Overwatch 2 – Orisa Hero Guide

If you took a break from the original Overwatch for several months and decided to hop back into Overwatch 2 upon its recent release, you’re likely going to be surprised by several new elements. From new heroes to a new format, there is a flurry of changes in the FPS sequel. However, perhaps one of the largest changes from the original to the sequel is the rework of Orisa.

Once a bulky tank with limited mobility and a giant shield to protect players, Orisa is now a quicker and attack-focused tank. While Orisa still possesses some defensive abilities that allow them to keep the tank title, players will be moving toward objectives more than ever before with the hero. Because of this huge rework and all of their new abilities, players will need to relearn how to play as Orisa if they want any hopes of surviving a match with them as their hero.

Below, we go over all of Orisa’s abilities and how to use them best in Overwatch 2.

Orisa Overview

As we aforementioned, Orisa used to be a legitimate tank in Overwatch. They had several defensive abilities that allowed players to soak up damage while their teammates eliminated enemies and pushed toward the objective around them. Like Junker Queen, Orisa is an embodiment of Blizzard’s new characteristics for the tanks in Overwatch 2. They’re no longer bulky characters that can hardly move effectively across the map. Instead, they’re mobile and can deal a significant amount of damage with the right maneuvers.

Orisa has several new abilities in Overwatch 2, most of which are centered around DPS instead of defense. With these offensive and defensive abilities, Orisa also gains the passive ability that all tanks in Overwatch 2 receive. This passive ability reduces knockback received in addition to rewarding less ultimate for all damage received and less ultimate for all healing received. Essentially, support players might want to focus their healing efforts on other characters before worrying about a tank’s health.

One of the cons to using this reworked version of Orisa is a decreased HP. Compared to the original Overwatch, Orisa now has less health, meaning players really need to watch their health bar when trying out their new attack abilities. Speaking of which, those attack abilities are especially effective at close-range. Players will want to get up in the enemy’s team faces when attacking, as that will yield the highest chance for success.

Orisa’s primary weapon, the Augmented Fusion Driver, is only effective at close range.

For example, Orisa’s primary weapon is the Augmented Fusion Driver, which has a significant damage dropoff beyond close-range. While Orisa also has their secondary weapon, the Energy Javelin, to deal some damage at long range, most of your attacking engagements with Orisa should be in close-range. When you’re far away from an enemy team, focus more on protecting your teammates with Orisa’s defensive abilities.

Orisa Abilities

Augmented Fusion Driver: Rapid-fire heat cannon that has increased damage in close quarters, but a damage dropoff at long range. Requires a cooldown after sustained fire.Energy Javelin: Projectile weapon that stuns enemies when it connects. The Javelin can pin enemies to a wall if shot correctly.Javelin Spin: Defensive ability that causes Orisa to spin their Energy Javelin in front of them when activated, stopping all incoming projectiles for two seconds. Orisa’s movement speed is increased by 50% when Javelin Spin is active (20% movement speed boost shortly after it ends). Enemies caught in the Javelin Spin will take a small amount of damage and be knocked back.Fortify: Defensive ability that grants a 40% damage reduction against incoming projectiles, 125 HP, and a 50% reduction to the Augmented Fusion Driver’s cooldown time. Terra Surge (Ultimate): Ultimate ability that sucks nearby enemies in and grants the Fortify ability’s buffs while Terra Surge charges. Players can unleash the Terra Surge power at any time, but the longer Orisa charges, the more damage they’ll deal to surrounding enemies (marked by a green circle).

Know the right time to attack with Orisa

The trick with using Orisa effectively is knowing the right times to attack with their two weapons compared to hanging back and being a shield for your teammates. However, Orisa’s defensive abilities are more limited now, meaning players can’t defend as well as they used to. The Javelin Spin and Fortify are strong abilities, but only when used in the right situation. Javelin Spin is terrific for pushing forward, either solo or with teammates behind you.

Fortify can also be used in this kind of situation, but gives players more freedom due to the overall buffs the ability grants. Using Fortify will make players feel like the Orisa of the past, as they’ll take less damage and have a higher health pool. However, Fortify can now be an offensive ability as well, as players can use their Augmented Fusion Driver in longer spurts thanks to the decreased cooldown time. All of this paired together makes Fortify an incredibly strong ability, especially if players use it for both defensive and offensive purposes.

Stay up close and personal

Orisa can be a strong attacking tank as long as they have the right support behind them.

The number one thing to remember when using Orisa is to stay away from long-range combat. Orisa’s Augmented Fusion Driver is abysmal at long range and the Energy Javelin will require a perfect shot to hit an enemy from far away, especially if players are trying to pin an enemy to a wall.

All of this is to say that players should be taking fights at close range instead of shying away. Orisa possesses the close-range capabilities to take out an enemy fairly quickly, so players shouldn’t be afraid of a DPS hero near them. Of course, we’re also talking about a tank here, so know your limits. While Orisa can deal significant damage in close range, taking on multiple DPS enemies at the same time will almost always end in defeat unless you’ve activated Fortify or decided to use Terra Surge behind enemy lines.

Other Orisa Tips

A quick DPS enemy such as Reaper or Tracer will be difficult to counter as Orisa, as they have multiple ways to deal damage while easily evading Orisa’s weapons. The Javelin Spin is useless against Zarya’s Particle Cannon, so think up another strategy if you see that on the map.Orisa’s biggest weakness might be other tanks, especially Reinhardt, who can deal more damage than Orisa in close range. When choosing to attack as Orisa, don’t go at it solo. Make sure you have the right teammate support behind you, as you might not have the HP to survive multiple encounters.

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