game in terms of overall consistency. Her ability to rapidly fly between teammates and heal or damage boost them is very valuable, and her Guardian Angel flying ability also makes her very "slippery" and difficult for enemy damage heroes to pick off. Her improved version of the support auto-heal passive also allows her to heal up quickly after not taking damage for a few seconds, and the Valkyrie Ultimate's ability to chain healing or damage boosts to Mercy's entire team makes it an excellent tool for pushing or holding objectives. Mercy is weak to hitscan characters like Soldier: 76 and Ashe, who can shoot her out of the air easily, but is very effective with other airborne characters such as Pharah or Echo.

Out of all of the reworks in Overwatch 2 so far, Orisa's is arguably the most significant. Compared to the "bunker tank" she was in the original game, Orisa is now an offense-oriented character who can push into enemy lines and push them back to take ground, similar to Reinhardt. Here's a full breakdown of her new kit:

With the removal of her shield and Halt! crowd control, Orisa players now need to make effective use of her Energy Javelin and Javelin Spin ability to push into enemies and take ground. Her extra health and armor allow her to soak up more damage than she could before, and her new Augmented Fusion Driver can deal tons of damage up close (though it becomes less effective at range). She's generally pretty effective against most heroes, though she struggles to deal with airborne characters and "tank buster" heroes like Junkrat and Bastion. She's also weak against Zarya, as Zarya can damage her through her Javelin Spin with her Particle Cannon primary fire.

Reaper has gotten some minor nerfs to his shotguns in Overwatch 2:

These changes to Reaper's shotguns make them slightly less potent in combat, but since the battlefields of Overwatch 2 are more open and aren't as clogged up with tanking abilities, Reaper is significantly more viable overall than he was in the original game. He's best against slower characters who don't have much mobility and can be easily flanked with his Shadow Step teleport, especially since there aren't many stuns in the game that can interrupt his Death Blossom Ultimate anymore. However, he has a hard time fighting characters who can frequently reposition or take to the skies, such as Pharah, Mercy, Echo, Genji, and Tracer.

Reinhardt largely plays the same as he did in Overwatch, though he's been tweaked to fit better into the metagame of Overwatch 2. Here's what the developers changed:

The lethality of Reinhardt's Charge and Fire Strike abilities have been lowered, but they've been made more controllable and accessible to compensate. The nerfs to his Barrier Field make it harder for him to shield his teammates for extended periods of time, though the buff to his health and armor pool means that Reinhardt is much more durable than he was before.

Reinhardt is outclassed by more mobile tanks like Winston and Doomfist on maps that are more open, but he excels in maps like King's Row that are tighter and have less room for maneuvering. He's also effective at brawling against Orisa, as his Rocket Hammer and Charge can chunk her health down significantly whenever she doesn't have Fortify available.

Roadhog's Ultimate has been reworked completely, though the rest of his kit is more or less the same. Here's what you need to know:

Take a Breather's increased healing allows Roadhog to be more resilient and self-sufficient as a solo tank in the 5v5 era, while the rework to his Whole Hog Ultimate makes it much more versatile. Now, Roadhog can combo Chain Hook pulls into his Whole Hog, allowing him to pick off squishy heroes with deadly efficiency. You can also use Take a Breather while Whole Hog is active to heal up if necessary.

Even with the rework to Whole Hog, Roadhog is generally considered to be the worst tank in Overwatch 2 right now. While the deadly Chain Hook and Scrap Gun combo is as effective as ever for punishing disorganized teams, coordinated players can exploit Roadhog's lack of additional combat options very easily. On top of that, Roadhog doesn't have any form of damage mitigation for his teammates to take advantage of, meaning that he doesn't offer any protection.

Sigma has gotten some notable buffs and a slight nerf in Overwatch 2:

Aside from Reinhardt, Sigma is now the only other tank in Overwatch 2 who can protect his teammates with a traditional barrier. The buff to his shield health makes him more durable than he was before, while the increased damage of Accretion makes the ability more powerful and rewarding to land. The slight nerf to his barrier's regeneration means that Sigma players won't be able to keep it up as often, but Sigma's high damage output with Hyperspheres still forces enemies to respect his position.

