Overwatch 2 Ramattra guide: lore, abilities and gameplay

Overwatch 2 Ramattra guide: lore, abilities and gameplay

Blizzard has announced a new tank hero for Overwatch 2, Ramattra the omnic. Joining the roster for Season 2, Ramattra will be the second new tank introduced into Overwatch 2, but his arrival will dramatically change how the game is played – for better or for worse.

There are plenty of aspects that make Overwatch 2’s, Ramattra, incredibly exciting. For starters, his main ability sees him switching between two forms, not unlike Bastion. This new ability should make for plenty of experimental and unique fights, as well as some interesting combinations with other heroes. So be prepared to learn a new meta. 

It’s not just the gameplay shakeup that will make Ramattra a great addition to Overwatch 2. Having played a critical role in the Omnic Crisis, we expect his addition to the roster to bring with it an intriguing expansion of Overwatch’s lore. 

Ahead of Ramattra’s cinematic reveal at the Overwatch League Grand Finals, we talked to Blizzard about what we can expect from this new hero and the impact he will have on the meta when he lands on December 6. Read on for everything we learned about Overwatch 2’s Ramattra.

Overwatch 2 Ramattra

Overwatch 2 Ramattra: story and background

In Overwatch 2, Ramattra will be a complicated character, moving away from the black-and-white heroes and villains of the past; he is cemented in the gray. 

Ramattra is an omnic, a race of sentient robotic beings that inhabit Overwatch’s universe. Unfortunately, these guys haven’t had a smooth run of things. Despite trying to co-exist with humans, they were treated as second-class citizens and suffered brutal violence at the hands of the fleshy ones. 

This tension between the two groups culminated in the Omnic Crisis, a war that saw the omnic extremist group Nullsector leading a rebellion against humanity. The fighting spilled into streets and cities, resulting in the loss of many innocent civilian lives – and spurring  Overwatch to enter the fight.

Due to how central the Omnic Crisis is to the story in Overwatch 2, Ramattra is set to be a very important character. He is the leader of Nullsector and, therefore, an enemy of Overwatch. So it would be easy to paint him as the main villain of the franchise, but you would be wrong. 

In fact, Ramattra’s character is way more complex than that. Despite leading Nullsector, he doesn’t want to destroy humanity, he wants to secure a safe future for his people – a goal that saw him develop a dear friendship with Overwatch hero (and fellow Omnic) Zenyatta.

In the lore of Overwatch 2, Ramattra first met Zenyatta in the temples of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Meditating on balance, and peace, Ramattra, like Zenyatta, wanted to understand his place in the universe. Throughout this time together, the two omnics became like brothers, but they eventually fell out. In a twist similar to X-Men’s Professor X and Magneto, Zenyatta and Ramattra agreed on the safety of the omnics but differed on how they would achieve this. While Zenyatta wanted to use diplomacy, Ramattra was tired of waiting and wanted to “win their safety at any cost,” lead narrative designer Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie told me.

In Overwatch 2, Ramattra starts a new chapter as the “Omnic Crisis moves back to the forefront,” Jurgens-Fyhrie says. As Blizzard prepares to launch PVE with a more lore-centric story, Ramattra is “the beginning of answering a bunch of questions related to the ongoing story of Overwatch,” art director Dion Rodgers says. 

Overwatch 2 Ramattra: abilities

(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

In Overwatch 2, Ramattra will have two forms, giving him more abilities than the average Overwatch hero. The first is his omnic form, and the second is his much bigger and scarier nemesis form. These two forms resemble Bastion's ability to switch into turret mode; Ramattra will be able to switch into each form with an ability, which will have a time limit and cooldowns. 

The omnic form plays much like a traditional main tank (like Reinhart, for example). You will be playing more of a defensive game, so protecting your team and occasionally attacking to push the enemy team back and away from your support heroes. 

Secondly, you have the more aggressive nemesis form, which you can use to “rush down the enemies and charge into the backline,” lead hero designer Alec Dawson says. “So you can get some of their squishies [supports]”. As a particularly squishy Ana main, this sounds wonderfully horrendous to me. 

It won’t just be horrendous for me. “We have planned and strategized to extenuate the fear that enemy players feel when they see Ramattra about to change forms,’’ Jurgens-Fyhrie says. “I think people will get a real kick of how he sounds on the battlefield.” 

These two forms will have a big impact on the meta of Overwatch 2 and how the game is played. As Ramattra will essentially be two tanks in one, a main and a flex/dive tank, I’m sure we will be seeing a lot of him at all levels of the game. 

There’s still more to learn about Ramattra’s abilities, but it certainly sounds like he’ll be a game-changer.

Overwatch 2 Ramattra: ultimates

In Overwatch 2, Ramattra will have an ultimate that is a force of nature, according to Blizzard. “You will be able to hear it, and you’ll want to get away from it,” Jurgen-Fyhrie says. However, the developer hasn’t confirmed exactly what this ultimate will be yet.

Overwatch 2 Ramattra: gameplay breakdown

(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Plenty of heroes will be more than happy to have Ramattra on their side, it appears this tank is built for support players, much like Reinhart. Any support player able to pocket Ramattra will be rewarded with a terrifying killing machine and great protection against the enemy team. 

I can particularly see Lucio players having a great time speed-boosting Ramattra into the enemy's back line when he’s in nemesis form. 

While his nemesis form sounds terrifying, it may be easy to play against with certain heroes, as Ramattra “will be big and scary, but the other team can take you out” due to how big you become, says Dawson. So far, all we know for sure about counters would be Ana and her sleep dart. But really, how the hero is played with and against will be determined by players. 

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