Overwatch Wiki

Hit points (HP) represent how much damage a hero or object can take. The current and total hit points of the unit are shown in their health bar, divided into bars each worth 25 HP.

Overview[]

There are 4 main types of hit points in Overwatch 2. From bottom to top these are health, armor, shields, and overhealth. Out of the four, health, armor and shields are recoverable HP, meaning that they can be restored by healing, whereas overhealth is non-recoverable HP. When taking damage, hit points will be consumed in order from top to bottom, and when being healed, restored from bottom to top.

Each type of hit points has certain properties, which only apply to that portion of HP. For example, if an instance of damage is higher than remaining armor, the damage reduction will only apply in proportion to the amount of damage the armor would take, and shields will only regenerate itself rather than the other types of hit points above or below them.

A hero's HP is "low" at 50% and "critical" at 25%. Their location will be shown to all friendly supports. If a hero's HP becomes ~25-30% or lower, a gasp sound effect is played and blood appears around the borders of the screen ( no blood in Junkenstein modes and tutorial), with the exception of 175 HP heroes, who get it at 70 HP (currently only Tracer and pilot D.Va).

Health[]

The most basic form of HP is health, which appears on all heroes. It is the bottom-most type of HP, which is depleted when there is no armor or shields to protect it, and is the first to be replenished when being healed. If a hero's health comes to 0, they will die. Heroes in the Tank role have an additional 150 Health in 5v5 Role Queue game modes. Health is colored white.

List of abilities that grant Health
Hero Ability Description Health Duration Details
Icon-Winston
Winston
Primal RageAbility-winston4 Primal Rage Gain immense health, but you can only leap and punch enemies. 700 max health, fully restore HP 10 seconds (transformation)

Armor[]

Armor is a type of recoverable HP that reduces damage dealt to that portion of health. Armor hit points are applied on top of health and below shields. The following heroes have armor as part of their baseline health pool: D.Va, Hazard, Mauga, Orisa, Ramattra, Reinhardt, Winston, Wrecking Ball, Bastion, Torbjörn, Vendetta and Brigitte. Armor can also be obtained through some abilities. Armor is colored orange.

Armor is extremely effective against attacks that consist of multiple smaller instances of damage, like shotguns. For every instance of damage received - that is not from a beam or a damage over time effect - armor reduces the damage received by 7, up to a maximum of 50% of the incoming damage. In other words, any damage instance that is lower than 14, will be halved instead of being reduced by flat 7 damage. Direct hit bonuses from explosive projectiles are dealt in the same instance as the splash damage, meaning that armor reduction only applies once. However, for shotgun and burst weapons, each pellet is a separate damage instance, so armor reduction is applied for each projectile. Armor reduction is always applied in full if the damage instance removes any armored health - either upon transitioning from shields or over health to armor or from armor to base health.

Against beams and damage-over-time effects, armor works differently: armor reduces the damage of beam-type weapons by 30%, regardless of the amount of damage dealt by instance, and damage over time effects are completely exempt from the reduction. Exceptionally, Winston's Ability-winston1 Tesla Cannon also pierces the damage reduction from armor, causing it to deal the same damage to armor as it would to normal health.

Armor is applied after all other damage modifications, however the combined reduction of armor and other modifications to damage taken may not exceed 50%, unless a single ability increases it past that point. For example, if Bastion were to take 100 damage while transformed, his Ironclad Ironclad passive (-20% taken) would reduce it to 80, and then armor would further reduce it by 7. This does not hit the 50% reduction limit, so it results in Bastion taking 73 damage. On the other hand, if a fortified Orisa (that has depleted their overhealth) would take 100 damage, Ability Orisa Fortify Fortify (-45% taken) reduces it to 55, and armor would then reduce it by another 7 points to 48 damage. But because this is equivalent to a 52% total reduction, the reduction is limited to 50% and Orisa takes 50 damage.

List of abilities that grant armor
Hero Ability Description Armor Duration Details
Icon-Brigitte
Brigitte
RallyRally Rally Gain armor, empower Barrier Shield and provide extra health to nearby allies. 100 (self) 10 seconds (Rally)
30 seconds (overhealth)
0.75 seconds (Shield Bash stun)
Icon-Ramattra
Ramattra
Nemesis FormNemesis Form Icon Nemesis Form Transform into Nemesis Form, changing your attacks and gaining bonus armor. 275 8 seconds
  • Ramattra can also gain the benefits of Nemesis Form through his ultimate, Annihilation Icon Annihilation. Does not stack.