Ultimately, Sigma is a strong pick in maps that have lots of hallways and corners to bounce Hyperspheres around, but will struggle against agile characters since they can dodge his abilities easily. His lack of long range moves also makes him weak to snipers like Hanzo or Widowmaker.

Since she was introduced in the Overwatch 2 beta, Sojourn has only had two small balance changes:

The Railgun change makes it easier for Sojourn to land headshots with her sniper-like secondary fire, while the Power Slide cooldown adjustment gives her access to her mobility options on a more frequent basis. Aside from that, Sojourn plays just like she did when the Overwatch 2 beta first went live; refer to our Overwatch 2 Sojourn ultimate guide for more details on the character's kit.

Sojourn is one of the best jack-of-all-trades characters in Overwatch 2, as her rapid mobility, area-of-effect Disruptor Shot, and versatile Railgun all make her effective regardless of who she's facing or who's on her team. Her Overclock Ultimate is also extremely powerful in the right hands, as you can score big multikills with it as long as you hit your headshots with Sojourn's Railgun. Her biggest counters are barrier heroes like Reinhardt and Sigma. D.Va is also strong against Sojourn since she can use Defense Matrix to "eat" her Railgun shots.

Soldier: 76 has received some new nerfs in Overwatch 2, all of which are designed to make him less powerful in an era where tanking shields are less oppressive. Here's a list of what the developers changed:

The reductions to Soldier's damage and movement speed make it more difficult for him to overpower his opponents with raw damage and rapid repositioning, though he's still a very powerful pick since there aren't many shields in the game anymore. Though he doesn't have the burst impact of characters like Widowmaker or Ashe, Soldier: 76 is a very reliable, consistent, and well-rounded hero. His Helix Rockets are also effective at confirming kills on injured targets, and Biotic Field makes him one of the most self-sufficient damage heroes in the game.

Generally, Soldier: 76 will be the most powerful on maps where you can perch on high ground overlooking capture point or payload objectives. He's also an effective counter to heroes like Pharah, Mercy, and Echo. However, he has a shorter effective range than Ashe or Widowmaker, and lacks the vertical mobility offered by Sojourn's Power Slide.

Sombra has been changed significantly in Overwatch 2, and is now more of an assassin-style character rather than a team support. Here's a look at how her abilities were changed:

Mobility is generally the meta in Overwatch 2, and these changes to Sombra make her one of the most effective mobile damage heroes in the game. While her Hack now only prevents enemies from using abilities for a single second, it also makes the victim take 40% more damage from Sombra and her allies and allows her team to see their position for eight seconds. These changes, alongside the buffs to Sombra's Machine Pistol and the ability for Sombra to Hack while in Stealth, make her extremely effective at picking off enemies she's able to catch off guard. Sombra has no strong counters at the moment, making her one of the best heroes in the game.

Tracer's Pulse Pistols were nerfed slightly in Overwatch 2:

This change makes Tracer a bit less effective against non-armored targets compared to how she performed in the original Overwatch, though even with this damage reduction, she's better against armored targets in Overwatch 2. This is because armor in the original game reduced the damage of each individual bullet from Tracer's Pulse Pistols by 5, but armor in Overwatch 2 only reduces the damage of each bullet by 30%. In Overwatch, Tracer's bullets only did 1 damage to armored targets, but in Overwatch 2, they do 3.5.

Tracer has always been one of Overwatch's most mobile heroes thanks to the power of her Blink and Recall abilities, and that hasn't changed in Overwatch 2. She's a fantastic hero who performs well when harassing supports like Mercy and Zenyatta, and she's also better against tanks now thanks to the way armor damage mitigation has been reworked. She can also duel most damage heroes in the game effectively, but will have a harder time killing airborne targets like Pharah or faraway enemies like Widowmaker. She's also a weaker choice against Torbjörn, as his turret can keep up with her mobility and she can be killed in one headshot up close by the alternate fire of his Rivet Gun.

Widowmaker has received a health buff in Overwatch 2 that makes her more durable in combat:

Ultimately, Widowmaker is mostly unchanged in Overwatch 2, though the addition of 25 health helps her stay alive longer in the scrappier and fast-paced fights of the sequel. While she won't get any value fighting other heroes up close, she's deadly at long ranges as long as you can hit your shots. She's one of the strongest damage heroes in the game right now due to the lack of strong counters; your biggest threat will likely be another Widowmaker or perhaps a Hanzo, though Genji is also a threat with his high mobility and Deflect ability.

