Chaining kills in Blizzard’s hero-shooter is rarely due to a single player’s skill set – it’s the fruit of the entire team’s effort most of the time. Overwatch 2 is not a game where becoming a match’s MVP is about how fast you can fan the trigger, but a carefully balanced multiplayer title where one’s ability to be part of a team fetches the highest value.
With that said, the person(s) controlling the DPS hero(es) in a given team comp better be on top of their game, as all missed opportunities are costly. Putting together a respectable Overwatch 2 account will surely require you to practice aiming and improving your reflexes – preferably by picking a DPS hero from time to time.
Thus, here’s our list of the best DPS heroes in Season 8 of Overwatch 2!
Sojourn
Mobility and precision – that’s what Sojourn brings to the table! And while that might be indicative of a one-trick-pony, Sojourn’s other mechanics contribute to a hero unfit for the crass approach. Instead, Sojourn revels in the creative mindset, her usefulness inflating as you keep producing new cracks in the enemy team’s defenses.
Aside from having a sturdy 200-HP pool, this nimble hero has a surprisingly narrow hitbox, making her difficult to track in motion. This pairs well with her unique Railgun, given how the weapon collects energy from hits to power up her more damaging alt-fire skills. Her Power Slide ability makes her even more unpredictable, freeing up more breathing room for your teammates to maneuver as enemies fixate on trapping Sojourn.
Her Disruptor Shot is effective in most game modes, deploying a high-damaging AOE attack that can easily counter the opposing team’s formation. Sojourn’s ultimate Overclock is there to clean room, dealing 130 damage per second for eight seconds straight – all while piercing through targets.
Bastion
Bastion was among the original 21 heroes appearing with the game’s launch back in 2016, and remains formidable even in 2024. This robotic hero freely alters between the bipedal and turret forms on a whim, but he is a cumbersome unit either way. Flanking it is not difficult due to its large frame, and many Overwatch 2 heroes can quickly get a drop on Bastion and deplete its 200 hit points.
However, this hero truly shines when backed up by a proper healer (like Mercy or Ana) and tanks providing cover (like Reinhardt or Winston). In such a configuration, Bastion’s high DPS capabilities can make short work of the opposition, as even its Recon ability dishes out an alarming amount of damage per second.
On top of that, Bastion’s A-36 Tactical Grenade can circumvent obstacles to penetrate the enemies’ hiding spot, dealing up to 100 damage in the process. Bastion can then switch to its Assault mode and pepper each fleeing enemy with a rotary cannon, firing off 30 rounds per second, each dealing up to 12 damage on hit. Bastion’s ultimate Artillery mode is super-dangerous as well, allowing the player to deploy three artillery shells, each dealing up to 550 points of damage.
Tracer
Tracer remains one of Overwatch 2’s most recognizable characters even after the roster expanded to 39 selectable heroes. Playing as her is thrilling and can also be immensely rewarding, as her Recall skill accommodates the brash playstyle if properly calculated. However, that’s not to say that it’s easy to arrange everything to your advantage: Recall’s effect is limited only to the last 3 seconds, and will also reposition you to the exact spot you left from at the beginning of that period.
Tracer’s Blink supplements her skills in a way quite fitting for a game such as Overwatch 2 – it’s a short teleport that recharges every 3 seconds, reaching up to 7.5 meters in the chosen direction. Hence, jumping in and out of trouble is Tracer’s specialty, though her squishiness will never work in her favor. Tracer has only 150 HP, and no armor to speak of.
However, Blizzard really fleshed out Tracer as a high-skill pick over the years, even slightly boosting her damage output with the latest patches. Activating Tracer’s Pulse Pistols now does a maximum of 220 points of damage per second, assuming you manage to stay on target with each pull of the trigger. Of course, this is countered by the pistols’ having a small fall-off range of only 20 meters, clearly making Tracer ill-equipped for long-range bouts. As for the mid-range, the pistols’ one-second reload time makes her quite the lethal nuisance.
Finally, Tracer’s Pulse Bomb is an ultimate ability that’s very difficult to nullify in the heat of battle, unless the enemy team manages to get rid of it mid-flight. When used, Tracer throws a sticky bomb traveling at 15 meters per second, which gets glued to the next solid surface it collides with. After a 1 second delay, the bomb explodes, dealing up to 350 damage to the nearest enemy, or at least 70 damage to anyone caught even remotely within the bomb’s four meters AOE radius.
