Mei Overwatch 2 – Everything you need to know

Overwatch 2 is a team-based first-person shooter that lets players choose from a wide variety of different characters. In Overwatch 2, there are now 35 total heroes that players can use. Each one has their own unique abilities, weapons, personality, and playstyle. In addition, each of these heroes falls into one of three different roles they can undertake to help their teams in combat. These roles are tanks that can protect their team, supports that can heal them, and DPS that can deal a massive amount of damage to their foes. Mei is a DPS hero that specializes in using her cold-based powers to slow and freeze her enemies to control the battlefield. Here is everything that players need to know about using Mei in Overwatch 2.

Who is Mei in Overwatch 2?

Mei is a DPS-focused character that can use special weather-altering technology to slow her foes and even protect her team with large pieces of ice as barriers. Her kit lets her shut down large areas of the battlefield and her ice can make it difficult for her enemies to hit her or push her team. In addition, Mei has defensive options that can make her hard to defeat. Used correctly, Mei can help her team by shutting down the enemy and slowing difficult-to-hit heroes down to more manageable speeds, allowing her team to defeat them.

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

DPS heroes were reworked in Overwatch 2

One of the biggest changes in Overwatch 2 is that now player matchups consist of two teams of 5 players each, rather than 6. What this means for players is that there is now one less tank on each team. To compensate for this change in teams, each role received a special passive ability that can help them out in combat. For DPS heroes, this ability lets them gain a 25% movement and reload speed bonus whenever they eliminate an enemy. While this effect cannot stack from multiple eliminations, each one will reset the duration of the effect. For DPS characters like Mei, this can greatly help her to steamroll through multiple foes with ease.

Mei’s abilities in Overwatch 2

In Overwatch 2, each hero has their own special theme and playstyle. For Mei, this revolves around slowing down enemies that threaten her and her team. All of her abilities are focused on cold, and this is reflected by her ability to slow and freeze the enemy team. By mastering her abilities, players will be able to lock down the enemy and help their team push towards victory.

Endothermic Blaster

As Mei’s main form of attack, the Endothermic Blaster has seen some changes for Overwatch 2. Primarily, the weapon is used to build up stacks and then eventually cause the enemy to completely freeze. In Overwatch 2, this weapon can no longer freeze enemies. Instead, its primary fire method shoots a short-range burst of cold out towards targets, which damages them and slows them by 50%. Previously, the slow used to build up to 50% before freezing, but now it will always be 50% right from the first hit.

In addition, Mei can use her secondary fire mode to shoot icicles from her weapon. Rather than a short-range burst of cold, these are fired as projectiles that can hit enemies at longer ranges and can do much higher damage per hit. However, these icicles take 10 ammo per shot from the 150-round (updated from 120 in Overwatch) magazine.

Cryo-Freeze

Cryo-Freeze is an ability that can give Mei a lot of survivability. When used, it will instantly encase her in ice, which will make her invulnerable. In addition, it heals her for 50HP every second and removes all negative effects (except for Sigma’s Gravitic Flux as of Overwatch 2). Because of this, players can use it as a panic button to escape being eliminated, or they can sneak away and use it to quickly get back in the fight if no healer is around. However, as players cannot move while this is going on, they should be wary of using this as enemies can position themselves to be able to punish Mei when the effect ends. It can also be ended prematurely, has a duration of 3 seconds, and has a 12-second cooldown.

Ice Wall

When used, Ice Wall will summon a wall of ice up to 20 meters in front of her. This ability was nerfed slightly in Overwatch 2, reducing the HP of the wall from 400 to 250 HP and the range from 35 to 20 meters. However, this is still a powerful ability that can wall off reinforcements for the enemy and protect Mei and her team from harm. Ice wall has a cooldown of 12 seconds.

Blizzard

As Mei’s Ultimate Ability, Blizzard is an AoE attack that can damage and slow or even freeze her enemies. When used, she throws out a weather-altering drone that will begin to affect an area for 4.25 seconds. During the duration of the ability, all enemy players inside of the 10-meter radius will be slowed immediately to 50% less movement speed, stacking at 20% more per second they are inside (capped at 70%). Inside the Blizzard, players also take 20 damage per second. In addition, players who spend too long inside the Blizzard will be frozen completely and be unable to move at all. This ability can shut down entire teams, force them to move off of objectives, or face being frozen solid.

Tips for using Mei in Overwatch 2

While Mei did receive some nerfs in Overwatch 2, she will play largely the same as she did in the original Overwatch and will feel familiar with returning players. The loss of her being able to completely freeze players with her primary and stun them is a hit to her viability, but being able to apply the 50% slow instantly can make up for it. In addition, she received a larger magazine in her weapon, which can keep her in the fight for longer.

Players who want to play Mei will want to master the art of fighting enemies 1v1, as she excels in that due to her slowing abilities. She can use her ice wall to cut enemies off from her team, strike them down, and then heal up with her ability to get back in the fight. She can be a powerhouse that can change the entire course of a match with her Ultimate, however, players will not want to bite off more than they can chew and engage too many foes at once.

Pick Mei to change the outcome to a win in Overwatch 2

While Mei can change the weather, with a good player at the helm, she can change the outcome of a battle as well. For those looking for an exciting DPS hero with a lot of survivability, Mei is a solid choice. While she may not have as much utility as she did have, she is still a force to be reckoned with and will be able to make some solid plays after players give her some practice in Overwatch 2.