With the release of the Overwatch 2 closed beta, many are experimenting with the slew of changes made to their favorite heroes. Ranging from slight number tweaks to entire reworks, most of the existing roster has received at least a few changes. In many cases, heroes have gotten entire new abilities to round out their shortcomings.
Though weighing these abilities against each other is near impossible, judging each one’s effectiveness in improving the hero's respective kit is useful for drawing meaningful comparisons to the first game. In large part, these new abilities have remedied the flaws holding back certain heroes in the first Overwatch, but their degree of success varies.
8 Bastion – Configuration: Artillery
While some aspects of Bastion’s kit have improved with his Overwatch 2 rework, his ultimate doesn’t feel as impactful as it once was. Configuration: Artillery allows Bastion to enter a stationary form where he fires up to three artillery shells throughout the map. This ability behaves much like Doomfist’s Meteor Strike in that the player must lock in a location and wait a short time before it activates.
While it does have the potential to do upwards of 200 damage and works indoors, this ultimate can be extremely easy to dodge, making even the most uncoordinated of enemies difficult to hit. The activation time of the artillery shells provides a window big enough for most enemies to safely get out of the way. Combine this with the fact that the player must stay still, like a Junkrat using Rip-Tire, and it means that Bastion is left in an incredibly vulnerable state while likely getting little value off the shells. Unless used in a well-coordinated combo, it can be difficult to use this ultimate effectively.
7 Winston – Secondary-Fire
Winston has traditionally struggled to do much of anything when not in the immediate proximity of enemies, but his new secondary fire gives him a mid-to-long range engagement option. This ability allows Winston to fire a blast of electricity, hitting for a maximum of 50 damage after a short wind-up time. While this can be useful for poking enemies at long range, it’s not a reliable source of damage.
In truth, this ability finds the most success when a player needs to finish off enemies just out of range of their primary Tesla Cannon, but can’t necessarily engage with the Jump Pack. This ability doesn’t fundamentally change Winston’s playstyle or viability, but it does give him a useful poke tool when he needs it.
6 Bastion – A-36 Tactical Grenade
Bastion’s underwhelming recon form has always lacked the damage potency to be very effective, but this ability seeks to aid in this area. Tactical Grenade lobs a slow-moving projectile that can bounce off surfaces and explode for up to 130 damage depending on enemy proximity. Unfortunately, due to its less than ideal travel speed and short delay before exploding, enemies are often able to avoid most of the incoming damage.
On paper, this ability is meant to provide Bastion with the extra bit of burst damage he lacked in recon form — and when used perfectly, it does. However, in practice, it feels more like Zarya’s secondary fire on a 10-second cooldown. Perhaps the most compelling thing about this ability is that it can be used for movement as it allows the Bastion to propel himself using the explosion.
5 Orisa — Terra Surge
Orisa’s brand-new ultimate, Terra Surge, enables her to pull nearby enemies to her while she unleashes a devastating wave of damage. The longer Orisa casts the ability, the more damage it will do to enemies in the ultimate radius. Casting Terra Surge does leave Orisa in a fairly vulnerable state, but it also activates a Fortify effect which provides the staying power needed to cast it.
Unlike her old ultimate, which was nothing more than a team-wide Mercy damage-boost, Terra Surge provides Orisa with a reliable way to dish out a sudden burst of damage. Orisa deals more damage the longer she waits to cast it, but this also leaves enemies with more time to escape. Like other ultimates, Terra Surge offers little room for error. This means using it at the perfect moment will be critical for its effectiveness. Factors including the enemy team composition and the Orisa’s team coordination will make or break this ability.
4 Doomfist – Power Block
Doomfist has been converted to a tank in Overwatch 2, meaning Blizzard has dialed back his damage potency while beefing up his survivability. His new ability, Power Block, allows him to negate 90% of incoming frontal damage. After soaking 100 damage, his next Rocket Punch, which had its damage considerably nerfed, will be empowered. Notably, Power Block doesn’t protect against abilities like Ana’s Sleep Dart or Reinhardt’s Earthshatter.
While this will undoubtedly help Doomfist sustain himself during fights, players will still have to be wary of his unique weaknesses as a tank. Luckily, Power Block perfectly complements and maintains Doomfist’s identity as a brawly hero with heaps of mobility, while providing him with the much-needed ability to withstand heavy damage.
3 Orisa – Javelin Spin
With the removal of her shield in Overwatch 2, Orisa has received another form of defense for her and her team. Javelin Spin destroys incoming projectiles, increases the user's movement speed, and pushes enemies back while damaging them. This ability allows Orisa to close gaps, hold her own against enemies in close proximity, and play aggressively when the opportunity arises.
Near a ledge, Javelin Spin can knock multiple enemies to their death while soaking any incoming fire. Pairing this ability with Fortify makes for a near unstoppable force. While it doesn’t offer as much protection as her shield once did, Javelin Spin still feels like it offers the necessary bulwark when serving as the team’s frontline.
2 Cassidy – Magnetic Grenade
Cassidy mains disappointed in the removal of Flash Bang may rejoice. This new ability, while lacking the stun component, is just as lethal as its predecessor. This heat-seeking grenade will lock onto nearby targets and explode for a whopping 131 damage. This means any character with 200 health or less can easily be downed with a follow-up body shot. Much like Tracer’s Pulse Bomb, this ability can stick to enemies and can’t be avoided barring the use of some defensive abilities.
While the iconic, sometimes cheap-feeling Flash Bang + Fan the Hammer combo may be gone, this new grenade can still make quick work of lower health enemies. Magnetic Grenade is not quite as easy to land as Flash Bang once was, but a successful stick on most of the DPS and healing roster is often an easy kill.
1 Orisa – Energy Javelin
Like most tanks, Orisa has always lacked lethality at range. Energy Javelin changes that by giving her another tool in her offensive arsenal. This ability throws a large projectile that stuns, knocks back, and deals 80 damage, plus 40 more if a target hits a wall. Using this ability, Orisa players will find it much easier to take initiative and confront enemies head-on.
Energy Javelin’s slow travel speed means Orisa players will have to learn how to lead their shot, but once mastered, it can do some serious damage at any range. Throughout her entire reworked kit, this ability, more than the others, feels like it has carved out a new identity for the hero and makes her much more engaging to play compared to her previous iteration.