There are three classes in Overwatch 2: tank, damage, and support, including healers. The number of characters on the roster (even those available for free) can be overwhelming and you may wonder which one is the best to pick in OW 2. If you’re new to this franchise or FPS games in general, here are the best Overwatch 2 heroes for beginners in every class based on my experience.
Best Overwatch 2 Heroes for Beginners (All Classes)
Here are the best OW2 characters for beginners in every class:
- Tank: Orisa or Reinhardt
- Damage: Soldier: 76
- Support: Lucio
Let’s see why beginners should pick these heroes in the first place, and why they are relatively easy to master. Keep in mind that other players can catch them while picking a hero, so you need to act quickly and pick them as quickly as possible.
Best damage hero in OW 2 for beginners: Soldier: 76
Soldier: 76 is a balanced hero because he combines good damage and healing abilities. If your command staff finds themselves without a healer, Soldier: 76 will come to the rescue. Hiding in places where you need to conserve your health, heal at the right time, and attack at the right time will ensure you get your kills and you don’t die too often.
- His heavy pulse rifle deals accurate damage from a long distance. This is one of the main reasons why Soldier:76 is the most liked by new players.
- You can also run to move forward and dodge incoming attacks. If you’re low on health, this might come in handy.
- Soldier: 76 can deploy a biotic field that will heal not only you but also your allies at the same time.
- His Helix Rockets can launch a powerful projectile that can potentially one-shot an enemy or drain a tank’s health a bit.
- Last but not least, his ultimate is a tactical visor that allows him to automatically aim his weapon at all targets in his line of sight. This leads to interesting moments where you can get a double/triple kill or even more, even as a new player!
Bonus: Beginners can also try out Sojourn, which has a rapid-fire railgun, ground descent that can change to a high jump, an energy blast to damage enemies, and charged shots that can pierce multiple enemies. While you will need a healer on the team to survive longer, Sojourn does end up working well with new players.
Best OW2 Starter Support Hero: Lucio
Lucio is such a cool hero because he uses music to fight! What I liked most about him is that he is not limited to just healing others. When Lucio is last left, he can hold his ground quite well and get multiple kills.
- His sonic booster deals projectile damage and looks pretty darn awesome.
- His Crossfade ability will either speed up the healing of nearby allies or make them move faster – you can switch between them with a button.
- Amp It Up is an ability that will increase the effectiveness of your current song. Thus, playing as Lucio, you may not die as often, especially since your Amp also deals good damage.
- Soundwave is a useful ability in places where there is an opportunity to make your opponents fall off a ledge. Use this short-range blast wave and blast them away from you into the abyss of the map. Easy kills and the best way to get them away from you if your enemies get too close for comfort.
- The sound barrier will temporarily generate additional health to nearby allies.
- Wall Ride will allow you to better move around the map – you can jump on the wall to ride it and catch your enemies by surprise.
The best tank heroes for beginners in Overwatch 2
- There are two best tanks depending on your playstyle – if you like using melee attacks, go for Reinhardt. If you like fast ranged attacks with your weapons, choose Orisu.
Both have their pros and cons. While some may feel limited by Reinhardt’s lack of weapons, he makes up for it with his fire strikes, but they are slower. Oris doesn’t have a Barrier Field so she can’t protect the team, but she does have self-healing. Try both and choose your favorite.
Orisa
- Orisa’s Augmented Fusion Driver is an automatic thermal weapon that does more damage when you’re close to an enemy. This works really well if you want to keep your distance if you’re surrounded by enemies on one side.
- You can use Energy Javelin and stun/knock back enemies in one hit. It will be very useful to kill an opponent with low health.
- In terms of healing, Oria has the Fortify ability that will give you temporary health and reduce all damage you take. If you don’t have a healer on your team, this will ensure you survive longer.
- If you’re being attacked by projectiles and want to block melee attacks, you can use Spear Spin, but make sure you activate it at the right time. It can be wasted if it is used earlier or later, even for a second.
- Finally, there is the ultimate Terra Surge, with which you can send enemies towards you and deal damage to them at the same time. Players can make the most of this when surrounded by opponents.
Reinhardt
- Reinhardt’s main attack uses a rocket-propelled hammer, for which you need to be quite close to the enemy, who will keep moving. As a tank, you won’t have speed when navigating without the ability, so you need to be accurate with your hammer.
- To gain speed, you can use the Dash ability, which will allow you to slam your opponent into a wall. Perfect to use when you’ve cornered an enemy.
- There is also a way to attack from a distance with Fire Strike, which launches a fire projectile. They are slower and need good aiming to work well.
- The barrier field comes in handy in enclosed spaces where you can take damage while your team has your back.
- Your ultimate is Earthshatter, which does exactly what it claims to do. Reinhardt will slam his mighty hammer into the ground and crush all enemies within reach.
So that’s been our guide to the best Overwatch 2 heroes for beginners and new players in the FPS genre. If you need more help with other characters, check out how to play Sojourn and Tracer in this game.