Now that the firstOverwatch 2beta has ended, fans of Activision Blizzard’s hero shooter have a more concrete idea about what the sequel has in store. A lot has been said about the beta fromthe new game modesand maps to the many qualms that the current state of the game doesn’t feel like a full-fledged sequel. One point of interest that a lot of players have opinions about is the new 5v5 system.
For those who don’t know,Overwatchteams are comprised of 6 players consisting of 2 tanks, 2 supports, and 2 damage heroes.Overwatch 2is bringing the number of tanks down from two to one - thereby making the skirmishes more manageable. While the premise behind the new system is welcome (fights inOverwatchare very hard to follow with 6 players per team, much less take part in), Activision Blizzard’s currentOverwatch 2build shows that not all the original game’s heroes work well in the sequel.
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Overwatch 2: Something Old, Something Borrowed
Back in the originalOverwatch, tank heroes are unofficially divided into two main groups: main tanks and off-tanks. Main tanks like Reinhardt and Orisa provide cover for the team and help them advance while off-tanks likeZarya and Roadhog support othersby dealing damage and helping take the aggro off the main tank and squishier, low-HP characters. A good team of tanks consists of a main tank and an off-tank that play off each other, with the main tank being slower and providing cover for the off-tank with their shields and the off-tank generally being more mobile and soaking up a lot of damage.
One good example isthe Reinhardt-Zarya combo. Reinhardt protects his teammates with his Barrier Field and pushes forward while Zarya provides him with a Projected Barrier whenever he has to drop his shield to use his Rocket Hammer. Damage inflicted on Reinhardt while he is protected by the barrier charges Zarya’s Particle Cannon, which ups her damage and lets her support her team better. In a well-coordinated team, both Reinhardt and Zarya can carry the team forward without taking too much damage.
Overwatch 2: Something New?
Thereduction of tank heroes per team inOverwatch 2means that a lot more responsibility falls to the one tank. These characters have the biggest health pools and the highest rates of survivability, so it becomes their job to serve as an anchor point for the entire team. Since protecting the team is more important than doing damage, it looks as though those heroes that used to fill in the role of the main tank are the most essential choices inOverwatch 2.
Reinhardt, Orisa, Winston, and Sigma are much tankier than the rest of the tank heroes. Three of these characters (Reinhardt, Winston, and Sigma) can provide a shield to protect their teammates whilethe last tank, Orisa, was reworked with abilitiesthat allow her to absorb more damage (these are her old Fortify and new Javelin Spin abilities, to be more specific). The rest of the team can get behind these heroes and do their jobs while feeling safe - a notion that isn’t always there when one of the off-tanks takes the stage.
Off-tank heroes, at least in the firstOverwatch 2beta’s state, find it difficult to protect their team. Both Roadhog and D.Va are extremely squishy and serve as punching bags for the enemy team once their life-saving abilities (Roadhog’s Take A Breather and D.Va’s Defense Matrix, to be precise) go on cooldown.Zarya can only protect herself and one other playerwith her Particle and Projected Barrier for a limited time. Finally, Wrecking Ball’s and Doomfist’s abilities are all centered around movement - forcing them to leave their team defenseless while they do damage.
If Activision Blizzard wants to make all ofOverwatch 2’s tanks viable, it has to find ways so that each big hero can support their team on multiple fronts. Doomfist excels at damaging crowded enemies but is horrible when it comes to protecting his team.Reinhardt’s Barrier Field allows him to protect allies, but he fares poorly when it comes to ranged battles. Nothing is worse than being on a team with a tank that immediately dies, but when that death is caused by the hero’s abilities rather than the player’s skill, then that fault lies in the hands of the developers. There is still a lot of work to be done forOverwatch 2to be considered a true sequel, so hopefully, the game gets its tanks right before it releases.
