Overwatch has a lot of characters, known as heroes, to play as, though some are much easier to master than others. In the Hero Gallery, players can see all of the heroes in the game as well as the items they've earned through loot boxes, such as skins, emotes, victory poses, highlight intros, and more.
They can also find out how difficult a hero is to play, according to the game at least. While every player will be more skilled at some heroes more than others, and may even be great at playing the more challenging heroes, these are ten of the hardest to use based on the Hero Gallery.
Updated on September 1st, 2021 by Rhenn Taguiam: Blizzard’s Overwatch remains one of the most engaging hero shooters out there - thanks in part to its huge roster of Heroes that have their unique power sets and playstyles. In a genre slowly filled with various types of shooters, it’s the signature allure of Overwatch Heroes that encourages gamers to get that “one more round” going for the next couple of hours.
And perhaps it’s also the challenge that comes with some of the game’s hardest Heroes to play that further encourages gamers to “git gud.” With Overwatch 2 on the way, fans still go back to Overwatch for the occasional team play, particularly with their mains. And for those who want a bit of a challenge, just which Overwatch Heroes should they try out?
15 Mercy
Thanks to her skillset, Mercy players should pay attention to teammates who don’t have sustain or excel in long-range. That way, Mercy stays in the rear and away from danger. Likewise, players should keep an eye out for heavy-hitters that may want to close in to take them out. As much as possible, Mercy should keep an eye out whenever allies release powerful attacks or skills, so their damage buff tether can maximize DPS.
Being the most potent healer among Support characters, Mercy easily becomes a tricky character to handle. Compared to Baptiste and Ana, Mercy has poor DPS on top of her squishy nature. It doesn’t help that her Resurrect can bring an ally back into the fight, making Mercy a priority target for enemies. Players using Mercy will need a reliable team to keep her well-defended. Likewise, Mercy needs to ensure she’s buffing the team constantly to up their damage output.
14 Echo
Copy hero Echo can become overwhelming at first glance due to her versatile skillset. Thanks to her maneuverability, Echo can adapt to any playstyle and synergize well with her allies. Ideally, Echo can provide supporting fire for tanks, flank to break defenses, focus fire from the air, or even finish off enemies in team fights via her Focusing Beam.
However, Echo needs to pay attention to hitscan heroes such as Widowmaker as these skills make Echo an open target. Due to her maneuverability, Echo can also land in nasty situations without backup. Moreover, a player using Echo without much knowledge of other enemy heroes won’t be able to maximize the full potential of her Duplicate Ultimate.
13 Tracer
Chrono-skirmisher Tracer capitalizes on her speed to get the advantage in battle. Players will enjoy Tracer’s capability to outpace and outflank enemies through her Blink. And thanks to Recall, Tracer can almost always “retrace” her steps and force enemies to waste their skills on her. With these elements in mind, Tracer should capitalize on her speed to attack enemies from behind. To maximize her speed, Tracer should flank slower tanks and support heroes, and take them out before they pose a threat to the team.
Unfortunately, Tracer’s tempting speed can encourage players to clash with enemies head-on. However, this can get fatal for Tracer due to her poor defense. Moreover, limited uses of Blink means Tracer can find herself dying quickly if she can’t reach cover in time.
12 Widowmaker
Being the standard sniper of the game, players already know Widowmaker’s mastery of long-ranged combat. A fully-charged shot from her scoped rifle can deal huge damage with body shots and even take out heroes with a headshot. Not to mention, her Venom Mine and Infra-Sight can give her team valuable information about the enemy team.
However, just like any sniper, Widowmaker is extremely squishy in close range and requires great aim. Moreover, Widowmaker has to lay still while being on scope, making her extremely vulnerable against enemies. Due to these limitations, Widowmaker is often forced out of pursuing objectives in order to secure the team’s defense. Not to mention, facing off against another Widowmaker can punish the player for committing the slightest mistake, especially in positioning.
11 Ashe
Damage specialist Ashe excels in pumping out damage on a tempo. When used correctly, Ashe’s toolkit can punish enemies in any situation. For instance, her Viper becomes very powerful when engaging in mid-to-long-range combat via the ADS. Likewise, Dynamite can deal pesky damage over time against foes or threaten spaces such as entrances and flanks. Lastly, her Ultimate calls her assistant B.O.B. to knock enemies away and become a handy turret.
Sadly, regardless of Ashe’s damage potential, she becomes tricky to use on a mechanical level. Players who can’t get the hang of her rotations can stop short of maximizing her DPS. Ashe performs poorly in short-ranged combat, and most of her skills need to come out right after the other. Moreover, despite her damage potential, Ashe without backup can be a recipe for disaster.
10 Wrecking Ball
This hero is a tank that can move around from one side of a map all the way to another in a matter of seconds. As players move Wrecking Ball around quickly, they can smack other heroes around and make a quick getaway before they strike back.
However, using Wrecking Ball's Roll and Grappling Claw can be a bit difficult as players need to be accurate with where they grapple to and avoid obstacles in their way to roll around as fast as possible. Wrecking Ball also doesn't have a shield to protect teammates with like other tanks do, nor has a gun that reloads quickly.
