Overwatch 2 is finally here, ushering in a new era for Blizzard’s award-winning hero shooter. It moves Overwatch into a 5v5 PvP format and revamps the game with a brand new free-to-play model with Battle Passes, a revamped Competitive Play system, and more.
One of the biggest changes Overwatch 2 brings is the addition of the First-Time User Experience, a tutorial-like system that slowly introduces new players to the game by limiting which heroes they can play as. Most of the game’s cast can be unlocked when players gain some experience, but how exactly can you do this? And how can you unlock new Overwatch 2 heroes like the new support character Kiriko? In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know about unlocking heroes in Overwatch 2.
How to unlock all Overwatch 2 heroes
As a new player, you only get access to 13 heroes right away. This is to make your Overwatch experience easier and prevent you from being overwhelmed with choices. These characters are listed below:
- Tank: Reinhardt, Winston, Orisa, Zarya
- Damage: Soldier: 76, Reaper, Pharah, Torbjorn, Tracer, Widowmaker
- Support, support: Mercy, Lucio, Moira
Once you get the hang of the game and get to know how it works, you’ll no doubt be interested in trying out other characters as well.
To unlock most of the rest of the list, you’ll need to spend time completing many unrated Quick Play games. As you do this, the rest of the Overwatch 2 heroes will be available to use. Specifically, you’ll need to play 150 matches to unlock every single character from the original game, though you’ll start unlocking heroes well before that threshold as well.
The table below shows how many Quick Plays you’ll need to complete to unlock each hero, with Genji being the easiest character to access and Echo being the most difficult.
| Hero | How to unlock |
|---|---|
| Genji | Play 1 game |
| Two | Play 2 games |
| Cassidy | Play 3 games |
| Well | Play 4 games |
| Hanzo | Play 9 games |
| Junkrat | Play 12 games |
| Roadhog | Play 15 games |
| Symmetra | Play 20 games |
| Zenyatta | Play 25 games |
| Bastion | Play 30 games |
| Sigma | Play 40 games |
| Ash | Play 50 games |
| Brigitte | Play 60 games |
| I | Play 70 games |
| Doomfist | Play 85 games |
| Baptiste | Play 100 games |
| Sombra | Play 115 games |
| Wrecking ball | Play 130 games |
| Echo | Play 150 games |
| Stay | Log in during Overwatch 2 Season 1 |
| Queen Junker | Log in during Overwatch 2 Season 1 |
| It is here | Reach level 55 in the Season 1 Battle Pass or purchase the Premium Battle Pass |
Note that new Overwatch 2 heroes like Kiriko are unlocked in a different way, which we’ll go over in the section below.
How to unlock new Overwatch 2 heroes
Unlocking new Overwatch 2 heroes works differently than unlocking the traditional Overwatch cast (note that Sojourn and Junker Queen are unlocked by logging in during Overwatch 2 Season 1 and are unique in that regard). To access new heroes like Kiriko, players will need to reach level 55 in the season Overwatch 2 Battle Pass which corresponds to the season in which the new hero was released. For example, to unlock Kiriko, you need to reach level 55 in the Season 1 Battle Pass.
Battle Pass rankings require you to gain experience and level up, which is done by completing matches and completing daily and weekly game challenges. Alternatively, you can also purchase the premium Battle Pass reward track and instantly gain access to the new hero featured in it.
If you’re late to the party and didn’t get to unlock the new hero before the end of the season they released, don’t worry. Blizzard has confirmed that heroes from past seasons will be unlockable by completing special in-game challenges. Players will also be able to purchase heroes from past seasons in the Overwatch 2 store using Overwatch Coins.
Overwatch 2 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch. It’s probably one of the the best xbox shooters available, and since it’s free to play, it costs nothing to check out. Alternatively, players can purchase the Overwatch 2: Watchpoint Pack, which provides access to the Season 1 Premium Battle Pass, 2,000 Overwatch Coins, and a pack of unique Legendary Skins.
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