The definitive Overwatch 2 hero tier list for season 8

Every new competitive season, Blizzard releases a balance patch to Overwatch 2 that often results in drastic meta shifts. Alongside changing competitive strategies and smaller intermittent patches, it’s important to be updated with the best heroes to choose.

The latest Overwatch 2 patches have brought reworks to Roadhog and Sombra, two of the game’s most divisive heroes, though so far these reworks haven’t made a major change to their viability. In addition, Zenyatta received a small but noticeable nerf, and Route 66 has a slightly new look.

With these changes, we have Dot Esports’ updated hero tier list for Overwatch 2, season eight.

Overwatch 2 hero tier list

Our Overwatch 2 tier list is meant to keep the average player in mind. This tier list takes into account what someone might experience in the lower ranks of the game, as well as what heroes are especially prominent in professional play and the Top 500.

Though the heroes may look different in these two environments, informing lower-level play by high-tier meta choices is a great way for lower-ranked players to learn more about the game and what makes certain heroes effective.

The goal of this list is to let players know what the best heroes are in the game, as well as guide players to the top picks to rank up with. Everyone might want to play the “meta” heroes to rank up quickly, but if you find them too mechanically challenging, there are ample hero selections for each role that will allow you to focus less on what abilities to use and more on situational awareness.

In most cases, if you have a particular attachment to a hero or find that you have more success on them than other “meta” heroes, you can generally still choose to play them. Overwatch 2 is an incredibly dynamic game full of possibilities and various interactions between abilities, and mechanical skill and strategy are still at the game’s core.

Overwatch 2 tank hero tier list

Season eight’s big winner in the tank department is Mauga. He’s fresh on the scene, and he is mean. Can he deal a ton of damage? Sure. Is he pretty mobile? Oh yeah. But the biggest thing that Mauga has going for him is his survivability. A smart, well-positioned Mauga with just one healer on him, is incredibly hard to kill. Even after his slight nerfs earlier this month, Mauga remains a major threat.

Other than the newest face, the Dutch scientist Sigma is essentially as strong as he was last season. He is extremely viable, flexible, and destructive all at once. He benefits from being one of the only remaining tank heroes with a shield, and also has a high potential of both damage output and damage mitigation. With a quiet buff to his movement in season six, players have continued to refine his new playstyle, making him the optimal choice.

Ever since receiving buffs during the mid-cycle season four patch many months ago, Junker Queen has been a standout tank in Overwatch 2. She is so well-tuned that she hasn’t received any changes, buffs or nerfs, in season eight. So if you’re used to playing her already, keep doing what you’re doing—no need to learn Sigma if you’ve never chosen him in a match before, though you might find just a bit more success with him.

Orisa‘s season six buff is still serving her well. What’s really helping her out this season, is that she no longer has a damage falloff for her primary fire. Which is pretty useful! She is still one of the tanks in the game with the strongest presence with her huge HP pool and ability to push enemies out of her way. Her damage mitigation is also excellent, and, maybe most importantly, she is one of the easiest tanks to learn for new players.

The biggest downside to Junker Queen is how unique she is to play. Without a shield, her sustainability is heavily reliant on keeping up her bleeds and timing Commanding Shout. She has no shield ability, so mitigating damage can be trickier with her more offensive playstyle.

D.Va’s buffs to her Boosters give her the slightest bit more mobility than she had before, enabling her to be more effective in a certain playstyle. Use her Defense Matrix efficiently and she can be a reliable choice.

Ramattra continues to sit in the middle of the pack as basically a worse version of Sigma at this point. If you’re fond of playing the omnic tank, we recommend you give Sigma a try, as their playstyles are similar.

As always, Reinhardt is one of the most-played tank heroes in the game with a solid win rate, according to Overbuff, for good reason. His simplistic kit is easy for nearly any player to wrap their head around. With a shield and the ability to charge in, he’s a tank that will let players focus more on situational awareness and less on maximizing the usage of a variety of abilities. Reinhardt can be good in the right hands, but he really struggles with his mobility.

A character that has seldom seriously been viable since his switch from a DPS to a tank, Doomfist players seem to suddenly be finding their niche this season and have continued to prove the tank is viable through season eight. He has the opposite issue as Reinhardt, where his mobility is excellent but he lacks a grounding presence for his team.

Only play Winston if your team is set on running a dive composition. Winston goes from being a top-tier pick to less than ideal if you’re not going to run him with other dive heroes like Tracer, Genji, or Sombra.

Selecting Roadhog or Wrecking Ball is something you’ll only want to see from players who have practiced their mechanics significantly. Both have the potential to be lethal disruptors, but they don’t always mesh well in a team setting. Even with Roadhog’s rework, his base design still just doesn’t make him viable in a five-vs-five game without a supporting tank. It also doesn’t help poor Roadhog that he was nerfed even further on January 9.

