Overwatch 2's new Tank hero Ramattra will join the growing roster of playable heroes on Tuesday, December 6, but Game Rant was able to go hands-on and take him for a whirl ahead of his worldwide debut. The fourth new hero added to the game since Overwatch 2's early access launch, Ramattra is an omnic that serves as a foil to Support hero Zenyatta. Whereas Zenyatta is hoping to end the conflict between humans and omnics peacefully, Ramattra feels that violent superiority is the only way to liberate his people.
Ramattra is the leader of the Null Sector terrorist group that appears to be the primary antagonists in the current Overwatch 2 story. The Overwatch 2 cinematic that released at BlizzCon a few years ago showed the reuniting Overwatch heroes battling Null Sector and trying to stop their attack on a city, so it seems Ramattra is going to be hugely important for the game's lore. One would think Ramattra will even have a big role to play in the eventual Overwatch 2 PvE mode, but Blizzard still has yet to reveal many details about what all that will entail.
While it remains to be seen if Ramattra will be featured prominently in Overwatch 2 PvE or not, fans can expect him to play a significant role in the PvP. We were unfortunately unable to test Ramattra against human-controlled players during our hands-on time with the new hero, but it was clear from custom matches that his ability kit is a force to be reckoned with.
Ramattra has two forms that players are able to switch between during matches. Most of the time, Ramattra is in his standard, more humanoid form, where he wields a staff that fires projectiles at enemy players. In this form, Ramattra is also able to summon a shield to block incoming attacks, but he is not particularly powerful on his own. Ramattra's staff can deal a lot of damage if players are consistently landing critical hits on a single target, but anyone unlucky enough to run into him should be able to reasonably dodge these attacks.
When Ramattra transforms into his Nemesis mode, he becomes significantly more powerful, though his set of attacks change. Instead of shooting a string of projectiles from his staff, he fights with his fists, sending barrages of huge projectiles and dealing increased melee damage up-close. Ramattra is able to punch through shields, so he should be a great counter for characters like Reinhardt and should prove to be a useful tool for getting through choke points. Nemesis form also allows Ramattra to use his bulking arms defensively, blocking incoming attacks in a manner not unlike fellow Tank hero Doomfist.
Ramattra can only maintain his Nemesis form for eight second intervals, at which point players have to deal with an eight-second cooldown to transform again. It seems like Blizzard may want to tweak this, as players may potentially be able to change into Nemesis form too frequently, but how this might impact the game's meta will become much clearer when the entire Overwatch 2 community is able to get their hands on Ramattra when Season 2 launches on December 6.
Along with his previously mentioned abilities, Ramattra also has an ability called Ravenous Vortex that sucks enemies in and can potentially yank them out of the sky for a short period of time. This should allow Ramattra to bring pesky flying characters like Pharah and Echo down to the level of his team, and so it should make him a solid pick whenever the enemy team is running a comp with high mobility.
Of course, no Overwatch 2 hero would be complete without an Ultimate attack, and Ramattra has one that is particularly devastating. Ramattra's Ultimate is called Annihilation, and while it's active, a radius appears around him not unlike Lucio's healing and speed boost circle. The difference is any enemy players inside Ramattra's Annihilation radius will have damage done to them on a constant-basis, leaving them vulnerable as Ramattra's Nemesis form is able to easily pummel them to death.
A unique twist with Ramattra's Ultimate is that it could technically last indefinitely. As long as an enemy player is in the radius and sustaining damage, Ramattra is able to keep his Annihilation Ultimate going. In the right hands, it's easy to see how Ramattra's Annihilation could turn the tide of a battle and give his team a big advantage.
Ramattra will be joining the Overwatch 2 roster on Tuesday, December 6 along with the rest of the Season 2 content, which will include a new Greek mythology-themed Battle Pass, new skins, game modes, and more. Ramattra will not be part of Competitive Play right away and will instead join the fray later in the season, and fans should also keep in mind that he will not be available immediately to everyone free of charge. Those that buy the Overwatch 2 Season 2 Battle Pass will have instant access to Ramattra, whereas everyone else will need to reach tier 55 in the free version of the Battle Pass.
Overwatch 2 is out now in early access for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.