Selecting the ideal DPS hero that fits the situation is a daunting task. With nearly two dozen damage dealers to choose from, each with unique playstyles, strengths, and weaknesses, all designed in a combination of traditional RPG classes mixed with modern day FPS mechanics. With the many changes that Overwatch 2 brings to the table, the meta has shifted to benefit DPS players over tanks, but that doesn’t mean every damage dealer is viable nor the optimal pick against the enemy lineup. Certain DPS heroes take much more work to perform properly, while others are best left on the sidelines for now.
Before we get into the meat and potatoes, here's some background on the DPS class and its role in the game. The DPS role can be subdivided into three broad categories: Poke, Frontline, and Flankers. Different subclasses need different playstyles and operate fundamentally differently from one another, and this article will cover the playstyle of the flankers as well as rank the best flankers in the meta.
The primary role of the DPS class is to target key enemies, namely the DPS, Support, and Tank in that priority, by damaging or eliminating them. Poke heroes accomplish this goal by operating from a distance and chunking out the enemy’s hitpoints or one-shotting them if playing Widowmaker, Sojourn, or Hanzo. Frontlines have higher HP than most and are suited to assisting the tank or providing aid to the frontline. Heroes like Bastion output damage like no other, Torbjorn is excellent at area denial and brawling, Cassidy is mobile with burst damage, and the list goes on.
On the other hand, flankers generally avoid playing “Front-to-Back” and maneuver around the map to engage the enemy from a vulnerable position or angle, also known as the flank. These heroes generally have high damage output, some form of combat mobility, and an area-of-effect ultimate to turn the tide of battle.
Flanking the enemy has a wide array of advantages and disadvantages. It is a high-risk, high-reward playstyle that sees great success or none at all, meaning that players who know when to engage and when the enemies are vulnerable will find great success. Map knowledge, hero familiarity, game sense, and many more types of game knowledge are vital to being a successful flanker, which favors more experienced players.
As flanking is a concept rather than a set-in-stone class, many heroes in Overwatch 2 have the ability to flank on top of having other utilities in their kit. For example, a Bastion that takes the elevator in the map Hollywood often finds himself looking down from above on the enemy team, while having options to cross through the map. Taking the time to silently move to the flank and mow down the supports with his gatling gun is a perfect strategy. The same can be said for Pharah flying across the map, free falling to the enemy backline, and releasing hundreds of missiles from her Rocket Barrage.
This section of the article will mention the heroes with the ability to flank effectively, while having another playstyle that can be used just as effectively.
Your playstyle isn't limited to what hero you select, some heroes are better suited than others to flank, but use your game sense to determine which playstyle to adapt.
Honorable Mentions
Doomfist/Winston/Wrecking Ball
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The original 6v6 Overwatch had an Off-Tank, a tank class hero whose role is multifaceted. With the host of new changes that Overwatch 2 brings to the table, the Off-Tanks has become a bit of a relic now, which puts heroes such as Doomfist, Winston, and Wrecking Ball, all of whom have the mobility, damage, and disruption abilities that traditional flankers have, in a weird spot.
Tanks in Overwatch 2 are now the defensive anchors that dictate the space that a team will occupy. Inherently, flankers are isolated from their teammates and aim to disrupt the enemy team by pressuring the backline with damage and the threat of dying. Therefore, by their conception, flanking tanks will only excel in niche scenarios such as dive team compositions.
Kiriko and Lucio
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Slightly more viable than tank flankers. These two support flankers bring mobility to levels beyond what a DPS flanker has, yet are lacking in damage and flanking-oriented ultimates. However, some situations call for this off-meta playstyle, as Lucio’s movement can surprise veteran backline heroes with his insane mobility and areas of engagement.
Kiriko, on the other hand, has her “get out of jail for free” by using her Swift Step to nearby teammates to escape a bad situation. Her 120 damage on headshot and Protection Suzu give her the tools to effectively flank and retreat.
Just like tank flankers, the very concept of support flankers makes their playstyle substandard, as having one less support on the team to heal the tanks and DPS while a medium-damage support tries to eliminate key targets can be exploited by the enemy team to group up and push.
