Reinhardt Overwatch 2 – Everything you need to know

Overwatch 2 is a fantastic team-based first-person shooter that lets players choose from 35 different heroes to build the perfect team. Each one of these heroes has their own unique playstyle, personality, weapons, and abilities. In addition to each hero being unique, they also each belong to one of three different roles that help to set them apart in combat. These roles are tanks that can defend their team, supports that can keep them healed, and DPS that can deal massive damage to their foes. Reinhardt is a powerful tank that can smash foes with his mighty hammer and keep his allies shielded with a barrier. Here is everything players need to know about using Reinhardt in Overwatch 2.

Who is Reinhardt in Overwatch 2?

Reinhard is a hard-charging tank that is capable of using his defensive barrier to shield his allies from harm. As a knight, he wields a large hammer, which he swings with devastating force in order to inflict massive damage to his foes. Able to dive into the fray to take any enemies out of position, or to simply put himself in harm’s way, Reinhardt is a powerful tank and has received a few small changes for the new Overwatch 2 meta. Still, players who used him previously in the original Overwatch will find him feeling very familiar and able to lead his team to victory.

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

Rework to tank heroes in Overwatch 2

In Overwatch 2 there have been a few changes to the game. The most glaring one, however, is the changes to how teams are structured. In the original Overwatch, teams consisted of 6 players each. However, in Overwatch 2, teams are now 5 players. This means there is one less tank per team, and to compensate for this, each role received their own passive ability to help strengthen them. For tanks, this passive ability is a 30% reduction in knockback effects in addition to a 50% reduction in Ultimate charge gained from attacking them. That means tanks like Reinhardt will be a lot harder to push around and farm for Ultimate in Overwatch 2.

Reinhardt’s abilities in Overwatch 2

Reinhardt has received a few changes in his abilities for Overwatch 2.  Namely, this is the removal of his passive, Steadfast, which has been replaced with the passive tank ability. In addition, his armor has been increased to 300 and his health has been raised to 325. These changes should make him feel tankier than previously. However, his team shielding abilities have slightly been lowered for Overwatch 2. Still, he remains a capable tank that can dish out punishment to any who stands in his way.

Rocket Hammer

Reinhardt’s melee weapon is a mighty Rocket Hammer. This weapon can deal severe damage to anyone in an arc in front of Reinhardt with every swing. The weapon does 85 damage and can hit all targets within 5 meters. However, due to the melee nature of his weapon, Reinhardt is not able to deal with targets at a distance and should aim to use his other abilities to close the gap.

Barrier Field

One of the key components of Reinhardt’s kit, the Barrier Field allows him to project a large shield in front of him that can prevent damage done to himself and his allies. When Reinhardt uses the Barrier Field ability, he is unable to attack enemies, but can still move, however, he receives a 30% reduction in his movement speed. The Barrier Field has had its HP lowered from 1600 to 1200 for Overwatch 2, and it now regenerates at 144 HP a second over the previous 200 HP a second when not in use.

Charge

A powerful ability, Charge lets Reinhardt move forward at 200% increased movement speed and travel up to 49.5 yards. For enemies that come in contact with Reinhardt during his Charge, he will grab hold of them, causing 50 damage. If Reinhardt continues to smash into a wall while holding his foe, they will take 225 additional damage (down from 300 from the original Overwatch). For Overwatch 2, not only was the damage tuned, but Reinhardt has received a 50% increase in the turning rate during the charge in addition to allowing it to be manually canceled. The cooldown was also reduced to 8 seconds instead of 10.

These changes to Charge may have reduced the total damage, but made it able to have more frequent use and have made it easier to snag enemies during a Charge.

Fire Strike

When Reinhardt uses Fire Strike, he flings a flaming projectile forward toward any enemies located in front of him. This projectile is capable of piercing barriers, enemies, and any other entities that can take damage. For Overwatch 2, this ability has received 2 charges instead of 1, however, the damage was reduced to 90 from 100. This should make it easier for players to deal damage with the ability and be able to use it much more often. Fire Strike has a cooldown of 6 seconds per charge.

Earthshatter

As Reinhardt’s Ultimate Ability, Earthshatter allows him to slam his Rocket Hammer into the ground with extreme force, dealing damage to enemies within 20 yards and knocking them over. The ability has a radius of 20 meters and can stun entire teams if Reinhardt has a line of sight to them. While it does 50 damage to enemies in the radius, it will deal an additional 200 for any that are within 1.75 meters of Reinhardt when he uses it. If this ability is used at the right time, he can interrupt certain abilities and can single-handedly change the course of a team fight with the careful execution of Earthshatter.

Tips for using Reinhardt in Overwatch 2

Reinhardt is definitely the most defensive-oriented tank in Overwatch 2. With his massive barrier, he can shield his team and help them move to key locations while under fire. He boasts a lot of life and armor as well, which can make it difficult for the enemy to take him down, especially when he has a pocket healer, such as Mercy. However, though he has a lot of durability, he is easily out-ranged by any enemies that can fight him outside of his short melee range. While he does have the ability to Charge enemies or hit them with Fire Strike, his biggest tradeoff to having massive defense is a severely weakened ability to engage foes outside of close combat.

Still, for any players who pick up Reinhardt, they will find he is a very strong addition to any team, and his combination of his Barrier Field and Earthshatter can help him to get into the thick of things before knocking down any foes that are nearby.

Pick Reinhardt and charge into victory

Reinhardt can be a strong addition to any team composition. With the changes to tanks in Overwatch 2, armor has more of an impact on their survivability, and Reinhardt certainly has a lot of it. Because of this, players looking for a defensive and melee-oriented character can pick Reinhardt and charge their way into victory in Overwatch 2.