The introduction (or re-introduction) of Overwatch Season 1 brings some major changes to the popular hero shooter, but one of the biggest updates might also be the one that flies under the radar.
Starting February 10th, Overwatch will be introducing hero subroles for all characters. While this doesn’t impact the major hero categories — Tanks, Damage, and Support — it does mean that each hero will have slightly different benefits based on their playstyle.
Here’s the breakdown for every role, and for a more detailed breakdown of the five new characters joining Overwatch Season 1, read our article here.
TANK
BRUISER
Reduces critical damage received. While at critical health, gain movement speed.
- Mauga
- Orisa
- Roadhog
- Zarya
INITIATOR
Staying airborne lightly heals you.
- D.VA
- Doomfist
- Winston
- Wrecking Ball
STALWART
Reduces knockbacks and slows received.
- Domina
- Hazard
- Junker Queen
- Ramattra
- Reinhardt
- Sigma
DAMAGE
SHARPSHOOTER
Critical hits reduce your movement ability cooldowns.
- Ashe
- Cassidy
- Hanzo
- Sojourn
- Widowmaker
FLANKER
Health packs restore more health.
- Anran
- Genji
- Reaper
- Tracer
- Vendetta
- Venture
SPECIALIST
Eliminating an enemy briefly increases your reload speed.
- Bastion
- Emre
- Junkrat
- Mei
- Soldier: 76
- Symmetra
- Torbjorn
RECON
You detect enemies below half health through walls after damaging them.
- Echo
- Freja
- Pharah
- Sombra
SUPPORT
SURVIVOR
Using a movement ability activates passive health regeneration.
- Brigitte
- Illari
- Juno
- Mizuki
- Wuyang
TACTICIAN
You can gain excess ultimate charge, which carries over after using your ultimate ability.
- Ana
- Baptiste
- Jetpack Cat
- Lucio
- Zenyatta
MEDIC
Healing allies with your weapon also heals you.
- Kiriko
- Lifeweaver
- Mercy
- Moira
