Overwatch 2 Reaper guide – Tips, Strategies, Counters, and more

Gabriel Reyes, also known as Reaper, has one of the more interesting backstories in Overwatch. The good soldier turned bad thing has been done plenty of times, but there are a lot of questions remaining about what drove him to turn on Overwatch and work for Talon. In the game, he is known as a character meant to do heavy damage to Tanks. Here is a breakdown of Reaper’s gameplay and how to get the most out of him in Overwatch 2.

All Reaper abilities in Overwatch 2

• Passives
  • Like other damage heroes, Reaper will get a small temporary boost to his reload speed when he earns an elimination.
  • Additionally, whenever you do damage to an enemy, Reaper will slightly heal himself.

• Wraith Form (Ability 1)
  • Turn into a shadow form that can move quickly around the area and not be damaged during its duration. It fully reloads your weapons and can be canceled early.

• Shadow Step (Ability 2)
  • Teleport to the designated area. It can be used while in the air.

• Death Blossom (Ultimate)
  • Reaper spins in a circle, rapidly firing his shotguns in all directions dealing damage to any enemies in his short radius.

Reaper’s weapons are called the Hellfire Shotguns. They are powerful dual-wielded guns with a significant spread and low range.

Related: Overwatch 2 Genji guide – Tips, Strategies, Counters and more

How to play Reaper in Overwatch 2

Reaper is a character you want to direct toward larger enemies with bigger health pools and wide hitboxes. His pellet spread and damage suit him nicely for those enemies while smaller enemies can dodge his bullets more easily. When an enemy is low on health and you are out of shots, use Wraith Form to protect yourself from their attacks and reload your guns to finish them off.

When you have your Ultimate, try to get in the middle of as many enemies as possible, but avoid D.Va in her MEKA if you can so she can’t use Defense Matrix to stop your shots from coming out completely, as well as Genji’s Deflect. The more hits you land on enemies while doing this, the more you will heal yourself and ensure you take them down before they can get you.

Good teammates to play with Reaper in Overwatch 2

With Reaper being someone that wants to take an enemy head-on close and personal, Lucio and Junker Queen are great ways to get him there quickly with Speed Boost and Commanding Shout. Ana and Moira can also easily heal him from a distance, and Nano Boosted Reaper using Death Blossom is one of the best uses of that Ultimate.

There really isn’t any particular DPS that works especially well with Reaper unless you have someone long-range like Widowmaker picking off enemies as you terrorize them up close. He’s not fast enough to dive alongside Tracer and Genji and doesn’t have the range to hang back with Soldier 76 and Sojourn. He mostly wants to work on his own.

All counters and who to counter with Reaper in Overwatch 2

With Cassidy losing his stun, he’s not nearly as powerful of a counter against Reaper as before, but he can still down Reaper from a distance as can Soldier 76, Widowmaker, Hanzo, and Sojourn. Torbjorn’s turret can put damage to him, but Reaper can easily dispatch it. An Ana with decent aim can Sleep Dart you and put you in a tough situation, as can a Roadhog that hooks you in a group of enemies, but it’s not nearly a one-sided fight there. Reinhardt is not necessarily a counter to Reaper, but he can hold his own in some confrontations with him, and flying heroes Pharah and Echo can also stay far enough away from him to make his shots negligible.

As for the best characters to counter with Reaper, most Tanks struggle against him, especially if they are slow-moving. Zarya, Orisa, Roadhog, and Sigma can take a lot of damage when Reaper avoids their defensive abilities. You also have the advantage if you get close to Cassidy, Soldier 76, Hanzo, Ana, Zenyatta, Torbjorn, and Baptiste.