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There are a lot of systems and abilities to keep track of in Overwatch 2. From the level layouts and the strategies they encourage to the many individual abilities of the game’s cast of characters, understanding the depths of Overwatch 2 can be a little daunting if not broken down into smaller pieces.
One mechanic to keep in mind when choosing a character at the start of a match is what passive ability, if any, they have. While the most important thing about a character is their tactical abilities and how they work to create the character’s specific role in combat, proper passive use can be the difference between victory and defeat in some cases.
Use the information below to figure out which passive abilities work best for you and your specific playstyle.
More Overwatch 2 guides:
| How to Unlock the Founder’s Pack | How to Unlock Role Queue | How to Unlock Every Character | Can You Fix “0 Players Ahead of You” Error? | Does it Have Crossplay and Cross-Progression? | How to Merge Accounts | Which Characters are Unlocked and Free? | Best Characters in Each Class For Beginners | How to Play Tracer | How to Play Kiriko | What Does MIT Mean? | What Do Endorsements Do & What Do They Mean? | How to Get Golden Weapons | How to Play Orisa | Role Passives Explained |
What are Passive Abilities?
Passive abilities are abilities that are specific to certain characters. Unlike regular abilities, passives don’t necessarily need to be activated in order to work. They also don’t have cool times associated with them, although given their widely differing natures, most can’t be used consecutively. They’re listed on a character’s “Hero Details” page all the way on the right with their Role Passive (more information on that below.)
All Passive Abilities
Below is the full list of individual passive abilities for the current roster of characters in Overwatch 2. If a character isn’t listed, they don’t have a passive ability.
- Baptiste – Exo Boots: Hold crouch to jump higher.
- Bastion – Iron Clad: Incoming damage reduced while transformed.
- Brigitte – Inspire: Dealing damage to enemies heals nearby allies.
- D.Va – Eject!: Eject out of your mech when it is destroyed.
- Doomfist – The Best Defense…: Dealing damage with abilities creates temporary personal health.
- Echo – Glide: Hold jump to glide when falling.
- Genji – Cyber-Agility: Climb on walls and double jump.
- Hanzo – Wall Climb: Jump at walls to climb them.
- Junker Queen – Adrenaline Rush: Heal from all damage over time dealt by wounds.
- Junkrat – Total Mayhem: Deals no damage to self with explosives. Drops bombs on death.
- Kiriko – Wall Climb: Jump at walls to climb up them.
- Lucio – Wall Ride: Jump onto a wall to ride along it.
- Mercy – Regeneration: Role: Support passive is greatly increased (automatically heal over time.)
- Pharah – Hover Jets: Hold to hover.
- Reaper – The Reaping: Dealing damage heals you.
- Sombra – Opportunist: You detect critically injured enemies through walls, and deal 40% more damage to hacked enemies.
- Zarya – Energy: Damage blocked by barriers increases Particle Cannon damage.
- Zenyatta – Snap Kick: Quick melee damage increased by 50% and its knockback is significantly increased.
It’s worth noting that, even though it’s not listed as a passive ability, Genji and Tracer both have increased movement speed compared to the rest of the cast.
Role Passive Abilities
While all characters might not have unique passives, they all have at least one associated with their class. This means that the characters listed above have two passives, the one listed and their role passive. For a full breakdown of role passive abilities, check out our guide right here.
