Overwatch Tier List: Ranking all the heroes in 2021

Here we will be ranking all the heroes in Overwatch from worst to best, helping you figure out which hero to play with, in 2021.

Overwatch is a 6v6 team-based action game by Blizzard Entertainment. The main goal of the game is to complete different objectives across different maps using a variety of different heroes. The heroes in Overwatch are all unique in their abilities and role so choosing the right hero to play is very important as the Hero selection can make or break a team.

For the 32 Heroes released in Overwatch, primarily there are 3 Roles: Dps, Tanks, and Supports. Each category of hero is vastly different from the other, performs completely different functions, and is almost irreplaceable by any other role. Each role also has subcategories of heroes according to their play style and what they allow the team to do. Hero synergy is very important among roles and sub-categories and a well-balanced selection of 6 Heroes is what makes up a good Composition. We will also be going over some basic compositions at the end.

Overwatch Hero Roles

DPS

DPS or Damage Per Second Heroes are basically the heroes that specializing in dealing damage. This role will be the primary source of damage output in your team and it is their job to seek out kills following up with the tanks as well as protect the supports.

They have a smaller health pool, no armor and their abilities include Movement, CC or Crowd Control/Stun, Knockback and Sustain. There are 17 DPS heroes in Overwatch.

All the DPS heroes:

• McCree
• Soldier: 76
• Ashe
• Hanzo
• Tracer
• Symmetra
• Reaper
• Sombra
• Pharah
• Genji
• Junkrat
• Mei
• Bastion
• Echo
• Doomfist
• Widowmaker
• Torbjorn

Tanks

Tanks serve to primarily soak up damage from the enemy team. Their role is to take map control and create space for your team. They are the front lines and they protect your team. The tanks also enable your DPS to dish out damage as well as peel for both the DPS and Supports.

They have a high health pool with Armor or Shields and their abilities include Barriers, Movement, Damage, CC and Sustain. There are 8 Tank heroes in Overwatch.

All the Tank heroes:

• Reinhardt
• Winston
• Zarya
• Wrecking Ball
• Sigma
• D.Va
• Roadhog
• Orisa

Supports

The Support role Heroes specialize in healing and sustaining your team. They will be the ones restoring the Health that the team’s Tanks and Dps lose over time. They also have some sort of self-healing ability. Supports in the game have the biggest responsibility of keeping the entire team alive so they must be protected at all costs.

They have a small health pool, might have armor or shields and their abilities include, Healing, Knockback, Movement, and CC. There are 7 Support heroes in Overwatch.

All the Support heroes:

• Ana
• Mercy
• Baptiste
• Moira
• Lucio
• Zenyatta
• Brigitte

Best Heroes in Overwatch (A Complete Tier List)

So now that you have a basic idea of the Hero roles let’s dive right into the Heroes. Not all Heroes are created equal so there are some heroes that are better than others. Also, note that some players might be highly proficient in a single hero and can make them viable in almost any situation. Since the game is dynamic and always going through changes, buffs, and nerfs the Hero tiers have also changed accordingly.

Here are currently all the heroes in Overwatch categorized in a tier list. The highest tier is “Broken” meaning these heroes are in a really good state right now and the recent patches going in their favor made them feel like they break the game. The next tiers are A through C which signifies better to worse choices. The last tier is the “Meme” tier but don’t be fooled by the name. These Heroes can either carry the game hard if executed properly or can be troll picks that throw the game if executed poorly.

Here’s the complete tier list of the best heroes in Overwatch:

Due to the present state of the game along with recent patches, heroes like Mercy, Lucio, Pharah, Soldier:76, Tracer, D.va, and Reinhardt are the top-tier and best picks. Mercy’s ability to rez and pocket, Lucio’s Speed boost, Pharah’s high damage from above, Soldier:76’s consistent damage output, Tracer’s burst damage pick-off potential, D.va’s initiation & peel, and Reinhardt’s barrier is why they are at the top. You can’t go wrong with picking any of them in most situations.

The A tier heroes have really good damage, healing, and shielding capabilities which makes them very viable as long as they have allies that can enable them for maximum efficiency. The B-tier heroes are also viable picks and they mainly exist to assist the higher-tier heroes to maintain team synergy. The C-Tier heroes can be good if played to a high skill level, but generally are not the best options for most players out there. The Meme tier heroes can either be Gods that carry or Trolls that throw, no in-between.

Now we will be going a bit in-depth about the Heroes according to their respective roles. This will highlight their strengths, their function in a team, and most importantly, we will be teaching you how to counter them.

Best Tank Heroes in Overwatch 2021

Dva: Can be played up to a very high skill ceiling and has the ability to make space, peel, and nullify enemy ultimates. Can be countered by high damage, beam, or CC heroes.

Reinhardt: Protects the team with his huge barriers and takes up space. Can be countered by breaking his shield with high damage heroes.

Winston: Dives into the enemy backline to create a lot of space for his team, attacks the enemy squishies, and retakes position from enemies perched up on the high ground. Can be countered by CC and high DPS heroes like Reaper or Roadhog.

Zarya: Protects her team from enemy fire and can dish out high damage when charged up. Her ultimate also can set up for team-kills. Can be countered by CC and snipers.

Orisa: An extremely tough hero with a lot of shields and surprisingly high damage. Can be countered by diving with your whole team and focusing her down.

Sigma: Has a decent shield and can dish out high damage but at short ranges. Can be countered by CC and dive heroes.

Roadhog: Good at flanking, has CC, and also can instakill most hooked squishies. Can be countered by high damage heroes like Reaper.