Shields[]

Shields are a type of recoverable HP that automatically regenerate while not taking damage. Shield is the topmost form of recoverable hit points, above armor. The following heroes have shields as part of their baseline health pool: Sigma, Wrecking Ball, Zarya, Symmetra, Juno, Echo, Lifeweaver and Zenyatta. D.Va and Pharah also convert some of their normal health into shields through certain perks. Some objects also have shield HP. Shields are colored light blue.

After not taking damage for 3 seconds, shields start regenerating at a rate of 30 shields per second. This recovery is treated as a form of healing, meaning that it can be amplified by certain effects or blocked by anti-heal. The shield regeneration works additively to the passive regen all heroes have, allowing a hero to heal up to 40 + 5% of their max HP per second without assistance, given they have shield health to regen.

List of abilities that grant shield health
Hero Ability Description Shields Duration Details
Icon-Venture
Venture
Explorer's ResolveExplorer's Resolve Explorer's Resolve Using abilities grants temporary shields. 25 (normal abilities)
75 (Tectonic Shock)
3 seconds
  • Shield health gained is capped at 75.
  • Decays at a rate of 30 shield health per second after the duration.

Barrier health[]

Barrier health is a type of shield health.[1][2] The main difference between barrier health and regular shields is their regeneration: Barrier health only regenerates while the barrier is inactive, meaning only recallable barriers can regenerate. Furthermore, the delay before regeneration is 2 seconds instead of 3, and the regeneration rate varies between barriers. Barriers are also destroyed by Sombra's Ability Sombra EMP EMP if they are hit while active, unlike shields.

Overhealth[]

Overhealth is a type of non-recoverable HP that represents most temporary forms of HP in Overwatch 2. It is only gained through abilities. Overhealth can decay either over time or immediately at the end of a timer. Enemies receive 50% less ultimate charge and perk progress from damage dealt to overhealth. Overhealth is represented by a green health bar.

