Alright, let's start this off by saying that every single character in Overwatch has its uses. These are the heroes who I personally feel people use when the situation doesn’t call for it. Or they stay on these characters when they’re explicitly being countered by the enemy team. I know that every hero in Overwatch is meticulously balanced to be useful in their own ways. To say that a character is flat out useless would mean that I obviously haven’t played the game, and that’s just not true. That said, casual players don’t seem to realize that some heroes are easily countered by picking other heroes, such as Winston being a great pick to defeat an elusive Mercy. Or Reaper being a smart counter to a steadfast Roadhog. Overwatch is deceptively a game about building a fantastic team throughout the match, working with other players, and switching your character to fit the current situation. It is NOT a game that promotes picking one character and never switching. In single player games that’s fine to do but when you’re affecting the enjoyment of others my opinion is that you have to compromise at least a bit. With that said, I tried to pick the characters that tend to get overplayed or that need a bit of a buff in the next patch. That or I picked characters that seem to avoid nerfs every single patch which leads players to picking them no matter how bad an idea it is. So I hope you enjoy the picks and remember always pick Torbjorn in ranked!
20 Outclassed: Orisa - A Bit Too Slow And Steadfast
As far as outclassed character's go, Orisa is pretty low on the totem pole.
Firstly, I loved Orisa on launch, her design, backstory, and kit are all amazing as an adorable, immovable tank.
But in play, she’s honestly quite a boring character. Her kit lends itself to sticking to one spot, pulling the enemies to you, and poking at them with your gatling gun. She’s outclassed by more malleable and maneuverable tanks such as Reinhardt or now Wrecking Ball, but still has her uses. She's particularly good on defense, and great at blocking off choke points. But if she has to run away, you're most likely done for.
19 Should Use: Zenyatta - The True Sniper Hero
Zenyatta is a sniper support. People seem to straight up ignore or forget that about him. A Zenyatta that puts his orb of discord on an enemy then gets 1 or 2 headshots is absolutely crucial to a team. Zenyatta’s projectiles are his “Orbs of Destruction” and they are pinpoint accurate, with no bullet drop, or spread to them.
So Zenyatta can hit any enemy from any distance with hyper-accuracy.
He lacks mobility but in the hands of a good player, Zenyatta is probably the highest damage support there is. Plus his skill kit allows him to both be aggressive and passive again, depending on the player. Plus boy does he just have the best skins in the game.
18 Outclassed: Lucio - Dependable, But Replaceable
In the original launch of Overwatch, you’d be crazy not to have a Lucio on your team in almost every match.
A character with passive, constant healing, AND speed buffs? Sign me up!
But Blizzard has released 7 new characters since launch and 3 of them are supports. These new supports have a much higher skill ceiling than Lucio and honestly can do more immediate healing as well. Lucio is still a great support to fall back on, but in most situations, there’s a better support character to pick. That said, Lucio is insanely good on maps with pitfalls as his secondary fire pushes enemies quite a distance. Also, his design and skins are both top notch.
17 Should Use: Mei - She's Always A N-Ice Pick
You can never go wrong having a Mei on your team. There''s s-no-w better option.
Mei is the ice character of Overwatch and she specialize's in slowing and/or freezing the enemy.
She’s useful against the more mobile characters like Doomfist or Genji as she can lock them down with her wall/freeze and is also great for whittling down tanks as they're frozen. Plus her ultimate has been one of the best since launch, freezing all enemies in a large circle. Mei, when used correctly, is a constant annoyance to the enemy team. She also, like Zenyatta, can get pinpoint headshots with her projectile from across the map. The only problem is when less experienced players use her “wall” ability and end up hurting more than helping.
16 Outclassed: Bastion - The Tutorial Level Hero
99% of most Bastion carries nowadays are due to new players on the enemy team. Bastion can do INSANE damage, but also has some very heavy counters and most players that are over the 10-hour play mark know to avoid Bastion’s when they’re locked down and wait for the counter to take care of them.
Bastion isn’t bad by any means, but the character is simple to a fault, and is only truly scary in the hands of a pro.
Bastion players seem to be of too extreme's, either too dependent on his turret mode and outclassed, or they're Bastion mains who dominate the match. There's little in-between and for more dependable damage there are better picks.
15 Should Use: Soldier 76 - Call Of Duty Personified
This one probably goes without saying. Soldier is the FPS character of Overwatch, literally playing like a character straight out of Call of Duty. His abilities are quite plain, he can sprint and has a healing aura for a few seconds, that’s about it. As far as flair or unique skills, Soldier 76 is unapologetically simple. But he’s still played a ton because his damage is so high and he’s the perfect character for FPS junkies.
