Overwatch 2 players have a surprising amount of information about the next heroes coming to the game. Ramattra is confirmed to be Season 2’s new hero, and players will get their hands on the Null Sector leader in December. After this thought is added, two supports will be on the way, bringing some much-needed variety to the support role in 2023. Beyond that, Blizzard can continue to expand these two roles, although it may briefly return to the damage category – and a spy would be a fun direction too Overwatch 2 to step in if this happens.
At the moment, the closest thing to a spy would be Sombra, although her focus on hacking means there’s still untapped potential with stealth-focused characters. A spy can have a number of interesting abilities that revolve around deception, and their weapon can be a fun twist on an existing type. Given the hypothetical skills for this type of character, they might work best as an Omnic, serving under Ramattra and adding some depth to the Null Sector organization.
How a spy could play in Overwatch 2
When you think of a spy, stealth and hiding in plain sight are key traits that Blizzard needs to capture to make the class work. One way to achieve this in the game is through a disguise ability, as a spy can copy a character on the enemy team just like Echo does with Ultimate. While copied, they could look exactly like the enemy, but would not be able to use the enemy’s abilities. However, they could apply debuffs to their enemies by scanning them.
These scans can show the allied team how far the enemies are on their way to getting the ultimate, which is hugely useful information that players can only estimate normally. Instead of a damage debuff that Zenyatta provides, the Spy can increase the cooldown of enemies’ abilities by scanning them. Obviously, this ability would have a downside, as the spy would have to be careful as teams that communicate well can call out if there is someone in disguise nearby. If a disguised Roadhog walks near an actual Roadhog, finding the real one will be just as easy as shooting both.
Giving a spy hero a suppressed gun seems like an obvious direction to go, as if Cassidy has a revolver, Overwatch 2 has shown that the same weapon types can feel different with some adjustments. Larger magazines, a burst mode and a red dot sight for precise shots are all ways to make the gun stand out. It can also come with a passive that greatly increases damage when shooting an enemy from behind and plays into the stealth themes.
In the case of an Ultimate ability, the Spy can get a team-wide version of Echo’s Duplicate, with the downside that Ultimates don’t charge quickly. However, being able to turn everyone into someone like Reinhardt for a short time can be a big deal, as all the other abilities can be available. Briefly turning the match into a No Limits contest would be very entertaining, and the spy’s Ultimate could be great for extending teamfights and buying time for players to return from spawn.
It’s easy to imagine cosmetics for a spy too, with a skin inspired by Black Widow and lines referencing James Bond being viable options. Although such a character would be very high risk and high reward, since it would be difficult to use against well-coordinated teams in higher levels of competition, they would certainly be unique and entertaining. There’s no indication that such a character will make it to the game, but a spy might be worth a try when it’s time for a new Damage hero.
Overwatch 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.
