Overwatch 2 beginner’s guide, tips, and tricks

Overwatch 2It is now available. While it’s extremely similar to the original game, the fact that it’s free-to-play will surely attract many who sat out the first time around. Before you jump into the sequel, we’ve listed out a few helpful pointers that the tutorial won’t teach you.

Whether you’re brand new to Overwatch or you just haven’t played in years, here are six tips and tricks that’ll help you get up to speed in no time.

Early decisions are key to a successful battle.

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

In this new version, the battle pass has been added. Overwatch 2You can get both a premium or free track. The premium track includes some cosmetics you can’t get if you play for free, but you can unlock Kiriko — the new support character — from the battle pass no matter which path you take. Paid players can unlock Kiriko instantly. Free players must obtain the Battle Pass to Level 55.

In our experience, the battle pass moves very slowly (even with the 20% increased XP you get from the premium track), so it’s best to decide early on in whether you want to invest the $10 in the season or be a free-to-play player. You can always decide later, but that’s potentially a lot of time wasted without the 20% XP buff — and without access to the new hero.

Check out the practice area to verify characters

The decision to buy the battle pass depends on whether you are a support player or not. Do you find Kiriko fun to play? Luckily, you can see how she plays in the Practice Range for as long as you want, even if you haven’t unlocked her yet.

It is also true for heroes. This will prove especially valuable for those new players that are not allowed to play some new characters after the jump.

Your challenges are your focus

Because the battle pass is such a big part of the game, you’ll need to focus on completing daily and weekly challenges if you want to skyrocket to the upper ranks and unlock Kiriko or the new Mythic Genji skin. You should check your weekly and daily challenges each day to ensure you are focusing on them throughout your session. For more tips, here’s how to quickly level up your battle pass.

Play different characters and be a hero

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Moving away from the battle pass and into the game itself, it’s important to focus on trying new things — even if it means failing. Overwatch 2 is different from your typical shooter or RPG, so just because you normally like to play a support or tank role in some games — or just prefer to focus on raw shooting — doesn’t mean you should do the same thing in Overwatch 2.

When you’re just starting out (or getting back into the series) trying queuing for a different role every match, and start out with a hero you’re unfamiliar with. You can always swap if you’re not having fun, which leads us to…

Don’t be afraid to switch characters mid-match

It is something that sets you apart Overwatch 2 from other hero-based games — like Rainbow Six Siege, ValorantOr even League of Legends — is the ability to change characters mid-match. If you’re playing as Reaper and the enemy team is countering you, try swapping to a character like Pharah who can approach the fight from a new angle.

Even if you’re playing well, you may find that certain areas of the map suit different heroes. For example, Reaper is best in areas with lots of escape routes. However, he doesn’t perform as well in more open areas.

Don’t dig too deep and try to be flexible.

Try to achieve the goal

Overwatch 2It is not a “deathmatch”-style game and kills do not represent the final goal. It is more useful to kill enemy players, which moves them away the main objective. This allows you and your team to advance.

If you’re playing a tank or healer, focus on doing your role first and foremost. It doesn’t matter if you win a duel against Sombra as Zenyatta if you failed to use your ultimate and inadvertently cost your team their lives. Damage dealers must focus more on the Payload than just taking out enemy pieces.

Play strategically, and around the objective, and you’ll be able to claim victory a lot easier than if you treat every match like it’s Team Deathmatch.