Pharah/Soldier/Bastion/Symmetra and many more
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Hybrid DPS heroes provide the best of both worlds while having the weaknesses of both subclasses. They trade power for versatility, as they will never be able to deal the maximum disruption that a Tracer can, nor will they have the impact of a well-placed Death Blossom. The versatility of being a poke or frontliner while having certain perks that flankers enjoy can be useful in certain scenarios. Seeing a Soldier: 76 uses his aimbot on the enemy backline while Kiriko teleports to him and uses her ultimate in conjunction. These are game-winning plays, yet they are often unreliable as the mobility to engage or disengage from an exchange is often lacking in these multi-class heroes.
Having dedicated members who bring a narrow but effective set of skills to the table, similar to traditional MMORPG elements, is preferable to having multiple jacks of all trades.
4. Tracer
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Tracer Overview
One of the more interesting heroes in Overwatch 2, Tracer is an incredibly mobile yet fragile speedster that heavily relies on her abilities to engage the enemy, deal damage, and escape. She has the lowest hitpoints of any hero in the game, making her a high-skill cap hero with incredible DPS potential.
Playstyle
Despite having the lowest HP pool of all the heroes at 150 hit points, Tracer’s effective damage range is within 5 meters or closer, making her effectively a near-point-blank hero. She survives engagements by utilizing hit-and-run tactics, using her Blink ability to move unpredictably and Recall to bail her out of trouble.
The optimal usage of her Blink and Recall abilities while keeping an eye on her health, teammates, and the enemy team’s position are all vital to playing Tracer at a competent level, giving her one of the highest skill requirements in Overwatch 2. Tracer's Ultimate, Pulse Bomb, is a lethal sticky explosive that can be planted on an enemy hero, ensuring the elimination of all non-tank heroes.
Strengths
A strength and an important concept to understand when playing Tracer is that she does not need to score a kill in every engagement she takes. Harassing and skirmishing divide the enemy team's attention, putting them at a crossroads between two unfavorable options: split up and deal with you, or ignore you. This exerts pressure on the enemy team, which allows Tracer’s teammates an opportune moment to push forward and overwhelm them.
Being one of the best diving DPS heroes in Overwatch 2, her preferred targets are heroes with low defense at close-range. Ambushing-poke DPS the likes of Ashe, Widowmaker, and Hanzo are susceptible to Tracer's mobility and close-range lethality, with all of them being able to match her point-blank engagements.
Weaknesses
With the lowest HP pool in Overwatch 2, keeping an eye on her HP bar while having her mobility spells available are both important mechanics for staying alive. This means she's vulnerable to any hero that can hinder that mobility and heroes that can quickly burst down her 150 hitpoints. A well-aimed Roadhog Hook, Sombra Hack, Ana Sleep Dart, or Junkrat’s Steel Trap will always result in Tracer's death. Meanwhile a Widowmaker body shot and melee can burst her down.
Tracer’s Abilities:
Pulse Pistols (Primary Weapon): Twin pistols that rapidly fire 40 rounds in under a second. Maximum damage per magazine is 200; hence, aiming for headshots is recommended.
Blink (Left Shift): Tracer teleports horizontally through space in the direction that she’s moving. Can be used three times consecutively.
Recall (E ability): Returns to a position that Tracer was in a few seconds earlier in time.
Pulse Bomb (Ultimate): Tracer throws a bomb that attaches to a character or surface and explodes after a brief delay.
Read Tracer’s Abilities in further detail here: https://overwatch.fandom.com/wiki/Tracer
Tracer Review
Very High Skill Ceiling
Playing Tracer requires understanding advanced game concepts such as pressure, space, engagement, and landing headshots. Tracer is notoriously difficult yet rewarding to play.
Extreme Mobility
With three charges on her Blink and a Recall ability that can replenish health, a player with good reflexes can utilize mobility to prolong her uptime in combat.
Primary Weapon and Ultimate are Difficult to Use
Landing headshots are a requirement when playing as Tracer due to her weapons having low damage output per magazine. Her ultimate requires her backline enemies to be grouped up or isolated.
