Overwatch 2 Role Passives Explained

Overwatch 2 Role Passives look to spice up team fights with an innovative addition to the PvP game mode. The addition will bring a new element to the game that changes both gameplay and player approaches to specific heroes.

Overwatch 2 Role Passives

On Feb 19. the developers of Overwatch 2 announced that they were experimenting with the idea of adding role passives for the heroes in their new game. Here are the ideas they've been looking at for passive abilities:

Tank

Tank players can expect a reduced knockback from enemy players along with a less ultimate charge for enemy players that damage them. While this impacts the opposing team more than it does tank players it's important to note that this change will help tank players fit more into the role of the team's shield. The reduced ultimate charge will take away the threat of being a giant damage sponge and the lowered knockback will force the enemy to take down the tank as they'll be able to maintain position and guard the backline.

Damage

Damage players should be excited at the new increased movement passive. This gives them greater maneuverability and increases their ability to engage and disengage with targets. For players that excel with heroes like Genji and Sombra who already had built-in escape mechanics this passive just made that fly harder to swat.

Healer

Healers can expect a passive that will allow them to heal after not taking damage for a period of time, similar to Mercy's passive. Developers say that this will be a weaker version of the Mercy passive. While on the surface this doesn't seem like much this passive actually goes a long way to changing the game, if healers are allowed to disengage they can go into every team fight at full strength. Healers like Ana can keep a short distance and passively heal if untouched which saves game-changing utilities like her Biotic Grenade for teammates and key moments.

Since this is only an experiment it's possible that what they've talked about and what will make it to the final game could be entirely different, but players can be very excited for the introduction of passive abilities in the new Overwatch sequel. Check out BlizzConline Day 2 for more updates on Overwatch 2.