Overwatch, a first-person shooter by Blizzard Entertainment, has built a community of loyal players since it's launch in May 2016. Since Overwatch 2's release in October 2022, its popularity has skyrocketed, with players enjoying a fresher feeling version of the game.
Something new to the game is the regular addition of seasons. With each new season, a new character or map is introduced as well as an exclusive battle pass for those who pay; keeping players satisfied with new content. With new heroes being added so frequently, within its competitive mode especially, the meta is constantly changing. So, based on pick rate, what characters are most popular right now?
10 Soldier: 76
With a pick rate of 3.49%, Soldier: 76 has been a popular hero since the release of the first game. This vigilante is not only one of the game's most easy to play and easy to learn characters, and for that reason is a great pick for those who play casually or just starting out, but he's also one of the more skillful heroes with kit that can be utilized extremely well in higher ranks.
With good damage per second, a great ultimate and his ability to be self-sufficient (thanks to his biotic field), there is no wonder why this damage character has such a high pick rate.
9 Widowmaker
Widowmaker, one of the first characters to be introduced within the announcement of the original game's release, is a hugely popular character among fans. She's an incredibly high skill, high reward hero with the capability to one shot unsuspecting squishies.
This sniper and her ability to scare enemies out of position and target those most valuable to an opposing team, not to mention her high mobility, is unmatched; her high pick rate of 3.64% only confirms that fact.
8 Moira
Moira is a support character added to the roster back in November 2017, making her the 26th hero introduced to the game. Despite her support title, Moira has some incredible damage capabilities, especially if a combination of biotic orb and grasp are used right; the damage potential she has is devastating.
Her healing, of course, is just as great. She can heal 70 HP per second with her biotic grasp and 65 HP per second with her orb. She can also heal an additional 140 HP per second with her ultimate ability. If that isn't enough, this hero also has great mobility; she can get out of sticky situations with her fade every 6 seconds.
All in all, Moira makes a powerful addition to a team which is perhaps the reason for her high pick rate of 3.94%.
7 Hanzo
Hanzo, another character introduced alongside the announcement of Overwatch, is an extremely popular character players will find in a lot of team compositions, with a pick rate of 4.04%.
Like Widowmaker, Hanzo is a highly skilled, high damage character with the ability to one shot enemies and scare them out of position, putting his opponents at a disadvantage. His wall climb allows him to be mobile, and his ultimate ability charges fast and creates a lot of space.
6 Reinhardt
Reinhardt, also a part of the original roster, is a fan favorite character for his wholesome nature alone but aside from that fact, he is also a fantastic tank with a high pick rate of 4.15%. His primary attack has a damage output of 85, he gets 2 fire strikes every 6 seconds which do a whopping 100 damage each and his charge is lethal with its low cooldown of 7 seconds and high damage of 225 (if pinned to a wall) allowing him to one shot a majority of characters.
This hero also has one of the best CC abilities within the game, his earthshatter leaves enemies stunned and vulnerable for a huge 2.75 seconds. He also has the capability of protecting both himself and his teammates from incoming damage with his 1200 HP shield.
5 Kiriko
The only character introduced during Overwatch 2 to make it on this list is Kiriko, with a pick rate of 4.16%. This hero has a great healing capability, with her talisman healing 13 HP each, or 26 HP on burst, equating to 130 HP replenished per second. Her kunai deals incredible damage with it doing 40 damage upon hit or a huge 120 damage to the head.
One of the best things about Kiriko is her high mobility, both her wall climb and swift step allow her to escape trouble with ease. Her protection suzu ability makes her a game changing addition to any team, granting teammates invulnerability to all damage for a short 0.85 seconds; whilst this window is short, with a lot of practice this can be an incredible tool to use and often determines the success of team fights.
4 Cassidy
A huge jump from Kiriko, Cassidy has an incredibly high pick rate of 4.7%. This beloved cowboy can do a devastating 140 damage per second and has the ability to play both close range and long range.
His new magnetic grenade, introduced in Overwatch 2, proves lethal in game with the way it attaches itself to enemies and deals a whopping 120 damage; this alone allows him to very quickly eliminate both support and other damage characters from a team fight. Like Hanzo, his ultimate ability also allows him to create a lot of space.
3 Genji
Genji, one of the more obvious fan favorite characters of the franchise, has a pick rate of 4.96% and a play style that fits in with most team compositions. Despite his recent chain of nerfs, Genji's abilities allow him to remain as one of the best heroes in the game. Whilst he does little damage with his primary fire, his alt fire allows him to throw a fan of blades, dealing 119 damage per second.
He is highly mobile meaning players are able to easily escape danger. His deflect is one of the best abilities in the game, allowing him to not only block enemy projectiles but also return the damage. This ability can also block several ultimates: Dead Eye, Whole Hog and Death Blossom are just to name a few. When paired with Ana's Nano Boost, his ultimate ability is perhaps one of the most devastating in the entire game, being able to wipe entire teams in a matter of seconds.
2 Mercy
Often referred to by players as a 'fly', Mercy is somehow both one of the most loved and hated characters within Overwatch 2. This is partly a result of her incredibly high mobility which often makes it extremely difficult for enemies to kill her. Another factor that makes Mercy so great is her damage boost ability, her caduceus staff allows her to amplify a teammates damage by 30% meaning players will often see Mercy's pocketing high damage characters to completely wipe out an enemy team.
Mercy also has an ability to resurrect a teammate every 30 seconds, which can often be game changing (if used correctly). With all that in mind, Mercy is one of best support characters in the game, particularly if paired with a main support and high damage DPS, which is perhaps the reason for her huge pick rate of 7.16%.
1 Ana
Ana is currently the most popular character in the game with an incredible pick rate of 8.47%. This sniper requires a lot of skill but once learned, can dominate matches. Everything about this hero is powerful, she has a high healing output as well as deals a good amount of damage. Her biotic grenades not only replenish 100 HP but allows affected allies to receive 50% additional healing from other health sources and prevents affected enemies from being healed entirely.
Whilst she is one of the least mobile characters in game, her sleep dart offers her protection whilst also taking enemies out of fights for seconds at a time. Her ultimate ability, nano boost, is one of the best in Overwatch 2; used well, this one ability can determine the result of a team fight.
Overwatch 2 is available to play for free on PC, Xbox One, Xbox X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.