Damage - 3 / 5
Mobility - 5 / 5
Ultimate - 2.5 / 5
Fun - 4 / 5
Flanker Score: 4 / 5
3. Genji
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Genji Overview
Being one of the most versatile damage heroes present in Overwatch 2 thanks to his vertical and horizontal movement abilities, DPS output, Deflect ability, and reset mechanic for his dash makes Genji a seriously lethal assassin. Moving up and around buildings to find the perfect location near a payload or control point to throw shurikens and dash to eliminate targets while returning projectiles back to the sender is the playstyle that players should seek to employ.
Playstyle
As with any flanker, navigating into the enemy's back line and laying waste to their unaware Supports and Damage heroes is the name of the game. Wall climbing, double jumping, and Swift Strike give Genji unparalleled mobility that makes him capable of briefly taking to the skies to eliminate an unaware Pharah or Echo. With so much mobility, this makes him an ideal hero for ambushing back-line heroes while having enough mobility to escape.
Thanks to his amazing mobility, defense via deflect, and escape, Genji is a solid character to target nuisance poke damage dealers and supports with high healing outputs. Genji players should get in the habit of prioritizing them by softening the enemy up with his silent shurikens, followed by a shuriken and dash combo, into a 180 shuriken or melee for an instant kill.
Strengths
Compared to other flankers, Genji is great against projectile-based ranged characters such as Widowmaker, Soldier 76, Bastion, and Hanzo, as he can stealthily use his mobility to close the distance to them without ever entering their sight. Once close, these heroes will have a hard time landing shots against Genji’s slipperiness, where he can quite literally bounce around the walls and dash through them, moreso when his enemies are less mobile. In an emergency situation or when detected, Genji can use his deflect to reflect their bullets back at them and take a chunk off their health which makes his one-shot combo easier.
Weaknesses
Genji may seem like the premier killing machine given his reputation in the Overwatch community. He does have one glaring weakness, besides his close range, that can be countered. Genji's Deflect ability allows him to return gunfire back at opponents, but it is useless against beam-based weaponry. Winston is one of his hardest counters, as the monkey can leap large distances to keep up his mobility, and his Tesla weapon goes right through Genji's Deflect. Genji also struggles against the beam weapons of Zarya, Symmetra, and especially Moira, who can keep her teammates alive while dealing consistent damage to Genji.
Genji’s Abilities:
Cyber-Agility (Passive): Genji can climb walls and double jump.
Shuriken (Primary Weapon): Throws three shurikens, one after the other in a straight line.
Shuriken (Alt-fire): Throws three shurikens at once in a wide, cone-like spread.
Swift Strike (Left Shift): Genji rushes forward and slashes with his katana, dealing 50 damage. Any target that he eliminates will refresh this ability’s cooldown timer.
Deflect (E ability): Genji reflects incoming projectiles and blocks missile attacks. Blocks melee attacks which includes Roadhog’s Hook, and Brigitte’s Whip Shot.
Dragonblade (Ultimate): Genji unsheathes his katana, which becomes his primary weapon that can cleave through enemy heroes, dealing massive damage.
Read Genji’s Abilities in further detail here: https://overwatch.fandom.com/wiki/Genji
Genji Review
Easier and Effective Kit
Compared to Tracer and Sombra, Genji just needs map knowledge and a good position to be a menace to the enemy team, as his kit is straightforward.
Horizontal, Vertical, and Aerial Mobility
Wall climbing, double jumping, and dashing in the direction he is looking at all make for an insanely mobile flanker that enemies would have a hard time aiming at.
Reset Mechanics
Swift Strike’s cooldown resets upon takedown. Combined with Dragonblade for the POTG slice and dash clips
Damage - 4.5 / 5
Mobility - 5 / 5
Ultimate - 4 / 5
Fun - 5 / 5
Flanker Score: 4.5 / 5
2. Sombra
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Sombra Overview
Sombra is a different type of flanker, one that utilizes permanent invisibility and a placeable teleporter so she may constantly harass the enemy backline while having enough slipperiness to escape after an engagement. Sombra is often compared to the Spy in Team Fortress 2 as they both have a similar playstyle: flanking and disrupting. Infiltrating the enemy team’s space, setting up her teleporter beside a health pack, and targeting key supports or damage dealers to give her teammates a numbers advantage.