Wrecking ball: Needs a lot of skill to play effectively but can distract enemies for your team to follow up on. Can be countered by CC abilities especially Sombra’s hack.

Best Damage Heroes in Overwatch 2021

Pharah: Extremely high damage but requires skill to land her rockets, main role is to kill enemy DPS and Supports with her burst damage. Most effective if pocketed by an ally Mercy. Can be countered by enemy hitscan like Soldier, McCree, Ashe, and Widow.

Soldier:76: Consistent damage, good ultimate, and can sustain himself with his self-heal. His main role is to dish out damage, break enemy shields, and can also flank at times from high ground. Can be countered by heroes with movement abilities like Winston, D.Va, Doomfist, or sniped by Hanzo or Widow.

Tracer: The most potent Hero in the game but also requires the highest skill to play effectively. Her main role is to flank and pick off enemy Supports and Dps. Can be countered by heroes with CC like McCree.

Ashe: She has consistent Ranged damage and an ultimate good for stalling. Counters are shields and dive heroes.

Genji: Good flanking potential and ability to pull off game-changing ultimates. Counters are heroes with movement abilities, beam damage, and CC.

Doomfist: Quite hard to play but unstoppable of played correctly. High pick-off potential and devastates the enemy’s backline. Countered by CC or Flying heroes like Roadhog or Pharah.

Widow: Mechanically reliant but rewarding if you can click heads at range. Countered by heroes with movement abilities and other snipers.

Mei: Her role is disrupting and splitting the enemy team to set your team up for kills. Countered by high burst damage or flying heroes.

Reaper: Extremely high damage at short range and melts down tanks. Can be countered by CC heroes.

McCree: Has consistent damage but often requires a pocket healer to truly shine. Can be countered by barriers or sniped from range.

Echo: Requires a lot of skill and a pocket healer but is highly rewarding if played properly. Can be countered by hitscan heroes like McCree and Widow.

Hanzo: Has high damage potential but requires a lot of skill to land his projectiles. Can be countered by heroes with movement abilities or sniped from distance.

Junkrat: High damage potential especially in narrow chokes but the nature of the projectiles make him inefficient in multiple maps. Can be countered by flying heroes or snipers.

Sombra: Very effective if hacking the right targets and ability to pull off game-changing ultimates if followed up on by the team. Can be countered by CC heroes.

Bastion: Can carry the game for you but the rest of the team has to be focused on supporting him. Countered by high damage, snipers, and simply by focusing him down with the team.

Torbjorn: Often considered a troll pick, but if his turret is up and he has decent accuracy with his gun, expect him to have gold damage and eliminations. Can be countered by flying heroes.

Symmetra: Similar to Bastion, highly effective if supported by her team. Her fully charged main weapon melts through enemies with ease and turrets can help defend a point. Can simply be countered by focusing her down.

Best Support Heroes in Overwatch 2021

Mercy: Can enable your star dps player by pocketing with damage boost and heals. Her rez is also very powerful as it can instantly undo an enemy pick-off. Can be countered by heroes with movement abilities like Winston or Tracer.

Lucio: Provides a speed boost to the whole team to effectively swarm the enemy and his ultimate can protect your team from sticky situations. Can be countered by CC abilities.

Ana: Has very high healing potential but requires decent mechanical skill. Her ultimate can protect a low hp tank or set up ally ultimates. Can be countered by dive heroes.

Zenyatta: Has decent damage potential and deal debuffs to the enemy. Also has a very useful ultimate but is vulnerable without it. Can be countered by dive heroes and snipers.

Moira: Has very high healing if her resources are used correctly. Possessing both the ability to heal as well as deal damage, one must carefully decide when to use what. Can be countered by CC abilities.

Brigitte: One of the most annoying heroes to play against. If supported by her team can almost stay immortal. Countered by flying heroes like Pharah or CC.

Baptiste: Has a high heal output as well as the ability to protect allies from the verge of death. His ultimate can set himself or allies for high damage output. Can be countered by DPS heroes with movement abilities and burst damage.

Basic team compositions in Overtwatch 2021

Even the best heroes in the game can often fail to be effective if their team lacks synergy. So we will be giving you some examples of basic compositions in the game with a team consisting of 2 heroes from each role, known as a 2-2-2 composition. You can pick any two heroes from the roles and the selection is often flexible among them.

Deathball

This will be your basic composition. It focuses on moving together as a team slowly and taking up space. The tanks protect the DPS and supports while they deal damage and heal from cover. You can either use Reinhardt or Sigma as the main tank and Zarya as the off-tank. All the supports and a Majority of the DPS are viable in this composition.

Dive

This composition mainly focuses on rushing the enemy with highly mobile heroes. The tanks lead the charge and soak up the initial CC while the DPS move in to pick off the enemies while the healers follow suit or heal from range. It is advised that Winston is run here with an off-tank. Although running Ball and D.va is not impossible, but harder to pull off correctly. If you run an Echo or a Pharah a Mercy is crucial as well as Ana being crucial for Genji.

Bunker

This composition focuses on holding ground and controlling an area. It mainly revolves around Orisa’s shield and is filled with heroes that can deal high damage from range or can control space. Mercy’s resurrection or Baptiste’s Immortality field is a must-have for this composition.

So this wraps up all the best heroes currently in Overwatch. Remember that Overwatch is a game that largely depends on team synergy so it is also important to have heroes that work well with each other. These are just basic examples and these can be modified to a certain player’s skills and weaknesses. Overwatch is a dynamic game where you can switch heroes at any time. If you are having trouble dealing with an enemy composition, try changing up yours in order to counter it.

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