9 Hanzo
Hanzo is a damage hero that uses his bow and arrow to attack enemies. If players are far away from their opponents, it can be quite challenging to land a hit on them. Hanzo's ultimate ability, Dragonstrike, can also be difficult to use as players need to predict where their opponents are going to move in order to use it most effectively.
Because of this, it is best for Hanzo players to either sneak around the other team and attack them from behind or work with a teammate that can control where their enemies move, such as Zarya or Orisa, when using their ultimate.
8 Zenyatta
Zenyatta is a support hero that, when used properly, can help defeat the enemy team in a short amount of time. With the Orb of Discord that Zenyatta has, players can make an opponent take more damage, killing them quickly. However, if opponents hide behind something, the Orb of Discord can't touch them, making it difficult to use in certain situations.
As for healing, Zenyatta players can only heal one teammate at a time unless if they use their ultimate ability, Transcendence. Because of this, it's best to use Zenyatta if the team already has a hero that can heal teammates quickly. He's very squishy and lacks mobility as well, making him reliant on the peel of his teammates.
7 Sigma
Sigma is one of the more versatile heroes in the game. Like some of the other tanks, he has a shield to protect teammates. However, Sigma players can control how far or close the shield is from where they send it out. It can be a little tricky to use at first and those that haven't played Sigma much will probably need some practice before they master the Experimental Barrier.
As for attacking, he can use his Hyperspheres, which attack enemies at the area they are shot at, and Accretion, which players can use to smack a boulder into their opponents. The most important thing about using these abilities is to predict where an enemy will move in order to get the best use of them. Lastly, his ultimate, Gravitic Flux, should only be used when opponents are near each other as they'll all be lifted into the air and dropped down, hurting them.
6 Sombra
Sombra is a damage hero that can turn invisible and run faster than most of the other heroes in the game. She can also hack opponents, causing them to not be able to use the majority of their powers. Unfortunately, it can be hard to hack opponents, especially if they find Sombra quickly. She can either hack them one at a time or as a group with her ultimate ability, EMP. Like Hanzo, it is best to only use EMP if the enemy team is close together and players may need to rely on their team to make that happen.
Enemies aren't the only things that Sombra can hack. She can also hack health packs and use her Translocator to teleport to them, or anywhere else on the map. However, if an opponent attacks the Translocator, Sombra won't be able to return to it, so players have to think carefully of where to put it.
5 Genji
Genji is Hanzo's brother and another difficult damage hero to play as. Due to how slow his shuriken is, players have trouble attacking their opponents. They either need to predict the enemy team's movements and time when to strike or throw three shurikens in different directions, hoping that one of them will land a hit, at least until they get very skilled at playing with this hero.
Dragonblade, Genji's ultimate, is also hard to use and requires a lot of practice to get good at. The rest of his abilities are actually much easier to control, which is the only thing stopping him from being the most difficult damage hero to use in the game.
4 Ana
Ana is both a support hero and the most difficult sniper to play in the game. It's already really hard to play as a sniper in a video game and players need to work a lot in order to be great at it, but things get even more challenging when players have to shoot both their enemies, as well as their teammates. It can also be frustrating to play as Ana since she relies so heavily on her teammates.
When she uses her Sleep Dart ability to stop an enemy from moving, they can easily get out of it if attacked by Ana's team. Her ultimate, Nano Boost, makes a teammate more powerful, but it's up to them to decide how much it impacts the game. No matter how great an Ana player is, other players can make things really difficult, which is the hardest thing for those that control this support sniper.
3 Doomfist
The hardest damage hero to play in Overwatch is Doomfist. Because he is so different to control compared to the rest of the heroes in the game, players have to either play as him more than any of the others or have to work harder to get used to his abilities. He is a hero that mostly attacks at a close distance as his main weapon is the gauntlet he wears.
With Rocket Punch, players can move him quickly as he attacks wherever they aim. He can also jump far and high in the air with his Seismic Slam and Rising Uppercut abilities, which also hit opponents with his gauntlet. He does have a long-ranged weapon, Hand Cannon, but it's one of the worst in the game.
2 Baptiste
Baptiste is the newest support to be added to Overwatch and the hardest. He has two types of bullets. One of them hurts enemies like any other gun and another that he uses to heal teammates. Baptiste can also heal comrades with his Regenerative Burst, which heals those near him, and Immortality Field, which, if players go inside of it, can make the team invincible.
However, the enemy team can easily destroy the Immortality Field so Baptiste players have to think carefully about where to put it. They also have to be careful where they place Amplification Matrix, his ultimate, which will make bullets that go through it stronger. Due to these decisions and having to do so much at once, Baptiste is a really difficult hero to use.
1 Zarya
Zarya is the hardest hero to play as. She is a tank that is incredibly different from the rest so players are often confused as to how to use her. Rather than having a typical shield, she has barriers. One of them, Particle Barrier, protects her, while the other, Projected Barrier, protects a teammate. It is best to use the barriers when diving into a fight and knowing that the enemy team will attack.
Zarya players want their teammates to be attacked while they have a barrier around them because it makes her stronger. In order to play Zarya effectively, players will have to work with their teammates, which is one of the hardest things to do in Overwatch.