With invisibility and an instantaneous teleport on her E ability, Sombra is one of the most difficult heroes to take out in Overwatch 2. Her SMG damage is irritating while dealing bonus damage to hacked targets, and the fact that hacking disables the abilities of hacked heroes even when they are casting their ultimate abilities makes her an effective and universally dreaded damage hero.
Playstyle
The gameplay loop that nearly all Sombra players go through is as follows: find a health pack, hack it, and set up your Translocator near it. Once her escape options are set up, enter stealth and make your way towards the enemy team’s position, hack someone on the back line, preferably a support hero, and eliminate them. Once they die or if you are compromised, immediately teleport out and use the health pack. Repeat the process over and over again, occasionally repositioning your Translocator to another health pack to keep the enemy team on their toes, and you’ll leave the enemy team down a DPS or support hero at every opportunity.
Once her ultimate comes up, Sombra has one of two ways of utilizing it. One method is throwing her Translocator into the middle of the enemy team, teleporting to it, and then activating her EMP. The alternative is running close to the enemy team while invisible, then detonating her ultimate. The first method requires coordination with your teammates and is more impactful, yet riskier, as players won’t have an escape option. The latter method is safer and allows for 1 or 2 solo kills from Sombra, but it lacks the same level of impact as the first method.
Strengths
Think of the heroes who become next to useless with only their primary weapon. Mercy, Tracer, Genji, Pharah, Widowmaker, Sojourn, and many other popular heroes are all cannon fodder when Sombra gets within striking range. As a counter-infiltrator, Sombra can easily eliminate these types of heroes from existence.
Sombra’s Hack can cancel key abilities and even ultimates against hacked targets. Some examples of heroes whose abilities are a “channel” ability include Roadhog’s healing and ultimate, Ashe’s B.O.B., Moira’s Coalescence, Pharah’s Rocket Barrage, High Noon, and many more, especially if the ultimate is in mid-animation. Needless to say, using her ultimate to disrupt rather than her alternate fire is crucial, as the quicker casting time allows for better interruptions.
Weaknesses
Sombra is great against even the best support heroes, but Zenyatta and an accurate Kiriko are tough since their regular attack hits extremely hard. Frontline DPS that lay down turrets, such as Torbjorn and Symmetra, are harder to deal with as their higher HP pools and their turrets targeting you make them ill-suited targets.
Sombra’s Abilities:
Opportunist (Passive): Detect enemies whose HP is under 50% through walls, and deal 40% more damage to hacked enemies.
Machine Pistol (Primary Weapon): A short-ranged, fully automatic machine pistol. Landing headshots are a must to take out a 200-HP target.
Hack (Alternate Fire): Hold to hack. Hacked enemies cannot use abilities for a 1.75 seconds and can be seen through walls. Hacked health packs respawn faster and cannot be picked up by the enemy team. Taking damage interrupts the hack attempt.
Stealth (Left Shift): Become invisible and move 60% faster.
Translocator (E ability): Throw a beacon. Press again to teleport to the beacon. Can be remotely destroyed by Sombra or enemies.
EMP ultimate (Ultimate): Deals damage equal to 40% all nearby enemy's health, hacking them, and destroying any nearby barriers.
Read Sombra’s Abilities in further detail here: https://overwatch.fandom.com/wiki/Sombra
Sombra Review
Ease of use
For players trying out the flanking playstyle, Sombra is a great hero to start with as her gameplay loop only requires map knowledge and decent aim.
No Counterplay to Being Hacked and Eliminated
Players on the receiving end of a Sombra will know exactly this. Very infuriating, and there is no counterplay other than running and hoping the enemy Sombra’s aim is bad.
Potential for Game-Winning Ultimates or Hacks
With coordination from your team and timing your ultimate with a push, Sombra turns from a one-person pick-off machine to a solid team fighter.
Damage - 4 / 5
Mobility - 3.5 / 5
Ultimate - 5 / 5
Fun - 5 / 5
Flanker Score: 4 / 5
1. Reaper
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Reaper Overview
Reaper is one of Overwatch 2's deadliest flankers. Armed with Hellfire Shotguns, the ghost-like ability to become immune to damage, the ability to teleport a distance away, and healing a percentage of all damage done.
