Overwatch 2 Hero Tier List: Best Characters to Play

Winning in Overwatch 2 is much harder than you might think. In many matches, you have minimal margin for error, where a single shot can decide whether you win or lose. Because of this, you are often forced to make calculated risks and ensure that every shot counts.

The difference between being a victor and a defeated often hinges on your draft. Selecting the right hero is vital in team arena games, as it can give you a major advantage from the get-go. This is why smart players often prioritize characters that are overpowered in the current meta.

In this ultimate guide, we’ll go through all the heroes in Season 17 and rank them by viability. We will examine what makes each one of them good, and in which situations you should use them. We’ll also go through different roles, helping readers find the right character according to their playstyle preferences.

What Affects the Overwatch 2 Tier List Rankings?

The Overwatch 2 meta is constantly evolving under Blizzard Entertainment’s oversight. The company intentionally makes certain heroes stronger or weaker, so that you have an incentive to change characters between patches. The main goal is to make things fresh and explore different strategies and metas. Every now and then, Blizzard will also introduce new mechanisms that increase the game's complexity.

The recently added perk system has also brought about significant changes to the hero selection process. It allows players to explore different builds and try out certain things that were previously not viable in competitive gameplay. The introduction of perks increased the number of combinations we have at our disposal, making specific builds almost unbeatable in certain matchups.

Ranking S-Tier, A-Tier, and B-Tier Heroes

Now, let’s go through all the heroes, classified in categories from S to D. Besides analyzing damage and healing outputs, we’ll also assess their overall impact on the matches, win rates, and compatibility with other meta heroes.

S-Tier Heroes

These are the best characters in Season 17. They are so powerful that each one of them can single-handedly win a game, just by being in the match and performing. Mastering these characters gives you a massive advantage over enemies, and these heroes commonly have high win rates.

• Doomfist: No longer just a DPS brawler, Doomfist’s new tank role has given him a much-needed versatility. He can now attack weak heroes in the enemy backline and use his mobility to escape opponents if things get too dangerous. His ability to displace and isolate targets makes him ideal for singling out opponents.
• Winston: Winston remains one of the best dive tanks in the game. He meshes well with mobile DPS heroes like Genji and Tracer, which allows you to create strong offensive strategies. A well-timed Primal Rage can also completely scatter a coordinated team, allowing you to pick out heroes one by one.
• Sojourn: This character’s combination of high mobility and burst damage from her railgun makes her a constant threat. She excels at killing enemies who are out of position and controlling the map. Her ultimate, Overclock, can also easily turn losing fights in your favor.
• Tracer: Tracer has always been known as one of the best (if not the best) flankers in the game. Similar to other heroes in this category, her value lies in penetrating enemy lines and eliminating high-priority targets. Although Tracer has low health, she remains an excellent choice for players who can take calculated risks.
• Ana: One of the best supports in the current meta, Ana’s Biotic Grenade might be the best ability in the current iteration of Overwatch 2. The ability allows you to empower allies and stifle enemies, making this hero extremely versatile.
• Lúcio: Lúcio is another character that greatly benefits from the faster meta. He can easily engage and disengage enemies while being a challenging target. With his Sound Barrier ability, Lúcio can also punish teams that are too aggressive while keeping his allies out of harm’s way.

A-Tier Heroes

These heroes are vital for many competitive strategies. While not possessing the same strength as the S-Tier characters, they are incredibly reliable and versatile. These characters excel in a wide variety of team compositions and maps, which is why they are often picked by pros. A-Tier heroes are also used in niche strategies when you want to surprise your enemies with something different. Some of them can also be extremely strong when in the right hands.

• Tank: Reinhardt, Ramattra, Junker Queen
• DPS: Genji, Soldier: 76, Echo, Pharah, Ashe, Cassidy
• Support: Kiriko, Baptiste, Moira

B-Tier & C-Tier

Most of these characters are picked for niche strategies. Heroes in the B-Tier, like Mei, Reaper, and Zenyatta, can be exceptionally effective as a direct counter or on specific maps. However, you should only select them if you have a good understanding of the meta or believe they can be beneficial against a specific tactic. The best thing about these heroes is that they are so rarely selected that they often catch enemies off guard. Some of them, like Sombra and Hanzo also require a high level of mechanical skill to provide consistent value in the current meta.

The Best Heroes by Position

A team’s success hinges on synergy. Understanding the best heroes for each role is essential for building a winning team composition.

Tank Tier List

As the name suggests, tanks are characters that occupy the front line. They usually initiate engagement by targeting priority targets or disabling multiple opponents simultaneously. The best tanks in the current patch are those that have high mobility and crowd control. Pros often choose Doomfist and Winston due to their dive abilities. You also have characters such as Reinhardt who are excellent for constant brawling, as they offer high sustain.

Damage (DPS) Tier List

DPS heroes have low health but can pack quite a punch. They allow you to pick off weak targets in the back, giving your team a much-needed numbers advantage. Freja is one of the best picks from this category, as she allows you to flank enemies with her high mobility and damage output. Here’s our list of the best DPS damage-dealers in Season 17:

Tier	Elite Damage Heroes (DPS) for Season 17
S	Sojourn, Freja, Tracer, Echo, Torbjörn
A	Widowmaker, Pharah, Genji, Soldier: 76, Ashe, Bastion, Cassidy
B	Symmetra, Venture, Reaper, Mei, Junkrat
C	Sombra, Hanzo

Support Tier List

The best support characters can ensure that your tanks and damage-dealers stay alive. You must have at least one support in every team composition, but there are also strategies that require two support characters. These heroes use heals, barriers, and various buffs to empower and save their team. Ana and Lúcio are currently in the S-Tier, but Kiriko and Baptiste can also provide a lot of value for your team.

How to Use This Hero Tier List

Although S-Tier heroes are powerful, that doesn’t mean they will be the best choice in every situation. Our Overwatch 2 hero tier list only shows you which characters perform the best in general. Nevertheless, you can still beat a composition of 5 S-Tier heroes by picking direct counters.

To get the most value out of this article, we suggest that you:

• When you’re not sure what to pick, go with one of the S-Tier heroes as they simply perform better in most situations.
• You should also examine each S-Tier hero's weaknesses, so you can counter them when enemies choose them.
• The fact that certain heroes are in B or C Tier doesn’t mean they are useless. They might still have a lot of potential, especially if they are your mains. Just make sure to pick them in the right situations.

Don’t stick with our list blindly; instead, it should serve more as guidance, explaining which characters excel in the current meta. It’s up to you to improve in the other aspects of the game, so you can fully master the meta.

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Despite our best efforts, many of us will never reach Grandmaster or Master Tier. This is why many players choose to order a boost to get their dream rank. Doing so allows you to battle against pros, hit the highest ranks, and unlock cosmetics and other goodies along the way.