Overwatch 2: Overwatch Classic, Explained

In Overwatch 2, there are usually one or two limited-time game modes that occur with each season, with these taking the form of annual events such as Halloween Terror’s Wrath of the Bride and Junkenstein’s Revenge (plus the more recent Junkenstein’s Lab), or more frequently recurring one-offs, such as the Quick Play: Hacked modes, to test potential tweaks and changes to the game such as team compositions, passive abilities, and more.

Ever since the launch of Overwatch 2, the whole 5v5 or 6v6 debate has been a hot topic, with many longtime players and fans having a preference for the 6v6 composition, abilities, maps, and general mechanics of the original Overwatch. As of Overwatch 2’s Competitive Season 13, a new limited-time game mode has been introduced, titled Overwatch Classic. Overwatch Classic aims to bring nostalgia back to longtime players, as well as offer newer players an opportunity to try out heroes in previous states, older maps and game modes such as Assault/2 CP, and more. All relevant information about Overwatch Classic, including the run-times and which characters are involved has been included in the guide below.

Overwatch Classic Mode in Overwatch 2, Explained

In Overwatch 2, Overwatch Classic is a first-time Arcade game mode that mirrors the original Overwatch game’s state upon release, meaning teams are composed of six players on each side, heroes are limited to the original roster and feature their original abilities, passive, and cooldown times, plus only the original Map pool will be available—yes, this includes those Overwatch 1 Assault/2 CP maps such as Temple of Anubis and Hanamura.

Overwatch Classic began on November 12, 2024, and will last a total of three weeks. Until November 19, the original no-hero limit rule is in play, meaning players can double up and mix and match not only between roles but also Heroes. If you’ve ever wanted to run a crazy team like six Winstons or five Mercys and a Cassidy, then this is your chance. Following November 19, single hero limits will be in play, meaning that you can still mix and match between different roles to build your team, but only one player will be able to select a certain Hero at a time.

All Original Heroes & Abilities in Overwatch Classic

In Overwatch Classic, the hero pool is limited to the original 21 characters who were available upon the release of Overwatch 1. This means that all original abilities, such as the notorious Hanzo Scatter Arrow and Bastion Self-Heal, have returned to gameplay. However, in Overwatch Classic, you are not restricted to playing Defense DPS whilst defending or Attack DPS while attacking, giving players the opportunity to try out as many characters as possible.

All original abilities and changes have been noted below, as of the official patch notes for this event:

Attack DPS

Cassidy

• Peacekeeper
  • Accurate, powerful revolver
• Peacekeeper
  • Wildly fire remaining rounds
• Combat Roll
  • Roll in the direction you’re moving and reload
• Flashbang
  • Stun enemies in front of you
• Deadeye
  • Face off against your enemies. Press your Ultimate to lock on, then Primary Fire to fire.

Cassidy’s damage output will be more increased than what you may be used to in
Overwatch 2
with fanning the hammer dealing 70 damage per projectile. Cassidy’s Flashbang is restored to its original form where heroes caught in its blast will be immobilized for a few seconds, leaving them vulnerable to attack. Finally, Deadeye has more versatility, as Cassidy can cancel from firing and save up to half of his Ultimate charge.

Genji

• Cyber-Agility
  • `Climb on walls and double jump
• Shuriken
  • Throw an accurate burst of 3 projectiles
• Shuriken (Alt)
  • ​​​​​​​Throw a fan of 3 projectiles in an arc
• Swift Strike
  • ​​​​​​​Rapidly dash forward and inflict damage on enemies. Eliminations reset the cooldown
• Deflect
  • ​​​​​​​Deflect incoming projectiles toward the direction you are aiming and block melee attacks
• Dragonblade
  • ​​​​​​​Unsheathe a deadly melee weapon

Genji’s Dragonblade won’t be able to be ignored so easily as he can attack for up to eight seconds. Genji is also more mobile as Double Jump will reset as you wall climb.

Pharah

• Rocket Launcher
  • ​​​​​​​Long-range explosive projectile weapon
• Jump Jet
  • ​​​​​​​Fly rapidly upwards
• Concussive Blast
  • ​​​​​​​Launch an explosive blast to knock back enemies
• Barrage
  • ​​​​​​​Launch a continuous volley of mini-rockets
• Hover Jets
  • ​​​​​​​Hold Jump to hover

Pharah’s original kit allows her more opportunities to stay in the air longer and can have more potential to “boop” opponents from ledges using her Concussive Blast. She also deals higher splash explosion damage from the rockets in her Rocket Launcher.