Soldier has a surprisingly high skill ceiling because with hyper-accurate aiming he’s almost unstoppable.
He can also wander by himself because of his mobility and self-healing abilities. All in all, Soldier is the carry hero that no team ever minds having and works in just about every situation.
14 Outclassed: Doomfist - The Unnecessary Assassin
So let me just preface by saying Doomfist is my favorite damage character.
He’s a giant dude with a giant fist that punches things for damage, it’s like my number 1 aesthetic.
But Doomfist is only for people who WANT to play Doomfist, for people who want to win, or want consistent, dependable damage, there are much better options. Doomfist is a jump in, jump out assassin with a kit that lets him move around the map in all sorts of ways. But there are other characters like Genji that can do the same thing more reliably. Plus Genji is the prodigal child who always avoids the nerf’s while Doomfist has been modified since his launch. Either way, he's a blast, but not quite optimal.
13 Should Use: Mercy - MVP Without Firing A Gun
Mercy is by far the best healer in the game. Obvious I know, but Mercy’s entire kit is centered around healing. She can also pull out her secondary and fight back when cornered.
Mercy is the only character with a revive system that can bring defeated heroes back into the fight.
It’s gone under a couple different changes since launch but now she can revive a player once every 30 seconds! Honestly, a player who can avoid enemies while healing and revive crucial heroes at the right time is basically the MVP of the game. Plus the Pharah + Mercy combo is just as strong as it was at launch and is just as hard to stop.
12 Outclassed: Reinhardt - The Timid Titan
Winston and Reinhardt are the two tanks most players started with. They’re simple, dependable, and have very strong designs.
Reinhardt players are either there for the giant hammer, shield, or suit of armor.
But Reinhardt isn’t seen nearly as much anymore, and that’s thanks to the fact that all his tricks are easily avoided. Novice level Reinhardt players depend on his shield too much and are never aggressive, leading to long-lasting games with no ground gained. On the other hand, most other tanks have kit’s that are much more skewed to aggressive, mobile playstyles. Reinhardt is still good, but he’s got no flair. That is except for the fact he has just the coolest skins in the game.
11 Should Use: Moira - Best Of Both Worlds
Moira is the second newest character behind Wrecking Ball and is a welcome addition to the roster as far as I’m concerned. If I were to explain her as simply as possible, she’s got mechanics from three other characters and utilizes them amazingly.
Moira excels as an aggressive support, she has great damage, range, and maneuverability.
Plus she can heal the entire team in seconds. She’s squishy just like most supports and can be targeted pretty easily but if you’re left alone in a room with a Moira don’t think you’ll come out unscathed. She specializes at doing small, constant damage to the team from a distance while keeping the rest of her team alive. In the right hands, she can carry her whole team.
10 Outclassed: Wrecking Ball - Hamster Sized Damage
Wrecking Ball, otherwise known as Hammond, or Hamtaro by the real cool crowd, is the newly released tank hero that’s quite literally a hamster ball.
And as someone who has played him constantly for the past week, I can say he's fun but not without issues.
Most newly released heroes are a bit weak on launch, and get buffed in the next patch. Hammond is in this phase currently as his damage leaves a bit to be desired. As far as his kit goes, he’s the most mobile tank in the game. With a grappling hook to get him anywhere he needs to go, Hammond can initiate from anywhere. It’s just once he gets there he’s not able to do much more than throw stones.
9 Should Use: Zarya - Need's A Graviton SURGE Of Skins
Zarya has weak skins. This is actually more of a problem than you’d think. Zarya is a fantastic tank with her own unique playstyle, but for a long time, she was very underused. That’s because the main cosmetic in Overwatch is skins, these are obviously costumes for the character. Genji has had around 10 different incredible skins since launch and only recently have Zarya players been able to say she has a couple good ones now.
Zarya’s are seen more often now, but it's not as much as she should been seen.
Her Graviton Surge is probably the best to combo with other ultimates in the entire roster, and her damage and shielding abilities are no joke. She's a great tank that needs more love.
8 Outclassed: Genji - Golden Boy With Diehard Fans
Ah Genji, the bane of my existence. He's got such great skin's, but I personally have no fun with him ever.
He’s a character that has barely, if at all, been nerfed, and has been constantly complained about since launch.
Genji's issue is in his appeal, where people like me who have no skill with him play him in games where he doesn’t belong. He was probably the highest played character by newbies at launch and it still happens quite consistently. Don’t get me wrong, a high level Genji is a game changer, but a lot of them are still drawn in by his design with no skill to back it up. So the character isn't quite outclassed, but his players tend to be.