Winston received some changes in Overwatch 2, including a new secondary fire ability:

Winston's new Tesla Cannon secondary fire allows him to poke at enemy players whenever he's not diving in with his leap to harass squishy heroes. To account for this additional source of damage, his Primal Rage Ultimate cost has been raised so that Winston doesn't get his Ultimate at unintended rates. His barrier has also been made slightly more durable and has a shorter cooldown, though the duration of the barrier itself has been lowered.

Winston has always been a top-tier pick in Overwatch, and he's even better in Overwatch 2 since Winston is very mobile and has the ability to split up enemy formations with his Barrier Projector bubble, cleaving multiple enemies at once with his Tesla Cannon primary fire. He has the firepower to take down damage and support heroes fairly quickly, and though he isn't able to fight with the opposing team's tank very well, he can use his leap to stay away from them. Winston is also one of the few tanks that's capable of effectively dealing with Widowmaker and other long-range heroes since he can leap to them from afar, forcing them to retreat or reposition. Winston's main counters are characters that can dish out high volumes of damage very quickly, such as Bastion or Reaper.

Wrecking Ball has been buffed with extra durability that will help him stay alive longer as a solo tank. Here's what the developers changed about his stats and abilities:

Between the buffs to his armor and health and the improvements to his Adaptive Shield, Wrecking Ball is more resilient than he's ever been before. This will help him survive as he knocks the enemy team around and softens heroes up with his machine guns. Additionally, Wrecking Ball's knockback against enemies has been buffed, allowing him to roll through enemy compositions and split them apart more easily.

Despite these buffs, though, Wrecking Ball is considered a niche pick in Overwatch 2. In most cases, other tank heroes are more effective, though Wrecking Ball is useful for quickly getting to and contesting a point by rapidly rolling around it. His Minefield Ultimate is also one of the best area denial abilities in the game, and if you manage to get it during Overtime, it can often be game-winning.

Zarya has some changes that give her more shield uptime in Overwatch 2:

With the ability to shield herself twice or protect two allies in quick succession, a reduced energy degeneration rate, and extra health and shields, Zarya's ability to protect her team and dish out powerful damage has been significantly increased. She's arguably one of the strongest tanks in Overwatch 2 right now, as her bubble shields can soak up lots of damage and there aren't many shields in the game that can stop her Particle Cannon. Graviton Surge is also one of the few Ultimates that can force agile heroes into a clump for easy follow-up damage. Like other grounded and brawly tanks, though, she struggles against tank busters like Bastion and Junkrat.

In Overwatch 2, the developers have attempted to give Zenyatta some extra survivability against flankers. Here's a look at the changes made to him:

While the small buff to Zenyatta's health and his new Snap Kick passive help him against agile flankers somewhat, he's still very vulnerable to being dove by characters like Genji, Tracer, and Sombra. Because of this, he's difficult to play in the mobility-focused meta of Overwatch 2, although he's a strong pick on Circuit Royale. This is because the map has lots of long sightlines for Zenyatta to use to pump damage into enemy compositions, but also has plenty of cover he can use to keep himself safe from snipers or to kite dive heroes. Notably, Zenyatta is one of the few characters in the game that can enable quick kills against tanks, as the Orb of Discord debuff makes them significantly easier to take down.

Do you have any questions about any of the changes listed here? Do you agree with the balance changes the developers have made? Let us know. We'll keep this list updated as Blizzard develops new changes and adds them to the Overwatch 2 beta for testing.

The Overwatch 2 beta represents the Overwatch community's first taste of Overwatch 2, a massive (and free) overhaul to the original Overwatch that will rework many of the game's characters and shift the PvP to a 5v5 format by removing a tank from each team. If you'd like to try out the Overwatch 2 beta, you'll need to own a copy of the original game and then sign up for it. Overwatch is one of the best PC games available, so you should definitely pick it up if you don't have it already.

Overwatch is a competitive team-based shooter set in a futuristic world of cybernetics and robotics. All of your progress and cosmetics from Overwatch will carry forward into Overwatch 2, and you'll also need the game to be able to play the Overwatch 2 beta.

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Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. You'll find him doing reviews, editorials, and general coverage on everything Xbox and PC. Follow him on Twitter.