Reaper

• Hellfire Shotguns
  • ​​​​​​​Short-range spread weapons
• Wraith Form
  • ​​​​​​​Move faster and become invulnerable, but you cannot shoot
• Shadow Step
  • ​​​​​​​Teleport to a targeted location
• Death Blossom
  • ​​​​​​​Damage all nearby enemies
• The Reaping
  • ​​​​​​​Collect Soul Globes to restore health

Aside from the broader damage changes in
Overwatch 2,
Reaper’s passive, The Reaping, will return to its original form where Soul Globes will be dropped from defeated enemies that Reaper can pick up to gain 50 HP. Also, plan how you use Wraith Form as it cannot be canceled early.

Soldier: 76

• Heavy Pulse Rifle
  • ​​​​​​​Automatic assault weapon
• Helix Rockets
  • ​​​​​​​Launch a volley of explosive rockets
• Sprint
  • ​​​​​​​Run faster while moving forward
• Biotic Field
  • ​​​​​​​Deploy a field that heals you and your allies
• Tactical Visor
  • ​​​​​​​Automatically aims your weapon at targets in view

Soldier: 76’s Heavy Pulse Rifle deals less damage at 17 damage per projectile, but the rifle has no recoil and will instead have increased spread the longer you hold it.

Tracer

• Pulse Pistols
  • ​​​​​​​Short-range automatic weapons
• Blink
  • ​​​​​​​Teleport in the direction you are moving
• Recall
  • ​​​​​​​Travel back in time to your previous location and health
• Pulse Bomb
  • ​​​​​​​Throw out a powerful sticky explosive

Pulse Bomb can deal incredibly high damage that can finish off most heroes.

Defense DPS

Bastion

• Configuration: Recon
  • ​​​​​​​Mobile with a light automatic weapon
• Configuration: Sentry
  • ​​​​​​​Immobile with a powerful rotary cannon
• Configure
  • ​​​​​​​Switch between weapon configurations
• Self-Repair
  • ​​​​​​​Heal yourself
• Configuration: Tank
  • ​​​​​​​Mobile with a powerful cannon

Bastion
is a tricky hero who can make chokepoints nearly impassable when staged in Sentry Form by firing a steady volley of machine gun fire, though he cannot move and has a limited amount of ammo while in Sentry form. This makes his biggest weakness—getting attacked from behind—easy to exploit if the opponent can flank around him. Don’t forget to use the Self-Repair to heal Bastion when you are not dealing damage. Also, watch out, as Configuration: Tank will deal massive bursts of damage as Bastion freely roams the battlefield in tank form.

Hanzo

• Storm Bow
  • ​​​​​​​Hold to charge then release to launch arrows further
• Sonic Arrow
  • ​​​​​​​Reveals enemies for a short time upon impact
• Scatter Arrow
  • ​​​​​​​Splits into multiple ricochet arrows on impact
• Dragonstrike
  • ​​​​​​​Launch a deadly Dragon Spirit that devastates any enemies it passes through
• Wall Climb
  • ​​​​​​​Jump at walls to climb up them

Hanzo’s most notable change was swapping his original specialty arrow, the Scatter Arrow. This is a powerful choke-buster attack that will launch a volley of projectiles that reflect off of walls, which, combined with the Sonic Arrow, is a great way to stop a flanking target that may be hiding around the corner. It can also deal heavy damage to tanks if fired right at their feet. Hanzo won’t have his Lunge jump passive in Overwatch Classic, so his mobility is more limited.

Junkrat

• Frag Launcher
  • ​​​​​​​Bouncing explosive projectile weapon
• Concussion Mine
  • ​​​​​​​Throw a knockback mine with Ability 1 then detonate it with Alternate Fire
• Steel Trap
  • ​​​​​​​Place an immobilizing trap
• Rip-tire
  • ​​​​​​​Drive and detonate an exploding tire
• Total Mayhem
  • ​​​​​​​Drop bombs on death

Junkrat has a lot more risk to his own health, as damage from his Frag Launcher will be dealt to him as well. Concussion Mine only has one charge, which will limit how Junkrat can use the ability to jump into action or deal damage to opponents.

