How exactly do hero bans work in Overwatch 2? Here’s our quick guide on the new feature.
Overwatch 2's latest director's take was led by senior designer Gavin Winter, who detailed what players can expect from the new Overwatch 2 hero bans debuting in Season 16. Here's our quick guide on how hero bans work in Overwatch 2.
How Overwatch 2 hero bans work
- Select your preferred heroes
- Press the "Ready" button
- Select up to three heroes you wish to ban
- Press the "Ready" button
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Overwatch 2 hero bans explained
According to Winter, you cannot see the enemy team during the ban phase. This means you cannot target-ban other players. Match text chat is also disabled for the entire lobby, but you can still use team chat.
Before you vote for your hero bans, you must choose your preferred heroes. Your heroes can be changed during this phase as well. The screenshot above indicates Cassidy and Soldier: 76 as the preferred damage characters. Next, press the "Ready" button. While doing this doesn't protect the heroes from being banned, it does let your team know about your ideal picks.
Teams don't take turns to vote on hero bans. This means every player gets to select three hero bans, with the first choice being weighed at seven, the second choice worth five, and the third choice worth three. In total, Overwatch 2 players can expect four bans in total per match. This means two hero bans per team.
Winter also went over the conditions that cover all of the different hero ban situations. For example, no more than two heroes in each role can be banned, ties are broken randomly, and players can press the "Ready" button to pass on banning heroes.
That's all for now. Are you ready for Season 16? Stick around on esports.gg for more Overwatch 2 news and updates.
