Overwatch 2 - Junkrat Hero Guide

Junkrat is one of the many heroes making the jump from Overwatch to Overwatch 2. The explosives-focused damage hero has a high-capacity for dealing damage, although he isn't as precise as some of the other heroes. With one less tank in the game, Junkrat has even more opportunities to pick off squisher heroes.

You can see how all heroes, including this one, stack up in our Overwatch 2 tank tier list, DPS tier list, and support tier list. Where did your favorite land?

Junkrat overview

Junkrat is an explosive focused damage hero, firing bouncing explosive grenades from his launcher. Junkrat can also get in people's faces using his explosives, since he has the unique passive ability to not take any damage from his own explosives, something other explosive characters like Pharah don't have. Junkrat is also equipped with two Concussion Mines that can send enemies flying or send himself flying. His steel trap deals damage and prevents an enemy from moving for a brief period of time. His ultimate ability, the Rip-Tire, is an exploding tire that Junkrat controls remotely and detonates manually. The tire can be destroyed, but it deals a massive amount of damage if detonated.

Junkrat abilities

Frag Launcher: Bouncing explosive projectile weapon.

Concussion Mine: Throw a knockback mine and remotely detonate it.

Steel Trap: Place a crippling trap.

Rip-Tire ultimate: Drive and detonate an explosive tire.

Total Mayhem passive: Cannot hurt yourself with explosives, drop bombs upon death.

Master of mayhem

Junkrat thrives when moving around chaotically and spewing explosives uncontrollably toward the enemy team. Since Junkrat doesn't have any way to heal himself or reduce damage to himself, you need to keep yourself from being an easy target. That means using the Concussion Mines to fling yourself into the air and coming at your enemies from odd angles. Since Junkrat can't hurt himself with his own explosives, there is no punishment for getting too close to your enemies, so launch yourself into the enemy so you can quickly hit them with some grenades to drop them.

A chaotic weapon for a chaotic hero

Junkrat's Frag Launcher is a messy, imprecise weapon, which actually makes it incredibly powerful, if you can get a feel for it. The grenades fired from the weapon will bounce similarly when shot, but there is a level of randomness to it, especially while you are constantly moving around. Of course, you don't have to let the grenades bounce first, you can just directly hit your enemy, with the grenades exploding on contact. Junkrat's grenades deal a ton of damage, with only two or three needed for most non-tank heroes. Junkrat is also great for tearing through tanks, especially shield tanks like Reinhardt and Sigma. His high capacity for damage, even if imprecise, makes Junkrat a force to be reckoned with.

The infamous Rip-Tire

Junkrat's Rip-Tire is well known in the Overwatch community, setting everyone on high alert when they hear the enemy Junkrat activate it. The Rip-Tire has a ten-second countdown, during which time you need to navigate it to the enemy team and activate it, all the while avoiding getting destroyed by the enemy team. The Rip-Tire has more health than most destructible items in Overwatch 2, so you can eat a shot or two before it gets completely destroyed. The tire also has the ability to climb up walls and jump, so you can use these traversal abilities to come from an unexpected angle.

As for the best time to use it, there really isn't a bad time. The tire deals a ton of damage, enough to fully drop some of the tank heroes even. As long as you can get a kill or two, it's a solid use of the tire. You can certainly get the entire enemy team with a single tire, if the enemy team is stacked up on an objective. Shield tanks can defend against it and Lucio's support ultimately provides enough health to save most heroes. It's important to note that ultimates that heal a bunch like Zenyatta or Mercy don't negate the Rip-Tire's damage.

Other Junkrat tips

• Junkrat can combine his Concussion Mine with his Steel Trap by placing them on top of each other, but you won't be able to use the Concussion Mine for traversal.
• Since the Concussion Mine knocks enemies back, you should only use it in close-quarters combat if the enemy is low-enough for it to kill, unless you want to disengage.
• The Rip-Tire has a huge time limit, so if you see a Lucio ult to negate it, try to wait it out a bit.
• In overtime, dying on the objective can be very effective, since the Total Mayhem passive drops a pile of grenades that could bring some enemies with you.