Are you ready to dive into the exciting world of Overwatch 2's competitive scene? As the meta continues to evolve, it's essential to stay ahead of the game and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each hero. In this article, we'll take an in-depth look at the Season 6 DPS tier list, carefully dissecting each hero's performance, unique abilities, and their impact on the battlefield.
Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting your journey in Overwatch 2, join us as we explore the intricacies of the DPS heroes, uncover the surprises that the new meta brings, and reveal the key strategies that can elevate your gameplay to the next level. Here is our DPS tier list as well as the reasoning for the placements:
| Tier | Heroes |
| S Tier |
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| A Tier |
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| B Tier |
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| C Tier |
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| D Tier |
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Season 6 DPS Tier List Reasoning:
Symmetra
Starting with the bottom tier, we have Symmetra. While her beam can shred targets at maximum charge, it often just tickles them due to its low range. Her sentries are equally unimpressive, dealing a mere 25 damage per second with only 30 HP. Many rely on her ult, thinking it could be a saving grace, but enemies can easily wait it out as it only lasts 12 seconds. In short, Symmetra should be avoided; it's best to forget she exists.
Genji
Unfortunately, Season 6 has been harsh on Genji. The meta counters him completely. While he excels against heroes like Widowmaker and Hanzo on maps like Junkertown or Havana, he struggles immensely with his preferred playstyle - diving. Tanks like Winston, Reinhardt, and Wrecking Ball dominate the meta, making it tough for Genji to find opportunities. It's a pity since I find playing Genji enjoyable, but buffs to other heroes like Cassidy and life steal mechanics hinder his ability to one-shot key targets and escape safely. The anti-dive meta forces him into a poke playstyle, which isn't as fun or effective. Hopefully, we see some Genji buffs soon.
Bastion
Moving on to our C-tier picks, let's discuss Bastion. Mobility is the name of the game in Season 6, and while Bastion has received much-needed buffs, they haven't been significant enough to compensate for his key weakness - being super immobile. While this isn't a significant problem on maps like Junkertown or Route 66 defense, mobility is crucial for a DPS to quickly engage in fights. Unfortunately, Bastion struggles in this regard. However, if you choose to play Bastion on defensive maps where he's strong, make sure to pair him with heroes like Reinhardt, Orisa, or long-range supports like Ana or the new hero Ilari.
Widowmaker
Let's talk about our favorite hero, Widowmaker. Although she's incredibly fun to play, she's been struggling in the hands of skilled players. She can be incredibly potent on maps like Junkertown or Havana due to their open spaces and innate safety. However, it's extremely challenging for her to bring much utility other than picks. Her ult is fantastic for creating highlight clips, but it's not always practical and expires quickly, similar to Symmetra's ult. The enemy team can usually just wait it out. Widowmaker is also quite squishy with only 175 HP, making her vulnerable in bad close-range duels, especially against mobile assassins. You're often better off playing Hanzo or Ash instead, as they do similar things but more effectively.
Junkrat
Unfortunately, Junkrat hasn't been explosive this season, and he doesn't synergize well with most heroes, including his lore best friend, Roadhog. Despite this, he can perform exceptionally well on certain control maps like Lijiang Tower. However, on most other maps, he gets outperformed by almost every other DPS hero. The delay in Rip-Tire's damage for the first 3 seconds makes his ultimate less effective in team fights. If you enjoy the long-range AOE damage playstyle, you should consider taking a look at Pharah; she's much better in that regard.
Torbjorn
Our last hero in the C-tier is Torbjorn. Similar to Bastion, Torbjorn has received some much-needed buffs in Season 6, but they didn't do much for him. His turret can be extremely potent on maps like Lijiang Tower and Nepal, but he struggles on almost all other maps due to his ultimate being relatively short-ranged, and his turret's DPS output being rather low.
Pharah
Moving on to the B-tier, we have Pharah. She remains a very consistent pick with her high AOE damage and good mobility, allowing her to be a threat to the enemy team. If you have a Mercy pocketing you, you can stay super far away from enemies, as Pharah's weapon has no falloff damage. Her ultimate is incredibly powerful, although if the enemy team has too much hitscan, you should probably switch off and consider other options.
Echo
Echo is our next B-tier pick. She's a stable pick that's amazing with synergies like Winston and Mercy. Her right-click can instantly kill squishies, and when paired with Mercy, you can take down tanks with ease. Unlike Pharah, Echo's flight ability is more burst-oriented, making her less exposed to hitscan heroes. The reason Echo isn't higher on the tier list is primarily due to her ultimate, which is considered too inefficient and doesn't have a significant impact.
Mei
Now, let's talk about the most annoying hero in the game, Mei. She's a great duelist thanks to her passive and Cryo-Freeze, making her a stable pick since she's self-sufficient and simple to play. However, if your team isn't performing well, it can be challenging to secure kills. Her ultimate is a valuable tool in team fights but can be negated by Sombra's EMP.
