During Blizzard’s opening ceremony at Blizzcon 2023, first details were shared on what’s coming in season 8 and beyond in Overwatch 2. Among the plethora of new content is a trio of new heroes. While the new heroes each fit into the Tank, Support, and Damage roles, only the newest Tank role, Mauga, was given a full look at his upcoming kit. While onsite at Blizzcon 2023, we went hands-on with the dual chaingun-wielding Samoan in live gameplay on Xbox Series X.
For a quick recap on the latest Tank’s abilities, here’s what players can expect with Mauga’s kit. His primary and secondary weapons each deal similar damage on their own and pull from the same 300-round ammo supply but each deal different mechanics that work best in tandem. His primary, Incendiary Chaingun, will ignite enemies after hitting them with enough shots on target (at least ten shots from initial testing). Conversely, his secondary Volatile Chaingun will deal critical damage to burning enemies. Combining the two together, you can burn an enemy down from full health in a matter of seconds, no pun intended. To balance this, his accuracy immediately goes down the drain and hitting anything that isn’t in melee range will probably miss its intended mark.
That being said, few heroes could handle the full brunt of of even a couple seconds of pressure from both chainguns firing in tandem unless they were another Tank class in Overwatch 2. Against another Mauga in the training level, it would take six seconds with just the primary chaingun and approximately 190 bullets. Comparatively, holding down both primary and secondary attacks would burn down all 500 of Mauga’s health in seventy-five rounds and barely more than two seconds. Since both weapons share the same ammunition pool, that 300 round capacity can burn down quickly under concentrated fire. Each weapon takes roughly 17 seconds to empty the full capacity when firing on their own, or just 7 seconds with both being fired together. Quite unsurprising for the girth of his chainguns, Mauga can reload back up to full capacity in just two seconds. And in case you were wondering, Mauga’s named his dual tools of destruction Gunny and Cha-Cha, respectively.
The first of Mauga’s Tank ability kit is Overrun, an unstoppable charge forward that ends with a stomp that can launch enemies in the air. During our group interview with four of Overwatch 2’s development team, they hinted that ending the charge directly on an enemy would stun them temporarily. Moreso than that, stopping the charge on a weakened enemy Reaper would deal enough damage to kill them outright. If not, then they would be stunned just long enough for Mauga’s chainguns to finish the job. Being an unstoppable ability, even if Mauga is hit by Ana’s sleep dart, he’ll continue on. There’s also a limited ability to steer left and right rather than just a static forward charge. Overrun still has some kinks to work out, especially with getting tripped up over stairs or bumping into other objects in the environment to stop his charge.
Mauga’s other active ability, Cardiac Overdrive, turns the Samoan titan into all three roles at once in Overwatch 2. While dealing the same damage as always, Mauga drops an AoE aura that will reduce the damage taken and provide a lifesteal effect that heals any ally within the barrier. For Mauga himself, it isn’t enough to heal over sustained damage on its own but can provide a much needed relief when trying to hold the payload while the team’s healer gets back into position. And if you’re a Reaper main, Cardiac Overdrive will stack with his signature passive healing ability.
Shields and temporary health are a signature part of keeping Tank roles alive in Overwatch 2 and Mauga’s kit allows him to gain that temporary health by dealing critical damage. Simply put, this passive is designed specifically to work with attacking with both chainguns and dealing that guaranteed critical damage to enemies on fire.
Mauga’s signature ultimate, Cage Fight, drops a barrier around his position and locks anyone that’s entered the barrier and prevents them from leaving. At the same time, Mauga gains infinite ammo for as long as he is inside the barrier. The barrier continues to exist even without Mauga residing within, so even if he dies or gets pulled out by a Lifeweaver’s Life Grip, the ultimate will last until expiration. It’ll block any sort of outside interruption, so no incoming damage or healing can pass through inside. However, the barrier only goes up so high so lobbing grenades over the edge of barrier is easy to do and a poorly timed ult will give Pharah the opportunity to take Mauga out like fish in a barrel.
The limited-time opportunity to get hands-on with Mauga will only last through November 5th, before he gets vaulted until the beginning of Season 8. When Season 8 launches, players can unlock Mauga by unlocking level 45 on the standard Battle Pass, or instantly by purchasing the Premium Battle Pass. Overwatch 2 is available now the PlayStation and Xbox families of consoles, PC, and Nintendo Switch while Season 8 begins on December 5th, 2023.