Overwatch 2 support hero tier list

Baptiste has quickly risen the ranks to be one of the most effective healers in the current meta for several months at this point. His incredible burst healing combined with his immortality field make him one of the most diverse supports in Overwatch 2, and in the right hands, he can do as much targeted damage as a hit scan DPS. Baptiste also gets bonus points as our top support this season because of how well he can mesh with basically any other support in the game.

Lúcio always tends to get a boost in his effectiveness when tanks with limited mobility are also trending in the meta since he can help eliminate their biggest weaknesses. The combination of Baptiste and Lúcio is a lethal duo in season eight.

Ana’s combination of healing output and DPS potential at any distance makes her one of the most powerful and flexible support heroes in the game. Nano Boost is still one of the best fight-altering support Ultimates in the game, whether you use it on a tank or DPS hero, and Ana still remains near the top of our support rankings. One thing’s for sure: none of your teammates will ever be upset at you for picking Ana.

Illari was, without a doubt, overpowered on release. Her healing and damage outputs were so powerful, in fact, that Blizzard quickly responded with a nerf. Despite the nerfs to her Heal Pylon and main weapon, she is still a very strong choice. Even with those nerfs, Blizzard decided to buff Illari on January 9 with her primary fire no longer paused by her secondary fire, her ammo increased from 14 to 16, and the damage falloff penalty from her ultimate’s Sunstruck explosion being removed. She’s a very strong support pick.

Kiriko is still a solid choice as a support and feels mostly in a balanced state right now. She hasn’t had any major changes for several seasons, and she excels if you can also put out decent damage numbers. Moira is in a similar spot, though is less flexible than her kunai-wielding counterpart.

Brigitte’s viability revolves less around what’s on your team and more around what the other team is running. The shield-wielding youngster is the ultimate anti-dive support player. If you find yourself or your teammates getting picked off regularly by an enemy Tracer, Brig is the best defender around. With a meta centering around brawl DPS, she is a good choice in season eight to protect squishies.

Lifeweaver’s buffs have made him much more viable than he used to be, but he sits in a strange spot of being too difficult for low-level players and not viable enough for higher ranks.

Guardian angel Mercy should only be played alongside a Pharah in the current meta. Zenyatta is a niche pick for support players who have mastered the art of balancing healing and damage output. With a nerf to his Discord Orb, he is much less effective in the current meta and will get killed easily.

Overwatch 2 DPS hero tier list

Sojourn is one of the most versatile DPS heroes in Overwatch 2’s lineup. Her incredible mobility aids her in all aspects because she can not only escape treacherous tank abilities but can also easily flock to her teammate’s powerful support utility. Her primary fire is very strong, and she is also a great hero to start on for beginners learning the ropes.

Yet, the single hero changing the tides in season eight is undoubtedly Bastion. More than ever before in Overwatch’s history, the robot is viable, even at the highest level. If you’ve only ever played Bastion before as a joke, it’s time to learn him for real.

With the rise of Bastion has come the revival of the brawl composition. These compositions generally feature DPS heroes with high damage output, specifically burst damage. This means the likes of Mei, Echo, and Soldier: 76 are also seeing increased playtime. Brothers Hanzo and Genji also make the A Tier cut not only because of their high damage output but also their ability to stay out of harm’s (read: Bastion’s) way.

But, all said and done, there are few heroes in Overwatch 2 that have the capability of carrying a match like Tracer does. While it takes time to get used to her light health pool of just 150, Recall and Blink give her some of the game’s strongest survivability in the right hands. So, she’s still in the meta.

Pharah has one of the highest damage potentials of any hero, but she should only be played alongside Mercy pocketing her since she is vulnerable to Bastion and other hitscan heroes.

Reaper, Cassidy, Junkrat, Symmetra, and Torbjörn are all heroes that can be very effective in brawl compositions, but wouldn’t necessarily be our first choice, However, if you have a specific niche or preference for one of these five heroes, you can definitely make them work in season eight.

Sombra is certainly better after her rework than she was previously. She now has an additional option for damage over time in her Virus ability, but as a consequence, her ultimate is far less powerful. This results in a Sombra that is more versatile, but overall less powerful. She’s also one of the most altered heroes in terms of buffs and nerfs. It seems that Blizzard just can’t decide what to do with the poor girl.

Ashe and Widowmaker sink all the way to the bottom of our tier list because long-range heroes are truly out of fashion at the moment. We put Ashe one tier higher because she can still get use out of Dynamite and B.O.B., while Widowmaker is pretty much only effective if you have a player with incredible aim.

Now armed with the knowledge of the best Overwatch 2 heroes, you’ll be soaring up the season eight ranks in no time.