Wrecking Ball Overwatch 2 – Everything you need to know

Overwatch 2 has a fantastic roster consisting of 35 different heroes for players to choose from. Each one of these heroes has their own unique playstyle, weapons, abilities, and personality. On top of each hero being unique, they also fit into one of three different roles in combat. These roles include tanks that can help to defend their teams from danger, supports to heal their allies, and DPS to do damage to the enemy. Wrecking Ball is a tank hero that can roll around, knocking his foes around and dealing damage with his arsenal of weapons. Here is everything that players need to know about playing Wrecking Ball in Overwatch 2.

Who is Wrecking Ball in Overwatch 2?

Wrecking ball is a tank consisting of a hamster inside of a gigantic metal robot that can transform into a ball. Using his extreme mobility, Wrecking Ball can roll around the map, knocking his foes around and defending objectives with his area denial effects. He was recently buffed for Overwatch 2, gaining increased armor at 150 (up from 100) and increased HP at 550 (up from 500). In addition, some of his other abilities were boosted as well, and the knockback from ramming into foes was increased by 36%. This makes him even better at doing what he always did, which is to be a Wrecking Ball to the enemy team.

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

Tank heroes were reworked in Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 has made some changes to the game from the original, but perhaps the largest change of all was the reduction in team size. In the original Overwatch, teams consisted of 6 players per team. However, in Overwatch 2, teams were reduced to 5 players per team. This means that each side has one less tank on their team. To compensate for this, each role in the game was given their own unique passive ability. For tanks, such as Wrecking Ball, this ability is a 30% reduction in knockback effects, as well as a 50% reduction in Ultimate gained by enemies who strike them. This will make Wrecking Ball much harder to knock around while allowing him to continue knocking the enemy team around.

Wrecking Ball’s abilities in Overwatch 2

While Wrecking Ball has been improved from the original Overwatch, players who played Wrecking Ball in the original game will feel right at home with him this time around. In fact, Wrecking Ball is overall stronger, with higher survivability and more knockback effects. However, as a tank, he is more concentrated on mobility and disruption, rather than defending his team. Still, with the right team composition, Wrecking Ball can make some powerful plays, especially when defending and holding an area.

Quad Cannons

Wrecking Ball’s primary weapons are the Quad Cannons. These are dual cannons that are mounted to the mech that Wrecking Ball inhabits. The Quad Cannons are fast-firing mid-range weapons that hold 80 rounds in the magazine. Each shot from the Quad Cannons does 5 damage to enemies. Manually reloading the Quad Cannons takes 2 seconds, however, when Wrecking Ball is in Roll form, they will automatically be reloaded after 2 seconds, which allows him to save time when repositioning.

Grappling Claw

The Grappling Claw is the ability by which Wrecking Ball gains his namesake. When used, Wrecking Ball shoots out a Grappling Claw that attaches to a surface and allows him to swing from it. If Wrecking Ball strikes an enemy while swinging, he will deal 50 damage to them and knock them back. Wrecking Ball can use Grappling Claw to spin constantly around a contested point, knocking enemies back and dealing damage. If Wrecking Ball uses this ability when in his mech’s combat mode, he will automatically enter Roll mode. Grappling Claw has a cooldown of 5 seconds.

Roll

When Wrecking Ball uses Roll, he will transform his mech into a gigantic ball. This ball has increased movement speed and allows Wrecking Ball to move quickly across the map. This ability can be used as long as needed, but if Wrecking Ball tries to attack, he will enter combat mode and will exit Roll. Roll has a cooldown of only .4 seconds and can be used very often to reposition as well as roll into enemies to deal damage and knock them back.

Adaptive Shield

As a tank hero, Wrecking Ball can use Adaptive Shield to increase his survivability in combat. When used, Adaptive Shield grants Wrecking Ball 100 shields, as well as 100 additional shields (up from 75 in Overwatch) per additional enemy located within 10 yards. This means that Wrecking Ball can quickly and easily gain reliable shields just by fighting closer to enemies. The shields gained by Adaptive Shield last for up to 9 seconds, and the ability has a cooldown of 15 seconds.

As this is the only true defensive option in Wrecking Ball’s kit, he should focus on using mobility to avoid his foes if running low on HP. Caught without this, Wrecking Ball can be picked off easily by large amounts of enemies.

Piledriver

When Wrecking Ball is flying through the air in his roll form, he can use his Piledriver ability. When used, it causes him to slam down onto the ground below him, causing up to 100 damage to enemies and knocking them up in the air. This can be used while up in the air from jumping off ledges, or when flung using Grappling Claw. This ability can be quite disruptive and used to interrupt certain hero abilities or to cause a brief moment for Wrecking Ball’s team to strike. Piledriver has a cooldown of 10 seconds.

Minefield

Minefield is Wrecking Ball’s Ultimate Ability in Overwatch and can be quite powerful in denying areas in a match. When used, Wrecking Ball drops 15 proximity mines that each cause 150 damage when detonated. Minefield can be used while on the ground or flying through the air. If used in the air, the spread of the mines will blanket a wider area, which can cause more chaos for the enemy team. When used on a highly contested point, Minefield can take out multiple players at once, and with the correct placement can single-handedly win games. Therefore, players will want to consider where they place their mines when using Wrecking Ball.

Tips for using Wrecking Ball in Overwatch 2

Wrecking Ball is an extremely mobile tank that can be very disruptive to the enemy team. The best use for his abilities are quickly moving around the map and using his knockback and disruption to split up the enemy team. This can create opportunities for his team to attack. In addition, he possesses strong area denial abilities, with his easy access to knockback effects as well as Minefield.

However, even with all his mobility, he does not offer his team much in the way of protection. In addition, if he does not have his Adaptive Shield cooldown, he can be very easy for the enemy team to take out. Wrecking Ball can roll very fast, but if he is outnumbered, he is a large target and can be easily hit by enemy fire and taken out. It is recommended that players who want to pick Wrecking Ball learn when to engage in fights and when to roll away after disrupting the enemy team. Careful switching between Roll and combat mode is also paramount, as after disrupting the enemy team, Wrecking Ball can pepper them with rounds from his Quad Cannons to tear them to shreds at close range.

Pick Wrecking Ball to roll into victory in Overwatch 2

Wrecking Ball can certainly be a fun hero to play in Overwatch 2. While he is not the greatest pick for keeping his team safe from harm, his disruptive abilities can work well for a team who can capitalize on them. Players who pick Wrecking Ball can help their team roll their way into victory when they use this hamster in Overwatch 2.