Overwatch 2 tanks ranked easiest to hardest

Overwatch 2 tanks are vital to successful gameplay, especially now that we only have one – but some are harder to play than others.

To start, it’s important to note that playing the Tank role is arguably the most challenging job on the team. You’re essential to the survivability of your support and DPS teammates. For a list of the easiest to hardest supports, go here.

OW2 best tanks list

There’s a fine line between success and failure for the best tanks in OW2. With great power comes great responsibility, and tank players must master their heroes to ensure team success. This list of the best tanks in Overwatch 2 will go from the easiest to play to the very hardest, so that you can pick the tank that best fits your level of understanding and comfort with the game.

Orisa

Orisa is dominating the game at the moment. Her abilities make her incredibly durable, giving her damage reduction and speed. Orisa benefits from armor damage reduction, allowing her to endure more hits in fights against high burst damage heroes.

As long as you stay in front of your team, you can absorb massive damage without needing your support to heal you too much. Orisa’s kit makes her the easiest to play at the moment, as she doesn’t rely on other people to carry.

Her ultimate can turn the tides of a fight, pulling enemies closer dealing a decent amount of damage. With an Ana Nano Boost, she will strike fear in the heart of your foes.

D.VA

D.VA is a mobile tank that can deny projectiles of any kind. Recent updates enable mobile tanks like D.VA to recover health and return to the front lines efficiently. Her Defense Matrix is a game changer. But to get the most out of it, D.VA players need to understand how all heroes work.

Understanding when the enemy has ultimates, which ones you can block, and the flow of the game will help you predict incoming abilities. To name a few, she can deny Zarya, Hanzo, Tracer ultimates.

Because of her Matrix, she can survive for a long time. But as soon as it is on cooldown, your become a vulnerable target.

She has a decent damage output and a game-changing ultimate, which is hard to pull off. D.VA has a tendency to fly away and leave your backline without protection. Mastering her mobility and understanding when to fly in will be the hardest skills to master.

Reinhardt

The face of Overwatch 2 tanks, Reinhardt is a force to be reckoned with. With a massive shield, he can be crucial to holding chokepoints while your team dishes out the damage to the enemy team.

But for a Reinhardt to work, you rely on your team to keep you alive. His shield, while absorbing up to 1200 damage, does break quickly depending on what the enemies are playing. A Reinhardt must actively communicate the state of his shield for his team to move accordingly. One single mistake will cost your team dearly.

It is also important for Reinhardt to understand when to swing his hammer. He can do heavy damage to squishy targets, helping your backline to fend of annoying flankers like Tracer and Sombra.

Roadhog

Everyone’s favorite pig, Roadhog is a versatile tank. Recent changes have enhanced how many hits tanks like Roadhog can withstand, improving their durability in battles. His hook has the potential to turn the fight in your team’s favor while his high HP pool allows him to absorb damage. But he’s not as tanky as others, so you need to be careful not to overstep.

Having solid healing from your supports is key. In order to do so, you have to protect them. Roadhog can dish out loads of damage and his hook can save your backline from annoying flankers.

His ultimate is great to prevent an engagement from the enemies, as it pushes them back and denies team fights.

Zarya

Zarya is arguably the strongest tank hero at the moment. Her damage output is ridiculous, able to delete enemy backlines in mere seconds. She is not as tanky as others, with only 400hp combined with her shield. But a good Zarya can mitigate tons of damage with her Particle Barrier, not just for herself but for her teammates.

Good timing and understanding of the flow of the game are essential to use these barriers to their maximum potential. And if used well, your damage will increase drastically. When fully charged, she takes less than a second to delete enemy backlines. Her ultimate is one of the most powerful in the game. The key to a successful ult is communicating with your teammates and syncing the damage.

Winston

This monkey is a menace on attack but has weaknesses in defense. Winston also benefits from increased knockback resistance, allowing him to better withstand displacement effects. With his high mobility, he can jump into the backline and take care of the supports. This does leave your team without a tank, therefore communication is important.

Winston shines also against Genji and Tracer – not leaving his teammates alone makes their job much harder.

His bubble can be essential to deny damage – for example, putting it on top of a D.VA ultimate or blocking the bullets from Cassady’s Deadeye.

You need practice to play him well and he’s not viable in all game modes. Control and Push are his strongest. On Escort, he is only really viable on attack.

Sigma

Sigma has a high damage output with great utility and a chunky health bar. His tank passive grants him a 25% reduction in damage taken from headshots and increased knockback resistance. He shines most when enemies are clumped together, with his Accretion and ultimate ability able to wipe them in seconds.

His shield can be incredibly strong in certain situations with a relatively low cooldown. Being able to send the shield ahead and position it makes it a versatile tool. A good understanding of gameplay will help you get the full value of your Kinetic Grasp and therefore make you even tankier.

His basic attack, Hyperspheres, will also do AOE damage. Playing him on maps like King Row with narrow pathways will make him a suppressive force.

Junker Queen

The latest addition to the tank role, Junker Queen has a fun but difficult kit to pull off. Recent updates have adjusted her health regeneration passive, changing it from a flat rate to a percentage of maximum HP. Out of all the tanks, she has the slimmest hitbox. She has a shotgun that does damage up close and a cleaver with Carnage that does damage over time. At the same time, she can make all her teammates tankier and faster with Commanding Shout.

Junker Queen will still need supports providing her with constant healing. Learning when to use her Commanding Shout will be key to your and your team’s survivability. Using it at the wrong time will leave your team vulnerable to getting rushed.

Junker Queen isn’t as tanky as other Overwatch 2 tanks, with nothing to deny enemy damage.

Wrecking Ball tank hero

In the right hands, Wrecking Ball can disrupt enemies with his mobility. Recent updates have enhanced his overall HP recovery passive, allowing him to regenerate health more effectively. He gets tankier the more enemies are around him with his Adaptive Shield.

But similar to all the other mobile tanks, you run the risk of exposing your team as you roll around the map trying to kill squishy targets.

His minefield can be useful to break up chokepoints and his primary gun is decent. Wrecking Ball has a high skill ceiling, with many mechanics being crucial to the success of your gameplay.

Doomfist ultimate ability

Doomfist recently got nerfed and Sombra got buffed – which is a big problem for him. His HP recovery passive has also been adjusted, reducing health recovery from 20 HP per second to a new formula of 10 HP plus 5% of maximum HP per second. His low mobility, especially when Power Blocking, makes him an easy target to CC (Crowd control). With Ana in the meta, he will get slept quickly too.

Compared to other Overwatch 2 tanks he is also not as tanky, making his reliance on his supports a big weakness. You will need to have an understanding of general gameplay, ability cooldowns, and the flow of the game to make him shine.

Conclusion: Balancing Tank Prowess in Overwatch 2’s Evolving Landscape

The shift to only one tank per team in Overwatch 2 has significantly impacted global gameplay changes, emphasizing the importance of tank heroes in team fights. While passive health regeneration aids survivability, the increased critical damage potential makes positioning crucial. Support heroes play a vital role in keeping tanks alive, as the tank tier list reflects varying levels of self-sufficiency among other tanks. Mastering these dynamics is key to dominating the battlefield in Overwatch 2’s fast-paced environment.