Best tank heroes to play in Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2’s tanks cop a lot of the bullet-soaking, hard work. In season four, there are numerous tanks that can be used in a variety of ways, and no one stands out head-over-heels above the rest. However a few have claims positions as especially effective.

Thanks to the move to five-vs-five, tanks no longer have a buddy to soak up damage with them. Instead, each team has one tank backed up by two damage heroes and two supports. This has completely changed the way tanks are played and countered in the game.

Here’s the current list of the best tank heroes to play in Overwatch 2. Keep in mind that almost every tank is viable in certain situations and team compositions even if they didn’t make our top five.

The best tanks in Overwatch 2

D.va

• Weapon: Fusion Cannons/Light Gun
• Passive: Eject!
• Ability: Defense Matrix
• Ability: Boosters
• Ability: Micro Missiles
• Ultimate: Self-Destruct/Call Mech

As the premier dive tank on the competitive ladder, D.va can do a little bit of everything while also being extraordinarily fun to play. While Winston is the more regularly used dive tank among professionals in the Overwatch League, D.va is a little bit better suited for the variance you’ll find solo queuing comp matches.

Defense Matrix can be used to snub out an enemy ultimate or peel for a support in a pinch, and at the same time, she can be used to dive with a Genji, Tracer, or Sombra in tandem. This gives her the ultimate flexibility as a dive tank.

Perhaps her biggest pitfall is not having a shield like many of the other tanks on this list, but if you’re using her in the right composition, the shield shouldn’t be missed much at all. When you’re playing with two DPS that like to flank and pair that with support heroes that have high survivability, like Moira and Kiriko, having a fat shield like Reinhardt doesn’t provide nearly as much value as an ability like Defense Matrix.

Reinhardt

• Weapon: Rocket Hammer
• Ability: Charge
• Ability: Fire Strike
• Ability: Barrier Field
• Ultimate: Earthshatter

Overwatch’s flagship tank is still formidable in Overwatch 2. While he doesn’t have quite as much going on with his kit as other newer tank heroes, there’s brilliance in his simplicity. So not only is he especially powerful in the right hands, but he is also serviceable in the hands of lesser experienced players as well.

The emphasis on shield abilities has been decreased somewhat in the transition between the first Overwatch and its sequel, making his large barrier shield a more useful—and limited—resource.

If the enemy team comes out of the gates with a Reinhardt, you should consider swapping to one of your own: his Earthshatter ultimate is difficult to defend against without another shield to block it. Going up against Reinhardt without one of your own could sometimes be admitting defeat in a team fight once his ultimate is charged.

Reinhardt’s quality-of-life changes last October may seem minor, but they make a big impact. He now has two Fire Strike charges instead of one, and his Charge has more range to either side and can be canceled. These changes put him in line with Overwatch 2’s more aggressive tank philosophy.

The new maps added to the game since the start of OW2 seem to be a Rein haven. His pick rate has skyrocketed in higher ranks after the introduction of maps like Antarctic Peninsula.

Junker Queen

• Weapon: Scattergun
• Passive: Adrenaline Rush
• Alternate Fire: Jagged Blade
• Ability: Commanding Shout
• Ability: Carnage
• Ultimate: Rampage

Junker Queen has largely been underrepresented on the competitive ladder since being introduced to the game at the beginning of Overwatch 2 in October. Without a shield to protect her teammates, Commanding Shout is her primary tanking ability, but it only temporarily buffs teammates making for a berserker playstyle.

Her transition to being one of the strongest tanks in the game stems from the mid-cycle season four patch that included numerous buffs to her kit. Instead of getting just one or two balance changes with the patch, Junker Queen received improvements to her Scattergun ammo, Jagged Blade projectile size, Rampage impact damage, and Adrenaline Rush healing multiplier. The adjustments were intended to make her more of a “front-line presence,” and that has been felt since the patch earlier this month.
While Junker Queen still isn’t played quite as much as some of the roster’s more traditional tanks like Reinhardt and Sigma, her win rate has risen to more than 52% on the competitive ladder according to stats from Overbuff. Meanwhile, popular OW2 content creator Emongg said on stream shortly following the changes that Junker Queen can now certainly be called a “meta” pick.

Rammattra

• Weapon: Void Accelerator/Pummel (Nemesis Form only)
• Ability: Void Barrier/Block (Nemesis Form only)
• Ability: Nemesis Form
• Ability: Ravenous Vortex
• Ultimate: Annihilation

Ramattra takes one of the top spots in this list due to their excellent strength in both longer-range battles, and up-close fights. It’s taken some time for players to get an understanding of how to play Ramattra, and how to counter it as well.

In Nemesis Form, Ramattra can destroy you up close and personal with Pummel. This ability does 60 damage with each blow and can tear through the enemy’s DPS and support players in seconds. If you’re in a pinch, Pummel lets you block so you can slowly back away from the danger in front of you, all while taking less damage.

In omnic form, you can use abilities like Void Barrier and Void Accelerator. Barrier provides a screen similar to Sigma, absorbing 1000 damage before players can break through it. Accelerator gives gamers a long-range approach to battle. This can be used to chip away at players’ health when they’re more than an arm’s length away from you.

Ravenous Vortex does 15 damage a second and can be thrown directly into groups, creating space and slowing down opponents.

Rammattra’s ultimate envelops the entire screen in the middle of a fight, sucking the health from enemies within a close range, all while fists are flying to take the remaining health.

Sigma

• Weapon: Hyperspheres
• Ability: Kinetic Grasp
• Ability: Accretion
• Ability: Experimental Barrier
• Ultimate: Gravitic Flux

Sigma is maybe the strongest tanks in the meta currently. Useful in nearly every situation, his ability to provide shields for his squad opens up a wide range of hero selections that pair well with him.

His hypersphere attack is especially strong at short range, dealing 55 damage with each hit. Where Sigma separates himself from the rest is in his experimental barrier ability. The barrier can be placed to prevent attacks from certain areas, limiting heroes like Bastion, Widow, and Ashe with their positioning.

Sigma’s ability to absorb bullets again makes heroes like Bastion a less formidable opponent. 60 percent of the shot fired into his hands give the tank added health, which can really help in a pinch. He’ll likely always have some health to steal from bullets flying by.

His ultimate, while dealing a ton of damage, is great for separating opponents from supports. You’ll almost always get a pick or two with this ultimate if you use it properly.