With Overwatch 2 rising in popularity, new players wonder what the best DPS heroes are to climb up the ranks. Here is our tier list for the DPS heroes in Overwatch 2. We categorized each hero based on their strength in the current meta.
The important thing here is to note that not everything is set in stone. Although our tier list portrays the general state of the game, certain heroes can come in handy in certain situations. That’s why you should consider it a general guideline rather than the secret formula to becoming a Grandmaster overnight. Team compositions, maps, ranks, and strategies all play a role in determining the efficiency of a hero.
So, let’s jump into our DPS tier list for Overwatch 2 without further ado. Don’t forget to check our tank tier list for Overwatch 2! For an overhead view of every hero in the game, there’s our Overwatch 2 hero tier list as well.
Overwatch 2 DPS Heroes Tier List
Here’s what our list looks like.
- S-Tier: Sojourn, Widowmaker, Sombra
- A-Tier: Tracer, Genji
- B-Tier: Soldier: 76, Reaper, Hanzo, Symmetra, Torbjörn, Echo, Ashe, Junkrat, Pharah
- C-Tier: Cassidy, Mei, Bastion
- D-Tier: –
Now, let us talk about our reasoning for each damage hero.
S-tier for Overwatch 2 DPS Heroes
Sojourn
Meeting the players with the release of Overwatch 2, Sojourn gets the top place on our tier list thanks to her versatile ability set.
The rapid fire of Sojourn’s Railgun alone makes her a deadly choice against the enemy frontline. As she can collect energy by hitting and releasing this energy with her secondary fire as an AoE ability, Sojourn is strong in congested engagements.
The current meta of Overwatch 2 is all about mobility. Sojourn has plenty of that.
Thanks to her Power Slide ability, Sojourn can rapidly relocate into a higher position when she is in danger – or when she wants to flank. She can also fire while sliding, which is good for endurance.
Sojourn’s ultimate ability, Overclock, turns her into a killing machine by literally overclocking her Railgun. With the help of enemy-piercing attacks and an auto-charging gun, Sojourn can unleash her full potential!
Widowmaker
Widowmaker is a top-tier choice as she can easily counter almost all other heroes.
Although the French sniper only received a little health buff that increased her HP from 175 to 200, the global changes in Overwatch 2 made Widowmaker a much better option.
Now that there is only one tank in a team, Widowmaker has one less thing to worry about. In addition, there are more maps with vast open areas in the game, which gives snipers a huge advantage.
Combine that with the recent tendency towards lower-HP damage heroes, and guess what? Widowmaker can single-handedly change the fate of a game by eliminating critical targets.
Strong as she might be, Widowmaker is vulnerable in close-range combats. A Genji who knows what he’s doing poses a significant threat against all snipers. Sombra and Tracer can also prove deadly against long-range heroes.
In the end, as long as you maintain a safe position and use your Grappling Hook to relocate when necessary, you’ll be fine playing Widowmaker.
Sombra
Blizzard made significant adjustments to Sombra with the release of Overwatch 2, which turned the Mexican hacker into a relentless death machine.
She can now hack more enemies as the cooldown for it is reduced to four seconds by 50%. Moreover, she doesn’t have to end her Stealth ability to use Hack now! On top of all that, Sombra deals 25% more damage against hacked targets, which amplifies the buffs she received on the hacking end.
As a result of the changes she underwent, Sombra is now a highly mobile and deadly assassin who can effectively target key enemies.
Try not to get ambushed by her!
A-tier for Overwatch 2 Damage Heroes
Tracer
Tracer has always been one of the most mobile heroes since the inception of Overwatch. Now that mobility is once again the king, she is one of the best DPS heroes you can choose.
The only change to Tracer was a nerf. The damage of her Pulse Pistols was reduced from six to five. However, she still deals more damage to armored enemies in Overwatch 2. The reason is that armor now reduces 30% damage from each bullet of Pulse Pistols. In the original Overwatch, it used to reduce five damage each bullet.
As a result, Tracer is now a lot better against armored heroes, although she’s a bit weaker against heroes who do not have any armor.
Overwatch 2 significantly reduced the effect of crowd control abilities. This paved the way for mobile heroes to rise to the top of tier lists again.
