Here’s What ‘Overwatch 2’ Looks Like For New Players

Games Here’s What ‘Overwatch 2’ Looks Like For New Players Kris Holt Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover all things games, especially Overwatch. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories.

Got it! Oct 3, 2022, 11:11pm EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The Overwatch 2 menu screen for new players. Blizzard Entertainment Not all players are going to have the same experience when they fire up Overwatch 2 for the first time. Those coming over from the original game will have access to more modes, heroes and cosmetics from the jump.

During the review period, Blizzard gave me access to a fresh Overwatch 2 account. After playing with it for a couple of hours, I think the onboarding process for new players makes a lot of sense. Let’s go through the nuts and bolts of it.

First, you’ll need to set up your Battle. net account and download the game. I’ve got a quick guide on how to set those up here: MORE FROM FORBES How To Pre-Download ‘Overwatch 2’ And Set Up SMS Protect By Kris Holt When you first load up the game, the accessibility settings will be displayed.

This is good! I think there could be more robust accessibility settings in Overwatch 2, but I’m glad that’s the first thing new players will see, so they can adjust the level of camera shake, turn on subtitles and change the color blindness and text-to-speech options. It may also be worth adjusting the sound and video settings at this point. After that, the game will go into a cinematic.

It’s effectively the same one from Overwatch 1 , though I believe it’s a truncated version. It was shorter than I remembered than in the original game, but it only appeared the first time I launched Overwatch 2 with this account, so I couldn’t double check. While it might seem odd to show the original game’s cinematic, it’s a solid way to get new players up to speed on the basic lore of the universe and what the Overwatch organization actually is.

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The tutorial will only take you five minutes or so. Overwatch ’s AI narrator, Athena, takes you through the basics of movement and looking around, before helping you understand the abilities of Soldier: 76, one of the 15 heroes you’ll have access to at the outset. (There are 35 heroes available in Season 1 and you’ll unlock most, if not all, of them over time.

) The tutorial will end after explaining what an objective is and how to capture it. Soldier: 76 in the Overwatch 2 practice range Blizzard Entertainment There’s one more thing new players will have to do before playing a match: drop into the practice range. Here, you’ll learn how to swap between heroes and how to see an overview of their abilities at any time.

You’ll also learn how to use the communications wheel and the extremely helpful ping system . Before you can move on from the training range, you’ll need to kill 10 bots. Tracer in the Overwatch 2 practice range Blizzard Entertainment I’d suggest spending a little extra time than that in the practice range, though.

Try out all of the heroes that are available to you. If you’re up to it, get comfortable with a few of them before you start playing a game. Overwatch 2 modes unlocked Blizzard Entertainment Once you’ve completed the practice range requirement, you’ll see a message indicating that you’ve unlocked more game modes.

You can now play Quick Play games in Open Queue (where you’ll be placed into a Tank, Damage or Support Role as needed) and Training vs. AI (i. e.

bots). Play five games in either, and you’ll unlock more modes. After another 5 games, you’ll unlock even more game modes.

Competitive mode will take a while longer to unlock , however. As mentioned, to begin with, you’ll have access to 15 heroes. However, most of the First Time User Experience restrictions will be lifted if you play in a group.

You’ll have access to all the Overwatch 1 heroes in Quick Play if you play with friends. The first hero select screen for new players in Overwatch 2 Blizzard Entertainment The heroes new players have access to at the beginning are: Tank Junker Queen (as long as you log in during Season 1) Orisa Reinhardt Winston Zarya Damage (aka DPS) Pharah Reaper Soldier: 76 Sojourn (if you log in during Season 1) Torbjörn Tracer Widowmaker Support Lúcio Mercy Moira Again, play around with them and see which ones you’re comfortable with. I would recommend starting with Soldier: 76 and Sojourn on the DPS side (or Widowmaker if you have excellent aim) or any of the Supports — but perhaps Mercy or Moira instead of Lúcio.

I wouldn’t recommend hopping into the Tank role right away if you can help it, because leading the line might be a tricky task for newcomers, but I think Winston is a solid first Tank choice. In any case, it’s totally your call who to play as. If you pay for the Season 1 premium Battle Pass, you’ll unlock the new support, Kiriko, right away.

Otherwise, you’ll need to reach level 55 of the free Battle Pass , or unlock her in future seasons through the shop or by completing a challenge. More details will be revealed about that challenge later. Genji unlock in Overwatch 2 Blizzard Entertainment As for the other 19 heroes from Overwatch 1, you can add them to your roster permanently by completing a certain number of games .

You’ll need to play 150 games in total to get them all, but wins count for double. I’ll break those down how exactly to unlock them all another time. However, after finishing your first four games, you’ll have another four heroes to choose from.

MORE FROM FORBES New ‘Overwatch 2’ Players Will Need To Grind To Unlock All The ‘Overwatch 1’ Heroes, But That May Not Be A Bad Thing By Kris Holt I spoke with Blizzard developers about this First Time User Experience. Their aim was to make things less overwhelming for new players by gradually introducing them to all of the heroes and giving them a solid group to start with. It seems like a much smoother, guided path into the ecosystem than Overwatch 1 players got.

D. Va unlock in Overwatch 2 Blizzard Entertainment All of the heroes have their pros and cons and it will take a long time for new players to grasp what they can all do. Having a smaller selection at first could make it easier for you to understand each hero, which is really important .

Even though the developers have de-emphasized the need to switch to a different hero to counter an enemy , there’s still going to be an element of that in Overwatch 2 . The more you understand the fundamentals of each character, the better, but that won’t happen overnight. Take your time with the First Time User Experience, and you might get more out of Overwatch 2 in the long run.

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