Reaper
Reaper, in our B-tier, is still misunderstood by many. While some believe only flanking is the way to play him, sticking with the tank and adopting a frontline playstyle allows Reaper to deal massive damage, heal a ton, and take pressure off his team. His Wraith Form provides him with significant survivability, making it harder for him to get bursted down. Learning to dodge key abilities with Wraith Form is essential, and his ultimate remains one of the best team-wipe abilities in the game, placing him as a perfect mid-tier pick.
Cassidy
Moving into our A-tier, let's discuss Cassidy. Although he might belong higher on this tier list, her falloff damage has been significantly nerfed, forcing him into a weaker playstyle, needing to be closer to mid-range engagements. Thankfully, he has 225 HP, making him significantly more robust in close to mid-range scenarios, preventing her from getting one-shot by Genji and Tracer. While his ultimate isn't the best, he can create lots of pressure thanks to his sheer DPS output and burst potential, especially with Magnetic Grenade.
Ashe
Next up, we have Ashe, a strong pick for a long time. She has excellent damage with her primary fire and dynamite, and her Coach Gun provides her with survivability and self-peel. Ashe's damage falloff is still quite high, enabling her to deal significant damage from far away with her ADS fire. Along with her Coach Gun, she's one of the safest DPS picks you can play, and her ultimate is an incredible tool for team fights, especially when combined with ults like Shadow or Nano.
Sojourn
Sojourn still remains in the A tier. She deals a ton of damage with her welcome all fire and disrupter shot, so she's never lacking in damage. She also has great synergies with Ana, Mercy, and Baptiste. Her ultimate is absolutely lethal when paired with Graviton Surge, making her the most mobile DPS in the game thanks to Power Slide, providing excellent survivability. Her only problem is that her primary fire isn't as effective in close-range engagements. Ideally, you'll want to space enemies as best as possible, using Power Slide to create distance between you and them, enabling you to use your railgun altfire for massive damage.
Soldier 76
Despite being slightly nerfed in Season 6, Soldier still remains as the leading pick in the A tier due to how easy and effective he is. Many people wrongly consider Soldier a low ELO pick, but myself and others have seen great success with him even up to a top 500 level. This is due to his strong self-healing, great damage output, even from a distance, and his amazing burst potential with Helix Rockets. His Tactical Visor ultimate is one of the best alts in the game, and when paired with Nano Boost, he can absolutely decimate teams. Soldier has been consistently performing well on every single map with every single composition. He also fits many playstyles, whether you want to play him as a high ground controller or a team fighter, he can excel in both roles with ease.
Tracer
In our S-tier, we start with Tracer, an assassin that offers everything you could ever want. She does massive damage thanks to her primary fire and boasts great mobility. A useful tip is to save at least one dash to escape from situations without using Recall. Even when in a tough spot, you can use Recall to get away. Tracer synergizes well with supports like Zenyatta, and heroes like Zarya can shield her or empower her speed and damage, making her nearly unstoppable.
Hanzo
Hanzo has been a dominant pick in Season 6, offering almost everything a DPS player could desire. His mobility, thanks to wall climbing and double jump, makes him exceptionally slippery. His draw time to kill a 200 HP target is almost non-existent, making Hanzo effective at all ranges, despite many players thinking he's only good for long-range engagements. Storm Arrow is one of the most potent abilities in the game, allowing Hanzo to eliminate enemy snipers or defend against flankers like Tracer. His Sonic Arrow, when combined with his ultimate, can zone enemies at choke points. When partnered with heroes like Reinhardt and Orisa, Hanzo is a formidable force.
Sombra
Sombra is undoubtedly challenging to master, but once you do, she becomes more annoying than even the best Mei players. Her passive is a fantastic tool for picking off key targets, thanks to the bonus damage against hacked targets and ESP against low-health enemies. Her primary fire is an amazing tool against both squishy and tanky targets; she can eliminate any target below 300 HP in just 2 seconds. She can farm her ultimate incredibly quickly off tanks due to its low cost and her high DPS. Sombra's abilities offer unique advantages for her team, such as hacking, which allows her to duel almost every squishy hero with great ease, as it disables their abilities for 1.5 seconds, usually enough time for Sombra to assassinate them.
Stealth, her other ability, lets her move around the map incredibly fast due to its 60% movement speed buff and has a very short detection radius of only 4 meters, making her visible until it's far too late for the enemy to react. Even if you make a mistake, you can translocate, making Sombra a hero that allows you to test limits. Unlike other assassins, Sombra boasts one of the best team fight ultimates in the game, dealing instant 40 damage, destroying barriers, disabling sentries, including Mei and Wrecking Ball's ultimates, and disabling all enemy abilities for 1.5 seconds. All these factors combined make Sombra an incredible pick to rank up with.
