Ana Overwatch 2 – Everything you need to know

Overwatch 2 is a team-based first-person shooter game that lets players choose from 35 different heroes that each have unique abilities. In addition to selecting from a hero, players will fit into a specific role on a team. These roles include tank, healer, and damage. Teams consist of 5 players, where there will be 2 damage, 2 support, and 1 tank. Because of this, choosing the right character for each role is paramount for success. Ana is a long-range support hero who specializes in putting down flanking enemies and countering pushes. Here is everything players need to know about playing Ana in Overwatch 2.

Who is Ana in Overwatch 2?

Ana may look very unique with her cloak and a large sniper rifle, but she will primarily be hanging out in the backlines of combat. In Overwatch 2, Ana’s role in combat is to support her team using her array of different skills combined with her Biotic Rifle. She plays similar to a sniper character, preferring to stay back out of harm’s way while supporting her team from afar. The best way to improve with Ana is to learn how to use her abilities which can greatly help her team.

Note: You can read about all of the Overwatch 2 characters here.

Support characters were reworked in Overwatch 2

In Overwatch 2, support characters were reworked to allow for more self-sustain of their own HP. Previously, some characters had limited ways to be able to recover, save for grabbing some health from a pickup or using a long cooldown. This allowed the enemy team to easily whittle them down over time. With the new update, when support characters do not take damage for a few seconds, they begin to recover their own HP over time. This means that characters like Ana who stay in the backlines, they can dip into cover, heal up and get back to supporting their team.

Ana’s abilities in Overwatch 2

In Overwatch 2, some of Ana’s abilities have been slightly reworked to allow for the new way that supports character functions. Because of this, she will see a bit of a different playstyle than previously. However, Ana is still a strong character and a great choice for anyone supporting a large tank character such as Reinhardt. By using her abilities effectively, anyone can use her to successfully guide their team to victory.

Biotic Rifle

One of the most versatile aspects of her character, the Biotic Rifle lets Ana concentrate on doing damage as well as healing her team with the same weapon. How the Biotic Rifle functions is that when the player fires it in hip-fire mode, it fires projectiles that will heal any allies it hits and damage enemies. When a bullet hits a teammate, it applies a heal-over-time effect. If the ally is at full health, the bullet will pass through them. When the bullet hits an enemy, it will have the opposite effect and apply a damage over time effect which can be cleansed from the player.

The Biotic Rifle can also be zoomed in by using the scope. When the rifle is fired in the scoped mode, it will become a hitscan weapon. This means that players do not have to account for travel time. This mode allows players to hit enemies or heal allies that are very far away and contributes nicely to Ana’s playstyle of standing back from the fights.

Ana’s Biotic Rifle has been increased to 15 rounds for Overwatch 2, up from 12 which allows her to stay in the fight longer before reloading.

Sleep Dart

Sleep Dart is a fantastic ability that Ana has access to that can help to save her own or an allies life. When fired, the dart will put the enemy target it hits to sleep for up to 5 seconds. However, if the enemy takes damage they will wake up after .5 seconds. In addition to using it to escape pursuing enemies, Ana can use it to sleep a priority target and tag them for her team who can then eliminate them. This ability has an increased cooldown in Overwatch 2, from 12 seconds up to 15 seconds. However, with Ana’s new sustaining ability from the support rework, she does not need to rely on it as much to escape.

Biotic Grenade

Biotic Grenade is another versatile tool that Ana has at her disposal. This ability lets Ana throw a grenade that will not only heal her allies, but will increase further healing on them by 50%. In addition, if any enemies are struck by the grenade, they will take damage and will have prevented heals for a few seconds. This duration was changed from 4 seconds to 3 seconds in Overwatch 2, and it is still nonetheless a very powerful ability that can change entire team fights.

Nano Boost

When Ana gains access to her fully-charged Ultimate Ability, Nano Boost, she has the power to not only heal a target for a large amount but to increase their damage output as well as damage resistance. When used, Nano Boost heals the target for 250 HP. In addition, it increases damage by 50% and increases damage resistance by 50%. It should be noted that players cannot have damage resistance higher than 50%, but this ability still can make any character much tankier. In addition, players can prime a target with Biotic Grenade prior to using Nano Boost and get a very large heal that can bring almost any target back from the brink of death.

Tips for using Ana in Overwatch 2

Ana is best used as a long-range team support and plays similar to any other sniper in Overwatch 2. With low mobility, it is advised to stay behind teammate’s barriers and cover. Though she has a decent amount of damage, as a support she cannot defeat foes as fast as true damage classes, and her primary objective should be supporting her team. Due to her fire rate, she can heal single targets faster than any other support. This also makes her a sitting duck, and she will be the primary focus of the enemy team.

Ana is weak against characters that can flank her, such as Genji or Lucio, and her escape options are limited aside from sleep dart. However, if a player can pop into cover, they can easily strike foes from maximum range and keep their team in the fight. Players should prioritize using her Nano Boost on targets that already deal a lot of damage with their ultimates, such as Reaper and Soldier 76. When combined with a Nano Boost, the results can be devastating to the enemy team.

Pick up Ana and support the team in Overwatch 2

While every character has their own strengths and weaknesses, Ana can be a good pick for both beginners and experienced players alike. Her versatility is a boon for any team she is on, and with the addition of another support character to help her out due to her low mobility, she can keep her team alive from almost anywhere on the battlefield. Choose Ana and get all the fun of a sniper with the benefits of a support character as she guides her team to victory in Overwatch 2!