Overwatch 2 pros are currently duking it out in the Overwatch League playoffs – the culmination of six months of competitive play in the Blizzard multiplayer game. The finals have already adopted the first post-release round of Overwatch 2 nerfs set to land in the live game later in November, leaving some fans concerned about the speed of Overwatch 2 updates. Perhaps more notably, however, watching the top players in action has led many to conclude what they’d already suspected – Overwatch 2 DPS hero Sojourn is currently the game’s most OP character.
Sojourn is one of three new Overwatch 2 characters introduced for the sequel, and she’s taken a key place in the grand finals meta alongside fellow newcomer Kiriko and series mainstays Lucio, Reaper, and Winston. Following the changes to popular tanks Zarya and D.Va, teams have almost unanimously settled on the Winston composition led by Overwatch’s iconic monkey scientist. The five characters all currently have over a 90% pick rate in the ongoing tournament so far, with Orisa and Tracer the only other heroes to get any notable playtime.
While all these heroes are critical to the composition that has seen some more highly rated teams such as the LA Gladiators and last year’s champions the Shanghai Dragons knocked out in favour of relative underdogs including the London Spitfire and the Houston Outlaws, there’s a wide perception that many fights simply come down to which team’s Sojourn is better. It’s allowed teams such as the Hangzhou Spark to punch above their perceived weight thanks to the unflappable aim of DPS star Zheng ‘Shy’ Yangjie with her railgun, which can one-shot all but the game’s tankiest heroes with a well-placed charged headshot.
Sojourn only gets stronger with support hero Kiriko’s ultimate, Kitsune Rush – the boosted rate of fire and reload speed on her primary let Sojourn charge up her deadly railgun blasts even more rapidly, meaning she often doesn’t even need her own ultimate to completely wipe an enemy team out. Fans on the Overwatch Reddit and on Twitter are astonished by how strong the character seems, querying why she wasn’t hit with any nerfs in the recent update.
During a Twitter Spaces discussion, the balance team noted that, while Sojourn does feel strong, the team is wary of nerfing her railgun too much – it’s a high-precision ability that excels at higher levels of play but requires good aim to hit consistently. If you’re missing your shots, her primary fire is less effective than that of fellow DPS Soldier: 76 (and without his handy group healing ability). However, it’s undeniable that she feels strong right now – even Winston’s presence in the meta is largely because his shield is a good way to slow down Sojourn’s damage output.
Personally, I’ve found Sojourn one of the most fun heroes to play since the Overwatch 2 launch – her relatively high mobility lets her more easily traverse terrain and get out of trouble or chase down fleeing supports, and her primary fire is still pretty consistent even at range despite being a projectile. Did you know her first several shots in a burst have perfect aim before they start to spread out? You do now.
Plenty of community suggestions are floating around for how to adjust Sojourn, from simple damage number tweaks to the removal of the ability for her railgun shot to crit. Perhaps one of the most intriguing is a slow to her charge build-up and a much faster decay on the charge after not shooting anything, keeping the general flow and ‘identity’ of the character but preventing her from walking around for several seconds between fights with an instant one-click headshot stored up. I’m certainly no balance expert, however – it’ll be interesting to see what the team comes up with, and whether it solves fan concerns.
Meanwhile, the Overwatch League playoffs are ongoing with the grand finals set for November 4 and, while they are looking to be among the least diverse yet for Overwatch in terms of team composition, the matches themselves have been a lot of fun to watch. You can also earn free Overwatch 2 skins for watching the matches, so if you’re a fan of Overwatch then it’s probably worth tuning in to see what it’s all about.
Meanwhile, Overwatch 2 event skin bundles are now being sold separately, but that hasn’t solved players’ concerns with the price of microtransactions in the free game. An Overwatch 2 Mei bug has seen the cryogenic Chinese climatologist sidelined temporarily – check out our Overwatch 2 tier list for the best characters to play in the meantime. We’ve also got a comprehensive guide to the best Overwatch 2 settings to ensure you’re operating at your peak potential – whether you’re picking Sojourn or not.