To get the best from the Overwatch 2 Junker Queen character you need to understand her abilities and the best ways to use them to stay alive on the battlefield. Master that and she can be an absolute menace among the Overwatch 2 characters and roles on offer.
One of the biggest Overwatch 2 Hero changes is that teams no longer have a tank duo, but instead, a solo hero on the frontline. That’s the role Junker Queen finds herself introduced to, and thriving in. She’s not likely to share the spotlight, so if you want to be the center of attention, you can do much worse than choosing her.
However, when you lock the Junker Queen on the hero select screen, you’re signing up for a certain mentality. She can do an immense amount of damage, however, she's also very easy to get yourself killed with. As contradictory as it may seem, despite her in-your-face, fearless attitude, Junker Queen takes a lot of discipline to stay alive. Playing her is like being on a knife’s edge between life and death, which is fitting as she’s got a great fondness for knives. She isn’t like most Overwatch 2 tanks and she has relatively little to protect her team, so it’s all about keeping the focus on you and using powerful ‘wound’ effects to keep you topped up in the center of damage.
Here’s everything you need to know about playing Junker Queen in Overwatch 2 so you’re a whirlwind of chaos, rather than a slight wind in the face of the enemy's defenses.
General Junker Queen Strategy
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Junker Queen is an aggressive, close-ranged tank in Overwatch 2 that is all about getting up into players' faces and trying to cause havoc. If you’re the kind of player who finds they do their best work in the middle of a fight, she truly is the best option.
To get the most value out of her, you need to actively put yourself in danger making her a little bit of a tightrope act. She has excellent sustain, as her bleed effects will cause her to gain life in the middle of a fight.
However, she’s lacking quite a lot when it comes to damage mitigation. She doesn’t have a consistently effective way to protect her team, so she’s a tank that lives or dies by the sentiment ‘offense is the best defense.’ Keeping enemy eyes on you and securing kills fairly quickly is the way you’re going to want to go.
Junker Queen Abilities
Junker Queen passive, Adrenaline Rush
Description: Heal from wound damage dealt over a short period.
Junker Queen’s passive ability Adrenaline Rush is a great way to try and survive while in the thick of fights. She can apply the ‘wound’ debuff by using either Jagged Edge (including the melee ability), Carnage, or her Rampage Ultimate.
- This passive is the key to Junker Queen’s survivability. This effect gives her a lot of ability to sustain herself on the battlefield and remain in the fight.
- That being said, it’s only so powerful. This merely extends your survivability a little bit in a fight. It’s not a replacement for getting healed and you aren’t going to be able to eat Ultimate levels of damage with it. Don’t rely solely on it.
Junker Queen Scattergun, Primary
Description: Short-ranged shotgun blast
The Scattergun is Junker Queen’s primary weapon, and it can deal a decent amount of damage in optimal settings. It fires a blast of pellets so it can do varying amounts of damage depending on how many hit. Because of that, you want to make sure you’re close to an enemy if you want to get the most out of it.
- The Scattergun can do a lot of hurt up close. It’s not great at dealing ranged damage due to its pellet spread though.
- If enemies aren’t committing into Scattergun’s effective range, use your abilities to close that distance. If they refuse to come to you, use your Jagged Blade to make them, or use your commanding shout to barrel down on top of them.
Junker Queen Ability 1, Jagged Blade
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Description: Junker Queen’s knife has two functions, both of which inflict the ‘wound’ debuff. It replaces the melee, but you can also throw the knife at enemies. If it hits them, when you call it back, it will drag the enemy to you too.
This is a really fun ability that is quite versatile and is a great way to bring heroes to you if they are trying to run away, or if the squishier targets refuse to get to your strike range. With it also replacing your melee, you can deal more damage and ensure a little more health for you through the Adrenaline Rush passive to remain in the fray of battle longer.
- While it might be tempting to try and pull someone to you from the enemy backline, go for easier hits. Jagged Blade is exceptionally hard to hit at longer ranges so always go for easier targets.
- Use this ability to primarily pull enemies to you and then either use your Scattershot shotgun, your Carnage, or any combination of the two to secure the kill.
- Be sure you know what you’re pulling towards yourself. Be careful if you suspect the enemy to have Ultimates. Bringing a Reinhardt to you is all well and good… until he Earth Shatters you in the head.
Junker Queen Ability 2, Commanding Shout
Description: Gives you a burst of health, while also giving teammates around you a little as well. Everyone affected also gets a short burst of movement speed.
Commanding Shout is the closest Junker Queen gets to protecting her team. This ability provides health for her team, however, do be aware, it’s only a fraction of what you give yourself. That said, this can be invaluable in clutch situations when you and those around you are about to take just a little more damage than you can handle.
- This is one of your absolute best abilities and should be saved for when you need it as it has a very long cooldown and can make an enormous impact at the right moments.
- This ability is quite versatile and can be used in a couple of instances. The first is as an initiation, so your team can run over the enemy team with a little extra health, or you can use it to further your sustain in a fight, and get the extra health right before you die.
Junker Queen Ability 3, Carnage
Description: Junker Queen swings an axe, applying the ‘wound’ debuff while also causing damage.
Carnage is the best way to apply ‘wound’ to your enemies. It returns the most health and can hit multiple targets in front of you. It has a laborious wind-up, so the slash is not instant, but it does a large cleave in front of you, doing a decent amount of damage.
- This is one of the best ways to deal with your Adrenaline Rush passive. Get up in someone’s face and swing that axe.
- Carnage has a long wind-up, so only use it if you’re very close to your enemies. If they are too far away, they will be able to see the animation and get out of range.
- This is an excellent way to finish a non-tank hero after hitting them with your Jagged Edge ability and dragging them in front of you.
Junker Queen Rampage Ultimate
Description: Junker Queen charges forward, inflicting damage, ‘wound’ and anti-heal to all affected.
Carnage is only the second ability in the game to apply anti-heal to enemy players after Ana’s Biotic Grenade. It’s a ridiculously powerful debuff, as other characters can’t heal when affected by it. The radius on this Ultimate is large as well, so hit as many as possible, get the wound damage to stay alive, and kill who you can while they’re under the effects of the brutal hit.
- The anti-heal applied with this Ultimate can make it devastating. You have a decent amount of time to confirm kills on enemies affected before they will be able to get any healing.
- You can use this ultimate to do some rather wacky maneuvering. As content creator OWGrandma points out, you can use Rampage to get around.
- Have a plan for what happens after. If you charge ‘into’ an enemy team, you’ll have them between you and your allies, so try not to isolate yourself. That's why, if possible, it’s best to get behind the enemy team and then use the ultimate to charge toward your team.