List of abilities that grant overhealth
Hero Ability Description Overhealth Duration Details
Icon-Bastion
Bastion
Armored ArtilleryPerk ArmoredArtillery Armored Artillery Configuration: Artillery grants 300 temporary overhealth. 300
  • Overhealth starts to decay 3 seconds after the ultimate ends at a rate of 100 hp/s.
Icon-Brigitte
Brigitte
RallyRally Rally Gain armor, empower Barrier Shield and provide extra health to nearby allies. 15 per 0.5 seconds, up to 100 (allies) 10 seconds (Rally)
30 seconds (overhealth)
0.75 seconds (Shield Bash stun)
  • Overhealth lasts up to 30 seconds, then quickly decays.
Icon-D.Va
D.Va
Bunny PowerBunny Power Bunny Power Eject grants 75 temporary overhealth and Call Mech's damage radius is increased by 50%. 75 10 seconds
  • Overhealth decays at a rate of 25 hp/s once the duration ends.
Icon-Doomfist
Doomfist
The Best Defense...The best defense The Best Defense... Dealing damage with abilities creates temporary overhealth. 40 per enemy (normal abilities)
75 per enemy (Meteor Strike)
200 (max total)
3 seconds
  • Overhealth maxes out at 200.
  • Overhealth decay rate is 3 hp/s.
  • Dealing ability damage resets the duration.
Icon-Junker Queen
Junker Queen
Commanding ShoutCommanding Shout Icon Commanding Shout Grants temporary health and movement speed to yourself and allies. 200 (self)
75 (allies)
4 seconds
  • Overhealth is lost immediately when duration ends.
Icon-Lifeweaver
Lifeweaver
Tree of LifeTree of Life Icon Tree of Life Place a tree that instantly heals allies upon sprouting and continues healing periodically as it lives. 50% of overhealing (max. 100) 15 seconds (tree)
6 seconds (overhealth)
  • Overhealth will last for 6 seconds once leaving the AoE healing radius of the tree, or once the duration ends.
Icon-Lúcio
Lúcio
Sound BarrierAbility-Lucio4 Sound Barrier Create temporary extra health for nearby allies. 750 6 seconds
  • Overhealth immediately starts decaying at a rate of 125 hp/s.
Icon-Mauga
Mauga
BerserkerBerserker icon Berserker Gain temporary health when dealing critical damage. 50% of critical damage dealt (150 max) 2 seconds
  • Overhealth decay rate is 5 hp/s.
  • Dealing critical damage through any means will reset the duration.
PyromaniacPyromaniac Pyromaniac Igniting enemies with Incendiary Chaingun grants 50 overhealth. 50
  • Overhealth gained is shared with that of the Berserker passive ability, and maxes out at 150.
Combat FuelPerk CombatFuel Combat Fuel Critical hits grant Mauga 3 temporary overhealth on Cardiac Overdrive's next use, up to 150 overhealth. 3 per critical hit
150 (max)
Icon-Mercy
Mercy
Angelic ResurrectionAngelic Resurrection Angelic Resurrection Mercy gains 100 overhealth after casting Resurrect. 100 2 seconds
  • Overhealth is gained immediately upon button press, regardless of if the cast is interrupted or not.
  • Overhealth decay rate is 5 hp/s.
Icon-Orisa
Orisa
FortifyAbility Orisa Fortify Fortify Gain temporary health, reducing all damage taken and becoming unstoppable. 100 4 seconds
  • Overhealth is lost immediately when duration ends.
  • Orisa can also gain the benefits of Fortify through her ultimate, Ultimate TerraSurge Terra Surge. Does not stack.
Icon-Roadhog
Roadhog
Pulled PorkPulled Pork Pulled Pork Gain overhealth based on how far you pull enemies with Chain Hook, up to 250. 50 (base)
16 (distance min)
250 (max total)
2 seconds
  • Grants 50 overhealth immediately on hit, and up to 200 additional overhealth based on pull distance.
  • Overhealth decay rate is 50 hp/s.
Icon-Sigma
Sigma
Kinetic GraspAbilities-sigma3 Kinetic Grasp Absorb projectiles in front of you and convert them into extra health. 60% of damage absorbed (400 max) 2 seconds
  • Overhealth slowly decays after a few seconds.
Icon-Sombra
Sombra
Healthy HackerHealthy Hacker Healthy Hacker Hacked health packs provide up to 75 overhealth to Sombra. 75 10 seconds
  • Overhealth decay rate is 10 hp/s.
Icon-Torbjörn
Torbjörn
OverloadAbility-torbjorn4 Overload Gain additional extra health as well as improved attack, movement, and reload speed. 100 6 seconds
  • Overhealth is lost immediately when duration ends.
Icon-Tracer
Tracer
Quantum EntanglementPerk QuantumEntanglement Quantum Entanglement Recall grants 50 overhealth and 20 ammo that decays over time. 50 6 seconds
Icon-Vendetta
Vendetta
Swift VengeancePerk Swift Vengence Icon Swift Vengeance Last player to land a killing blow on you becomes a target. Eliminate the target to gain 150 overhealth and reset cooldowns. 150 60 seconds
Icon-Wrecking Ball
Wrecking Ball
Adaptive ShieldAdaptive shield Adaptive Shield Create temporary extra health that increase with more nearby enemies. Some of the health can be transferred to allies. 100 base + 100 per enemy (self)
-50 per ally (max transfer, self)
+75 (max transfer, allies)
7 seconds (self)
4 seconds (allies)
  • Overhealth is lost immediately when duration ends.
Icon-Wuyang
Wuyang
Tidal BlastTidalblast Tidal Blast Protect an ally or yourself with water that detonates after a short duration. The explosion knocks down enemies and massively heals the host target. 400 3.5 seconds (explosion delay)
1.5 seconds (knockdown)
  • Overhealth is lost immediately when duration ends.

Temporary Armor & Shields[]

Temporary armor & shields were a prominent feature used in Overwatch. They are types of non-recoverable HP similar to Overhealth. Temporary armor (colored dark orange) granted the same effects as regular armor. Temporary shields (colored dark blue) granted no unique effects. In Overwatch 2, all abilities at the time that provided temporary armor & shields were removed to help reduce visual noise when multiple types of hit points were applied to a hero, especially in Hero Missions and Story Missions. All abilities that previously granted temporary armor or shields in Overwatch were updated to grant overhealth in Overwatch 2.

Temporary armor & shields can still be accessed through Workshop actions, where they can be applied to a player with the Add Health Pool to Player action. While temporary armor is still dark orange, temporary shields are now yellow instead of the dark blue in Overwatch. Despite this, they both maintain the same functionality they had in Overwatch.

In Overwatch 2, they reintroduced aspects of temporary armor with the release of Ramattra. His Nemesis Form grants him additional armor health, which while healable in Nemesis Form, will disappear once the cooldown ends. As for temporary shields, aspects of this was reintroduced with Venture's kit, with their passive Explorer's Resolve, which provided them with temporary shield health that regenerates (like regular shield health) but decay after a short while. Unlike Overwatch, both temporary armor and shields have the same color as regular armor and shields, being treated the same. Additionally, all abilities that grant temporary shields and armor in Overwatch 2 only grant them to the user, not allies.