Tracer is the perfect example of this, together with Sombra and Genji, with whom we’ll proceed now.
Genji
Although Blizzard slightly nerfed Genji to curb his advantage brought about by the 5v5 system, he’s still crushing it.
The Japanese assassin might be hard to master, but those who can play Genji will reap the rewards. Genji is an incredibly mobile character in a mobility-based meta. In addition, his Deflect ability reduces the vulnerability of Genji against burst damage – another upside in close-range combat.
Genji’s ultimate Dragon Blade is still one of the strongest abilities in the game, which is the cherry on top.
B-tier in Overwatch 2 DPS Tier List
Soldier: 76
Kickstarting the mid-tier is our American vigilante Jack Morrison, also known as Soldier: 76.
Looking at things from a wider perspective, Soldier: 76 is quite a versatile hero. He can heal his teammates, deal ungodly damage against his enemies, and use his sprint to shift his position swiftly.
Even though he is a jack of all trades – pun intended, he’s a master of none in Overwatch 2. There’s nothing in particular of Soldier: 76 that stands out.
On top of that, he was slightly nerfed with the release of Overwatch 2, which is another reason why Soldier is average at most.
It’s best to see Soldier: 76 as a situational hero because his ability set can come in handy in certain situations. For example, he excels at eliminating targets that are hard to hit, such as a ravaging Echo or a nerve-racking Pharah-Mercy duo. Soldier: 76 also unleashes his power when he can perch and get a good line of sight at the enemy team.
Reaper
Reaper can be more lethal against his enemies in Overwatch 2 now that the battlefield is less crowded and tanky. However, he is easily countered by other DPS heroes.
Mobility is the meta, just like we emphasized a million times. Although Reaper has his teleport and Wraith Form as great tools of escape / engage, there’s nothing he can do against a well-positioned Widowmaker, an avid Tracer, or a Sombra who hacks him.
He can still easily eliminate key targets by flanking behind them, despite putting his life in line unless everything works out flawlessly.
Reaper is a great choice if you can execute his play style. Otherwise, you might be better off trying other heroes.
Hanzo
Hanzo is still a viable sniper in Overwatch 2, but Widowmaker is more useful than him in almost all situations.
The Japanese archer can deal significant damage against his opponents in mid-range. His ability, Storm Arrows, give Hanzo a competitive advantage to fight in close range as well. His intel-gathering ability Sonic Arrow and ultimate Dragonstrike prove deadly in close areas where opponents don’t have many places to escape.
However, with the meta favoring mobile heroes, it’s the DPS’ job to eliminate them. Hanzo falls short on that front as it’s not easy to hit agile heroes such as Sombra, Tracer, and Genji with arrows. This is why Widowmaker and other hitscan heroes seem like a better option for the current state of affairs. It’s up to you to decide which sniper to prefer in which situations.
Symmetra
Symmetra was hit with many changes going into Overwatch 2, many of which were buffs that uplifted her position in tier lists.
Symmetra now has more ammo in her Photon Projector, so she is more durable in long combats.
Nevertheless, we observe many nerfs on Symmetra as well. Her teleport is nowhere near what it used to be due to the nerfs implemented on its cooldown, health, and range. In addition, Symmetra’s turrets now inflict less movement speed reduction on enemies.
Despite all, Symmetra is worthy of a place in B-Tier as she is ruthless when you play her with a good strategy that considers optimal turret placements and team composition.
It is hard to unlock the full potential of Symmetra, which might be why she is underrated. Still, it seems best to go with other damage heroes unless you have a team strategy revolving around the Indian Architect.
Torbjörn
Thanks to the buff he received with the release of Overwatch 2, Torbjörn is now considered a good choice, at least in certain situations. Despite this, he still has a long way to go to be higher on our Overwatch 2 DPS tier list.
Torbjörn’s Rivet Gun has less recovery time now, which enables him to be more agile against mobile heroes. Another thing to mention about Torbjörn’s effectiveness against mobility is his turret. It can easily detect and deny flankers.
Combining his turret with the incredible close-range damage of Molten Core, Torbjörn is the go-to hero when it comes to area denial.