7 Should Use: Brigitte - A Tiny Reinhardt That Heals
Oh boy is Brigitte fun. She’s again, another new character, and is actually the daughter of Torbjorn and the squire for Reinhardt.
Brigitte is a mechanic and a knight who specializes in doing a bit of damage, a bit of tanking, and a bit of healing.
Her kit is insanely simple, she has a long range poke, a heal, and a shield bash. She can block damage, heal her teammates, or swing her mace. Her bread and butter is really her shield bash though, it’s an ability that stuns anyone she hits and completely ruins their ultimates if used correctly. Brigitte is a mechanically sound character who doesn’t have all too much flair, but makes up for it with how fun she is to play.
6 Outclassed: Widowmaker - The 360 Quickscoper
If Genji was a 5/10 for a character people use in bad situations, Widowmaker is a 9/10. Her and Hanzo are the most played characters in teams where they don’t belong. Because Widowmaker is the “sniper” character of the game,
Call of Duty enthusiasts with nothing to draw them in but dope 360 headshots do nothing but play Widowmaker.
No matter the team combination, it could be a team of 4 Genji's, and these people would still pick Widowmaker and never switch. As a playable character, she’s actually still insanely top tier, with high skill players dominating the game with their headshots. But as many skilled players there are with her, there are four times as many new kids who want to make a montage.
5 Should Use: Roadhog - Always Useful
Roadhog could have half his health, his gun taken away, and lose the ability to heal, and still be good. As long as Roadhog has his hook pull ability, he’s viable. Roadhog’s main draw is his ability to Mortal Kombat Scorpion people and pull them to him.
Roadhog is the definition of an aggressive tank, he has high damage, the ability to separate teammates, and can self-heal.
He’s able to bring the enemy heroes to him and get them out of the way right before a big team fight. Plus on maps where there are environmental hazards, he’s second to none. Nothing is more satisfying that hooking an opponent, and dragging them right off the map for an easy Play of the Game. Priceless.
4 Outclassed: Junkrat - Overplayed And Underutilized
Junkrat is the character people pick when they don’t want to think, they just want eliminations. Junkrat’s kit is all about explosives, and that means his projectiles all have splash damage. This leads lower level, or nieve players to pick him and never switch thinking they can destroy the enemy team with his grenade launcher.
On launch you’d see Junkrats in the back of the team, constantly shooting as if letting go of the trigger would mean their game would crash.
Now Junkrats are more refined and are constantly setting up their beartrap, landmine combo waiting for any unsuspecting hero to trip right into it. The problem comes when they’re waiting for their trap to be sprung instead of helping out in the teamfight.
3 Should Use: Winston - Mobile Tank For New Kids
Winston is far and away the best hero for new players to start with. His entire kit is able to be understood in less than a few seconds, and he’s fun to play.
Winston is a primate scientist with mad hops, and a tesla coil gun that needs no aiming.
As long as you’re pulling the trigger, your gun will constantly be hurting them. If Winston is sticking to you, you've gotta fight back or give up. He can also do a jetpack jump that can launch him in any direction. This is great for escaping, or chasing opponents who dare to think they might have escaped. Overall Winston is an assassin tank who is amazing at taking out the squishier, high damage heroes.
2 Outclassed: Tracer - The Squishiest Hero
And then there's Tracer, the poster girl of the game.
Tracer has gotten probably the most cosmetics in the game and has been in the spotlight since day 1.
Her backstory is tragic, her skills are all fun, and she’s a blast to play. That said she’s a very fragile character. One wrong move and you’re toast. Tracer’s strongest skill is jumping around, being a decoy for her team. But this run and gun playstyle leads many players to choose her on an already squishy team. Tracer if played incorrectly can be taken out in a flash, and that leaves her team with a huge lack of damage. She’s probably the easiest character to immediately annoy your own team with.
1 Should Use: Sombra - Run Recon.exe
Finally, we have Sombra, certified hacker, and experienced boop’er.
Sombra is a damage type…villain who specializes in recon and disruption, she’s now able to be invisible indefinitely and disrupts from the sidelines.
Her main draw is her ability to hack enemy opponents, when they’re hacked they are not able to use any of their abilities. Finally, her ultimate EMP is able to hack everyone in its range at once and is essential to turning team fights around. Her kit is great at getting her around the map to pick off the lagging heroes. She’s a force to be reckoned with if used correctly and has some great skins to boot.