Overwatch 2 players debate the identity of “tankbuster” heroes

Overwatch has several heroes that have emerged as “tankbusters” over the years, but with one less tank on the team after the switch to Overwatch 2, players have been wondering if their identity is fading.

Heroes that play well into Tanks are usually able to burn them down reliably and hold their own at closer ranges, where most Tanks want to fight. Heroes like Reaper and Bastion are quintessential tank counters, and make for a very good swap if a Winston or Roadhog is becoming too much of a problem.

But the days of two tanks on a team are well behind us. With one less health pool to sink damage into, the need for dedicated tank counters has also gone down, especially when supports like Ana have also emerged as hard counters to the tank roster.

This has prompted some players to question if the “tankbuster” heroes are losing their identity.

“Tankbuster” heroes lose identity after switch to 5v5

One player took to the Overwatch subreddit to discuss what the point of tank-busting was in a game with only one tank per team, saying: “The whole game was built around a 6v6 core gameplay style. Now there is just 1 tank that has to do the job of 2 but some characters, like Bastion, are still around doing damage like there are 2 tanks and shields to shred through.

“And, as much as it pains me to say it as an Ana main, Anti-nade can be a death sentence for a single tank and a team push.”

Several players agreed with the sentiment, with another describing the gameplay loop of Bastion: “tank busters are kind of redundant and just force you into this playstyle of never doing anything. Which is incredibly boring.”

Another player pointed out that too many of the game’s mechanics were still designed around the 6v6: “There’s a lot of abilities that only existed because of needing to be able to deal with double tank, and have no reason to remain in 5v5. Discord orb, Bastion turret, hack, none of those need to be in a game with solo tank.”

Discord orb in particular has been a sore point for tank players for a while now, as it generates so much value at very little risk to the Zen player.

For more news and updates on the Overwatch 2 meta, check out our breakdown of what makes Ana so strong in the current state of the game.