Mei

• Endothermic Blaster
  • ​​​​​​​Short-range spray weapon that freezes enemies
• Endothermic Blaster
  • ​​​​​​​Long-range icicle launcher
• Cryo-freeze
  • ​​​​​​​Become invulnerable and heal yourself
• Ice Wall
  • ​​​​​​​Create a wall in front of you
• Blizzard
  • ​​​​​​​Launch a weather control drone that freezes enemies in a wide area

The primary fire from Endothermic Blaster will quickly freeze individual enemies, allowing
Mei
to deal an icy-cold elimination with her Alternate Fire. Also, the Ice Wall will be a more formidable obstacle to take down, with each pillar having 500 health.

Torbjorn

• Rivet Gun
  • ​​​​​​​Slow-firing long-ranged weapon
• Forge Hammer
  • ​​​​​​​Swing to improve your turret or damage an enemy
• Rivet Gun
  • ​​​​​​​Inaccurate but powerful short-range weapon
• Build Turret
  • ​​​​​​​Build an upgradeable turret
• Armor Pack
  • ​​​​​​​Build an armor power-up
• Molten Core
  • ​​​​​​​Increase your weapon attack speed, gain additional armor, and temporarily upgrade a level 2 turret to level 3
• Scrap Collector
  • ​​​​​​​Collect scrap to gain resources

Collect scrap to deploy Armor packs that you or your allies can pick up for additional Armor HP. When you use Deploy Turret, a small, low-damage Level 1 will be placed, but you can use your Forge Hammer to upgrade it Level 2, which is the same turret that now deploys automatically in the live game. With the original Molten Core ultimate, power up Torbjorn with additional armor and faster movement, and instantly upgrade a Level 2 turret to the missile-launching, rapid-firing Level 3 turret to secure any battleground.

Widowmaker

• Widow’s Kiss
  • ​​​​​​​Automatic assault weapon
• Widow’s Kiss
  • ​​​​​​​Hold for long-ranged sniper weapon
• Grappling Hook
  • ​​​​​​​Launch a hook that pulls you toward a ledge
• Venom Mine
  • ​​​​​​​Launch a poison trap
• Infra-sight
  • ​​​​​​​Provide your team with a view of the enemy’s location

Widowmaker is far more lethal with faster charge shots and more damage dealt at long-range. However, Widowmaker will be more vulnerable each time she uses Grappling Hook as it carries a longer cooldown.

Tanks

D.Va

• Fusion Cannons
  • ​​​​​​​Automatic short-range spread weapons
• Light Gun
  • ​​​​​​​Automatic weapon
• Boosters
  • ​​​​​​​Fly in the direction you are facing
• Defense Matrix
  • ​​​​​​​Block projectiles in an area in front of you
• Self-Destruct
  • ​​​​​​​Eject and overload your mech, causing it to explode after a short time
• Call Mech
  • ​​​​​​​Call down a new mech
• Eject!
  • ​​​​​​​Eject out of your mech when it is destroyed

D.Va’s original kit is more static and lacks the Micro Missiles ability that would be added later in
Overwatch
. Notably, her Defense Matrix continuously channels its field for several seconds between a 10-second cooldown, and Pilot D.Va can be damaged from the blast of her own Self Destruct ability, which takes 4 seconds to explode, making it a challenge for Pilot D.Va to stay out of the blast radius of her own devastating ability.

Reinhardt

• Rocket Hammer
  • ​​​​​​​Devastating melee weapon
• Barrier Field
  • ​​​​​​​Deploy a frontal energy barrier
• Charge
  • ​​​​​​​Charge forward and smash an enemy against a wall
• Fire Strike
  • ​​​​​​​Launch a fiery projectile
• Earthshatter
  • ​​​​​​​Knock down all enemies in front of you

While Reinhardt won’t have the advantage of two charges to his Fire Strike and has a smaller HP pool, his Earthshatter will have more horizontal and vertical range to catch enemies off guard. Also, he will be able to mitigate incoming damage as his Barrier Health is much higher than in the live game.

Roadhog

• Scrap Gun
  • ​​​​​​​Short-range spread weapon
• Scrap Gun
  • ​​​​​​​Medium-range spread weapon
• Chain Hook
  • ​​​​​​​Drag a targeted enemy to you
• Take a Breather
  • ​​​​​​​Heal yourself over a short time
• Whole Hog
  • ​​​​​​​Damage and knock back enemies in front of you

Carefully avoid the hook as it will catch anything and everything around it and can deal a lethal one-two combo between his scrap gun and melee for an easy finishing blow to most low HP heroes.

