Overwatch 2 Junkrat Guide, Can He Become a Meta DPS

With Overwatch 2 bringing all sorts of changes, will Junkrat make the cut? Find out in our Junkrat Guide for Overwatch 2 if we think Junkrat will cut the mustard.

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The fact that Junkrat is not the most popular DPS in Overwatch probably doesn’t come as a surprise, at least to some people. He was famous in one meta a couple of years ago, but he was always a secondary option for most pro teams. Fortunately, many pub players used Junkrat a lot because he is very strong against people who don’t know how to play.

Since he was not that popular in Overwatch, we expected Overwatch 2 to change most of his abilities to make him worth picking. Unfortunately, Blizzard didn’t make any big changes, which means that he is almost the same. 

We played with Junkrat a lot during the open and closed beta, and it seems like he can work in some situations. However, the fact that teams only have five heroes now means that people who want to pick Junkrat need to know how to make the most of him.

With that being said, let’s learn more about him and how to take advantage of everything he offers.

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The changes

Before we share some information about Junkrat and how to use him in Overwatch 2, we’d like to point out a few important things about the changes. Perhaps the most impressive buff to him in OW 2 is related to his Frag Launcher. His projectile size increases from 0.20 to 0.25, which means that he can deal even more AoE damage. 

The second change to Junkrat in Overwatch 2 is to his Steel Trap. To be honest, this ability is not that good because people who play vs Junkrat know they can destroy it. However, some players forget about it and can die pretty easily once they are caught.

Speaking of dying, Junkrat’s Steel Trap in Overwatch 2 deals 100 damage, which is 20 more than in Overwatch. On top of that, this ability now has 15 projectile speed instead of 10. This means that Junkrat can throw it much faster and surprise his opponents.

Junkrat and his combos

The two new buffs are not that bad because many of the other heroes did not receive anything new. Frag Launcher’s larger hitbox means that you should be able to your opponents much easier and do as much damage as possible. Needless to say, you can also use this ability to destroy barriers and spam damage near a chokepoint.

Speaking of spamming, this is the thing that Junkrat is good at. This is not a hero that you get to counter someone. Instead, most people pick Junkrat when their team needs someone who deals a lot of AoE damage. In other words, he is great against a single-healer setup, especially if that healer is not Moira.

Following our tests, Junkrat works well in setups that rely on playing aggressively. He is good alongside heroes like Wreckingball and Rein because they allow him to deal even more damage. Since barriers in OW 2 are not as good as those in Overwatch, Junkrat’s damage can have even more impact.

If you learn how to use his abilities, you can kill anyone in a 1v1 matchup because Jukrat’s damage is pretty high. While it is true that he is not that good on every map, he can do wonders.

The counters

One of the first things we’d like to point out is that Junkrat can be a mobile hero as long sa you know how to use your abilities. Many people think he is boring because he is not as fast as Genji or Tracer. However, once you learn how to jump with your Concussion Mine, you will see that Junkrat can be pretty dangerous.

The bad news is that the lack of defensive abilities and the standard HP pool means he has a lot of counters. While it is true that his Trap could potentially save him from some heroes who want to kill him, there are many names he has to be aware of.

Starting with the snipers, pretty much all of them can be really hard to deal with. Junkrat is great in close-range fights, which means he can easily defeat heroes like Reaper. However, he is not good in long-range fights. Therefore, heroes like Widowmaker, Hanzo and Cassidy are hard to kill.

Even worse for Junkrat is a hero who can fly because he can only kill it with his mines. In other words, Pharah and Echo are usually among the best options you can get if you want to counter him.

As for tanks, Junkrat Rat is one of the heroes that often has no problems against most tanks. Junker Queen can be challenging because of her ability to lifesteal. However, you can always run away using your mine. Furthermore, you do more damage than her, so she shouldn’t be able to “man fight”.

Junkrat’s future

The fact that Junkrat was not the most popular hero in the open and close Overwatch 2 beta probably doesn’t come as a surprise. People were eager to test the new heroes, as well as play their favorite characters from Overwatch. Junkrat has a lot of fans, but he is not in the same league as names like Hanzo or Genji when it comes down to popularity.

Once the game becomes available in October, we expect Junkrat to become much more popular. Although he is a hero that does not work in every combo, he can be a viable option in many scenarios. The recent buffs allow him to do more damage, and the lack of barriers means he has no problems when it comes down to nuking his target.

Junkrat’s only downside is that he is weak against certain heroes. That’s why we are yet to see whether pro players will find a way to make the most of him.