Overwatch 2 Trophy Guide, Heroes Overview & Other Beginner Tips
Overwatch 2 has finally come out! It signifies one of the most talked-about FPS releases of this year. It’s publicly recognized that this game isn’t too different from the previous one. Even so, a handy package of beginner tips, the heroes overview, and an Overwatch 2 trophy guide could be convenient for many fresh and out-of-the-loop players.
If you mean to play it for some time, a comprehensive basics walkthrough would be exactly what you need. Although it’s not a very complex game, it’s still easy to get overwhelmed, considering how much content it holds. This Overwatch 2 new players guide should help you understand some basics.
Background
OW2 is a team-based first-person shooter. Typically, you play multiplayer matches with a 5v5 team composition, and your objective is a typical king-of-the-hill or payload escort situation. Besides this, the sequel is also scheduled to add a campaign mode of sorts — a PvE mode where you fight against the waves of omnics.
Besides this, some quality-of-life changes, texture improvements, and rebalancing efforts were introduced. This release feels like a big update rather than an independent project. Much of the content will be carried on, which makes OW2 a bit more complicated at launch than the original was.
Hero Selection
You get 35 heroes at launch. Each has at least four abilities — some passive, some active, and the ultimate. The different combinations of offensive, defensive and supportive abilities make OW colorful and thrilling. It’s also a very mobile game, reflected by the multilayered layouts of the maps (see an Overwatch 2 map guide for more).
There are also several new heroes. The first three additions were made in the test stages of Overwatch 2, and they are now available at the start. More characters will be added, but the latest trio consists of these:
- Sojourn — a damage hero from Canada;
- Queen of Junkertown — a tank hero from what was formerly Australia;
- Kiriko — a support hero from Japan.
Tempting as it is to start playing OW2 by testing the new blood, they aren’t the best for beginners. If you don’t know how to play at all, consider playing more intuitive fighters instead, like D.Va, Soldier 76, Bastion, or Reaper. Remember, though, that balance changes implemented after this Overwatch 2 character guide could make it less relevant.
As a new OW2 player, you won’t have all the characters from the beginning. The new system locks the majority of heroes and unlocks them as you progress through the ranks in your free Battle Pass. You will gradually unlock new characters every couple of matches, on average. You can also open the 3 new heroes immediately by upgrading to premium.
Character Practice
As a beginner, you can choose one of two ways of learning your characters. You can select a preferred fighter and go to the Practice Range mode. It’s a special map without teams, other players, or objectives. It has plenty of training bots and various environments that let you test your abilities in practice.
Alternatively, you could view an Overwatch 2 strategy guide (even a short official one) and test your fighter on the battlefield. It’s more demonstrative, and it’ll let you learn from your mistakes. The reality, however, is that you might not be able to queue for a match if there are too many people trying to do it.
It has been evident from the first days of the game’s release. The servers couldn’t handle 30,000 people trying to play at once, which extended the waiting lines by quite a lot. Besides a proper Overwatch 2 starter guide, the best way to learn a character is to get into the Practice Range (or a Skirmish) while you wait for your game.
It’s even more reasonable as a “while you wait” solution because you might simply be steamrolled by older OW players unless you’ve practiced a bit. And, what’s worse, if there are long queues, you won’t be able to try again for some time. You don’t need any Overwatch 2 beginner tips to tell you that, but beginners should practice between matches.
Trophies
Trophies/achievements are mostly personal challenges that have you complete some task in exchange for a neat spray. The trophies from the original have been carried into this one. 6 new ones were also added, which are related to new contestants. The completed achievements aren’t reset in the sequel.
Maps and Game Modes
There are currently 36 maps in OW2, divided into several game modes with different objectives. This flexibility is another factor why you could keep playing OW on and on. Speaking of modes, there are 7 main varieties. You don’t need an Overwatch 2 advanced guide to pick a mode, but some of them might be more welcome to new players.
Elimination, Deathmatch and Capture the Flag are the simpler modes. They have clear, two-dimensional objectives like “shoot enemies” or “get this flag home.” They can’t be played in the Competitive, meaning the devs consider them too simple to be strategic and, well, competitive.
Any Overwatch 2 competitive guide worth its money will tell you that you shouldn’t play ranked until you’ve at least tried most of the characters and maps. Assault, Escort, Control, and Hybrid are the other 4 modes. They can be played casually or competitively. They are a tad more nuanced but not mundane because of it.
All game modes and maps were transferred from the previous game, but with some changes. Some locations are now night maps and vice versa. The last thing to mention is Skirmish, a special mode with no rewards and penalties that lets you play against players while you wait for your real match.
Workshop & Custom Modes
Actually, it would be amiss not to mention Workshop. It’s currently unavailable in OW2, but it will be soon. The Workshop is a section of the Game Browser which lets you create your own game modes and customize them to the tiniest detail. It does include some coding, but here it’s presented in a digestible and simple manner.
In terms of practice, OW1 had plenty of training courses and other such game modes that you could just download and import into the game. For instance, you could find a Doomfist training course or even a full-on Aim Training Lab. The Workshop has limitless potential in this capacity, and all such modes are in open access online. Feel free to download one and practice between the matches.
It’s quite easy to do: just find a code for your desired type of practice and paste it in the field!
Role Tips
A good Overwatch 2 new player guide should include tips and tricks related to the gameplay itself, and there are plenty of things to cover. The most notable gameplay change is that the teams are now down to 5 players (from 6 in OW). New role limitations are now in place, restricting teams to just 1 tank, 2 damage heroes, and 2 supports.
It’s now even harder to say which role is easier. The tanks now have much more responsibility and were reworked to act more like spearheads of an assault. Their primary purpose is to be in the front and deal reliable damage. It is the most fun you can have, but the team will not like you much if you fail. It also means that the team as a whole has a lot less protection now.
Because of it, supports are more vulnerable now. They’ll still need to keep their allies alive — especially their tank, which is now just a singular player. And because of the new proactive role of the tanks, you’ll have to keep pace. Meaning you must pay attention to your surroundings and positioning even more so.
As for damage heroes, they will also suffer from the decreased level of protection by their tank. The best hope out in the open is to outgun the enemies before enemies outgun them. That creates some truly fast-paced gameplay. The roles, however, became blurrier, and you don’t have to stick to them to have fun. But do remember your priorities.
Try different tactics, different roles, and heroes at your leisure. Stringent oldies will tell you to do one job and win the game, but that’s not how fun is had. Fortunately, the new system makes it easier to experiment. It would be especially good for the former OW1 players because they’ve drastically changed many heroes.
Battle Tips
After you’ve selected your role and character, you’ll be thrown right into the match. You’ll find that a fight will break out not even a minute after the warmup. It’s a very energetic game, and the best tip an Overwatch 2 tutorial could give you is to be generous with your abilities.
They have cooldowns, and some abilities can be saved up for the best possible opportunity. This, however, is mainly related to ultimate abilities. Regular skills should be used at every good opportunity. The skills will likely cool down before you meet your next enemy anyway, and you can never know which battle ends up being decisive.
In short, be energetic and use your potential to the fullest. You might not know the best time to use certain abilities, but you’ll learn these things by practice soon. The game isn’t that cryptic, and there are no overly-complex skills. The only place where timing is truly precious is competitive, and you can read an Overwatch 2 ranked guide about that.
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