List of hero hit points[]

Hero Role Health Armor Shields Total
Icon-Ana
Ana
Support Support 250
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Ashe
Ashe
Damage Damage 250
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Baptiste
Baptiste
Support Support 250
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Bastion
Bastion
Damage Damage 250 100
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
350
Icon-Brigitte
Brigitte
Support Support 200 50
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Cassidy
Cassidy
Damage Damage 250
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-D.Va
D.Va
Tank Tank 225 325
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
550
375 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
700 Role Tank Circle
175 Passive-D.Va
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
175 Passive-D.Va
Icon-Doomfist
Doomfist
Tank Tank 375
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
375
525 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
525 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Echo
Echo
Damage Damage 150 75
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Freja
Freja
Damage Damage 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Genji
Genji
Damage Damage 250
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Hanzo
Hanzo
Damage Damage 250
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Hazard
Hazard
Tank Tank 275 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
500
425 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
650 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Illari
Illari
Support Support 250
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Junker Queen
Junker Queen
Tank Tank 375
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
375
525 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
525 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Junkrat
Junkrat
Damage Damage 250
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Juno
Juno
Support Support 75 150
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-kiriko
Kiriko
Support Support 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Lifeweaver
Lifeweaver
Support Support 200 50
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Lúcio
Lúcio
Support Support 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Mauga
Mauga
Tank Tank 425 150
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
575
575 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
725 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Mei
Mei
Damage Damage 300
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
300
Icon-Mercy
Mercy
Support Support 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Moira
Moira
Support Support 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Orisa
Orisa
Tank Tank 150 300
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
450
300 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
600 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Pharah
Pharah
Damage Damage 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Ramattra
Ramattra
Tank Tank 275 100
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
375
425 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
525 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Reaper
Reaper
Damage Damage 300
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
300
Icon-Reinhardt
Reinhardt
Tank Tank 250 300
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
550
400 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
700 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Roadhog
Roadhog
Tank Tank 600
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
600
750 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
750 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Sigma
Sigma
Tank Tank 200 275
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
475
350 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
625 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Sojourn
Sojourn
Damage Damage 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Soldier 76
Soldier: 76
Damage Damage 250
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Sombra
Sombra
Damage Damage 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Symmetra
Symmetra
Damage Damage 125 150
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
275
Icon-Torbjörn
Torbjörn
Damage Damage 225 75
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
300
Icon-Tracer
Tracer
Damage Damage 175
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
175
Icon-Vendetta
Vendetta
Damage Damage 150 125
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
275
Icon-Venture
Venture
Damage Damage 250
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250
Icon-Widowmaker
Widowmaker
Damage Damage 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Winston
Winston
Tank Tank 275 200
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
475
425 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
625 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Wrecking Ball
Wrecking Ball
Tank Tank 300 125 150
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
575
450 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
725 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Wuyang
Wuyang
Support Support 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
225
Icon-Zarya
Zarya
Tank Tank 175 225
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
400
325 Role Tank Circle
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
550 Role Tank Circle
Icon-Zenyatta
Zenyatta
Support Support 75 175
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
250

List of non-hero HP[]

Hero Ability Health Armor Shields Total Notes
Icon-Ashe
Ashe
Ability-ashe4
B.O.B.
1000 1000

  • Can be healed
  • Can receive temporary HP

Icon-Baptiste
Baptiste
Baptiste-ability3
Immortality Field
125 125

Icon-Brigitte
Brigitte
Barrier Shield
Barrier Shield
250 250

  • 85/s shield regeneration
  • 700 during Rally Rally

Icon-Hazard
Hazard
Jagged Wall
Jagged Wall
400 400

Icon-Illari
Illari
Healing pylon icon
Healing Pylon
75 50 125

  • 30/s shield regeneration

Icon-Junkrat
Junkrat
Ability-Junkrat2
Concussion Mine
25 25

Ability-Junkrat3
Steel Trap
100 100

Ability-Junkrat5
RIP-Tire
100 100

Icon-Lifeweaver
Lifeweaver
Petal Platform Icon
Petal Platform
300 300

Tree of Life Icon
Tree of Life
1200 1200

Icon-Mauga
Mauga
Cage Fight icon
Cage Fight
1200 1200

Icon-Mei
Mei
Ability-mei3
Ice Wall
250 250

  • 5 pillars

Icon-Orisa
Orisa
Perk ProtectiveBarrier

Protective Barrier

600 600
Icon-Ramattra
Ramattra
Void Barrier Icon

Void Barrier

1000 1000
Icon-Reinhardt
Reinhardt
Ability-reinhardt2
Barrier Field
1500 1500

  • 160/s shield regeneration
Icon-Sigma
Sigma
Abilities-sigma2
Experimental Barrier
700 700

