Overwatch 2 has a new mode called Stadium, and I’m mildly addicted to it.
In a match that lasts up to 7 rounds, players battle across a variety of modes with a subset of the main Overwatch roster. The kicker? Each round earns you cash, which you can spend on items, almost like a MOBA.
The variety of items, powers, and other passives intersect and compliment each other, transforming Overwatch 2 into an almost unrecognizable game. It helps that the mode also features third-person gameplay for good measure.
If you’re just getting to grips with Stadium mode, you might not have time to read through the massive list of Overwatch 2 Stadium perks and abilities, though? I’ve been reading some of the “best build guides” for Moira online and decided most of them suck. Here’s my build for Moira, and tips on how to use it. It’s much better.
Best Overwatch 2 Stadium Moira Powers
|
Round |
Name |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Round 1 |
Cross-Orbal |
[Biotic Orb] launches an additional [Biotic Orb] of the other type with 50% reduced capacity. |
|
Round 3 |
Multiball |
[Biotic Orb] launches 2 additional orbs of the chosen type with 85% reduced effectiveness. |
|
Round 5 |
Optimal Overflow |
After you spend 50 [Biotic Energy], launch the last selected [Biotic Orb] with 75% reduced duration. |
|
Round 7 |
Phantasm |
When you use [Fade], spawn a stationary copy of the last selected [Biotic Orb] with 50% reduced duration. |
Moira is an evil support hero who sports a degree of notoriety for practically being a damage dealing class. Her orbs and Biotic Grasp abilities are great for those who don’t have super pro aiming skills (like me) due to their area-of-effect capabilities. Especially on console, this means you can increase the turn speed of your joystick for faster movements, without necessarily sacrificing accuracy like you would with a hitscan-style hero.
But yeah, she is supposed to be a support class at the end of the day, so this build gives you the best of both worlds.
The idea here is to spam Biotic Orbs all over the place. The first rank lets you add pressure to damage dealers and other healers by letting you heal while also dealing damage. The subsequent ranks simply add more orbs to your repertoire, which can be used both for healing or dealing huge amounts of damage. This build shines in certain maps with corridors and choke points in particular, although you can still just blast most squishy DPS and support heroes by firing off 4 balls into their face all at once, and then fading out for an extra one.
The items also make this build even more deadly, stacking ability power, while adding additional range to your balls on top.
Best Overwatch 2 Stadium Moira Items
|
Item Name |
Description |
Strategy |
|---|---|---|
|
Nano Cola |
+20% Ability Power. |
Boosts your Orb damage and healing, which is Moira’s bread and biotic butter. |
|
Smart Orbs |
+5% Ability Power, [Biotic Orb] moves 50% slower while it is healing or dealing damage. |
This power can be a big help for slowly tracking enemies and healers, making sure they stay in range. It can be a hindrance though, if you’re trying to send an orb to the other side of the map. Use with caution. |
|
Extendrils |
+10% Ability Power, +30% [Biotic Orb] Tendril Range. |
Self-explanatory. Bigger range means nastier balls. |
|
Champion’s Kit |
+40% Ability Power. |
It’s pricy but stacking into this, in longer matches, you can end up with +100% ability power. It’s obscene (and awesome). |
|
Liquid Nitrogen |
+25 Health, +10% Ability Power, Dealing Ability Damage slows the target’s Move Speed by 20% for 3s. |
When stacked with Smart Orbs, this can keep attackers permanently snared, which is crazy hilarious and probably in for a nerf. |
All of the items here revolve around boosting Moira’s ability power, which is where all of your damage and healing is going to come from. The four items above are key to the build, but I’ve left some room to add additional abilities you might think fits your playstyle here.
Once you’ve started grabbing some of Moira’s multiball capabilities, the idea is to just identify weaker targets and spam them straight into their faces. Once you’ve picked up Smart Orbs, the orbs will travel slower when hitting targets or healing allies, which is absolutely great for picking Mercy or Juno out of the sky. The healing orbs will also travel with you, while travelling alongside the DPS you’re murdering. It’s a great way to shut down flankers and attackers who may otherwise be expecting an easy kill. If you get enough cash, you can also throw Liquid Nitrogen on top of Smart Orbs, this will add a movement speed slowing effect to heroes like Genji and Cassidy, ruining their day. Or well, ruining anyone’s day really. It’s probably going to get nerfed eventually.
Stacking as many Ability +% items as possible will help carry both your damage and healing throughout the match, and has the added bonus of making Moira’s ultimate absolutely deadly too. Fade up a death ball, throw out 4 more death balls, pop your ultimate on top — you’ll evaporate entire teams doing this.
Overwatch 2 Stadium is surprisingly awesome
Overwatch 2’s new Stadium Mode is probably the most fun I’ve had in the game for a long time. It builds on the successes of the perk systems introduced into the base modes, and delivers some of the promised customization from the deceased Overwatch 2 “Story Mode.”
It may be a while before they can truly nail the balance here. I’ve felt obscenely overpowered playing Moira and Mei, and some heroes like Ashe clearly need some help as of writing. However, the promise is clear. Overwatch 2 is still delivering for its fans, even almost a decade after the fact.
Overwatch 2’s Stadium Mode is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Windows PC.