Echo
Echo was hit with some nerfs with the release of Overwatch 2. Therefore, she isn’t as useful as before. This doesn’t mean Echo isn’t still a good choice in the right hands, though.
With the help of her mobility and versatility, Echo poses a great threat to her enemies. As she can always fly and glide, dealing with a skillful Echo isn’t easy, particularly when a Mercy or Zenyatta consistently heals her. However, she can be vulnerable when countered by hitscan heroes such as Widowmaker, Ashe, or Soldier: 76.
All in all, Echo is a great choice for those who can play it well. She’s not the best DPS, given the nerfs and counters.
Ashe
Ashe is one of the best hitscan heroes you can go with now.
When in a high vantage point, she can be deadly against enemies in a narrow area thanks to her dynamite and ADS. Her Coach Gun, on the other hand, gives Ashe the ability to escape from assassins and reach higher places. That’s an advantage of hers over Cassidy, another hitscan hero.
The only matter with Ashe seems to be the nerf to her ultimate B.O.B. Blizzard decided to reduce the omnic’s health from 1200 to 1000. However, given that the teams now consist of five players instead of one, it appears that’s a reasonable change.
If a relatively mobile, mid-to-long-range hitscan hero is what your team needs, you cannot go wrong with Ashe. But still, in most situations, there are better choices, such as Widowmaker and Sojourn.
Junkrat
Hitting the Overwatch 2 scene with an overall buff to his ability kit, Junkrat is a deadly choice in maps with choke points.
He can be lethal against tanky compositions. Plus, he can counter the assassins of the current meta, such as Genji and Tracer, with his Steel Trap, which is now buffed. This makes Junkrat a hard hero to approach.
However, it would be best if you landed the bombs to be effective with Junkrat. Therefore, he’s not reliable in maps with open areas, making him a highly situational hero.
Pharah
Pharah is still a viable choice in strong hands, but she is similar to Echo in many aspects.
Both heroes have huge damage potential left unattested. However, hitscan heroes can counter them with no bother. Because of this, Pharah is a high-risk, high-reward hero, just like Echo.
To be effective with her, you need maps where you can take cover behind large structures or walls so as not to be caught by an eagle-eyed Widowmaker. You can also team up with a pocket Mercy to hit your enemies with a good old “Pharmacy,” which has always been a viable strategy.
C-tier Overwatch 2 Damage Heroes
Cassidy
Although Cassidy still has a similar gameplay to the one in Overwatch, there are significant changes in his ability kit.
The most notable change is that he no longer has a Flashbang. Instead, Cassidy has a magnetic bomb to deal significant damage.
However, it is not enough to compensate for the lack of a close-range stun, especially given its deadly combination with Fan the Hammer. On top of that, Cassidy is more vulnerable than ever to assassins such as Genji and Tracer, who are ravaging the meta due to this change.
Unfortunately, he is currently one of the worst damage heroes.
Mei
Blizzard significantly changed Mei’s ability kit in Overwatch 2, which arguably turned her into a less useful hero.
With Mei’s stun now gone, she is more focused on dealing damage against enemies, which is only natural as her Endothermic Blaster now deals almost double the damage.
However, she’s also more vulnerable as she cannot stun. As Blizzard reduced Ice Wall’s health and range, Mei now heavily relies on dealing consistent damage.
This is quite difficult for her with the new ability set, for it is harder now for Mei to withstand incoming damage.
Therefore, she has her place in our C-Tier.
Bastion
Once the great villain of Overwatch, Bastion isn’t as deadly as before. As a result of his complete rework, the omnic now relies more on positioning and team synergy.
With two different configurations, Bastion isn’t a hero to play with a fixed position. He has to be more opportunistic to make the most out of his A-36 Tactical Grenade. Besides, the tank mode cannot be his “default” mode now, given its 6-second duration and 12-second cooldown.
Bastion will have to make his way up with new updates to be a viable choice again. Until then, you have a plethora of better options.
Wrapping up Our Overwatch 2 DPS Hero Tier List
What do you think about our Overwatch 2 DPS tier list? Which hero placement would you change? Is there something you disagree with? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments.