  • 85/s shield regeneration
Icon-Symmetra
Symmetra
Ability-symmetra2
Sentry Turret
40 40

  • Up to 3 turrets

Ability-symmetra4
Teleporter
100 250 350

  • 2 pads
  • Destruction destroys both
  • 30/s shield regeneration

Ability Symmetra Photon Barrier
Hovering Barrier
600 600

Photon Barrier
Photon Barrier
4000 4000

Icon-Torbjörn
Torbjörn
Ability-torbjorn3
Deploy Turret
225 225

Icon-Widowmaker
Widowmaker
Ability-widowmaker3
Venom Mine
1 1

Icon-Winston
Winston
Ability-winston3
Barrier Projector
650 650

Icon-Wrecking Ball
Wrecking Ball
Adaptive Barrier
Adaptive Barrier
150 150

Minefield
Minefield
60 60

  • 15 mines

Icon-Zarya
Zarya
Ability-zarya2
Particle Barrier
225 225

Ability-zarya3
Projected Barrier
225 225

Trivia[]

  • If armor is hit, a metallic sound effect is played.
  • If a hero's shields are destroyed, the screen becomes cracked.
  • The bleed effect originally occurred when a hero's HP became 75 or lower. Since this was highly inefficient for Tanks, it was replaced with a more relativistic system.
  • Hit points received an overhaul in Overwatch 2:
    • There used to be three types of non-recoverable HP: health, armor, and shields, which always goes on top of their respective recoverable counterparts.
    • Armor was changed to reduce all damage by 30%. This was reverted in Season 10.
      • Effectively, this meant that any attack that dealt more than ~16.67 damage were reduced more than before.
    • Prior to being reworked in Overwatch 2, Sombra's Ability Sombra EMP EMP used to do massive bonus damage to shields, effectively destroying them upon hit.
  • Armor originally treated the "ticks" of beams and damage-over-time effects as instances of damage. In general, beams and DoT tick once every 0.192 seconds (e.g. 50 DPS = 9.6 damage per 0.192 seconds). This means that most beams and DoT effects were reduced by ~26 DPS, and beams/DoT effects that did less than ~52 DPS were halved by armor. This was changed so that beams would always receive a 20% reduction against armor (later increased to 30%) and damage over time effects became unaffected by armor.[3]
    • With the change to 30% reduction for beams, beams that did less than ~87 DPS were buffed against armor while beams that did more were nerfed.
    • Ana's Biotic Rifle inflicts a short DoT effect for its 70 damage, but the damage is unevenly split (2.24 + 6.72 + 26.88 + 26.88 + 7.28). As a result, it used to do 51.88 damage against armor (~30% reduction) before the changes.
  • The priority order for damage was originally shields (non-recoverable, then recoverable), then armor (non-recoverable, then recoverable), and then health. This meant that the armor provided by Rally would go underneath the shields of heroes such as Zenyatta.
    • The Patch Notes for Patch 1.33.0.1, which issued this change, mentions "non-recoverable health" when listing the new priority order.[4] Currently, non-recoverable health is only accessible through Workshop scripts, and is therefore inaccessible in standard play.
  • Symmetra originally had an ability called Photon Shield which allowed her to create 25 recoverable shields for her teammates. When Symmetra got her first rework, Photon Shield was removed and Shield Generator was added, which gave all surrounding teammates 75 recoverable shields. This too was removed upon Symmetra's second rework. Photon Shield and Shield Generator were the only ways heroes could have recoverable HP that were not found on their base HP.
  • B.O.B. is treated as an additional teammate, so he is affected by abilities that grant non-recoverable HP to allies, such as Sound Barrier and Rally. B.O.B. is the only non-hero that can have additional HP.
  • The term "shields" is often informally used to refer to barriers. Since barriers have shields for their HP, anything that exclusively damages shields also damages barriers. Currently, the only ability that does that is EMP; however, in the beta, Pharah's Concussive Blast used to be able to do 700 damage to shields and barriers.
  • Vendetta's Sundering Blade will remove overhealth and ignore armor reduction.

References[]

  1. Overwatch Beta Patch Notes – March 1, 2016 — The health on Winston's barrier is specifically called "Shield health"
  2. OVERWATCH PTR PATCH NOTES – SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 — The health on Brigitte's barrier is specifically called "Shield health"
  3. March 19, 2019 Patch
  4. Overwatch Patch Notes – FEBRUARY 19, 2019