In the original release, this Blackwatch icon spent most of his time maneuvering through the shadows, wrapping around the enemy team to reach their backline. His playstyle is still similar in Overwatch 2, but with the removal of a tank per team, this shifts the game balance towards his favor as there is one less enemy that can peel and save their backline.
Playstyle
Reaper’s range puts him in the point-blank category; even among flankers, he has the shortest effective range out of everyone on this list. When using his shotguns at the mid and longer ranges, expect to deal single-digit damage as his weapons have a large amount of damage falloff.
All that pushes Reaper to close range, where he excels at fighting in tight quarters as his shotguns deal immense damage, so much so that Reaper can win every 1v1 against tanks. With that amount of firepower, squishier targets with no mobility stand zero chance against Reaper.
As with any flanker, map knowledge is the most important concept to understand, as it enables a flanker to earn frags and exert pressure. With Reaper, this is more important as his footsteps are some of the loudest in the games. As a result of his use of Shadowstep to teleport near an enemy's location and knowing where the popular spots and choke points are, Reaper is a mechanically simple hero who requires macro knowledge.
Strengths
Reaper excels at dealing massive amounts of damage—up to 100 per shot to close-range targets, making him an excellent pick against immobile DPS or support heroes. The passive 35% healing for all damage dealt and having a solid 250 hitpoints allow him to survive nearly all of the return fire from his targets. This makes him excel as a tank buster, and he can usually eliminate a Reinhardt, Winston, and Doomfist with ease.
Dropping down from a height or from a flank and activating his ultimate on unsuspecting enemies in under 2 seconds will eliminate them. Rarely can people react to this, and even fewer DPS or supports have the tools to respond to your ultimate. Being out of range from the enemy tank is crucial, as tanks generally have crowd control abilities in their kit, making them a hard counter to Death Blossom.
Weaknesses
Due to Reaper’s close-ranged nature, he will struggle against poke heroes, as they excel at long and medium range. He will need to catch them unaware and avoid engaging them head-on in the open field, as they can easily take him out from a distance.
Reaper also struggles a bit with characters that have combat mobility. Cassidy's ability to roll away while coupling a grenade afterward, Sojourn’s Power Slide, and the Disruptor shots are a headache to deal with, and even an experienced Widowmaker who can quickly grapple away and land a headshot are annoyances that can buy enough time for their team to respond to the Reaper.
Reaper’s Abilities:
The Reaping (Passive): Reaper heals 35% of the damage he deals.
Hellfire Shotguns (Primary Weapon): Twin shotguns that deal up to 108 damage per shot at a rate of 2 shots per second.
Wraith Form (Left Shift): Reaper becomes a ghostly shadow for up to 3 seconds. While in this form, he takes no damage and is able to pass through enemies, but cannot fire his weapons or use other abilities.
Shadow Step (E Ability): After marking a destination up to 35 meters away, Reaper disappears then reappears at that location.
Death Blossom (Ultimate): Like a tornado of damage, Reaper fires his Hellfire Shotguns at breakneck speed, dealing massive damage to all nearby enemies.
Read Reaper’s Abilities in further detail here: https://overwatch.fandom.com/wiki/Reaper
Reaper Review
Easy to Pick Up, Hard to Master
With a simple and intuitive kit, Reaper can be picked up by any player and be played to a moderate degree. Mastering the core flanking game sense will benefit players as his footsteps are notoriously loud.
High Damage and Low Aiming Skill Needed
Capable of eliminating 200 hit points off a target in one second, and being a point-blank shotgun, Reaper players can deal large amounts of damage even with body shots.
Game Winning Ultimates
When the enemy team is at a choke point with their abilities down after your team skirmishes with them, a Reaper falling from high ground with Death Blossom can single handedly win games.
As a travelling writer hailing from the exotic, alien world of Australia, Ralph seeks far and wide hunting for the stories contained within the mystical glass-looking box named the "personal computer"
Gamer Since:
2005
Favorite Genre:
RPG
Currently Playing:
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Top 3 Favorite Games:
Divinity II: Ego Draconis, XCOM 2, Metro: Last Light
