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Blizzard Entertainment’s highly-anticipated FPS game,Overwatch 2,is finally hereafter a tumultuous launch day, bringing some significant structural changes to the popular shooter.Overwatch 2has five players in a team instead of the previous six, and there has been a substantial rebalancing to the game’s progression system and the three player roles: Support, DPS, and Tank.
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D.Vahas always been one of the most popular Tank picks inOverwatch.Withthe switch to 5v5, playing as D.Va has become even harder, as she now would be the lone representative for the Tank class if players choose to play her. Luckily, this handy guide will detail all of D.Va’s abilities, which heroes can counter her, and how to maximize her kit.
Updated on August 07, 2025:This Overwatch 2 guide for D.Va has been updated to give players much more information on how to play her. There’s now a section on the best combos to use with D.Va and a section on D.Va’s advantages and disadvantages when it comes to other playable Heroes.
D.Va’s Playstyle In Overwatch 2
D.Va feels largely unchanged moving intoOverwatch 2. Like all other Tanks, she now has the passive ability, which reduces all knockbacks. She will also gain less Ultimate charge from taking damage. With her mobility, she can easily fly around and protect her team from all angles, picking off any flankers attempting to breach her backline and peel for her Supports.
As D.Va is now forced into being a solo Tank, her survivability has been improved. Her mech health has increased from 600 to 650, and her normal Health increased to 350. As a Tank, she is pressured into the frontline to help her team claim objectives and defend them from the enemy.
However, D.Va can still beused in a dive compositionand remains agreat pick against long-range hitscan heroes like Widowmaker, Ashe, and Hanzo, as she can get right up in their faces while getting some critical hits in.
D.Va’s Abilities
Fusion Cannons/Light Gun
Fusion Cannons are D.Va’s primary weapon when she is inside her mech and her main method of gaining Ultimate charge. These never have to reload but imposes a slight slowing movement penalty if players use it continuously. Light Gun is D.Va’s only weapon if she has been ejected from her mech. It allows her to stay in the fight while gaining Ultimate charge to Call Mech.
Defense Matrix
Using Defense Matrix projects a visible matrix that blocks incoming projectiles in front of D.Va, lasting for three seconds. It is D.Va’s alt-fire and can be used to protect allies or D.Va herself. Defense Matrix doesn’t work on beam weapons, like Winston’s Tesla Cannon or Zarya’s Particle Cannon. It also cannot block melee attacks from heroes like Reinhardt or Brigitte.
Boosters
Boosters allow D.Va to fly in whatever direction she is facing. Bumping into enemies while using Boosters deals a small amount of damage to them, and some knockback upon impact. This can be used to displace enemies.
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Micro Missiles
Micro Missiles launches a volley of explosive rockets in whatever direction D.Va is facing. They do more damage in close-range combat, and can also be activated while using her Fusion Cannons for extra damage.
Self Destruct/ Call Mech (Ultimate)
Self Destruct is D.Va’s iconic Ultimate ability. Using it causes D.Va to eject and overload her mech, causing it to explode after a short period. It is best paired with Boosters to send her mech into the air to explode on the enemies below, dealing over2,000 damage and almost a guaranteed killif timed right. Outside her mech, D.Va can use her Light Gun to gain Ultimate charge to summon out a new one. It will slam on the ground as she climbs in, dealing AoE damage to any nearby enemies caught in the impact.
Tips And Tricks For D.Va In Overwatch 2
With fewer shields now inOverwatch 2,D.Va’s Self Destruct now has the capability to take out unaware enemies and potentially wipe out a team. It can be combo’ed with her Boosters and fired mid-air. It can also be used before her mech is destroyed by enemy fire, which could take out any enemies that are grouped up on her if they are not quick enough to hide behind some cover.
The key to mastering D.Va is learning when to effectively use her Defense Matrix. Using Defense Matrix to absorb an Ultimate like Mei’s Blizzard or Zarya’s Gravition Surge can easily win a team fight, so players will need to listen out for these audio cues and act accordingly. It can also block other enemy abilities, like Moira’s Biotic Orbs or Reinhardt’s Firestrike,providing important damage mitigation for her teamwhile denying the enemy’s Ultimate charge.
Combos
D.Va works exceptionally well withMei’s ultimate, Blizzard. If Blizzard is used first, D.Va can launch her Self Destruct into the slowed and frozen enemy team, which can be a devastating combo and a guaranteed easy win. If they are both used in crucial final seconds of a game, it can cause an easy C-9 as the enemy may abandon their objective altogether to avoid dying to both of these ultimates.
If Sombra hacks a Reinhardt, he cannot use his shield. This can be an easy way for D.Va to launch her Self Destruct to get some easy kills. The same goes for Sombra’s EMP, which disables all the enemy’s abilities for a solid few seconds, which is more than enough time to launch a Self Destruct if the EMP is effectively communicated and timed perfectly.
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When acting alone, D.Va can have some difficulty securing kills with her high-spread Fusion Cannons, but when paired with Tracer, they are incredibly strong. Tracer can use her Blinks to follow up on kills that D.Va has missed, finishing them off. D.Va can easily protect Tracer with her Defense Matrix or by body-blocking for her.
As D.Va can be used in a dive composition, she needs to be supported from afar. This is where Ana excels, as she can use her long-range Biotic Rifle to heal D.Va without having to get up close and personal in the fight. If D.va gets herself in a pickle, Ana can also use her Nano Boost Ultimate to give D.Va some amplified damage and heal her instantly
With his speed boost, Lucio can easily join D.Va in a fight and speed them both out of danger if the fight becomes too much. He can provide some much-needed healing for double utility, making him one of the best Supports to pair with D.Va. They are an unstoppable pairing in a dive composition, with both Tracer and Genji as the DPS.
Advantages & Counters
D.Va excels on maps with wide-open spaces, where she can easily use her Self Destruct Ultimate to do some real damage. She is also fantastic in close quarters, as her Micro Missiles can quickly shred an unsuspecting victim’s HP without much hassle. She is especially strong again the following heroes:
Pharah and Echo are both aerial DPS heroes, meaning D.Va can easily reach them by using her Boosters. D.Va can also completely block Pharah’s Ultimate by using Defense Matrix, mitigating all of its damage.
D.Va can continuously harass an enemy Widowmaker with her Defense Matrix and her Boosters, easily chasing her across the map when Widowmaker uses her Grappling Hook. This renders her Widowmaker, as she is only viable when she can get easy kills. Ashe is also another hitscan DPS hero that D.Va can harass, preventing them from dealing damage. D.Va can also absorb Ashe’s dynamite, so she cannot gain ult charge from it, dealing damage over time.
Zenyatta is a Support with no movement abilities, so when in a battle against a champion with high mobility, he will always lose as he has no escape methods. D.Va can block his attacks with Defense Matrix and should be able to finish him off fairly quickly.
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Several champions that counter D.Va, so if players encounter these heroes, they should keep a reasonable distance and hold onto their Boosters as an escape method to regroup with the rest of their team:
These three DPS champions, particularly Reaper, can shred D.Va’s health, causing her to eject from her mech. Once she is out of her mech, she is squishy and easy to kill, making her an easy target.
Zarya can use D.Va attacks to easily Farm energy and charge up her Ult if D.Va attacks her Projected Barriers. This can be an issue, as it causesZarya’s Energy Cannon beam to become more powerful, which D.Va cannot block with her Defense Matrix. D.Va also cannot block melee attacks from weapons like Reinhardt’s Rocket Hammer, meaning he can use her as an Ultimate farm if she is too close.
Overwatch 2is free-to-play in Early Access on PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