Winston

• Tesla Cannon
  • ​​​​​​​Electric frontal-cone weapon
• Jump Pack
  • ​​​​​​​Leap forward into the air. Landing on an enemy damages them
• Barrier Projector
  • ​​​​​​​Deploy a protective energy dome
• Primal Rage
  • ​​​​​​​Gain immense health, but you can only leap and punch enemies

Winston’s kit will be missing the long-range attack from his Tesla Cannon that was introduced in
Overwatch 2
. Also, carefully time your placements of Barrier Projector, as its cooldown starts only after the shield expires instead of when it is deployed.

Zarya

• Particle Cannon
  • ​​​​​​​Short-range linear beam weapon
• Particle Cannon
  • ​​​​​​​Energy grenade launcher
• Particle Barrier
  • ​​​​​​​Create a damage barrier around you
• Projected Barrier
  • ​​​​​​​Create a damage barrier around an ally
• Graviton Surge
  • ​​​​​​​Launch a gravity well that pulls enemies to it

Originally, Zarya had separate cooldowns for Particle Barrier and Projected Barrier, so be careful of when you use either to protect yourself or your teammates. However, Zarya’s ability to gain energy from these abilities is much higher than in the current live game.

Supports

Lucio

• Sonic Amplifier
  • ​​​​​​​Sonic projectile launcher
• Soundwave
  • ​​​​​​​Create a short-range blast wave to knock enemies away from you
• Crossfade
  • ​​​​​​​Increases the effectiveness of your current song
• Sound Barrier
  • ​​​​​​​Create temporary extra health for nearby allies

While the identity of
Lucio’s kit
has remained the same, his Crossfade will feel the most different, as it provides a radius of 30 meters versus the 10-meter range in his current kit, but with less healing for his allies. However, this enables him to be a great character to help rush his team to the next team fight with ease.

Mercy

• Caduceus Staff (Primary)
  • ​​​​​​​Hold to heal an ally
• Caduceus Blaster
  • ​​​​​​​Automatic weapon
• Caduceus Staff (Secondary)
  • ​​​​​​​Hold to increase an ally’s damage inflicted
• Guardian Angel
  • ​​​​​​​Fly towards an ally
• Resurrect
  • ​​​​​​​Revive dead teammates
• Angelic Descent
• Regeneration
  • ​​​​​​​Restore your own health after not taking any damage

Mercy’s
Resurrect ultimate works as a great teamfight counterplay, allowing her to target up to five allies in range to be resurrected immediately. Watch out if there are multiple Mercy players on your team, as the benefit from her Damage boost can be multiplied.

Symmetra

• Photon Projector
  • ​​​​​​​Short-range beam weapon with increasing damage
• Photon Projector
  • ​​​​​​​Hold to charge, release to fire an orb
• Sentry Turret
  • ​​​​​​​Deploy a small turret that damages and slows enemies
• Photon Shield
  • ​​​​​​​Give shields to an ally
• Teleporter
  • ​​​​​​​Deploy a teleporter that connects to the spawn room

Originally categorized as a Support hero,
Symmetra’s kit
was more geared toward providing utility to her allies than dealing damage directly. Her Photon Shield ability grants your allies additional Shield Health, which can regenerate as long as they are not eliminated. With Teleporter as her ultimate, you can place the exit teleporter anywhere on the map and be linked directly to your active spawn room. Consider playing more than one Symmetra to create complex sentry turret fortifications to wash clean any chokepoints from your opponents.

​​​​​​​Zenyatta

• Orb Of Destruction
  • ​​​​​​​Energy projectile weapon
• Orb Of Destruction
  • ​​​​​​​Charge to release more projectiles
• Orb of Harmony
  • ​​​​​​​Launch this orb at an ally to heal them
• Orb Of Discord
  • ​​​​​​​Launch this orb at an enemy to increase the damage they take
• Transcendence
  • ​​​​​​​Become invulnerable and heal nearby allies

Zenyatta’s kit
remains relatively unchanged, short of not having his Snap Kick passive that was added later. However, watch out for his Orb of Discord, as damage amplification increases 50% of the damage received on its target.

All Game Modes & Maps in Overwatch Classic

In Overwatch Classic, there are a total of twelve maps available across the Assault, Escort, Hybrid, and Control game modes. These maps have been noted below, many of which will not be available to play outside of certain other Arcade Modes and Custom Games following the Overwatch Classic event.

Assault / 2 CP

• Hanamura
• Temple of Anubis
• Volskaya

Control

Escort

• Dorado
• Route 66
• Watchpoint: Gibraltar

Hyrbid

• Hollywood
• King’s Row
• Numbani