During your battles in Overwatch 2, you can turn the tide in your favor by using powerful ultimate abilities. Some are defensive, some are offensive, and some can even chain together to be even more devastating, perhaps even causing a team kill in the process. All that said, when it comes to ultimate abilities, or any ability at all, there are always those that can be more effective than others. Which of them are the best?
You should always remember that characters you are best at playing are usually your best bet, regardless of how powerful their abilities are. But if you’re getting shut down by the enemy team and need to try to turn the tide, it’s good to know which character might be best to switch to on the fly.
10/10 Deadeye
Free insta-kills are not something to be taken lightly. Although Cole Cassidy’s ultimate will leave you quite vulnerable (the element of surprise is important here too), if you have enough time and good positioning, you can kill everyone in front of you. If you don’t have time to kill them, you can still seriously damage them in the process. It’s also a good way to counter an annoying Pharah/Mercy combo in the air. But don’t forget that attacks can also be blocked through shields and similar things, so be careful.
Also, if you’re willing to drop your ultimate in a dire situation, you can activate it and then immediately cancel it for a quick ammo refill. Combined with Cassidy’s throw which also reloads his gun, you can fire 18 bullets in rapid succession by doing this.
9/10 Death Blossom
Once called “Q” in-game, what makes Reaper’s ultimate so powerful is not only its damage output, but also its range and speed. It’s one of the easiest ultimate attacks to pull off; All you need to be careful about is the element of surprise.
You can clear an entire area with Reaper using Death Blossom, and with some good timing or team coordination, maybe even get a team kill. That said, it’s not hard to kill you during Death Blossom since the character is quite vulnerable, and shields or ability to absorb damage can ruin your day here – and Zenyatta, but we’ll get to him. The good news is that in the sequel, with a smaller tank, it’s much harder to stop you.
8/10 Blizzard
Especially now that Mei’s primary attack no longer freezes enemies in play and the fact that most stun abilities were nerfed or removed, her ultimate is even more potent. Blizzard covers a large area and freezes anyone within it. Sure, they can escape, but it will either require certain movement skills that not all characters have or quick reactions to leave the area, which is difficult since it slows you down.
Freezing everyone like that can prevent enemies from using area buffs, like Kitsune Rush, while increasing the likelihood of your teammate’s not-so-easy-to-land abilities, like Dragonstrike and Pulse Bomb.
7/10 Amplification matrix
Combining stronger healing and damage, you’ll understand why this one is so threatening. Not only will Baptiste’s healing projectiles become more effective when passing through the Amplification Matrix, but he will deal more damage as well as anyone else who fires through it. Well, anyone who uses projectiles (sorry, Reinhardt).
Although it has the disadvantage of being immobile, and requiring good positioning from anyone who wants to use it, Amplification Matrix can be a great way to force your way through choke points or defend areas. It also combines well with something like the Tactical Visor, making the Soldier 76 a good friend to have around.
6/10 Graviton surge
A strong ability with a lot of collaboration potential. Zarya’s ultimate deals almost no damage, but that’s not the useful part here. It can trap any nearby enemy to a single spot, and even stop movement abilities like Fade or Wraith Form, making it one of the best ways to trap people in the game.
This can be followed up with all area damage ultimates, or your team can just attack together to do this effectively. Be careful though; Enemies are trapped, but they can (and probably will) shoot you back.
5/10 Nano Boost
A simple but effective ultimate, and also perfect for creating combos with other ultimates. Ana can make another teammate temporarily stronger and more resilient, turning them into a powerful killing machine. This works extremely well with Tanks, who are already tough by nature, making them pretty much unstoppable in the process.
Still, using said boost on an ally who also has his ultimate available can completely turn the tables. That is one of many reasons why communication is important; boost Reaper, Cassidy, Soldier 76, Genji or any other DPS and they just might get a team kill.
4/10 EMP
While hacking doesn’t stop abilities as long as before, it’s still a worthwhile ability to have. It still stops abilities short, even being able to cancel certain ultimates if timed right, and the extra damage Sombra can do to hacked enemies is also just beautiful and deadly.
Now add in the fact that it causes all enemies around her to lose 40 percent of their current health, destroying their barriers and shields, and you have a seriously dangerous ability. That’s more than enough for Sombra to cause a lot of mayhem, and a few kills along the way.
3/10 Sound barrier
Extra health never hurts (quite the contrary, actually). An easy to use ultimate, and with a simple perk as well. But hey, just because something is simple doesn’t make it bad.
With Lucio’s Sound Barrier, you can give your teammates a ton of temporary health, allowing you to be much more aggressive, or save them in a very difficult situation.
Thanks to the extra health, many attacks that would normally be insta-kills will now fail, making it perfect for Cassidy’s or Sojourns’ ultimates, for example. It only lasts for a few seconds, so it can be useful for a retreat in case you create an even more dire situation for your team, but it can be a lifesaver.
2/10 Transcendence
If you want to stop most of the ultimates mentioned earlier, well, look no further. Zenyatta has one of the most powerful ultimates, and is able to heal at such a rate that almost all other ultimates can be negated by him. You can save enemies caught in a blizzard or a graviton surge, and you can render Dragonstrike, Dragonblade, and Death Blossom, among many others, almost completely useless.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that your allies aren’t immortal, just heal quickly. That means teammates can be instantly killed by things like D.Va’s Self Destruct or Tracer’s Pulse Bomb. But since Zenyatta herself is immortal and you can use yourself as a shield here, through proper positioning, you can take every bullet from a Deadeye. Just be careful with Anti-Healing abilities as they can render your ability useless.
1/10 Kitsune Rush
Can help all your teammates? Check. Does it turn anyone affected into a delightful monster? Check. Kiriko’s ultimate is a speed boost, combined with an attack speed boost and faster reload times, and as a result is unique and quite hard to stop. It can make many characters aggressive, even support characters, and easily wipe out enemies.
It’s especially useful with non-reload characters either, such as Reinhardt or Genji under Dragonblade, as they won’t stop attacking for anything (except death). There are a few ways to make this ultimate less effective, but none that actually stop it.
