Overwatch 2 has now turned into a free-to-play game and has teams of 5v5 characters, plus a few more new maps, modes, and characters, with the promise of releasing new content more frequently. One of the changes that will be a focus here is the 5v5 — it used to be 6v6 with two tanks, two DPS, and two supports. However, there's now a single tank per team and, to compensate for the lack of a second tank, they've become absolute beasts on the battlefield.
Still, when is the best time to use each of them? What characters are they going to work well with? Though you can cause quite some mayhem by yourself, a synergized team is an unbeatable one, so it's important to keep a close eye on what characters your team chooses as well.
Updated December 12, 2022 by Lucas Olah: Overwatch 2 is a game that is constantly changing through its updates, with new heroes emerging from time to time, meaning it was only a matter of time before this list got bigger. With season 2 of the game, we now have our 11th 'hero,' the warmongering Ramattra, leader of Null Sector. With only one tank on every team in the new 5v5 format, it's significant when a new tank character gets added to the roster. And that means we have new opportunities for teamwork synergy, so it's time to talk about these new options that are available to us.
11 D. Va
Anyone that can keep up with you will be a good friend to have around. That means a Reaper, Sombra, Sojourn, Soldier 76, Echo, Tracer, and Junkrat can all use their own abilities to flank alongside you. Symmetra can even use her teleport to ensure low-mobility characters can also tag along, which is very helpful.
The same can be said for support. Lucio, Moira, and Kiriko can keep up with you just fine. Though Ana can't follow, she can help you from afar, and her Nano will work beautifully with you. A good Mercy can also keep up as long as she can see you, and her damage boost can help you recover your mech a lot faster in case you lose it.
10 Doomfist
Allies that can prevent enemy movement will make your life a lot easier, such as Sojourn and Mei, for instance. Since a Zarya ultimate combo is no longer valid, Mei's ultimate is a wonderful replacement to meteor strike with. Still, Doomfist is rather independent and can perform well regardless of what characters the DPS players are using.
As for support, characters that don't need to aim in order to heal Doomfist will do better due to his unpredictable mobility, so Mercy, Brigitte, Lucio, and Zenyatta will have better chances. Kiriko requires slight aim but not too much, so that's viable as well.
9 Junker Queen
The Queen of Junkertown is quite deadly and mobile. Though you could make her faster with Lucio and Kiriko, that isn't such a necessity. Still, she's pretty good for a straight-up assault, so characters who can follow and take some pain before needing to recover will balance out very well. Soldier, for instance, who can go with her and heal both if necessary, even though he's not a supporting character. Characters who excel at close range will all benefit from her since they'll receive her passive as well.
Lastly, though Ana is long-range, her healing boost from the grenade will make Junker Queen receive a huge bonus from her wound attack healing, even from her ultimate, which makes her deadlier and more difficult to kill.
8 Orisa
If you want to make an Orisa more dangerous, a pocket Mercy will truly unleash her. Granted, pay attention to the whole team, but giving her a damage boost and healing when necessary is already powerful. Area attacks are also good combos with Orisa, since her ultimate now drags people toward her. In order for her to cause full damage, she will take a long time, but if she uses it earlier, she can still kill if everyone helps.
Tracer's pulse bomb, Sombra's EMP or Reaper's Death Blossom will all perform well, for example. Mei is a wonderful pair as well, with one ultimate freezing and the other killing. Even if only Mei is using her ultimate, you can make sure people stay inside by pushing them in.
Orisa can still use Symmetra's teleporter when she's charging her ultimate. That means she can charge it in a safe place, and Symmetra can use the teleporter to give Orisa a surprise attack.
7 Ramattra
The Magneto to our Zenyatta, our evil Omnic with his multiple forms can excel a lot with good teamwork around him. Despite being a tank, his survivability isn't as good compared to others, so any pocket healer will already change things a lot for him. Mercy or Ana helping him makes a big change. Ana, in particular, can also turn Ramattra into a true menace by Nano boosting him during his ultimate, making sure no one survives. With a Lúcio to speed him up as well, Ramattra might just get rid of everyone.
As for DPS, characters who walk with the tank instead of flanking will be more useful. A Soldier that can both attack and help him stay alive or a Sojourn who can be more aggressive are good options. If you want to control the battlefield with ferocity, Mei and Ramattra can be a nightmare together since both of them have slowing abilities. And guess what? They stack together, making your enemies almost immobile.
6 Reinhardt
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When it comes to DPS, almost any character that tags along Reinhardt will be a good combo. Characters with a quick fire rate, such as Soldier 76, Sojourn, Junkrat, and similar will be helpful. Flankers would perform better by not staying with him though; a Reaper or a Sombra could help, but they'd be better off doing their own thing. All that said, the game was changed to be more aggressive, so it's important that your goal is to advance and attack instead of just being a glorifying wall for your friends. Protecting sentries and turrets with your shield will also make them excel more.
As for healers, anyone that can boost his speed will make Reinhardt a bigger threat than ever. Lucio's speed boost makes a lot of difference, and his movement and attack speed during Kiriko's ultimate are devastating. Mercy can also be very helpful here; she'd compensate for Lucio's low healing and, since she's very fragile, being close to the most resistant shield in the game has its benefits.
5 Roadhog
Roadhog doesn't often need help staying alive or killing, which means that characters that function independently are a good pick. Flankers, for example, such as Tracer or Reaper, can just go do their own thing while the Hog does his.
You don't need powerful single-target healers either unless he's being hunted so badly that his own healing isn't saving him. So, area healing like Lucio's or Brigitte's will likely take care of him. Lastly, a Nano boost is a good combo for him.
4 Sigma
While he has a devastating 200hp-combo and a solid defense, he's not as deadly when the abilities are in cooldown nor is he mobile. Anything that speeds him up will be beneficial for starters. He's also better at protecting, unlike most tanks, since he's one of the few characters who still have a shield. That allows more fragile characters to tag along with him, though he still needs to get in close to the combat due to his range.
Brigitte and Lucio will also be wonderful protectors to him at close range, while medium to short-range DPS will also help. He can even protect things such as turrets and sentries, so they'll last longer and hurt more.
3 Winston
Divers are the ones who'll have more fun here. Any character that can keep up with Winston's jumping will take full advantage of his teamwork. Land among the enemies and place your bubble; someone dangerous such as Junkrat fully inside a shield bubble can be a fun time. Well, for him, at least.
His ultimate isn't as powerful for damage. In fact, it's a control tool more than anything. You can spice it up with a Nano boost, but if used correctly, you can prevent enemies from leaving deadly areas, such as Mei's or Reaper's ultimate.
2 Wrecking Ball
Hammond has high mobility and a lot of independence, so he's a good character to run solo more than anything else. Still, his fire rate is powerful for both assault and flanking. A damage boost from Mercy or Ana will make him a true menace as well.
Funny enough, snipers will have a good time with your flanking as well. Piledriver (the slam attack) sends all enemies into the air in a rather predictable pattern. That makes headshots quite easy to perform. Hanzo, Widowmaker, and Ashe can use that a lot in their favor.
1 Zarya
If used correctly, Zarya can be as devastating as any DPS hero. To ensure ultimate power, she'll also benefit from damage boosters more than anyone else. Mercy in particular, since both she and Zarya will put themselves in the front if together, and since Mercy is a valuable target, shielding her will help you a lot.
Lastly, your ultimate is the ultimate combo with everybody who has area ultimate attacks. Hanzo, Junkrat, Cassidy, Reaper, Pharah, and more will be a devastating combo. If the enemy team has a Zenyatta to stop one of these combos, a simple anti-heal grenade from Ana will fix it.