Overwatch 2 Ramattra hero guide: Gameplay abilities, tips, and how to unlock
Everything you need to know about Overwatch 2's latest upcoming tank hero.
The launch of Overwatch 2 has revamped Blizzard's hero shooter with a brand new seasonal content release schedule, promising fans a new hero, map, or game mode at the start of each of the game's nine-week long seasons. During the 2022 Grand Finals of the Overwatch League, the developer officially revealed the latest character that has been added to the roster: Ramattra, a fearsome omnic tank hero that originally appeared in the final cutscene of the Overwatch Storm Rising event in 2019.
Ramattra is finally here thanks to the arrival of Overwatch 2 Season 2, but before you jump in and try him out, there's a lot of information you should know about his kit and what he's capable of. Here's a look at everything you need to know about Ramattra, including his gameplay kit, some helpful tips, his origin story, how you can unlock him, and more.
Overwatch 2 Ramattra: Release date
Ramattra was added to the game at the start of Overwatch 2 Season 2 on December 6, 2022. At this time, he became available to unlock and play in Quick Play and Arcade matches, although he won't be usable in ranked Competitive Play until two weeks after the start of the season.
The reason why this is the case is because the developers want to give free-to-play users a significant period of time to unlock new heroes from the Battle Pass before they can be used in Competitive. Additionally, this buffer period also allows Blizzard to make balance adjustments to new characters if necessary, hopefully preventing them from feeling too weak or too strong in the meta.
Overwatch 2 Ramattra: Gameplay abilities and kit
Blizzard revealed Ramattra's full kit ahead of the hero's release, highlighting his unique role as a "tempo tank" that's capable of switching between passive and aggressive forms. Below, we've put together a full rundown of all of his gameplay abilities.
- Void Accelerator (Omnic Form): Launches a stream of projectiles in a fixed pattern.
- Void Barrier (Omnic Form): Creates a barrier at the targeted location that blocks incoming damage.
- Nemesis Form: Transform into Nemesis Form, which makes you larger, provides extra armor, and changes your attacks.
- Pummel (Nemesis Form): Punches forward, creating a wave of energy with every swing.
- Block (Nemesis Form): Significantly reduces incoming damage from the front, but also reduces your movement speed.
- Ravenous Vortex: Fire a nano ball that explodes when it hits the ground, spreading a field that does light damage, slows enemies, and pulls them downward.
- Annihilation (Ultimate): Activates Nemesis Form and creates a swarm of nanobots that creep out in front of you and leech onto nearby enemies, dealing damage and reducing enemy damage dealt by 50%. The Ultimate also doesn't end while these nanobots are attached, allowing Ramattra to keep it active until he dies, his enemies do, or foes are able to escape from its area-of-effect.
Ramattra has 450 base HP, though when he goes into Nemesis Form, he'll gain 150 temporary armor health that will help him soak up damage and get into the thick of combat. His Void Barrier also has 1,000 HP, which is a substantial amount and will help Ramattra and his teammates take space and mitigate damage.
Overwatch 2 Ramattra: How to unlock
Much like the way the process of unlocking Kiriko worked, free-to-play players will need to reach a specific tier on the Season 2 Overwatch 2 Battle Pass in order to unlock Ramattra. However, instead of having to get to Tier 55 like you had to do to get Kiriko, you only have to reach Tier 45 to unlock Ramattra. Battle Pass tiers can be unlocked by completing matches and finishing gameplay challenges to earn XP, though players can also directly purchase individual tiers with Overwatch Coins if desired.
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Note that if you choose to purchase the Premium Battle Pass reward track, you'll get instant access to Ramattra. The Premium Battle Pass costs 1,000 Overwatch Coins to purchase, which is $10 worth.
Overwatch 2 Ramattra: Quick tips
If you're looking for some quick tips to help you play as Ramattra more effectively, we've got some for you here.
- Lead your shots. At range, Ramattra's Void Accelerator projectiles are fairly slow despite their high damage potential. You'll need to lead your shots to hit enemies consistently, especially when you're fighting mobile characters.
- Save your shield for large engagements. Ramattra's Void Barrier is durable at 1,000 HP, but it also has a very lengthy cooldown. This means that you shouldn't use it unless you're sure that it will block meaningful damage and help your team. Avoid using it at the "poke" stage of a fight, and instead use it when you and your allies are about to get into the thick of the fray.
- Use Ravenous Vortex to slow down mobile heroes. Ramattra doesn't have any mobility abilities of his own, so he relies on using his Ravenous Vortex to slow down opponents and make them easier to damage.
- Use Ravenous Vortex against Pharah and Mercy. While the vertical range of the ability isn't super high, it can pull down Pharah and Mercy whenever they're within its area-of-effect.
- Activate Nemesis Form when you're pushing into your opponents. The extra health it gives you makes you very durable, and the piercing punch attacks are great for launching an assault on the enemy frontline. The Block ability also allows you to absorb even more damage that would otherwise kill you or your teammates.
- Pair Nemesis Form with Ravenous Vortex. By slowing opponents down with Ravenous Vortex, you'll make it much harder for them to avoid your heavy punch attacks. If you're able to trap some "squishies" like supports and some of the damage heroes, you're sure to get a kill or two.
- Use Annihilation for fights on map objectives, especially during Overtime. The strength of the Ultimate is that it punishes players for coming close to Ramattra, and since your opponents have to touch the objective to contest it, you can force them to engage with you and reduce their damage output.
- Avoid shields while Annihilation is active. The one downside of Annihilation is that it's completely blocked by barriers, which will prevent you from keeping it active by leeching onto opponents. Stay away from enemy shields while using the Ultimate to mitigate this problem as much as you can.
Overwatch 2 Ramattra: Cinematic and origin story
Below, you'll find the official origin story for Ramattra, which gives fans a look at his background as a former Shambali monk who ultimately went on to form Null Sector in response to the numerous hate crimes committed against omnics around the world.
In-game, players can expect to experience multiple interactions between Ramattra and Zenyatta, who Blizzard says are so close that they consider each other brothers. Where Zenyatta advocates for peaceful resolutions, however, Ramattra believes that more violent and forceful methods are required in order to secure safety for the omnics. As an extremely pragmatic leader with full confidence in his convictions, Ramattra is prepared to do whatever it takes to protect his people against humanity's prejudices.
Interestingly, Null Sector is a faction that players will face off against in Overwatch 2's PvE campaign missions that are coming later in 2023.
Overwatch 2 Ramattra: Trailer
Ahead of Ramattra's arrival in Overwatch 2 Season 2, Blizzard released a gameplay trailer that showed off all of his abilities in action. You can watch it below.
Overwatch 2 Ramattra: Voice actor
Ramattra's voice actor is Ramon Tikaram, a British stage and screen actor that has played a wide variety of roles across theatre, film, television, and video games. Notably, he has appeared in Game of Thrones, Fable III, Dark Souls 3, Subnautica, Elden Ring, and more.
Overwatch 2 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch. It's arguably one of the best Xbox shooters available, and since it's free-to-play, it doesn't cost anything to check it out. Alternatively, players can purchase the Overwatch 2: Watchpoint Pack that provides access to the latest Premium Battle Pass, 2,000 Overwatch Coins, and a bundle of unique Legendary skins.
Overwatch 2: Watchpoint Pack
The $40 Overwatch 2: Watchpoint Pack offers fans a variety of benefits that will allow them to get guaranteed access to the latest Premium Battle Pass track, unlock some unique rewards, provides some in-game currency to use, and more.
Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. He's been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you'll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he's not writing or gaming, there's a good chance he's either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once. Follow him on X (Twitter).