We look at the best heroes for Total Mayhem to help you dominate in this classic Overwatch 2 Arcade mode.
As Overwatch 2 devs prepare future surprises for season 4, it’s a great time for players to try out casual game modes in Arcade Mode. One of the incredibly exciting game modes available right now is called “Total Mayhem”. This wonderfully deranged game mode is played in 5v5 Escort and Hybrid maps. It also doesn’t have role restrictions. But what makes Total Mayhem worthy of its (worrisome) name? Bvery hero has doubled HP, almost every ability cooldown is 75% faster, and ultimate abilities charge 50% quicker.
As daunting as that may sound, Total Mayhem is actually heaps of fun! As you can already imagine, all thoughts for a balanced “meta” are completely thrown out the window. Winstons jumping all over the map; Pharahs never touching the ground the whole match; Zaryas and Orisas being practically invincible. Total Mayhem is chaos for chaos’ sake, and we’re big fans. So if you’re looking to get into it with dependable heroes that offer both kill potential and longevity, we’ve got you covered. Here are the best heroes you can have fun with in Total Mayhem.
Best Heroes For Total Mayhem
Winston
One of Overwatch’s top scientists lands on the top of this list for his great mobility and his ability to slowly whittle down squishy heroes. On top of that, his Ultimate only needs 925 points, meaning that you can unleash his Primal Rage every other minute if you maneuver around your enemies well.
His bubble shield offers 360 degrees of protection to counter D.Va ults and block Kiriko heals. Further, spamming his barrier can effectively block enemy missiles and grenades, forcing them to switch heroes. If jumping across the map and focusing on support heroes is your cup of tea, Winston is a great choice for Total Mayhem.
Doomfist
Doomfist’s kit was already intended to rely on melee combat, which means that his low cooldowns have been decreased further. Preferring brute force, pro players have wielded Doomfist in Arcade lobbies to completely wreak havoc on the entire enemy team. All his skills make him a great controller that gets awesome sustain from his passive along with Power Block. But despite being relocated to the Tank role, Talon’s leader still packs a big punch.
His Rocket Punch’s main appeal is its ability to hit multiple enemies and apply short but effective stuns when they hit a wall. Its forward dash can also be used repetitively with Seismic Slam for vertical AND horizontal mobility. But given the enemy team’s larger health pool, you’ll get much more value out of his ultimate if you use it to escape skirmishes when you find yourself outnumbered.
Orisa
A staple in every meta, the Defender of Numbani wrecks the competition in Total Mayhem. Her javelin is a great tool that can be spammed to push players away from the objective. Further, her Fortify ability arguably gives her the best defense in the game.
Juggling her cooldowns is already her whole playstyle, but Total Mayhem cranks it up to 11. Orisa is a great hero for players who just want to survive longer while assisting her teammates by grabbing enemy aggro. Knowing that, always have a keen sense of where your healers are (if any).
Moira
As exciting as it is to play as an unstoppable tank in Total Mayhem, you can’t leave out support heroes. Moira is (unsurprisingly) a great healer for this game mode for one very obvious reason: she can fill an entire room with Biotic orbs faster than you can say “scientific progress”.
She also has a great disengage skill that she can spam every few seconds. So if you enjoy picking off low-health stragglers from a distance as you heal your entire team at the same time, Moira is arguably the safest pick.
Speaking of limited-time Arcade games, Roadhog’s Pachimari event is the newest addition to the Overwatch 2’s rotation. This competitive, kill confirmed-inspired play mode pits players in a 3v3 deathmatch arena. As you would expect, a Pachimari toy drops after every elimination. Players can either collect one from an enemy, or deny a point by picking up a downed ally’s Pachimari. Both teams race to rack up the most points before time runs out. On top of that, if you play enough games, you’ll be able to grab Roadhog’s Pachimari skin.
Lúcio
Never underestimate the boop. Lucio’s large AOE healing gives slow but dependable sustain for your entire team if they stick close to you. Moreover, you can spam Amp It Up, giving friendly players a boost whenever they need it.
When it’s safe to do so, Lúcio players can also use their Sonic Amplifier to continuously push large, bothersome tanks away from the objective. This can be a great counter to prevent Hammond from building up too much speed, or redirecting a Reinhardt charge. In any case, speed and longevity are big factors when you dive into Total Mayhem’s long Overtime brawls, and good Lúcio players will happily oblige.
D.Va
When you’re in the business of removing as many players from the board as fast as possible, D.Va is a great pick when you consider her ultimate ability. Posing the biggest threat in close quarters, Self-Destruct instantly eliminates any vulnerable enemy nearby who finds themselves without a wall to hide behind.
But that isn’t the only good thing about her. Defense Matrix’s cooldown being reduced means that she can spend more time catching projectiles, giving her team more space to focus on important targets. Even in Total Mayhem, the pro-player remains a top notch pick for decent aerial mobility and a gun that continuously fires.
Junkrat
The Wastelander’s top grenadier. Junkrat’s kit offers great potential to scatter opponents in Total Mayhem. His mines have reduced cooldowns, which means that you can easily bounce the entire enemy team off of the payload mid-air, and do it all over again in 4 seconds.
His normal fire doesn’t pose much of a threat on its own, but is useful for building up enough ultimate charge to pick one non-tank hero off. Particularly, unleashing RIP-tire on an unsuspecting enemy support can heavily tip the scales in important team fights.
Wrecking Ball
An absolute unit on his own, Wrecking Ball (AKA Hammond) swings into the thick of it with his Grappling Claw and wrecks enemy formations from behind. Slamming into the ground, he can quickly disrupt enemy combos before spamming his Adaptive Shield for protection. His main fire uses two, fairly accurate machine guns that can melt and opponent’s HP if they make themselves an easy target for too long.
With all that said, Wrecking Ball’s strengths mainly rely on his absurd mobility. Avoid tight spaces and vendetta-driven Lúcios if you don’t want to be shoved into a corner.
Genji
Imagine if you gave one of the most slippery DPS heroes in Overwatch 2 more HP and ability uptime.
Genji’s lethality is even more of a threat in Total Mayhem if left unchecked. Dragonblade remains a force to be reckoned with. Faster dashes means that this Shimada cyborg can zip past enemy lines more frequently, and more Deflect uses means that Zarya mains better be wary when they launch their ultimates. Overall, we were surprised by how well Overwatch 2’s ninja played in a game mode that gave everyone more survivability. Suffice to say, Genji mains will have tons of fun playing Total Mayhem (provided that they have a good healer).
Ana
Last, but certainly not the least, we have everyone’s favorite grandmom. Despite everyone getting a huge cooldown reduction, her Sleep Dart was given more careful consideration, only getting a 33% boost on her disabling ability. In the midst of the obvious focus on dive heroes, her kit remains more versatile than ever in Total Mayhem.
With HP being double for everyone, getting nano’d by one of Overwatch’s founding members can give your team the upper hand in most cases. Paired with her biotic grenade’s damaging ability to cancel enemy healing, Captain Amari is a great hero with a steep learning curve that offers a lot of reward with an equal amount of risk.
Given that Blizzard’s software engineers are still in the process of improving Overwatch 2’s matchmaking process, putting a lot of effort into Quick Play and Competitive matches right now just doesn’t seem that appealing. Fans need a new way to enjoy the game while they wait for the rest of it to be fixed. So if you’re looking for a chaotic and low-stakes Overwatch 2 experience, keep a lookout for Total Mayhem when it appears in Arcade Mode’s next rotation!
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