Overwatch 2 reveals why Vendetta isn't a tank

Vendetta, Overwatch 2The new hero coming in season 20 may look like she could easily be a tank, but Blizzard decided to make her a DPS hero to create a completely unique playstyle. Although Vendetta broke the unofficial Overwatch 2 he also breaks the hero release rule by doing this in a way that no other character in the history of the game has.

Overwatch 2 recently revealed Vendetta, a highly mobile gladiator who devastates the battlefield with massive swings of her greatsword in harsh light, the Palatine Fang. Between her melee playstyle and the fact that 2025 already received one damage hero in the form of Frey, most fans assumed that Vendetta would be a tank.

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Overwatch 2 Reveals New Hero 45 Vendetta

Blizzard officially reveals Vendetta, the third and final playable hero coming to Overwatch 2 in 2025 as part of Season 20 in December.

Vendetta fills a unique role as DPS in Overwatch 2

However, Overwatch 2 surprised players by revealing that Vendetta would be the first melee damage hero in the game, rather than a tank. “It's more about maintaining a style of play that we didn't really have on the roster,” Deputy Game Director Alec Dawson said in a recent interview with PC Gamer. “I think part of our mission is always to create things that we think are going to be really exciting for players and that they've been asking for all the time.” Fans have wanted a melee DPS hero for years, and Vendetta offered the perfect opportunity to make that dream a reality.

Although there are dedicated melee characters in the game Overwatch 2 none of them are in the DPS role at the moment. Heroes like Reaper, Torbjorn, and Venture are all deadly in melee, but they still aren't true melee heroes. Doomfist had the closest to a hero in melee damage Overwatch 1but turned into tank v sequel, and while Genji temporarily focuses on melee while using his ultimate Dragonblade, he's technically still a ranged hero most of the time.

Of course, making Vendetta a damage hero was a good fit Overwatch 2unofficial release pattern. Since the release of the sequel, it has never released more than one damage hero in a single year, with 2023 actually having no DPS. “I've seen a lot of very confident expectations that hero 45 will be a tank based on the recent release model, which we're changing a bit now,” lead character artist Bryan Bedford told PC Gamer in the same interview, “but I think one of the most important aspects of adding a new hero is honestly coming up with something that's fun to play.” The developers had to “bend the rules” and release two Overwatch 2 damage heroes in 2025 to make it happen, but in the end it paid off to showcase the fantasy of melee damage heroes with Vendetta.

All new heroes added in Overwatch 2

Season 20 Overwatch 2 and her new damage hero will arrive on December 9th, but players won't have to wait that long to try her out. The extra-long Hero Trial Vendetta runs from November 26th to December 1st to commemorate Thanksgiving in the US, giving players a few extra days to try it out. Bedford, in particular, is excited for fans to try out Vendetta, saying that the developer was “absolutely hooked” while testing the game. “I can't overstate how much fun it is to just jump in and start ripping the sky apart with that blade throw.

Released

August 10, 2023

ESRB

T For Teens // Blood, mild language, tobacco use, violence