Overwatch 2: Best Heroes to Play in Season 18

Overwatch 2 received its newest Season at the end of August, bringing a new hero, exclusive skins in a renewed Battle Pass, many balance changes, and more than 50 new perks! You can check out other news at our complete overview of Season 18.

Of course, all these changes impacted the meta, which is why we've included this article—it's important to stay up-to-date on which heroes are on top! Check it out!

D.Va

D.Va is the strongest hero during this beginning of the Season, basically all tier lists in the community treat her as S tier. Dive compositions are very present in the current meta, and with her mobility and damage, D.Va fits perfectly. She can keep up with the offensive DPS and Supports present in this type of strategy, which are also strong and will be mentioned here.

Her new Major Perk is also a factor to consider; this tank character now has even greater potential to deal damage to opponents!

Winston

Despite being another role hero who didn't receive buffs in the latest balance change, Winston has been a standout for months and is another important pick for Dive compositions. Furthermore, his new Minor Perk makes his protection even more flexible, allowing him to push his shield forward a bit.

Hazard

This is one of the few times that three characters of the same class are focused on a single strategy. Dive teams are so strong that the three tanks here are designed to contribute to this strategy - like Winston, Hazard has a great leap capable of reaching the enemy backline and accompanying his team in a fast, high-damage advance.

Hazard was significantly nerfed in this update, with reduced cooldown potential on Spike Guard, as well as a reduction in health and damage to his wall. However, the various changes to his Perks were crucial in keeping him at the top!

Just be aware that Dive tank heroes require more training and knowledge of the game. They focus on higher damage and offensive mobility; if you initiate a push at the wrong time, you can easily die and leave your team extremely vulnerable.

Genji

Genji is the first great DPS of the season, and we're seeing how the meta is shaping up through the same idea: Genji is another good option for quickly advancing on enemies with lower health. However, it's known that the Japanese character is one of the toughest heroes in this position, so I still recommend practicing more strategies and mechanics.

Torbjörn

Finally, a more viable option for newcomers, and geared toward other teams—like Brawl, which is somewhat strong against the current meta. One of Torbjörn's biggest weaknesses was his lack of mobility, which is now eliminated thanks to his new Minor Perk, which makes him move 20% faster while Forge Hammer is equipped.

Even with the previous difficulty, Torbjörn was already a seen figure in some of our past lists. With this new Perk, the Swede promises to be one of the deadliest at close range.

Tracer

Tracer received very few changes this Season, except for a nerf that increased Recall's cooldown by one second and a new Minor Perk that restores 20 ammo when landing a melee hit.

Overall, the outcome for this hero, who was already well-positioned in the meta, was positive! Tracer players tend to get as close to their opponents as possible to maximize their damage output. Melee hits with her are natural—and now they'll give you a huge advantage.

To make Tracer an even greater priority these days, she's known for team-diving, making a great combination with most of the other characters mentioned today.

Lúcio

Highly mobile compositions have been discussed extensively in this list, and who's the best support to aid in this goal of a quick offensive? Lúcio not only already has his enormous wall-moving ability, but he also boosts the speed of all nearby allies!

He hasn't undergone many changes, but he's one of the most uncontested in his position due to the convenience of having several dive heroes in the meta.

Kiriko

It's extremely rare to find Kiriko outside Overwatch 2's best character content. Due to her flexibility to fit into any strategy, the support always remains one of the most interesting in the meta.

This will be no different in Season 18. Kiriko is an excellent choice for Dive while also adding a lot to the Brawl composition—the one that best responds to this meta.

Brigitte

Finally, Brigitte deserves a mention for two reasons: one of her new Perks significantly increased her healing capacity by reducing the cooldown of her Repair Pack, and also because she's one of the biggest counters to the composition most mentioned in today's article.

Not only is she much more durable than the average support, but she also has great ways of dealing with enemy advances - whether with melee attacks or pushing enemies away with her knockback. Depending on the matchup, Brigitte could be your best pick in a game!

The meta is heavily weighted toward Dive heroes, with few appearances by characters designed for Brawl—a composition that leaves less room for enemy advances.

Obviously, the meta can change dramatically as the season progresses, especially after so many removals and additions of perks. But I hope this article has given you some insight into the current state of Overwatch 2!

I'm available if you have any questions or suggestions.