Our guide goes over all of the new Overwatch subroles. We also reveal why Overwatch is getting these sub-roles in the first place.
The Overwatch Spotlight event revealed that Season 1 kicks off with an exciting feature for its tank, damage, and support heroes. Read on for our succinct guide on everything you need to know about the new Overwatch subroles. These are also known as sub-passives. We also go over what the Overwatch team had to say about the new subroles.
How Overwatch subroles work
When Overwatch Season 1 starts on Feb. 10, players can expect all of the heroes to have new subroles. These subroles include Bruiser, Initiator, Stalwart, Sharpshooter, Flanker, Specialist, Recon, Tactician, Medic, and Survivor. The Survivor subrole, for example, goes to support heroes Mizuki, Brigitte, Illari, Juno, and Wuyang. During a match, using a movement ability activates passive health regeneration for these heroes.
All Overwatch subroles
Here are all of the different Overwatch subroles as well. We've organized them by tank, damage, and support heroes and in alphabetical order. You can search for specific heroes using CTRL + F on PC or the "Find in page" feature on mobile.
Tank/Damage/Support | Overwatch Subrole | How It Works | Heroes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tank | Bruiser | Reduces critical damage received. While at critical health, gain movement speed. | Mauga, Orisa, Roadhog, Zarya |
| Initiator | Staying airborne lightly heals you. | D.Va, Doomfist, Winston, Wrecking Ball | |
| Stalwart | Reduces knockbacks and slows received. | Domina, Hazard, Junker Queen, Ramattra, Reinhardt, Sigma | |
| DPS | Sharpshooter | Critical hits reduce your movement ability cooldowns. | Ashe, Cassidy, Hanzo, Sojourn, Widowmaker |
| Flanker | Health packs restore more health. | Anran, Genji, Reaper, Tracer, Vendetta, Venture | |
| Specialist | Eliminating an enemy briefly increases your reload speed. | Bastion, Emre, Junkrat, Mei, Soldier: 76, Symmetra, Torbjorn | |
| Recon | Detect enemies below half health through walls after damaging them. | Echo, Freja, Pharah, Sombra | |
| Support | Tactician | Gain excess ultimate charge that carries over after using your ultimate ability. | Ana, Baptiste, Jetpack Cat, Lucio, Zenyatta |
| Medic | Healing allies with your weapon also heals you. | Kiriko, Lifeweaver, Mercy, Moira | |
| Survivor | Using a movement ability activates passive health regeneration. | Brigitte, Illari, Juno, Mizuki, Wuyang |
Overwatch subroles explained
Senior game producer Kenny Hudson shared the reasoning behind this new subroles system as well. "It's not just about who's fighting. It's about how they fight. When Season 1 launches, they will no longer just be tanks, damage, and supports. Each role will have new subroles -- all of which will have unique new passives tailored directly to the skillset and combat style they bring to Overwatch," he said.
Hudson continued, "Damage heroes will now spread among Recon, Flanker, Specialist, and Sharpshooter subroles. Next, there will be Survivor, Medic, and Tactician supports. Lastly, do you prefer to be a Stalwart tank? Maybe a Bruiser instead that changes into battle? Or are you more of an initiated attacking the backline?"
He then made an interesting point about perks and how they're affected by the new Overwatch subroles. "Because subroles may change how you approach some of your favorite heroes, we're adjusting some perks as well," he said. "Over the last year, perks have had a huge impact on how you approach matchups, and we're continuing to explore not only how to tweak them for better balance, but also for the most fun way to play Overwatch."
That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more Overwatch news and updates.
