Overwatch 2 launches free single-player Hero Mastery mode

Tracer in Overwatch 2.
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Yesterday (Thursday, September 7), Hero Mastery mode landed in Overwatch 2. The brand-new single-player mode is completely free and allows players to race through “action-packed” courses as a select number of heroes (with that number set to increase over time).

So, what do the courses consist of? Players have to overcome a number of obstacles and jump pads and dispatch a plethora of training bots while collecting Emblems and racing to the finish line as fast as possible to aim for a high score. The training bots have been given a revamp here, too, with the introduction of Rocket Bots (which shoot dangerous projectiles), Sniper Bots (which do exactly what their name suggests), and Tank Bots, which boast enormous health bars and barriers. Additionally, each hero can earn extra points by utilizing their unique abilities. 

Currently, courses for Reinhardt, Mercy, and Tracer are available, and additional ones for Winston and Sojourn have been announced for later in the game’s current season. For each hero, there are three increasingly difficult courses to take on - you’ll need to bag yourself a high enough score on the lower-level difficulties before you can progress to the next stage up. 

If you like free stuff, it’s worth completing these courses for the bonus rewards. For a start, mastering all three of a hero’s courses will reward players with an exclusive Name Card and Player Icon, as well as some extra Battle Pass XP. On top of that, until September 25, some limited-time rewards are up for grabs, such as an exclusive Weapon Charm and Spray.

The Hero Mastery courses will be available to play endlessly forever. 

For more games like Overwatch 2, be sure to take a look at our list of the best FPS games. You can also find more games that don’t cost a penny to play with our roundup of the best free games.

Catherine Lewis
News Writer, TechRadar Gaming

Catherine is a News Writer for TechRadar Gaming. Armed with a journalism degree from The University of Sheffield, she was sucked into the games media industry after spending far too much time on her university newspaper writing about Pokémon and cool indie games, and realising that was a very cool job, actually. She previously spent 19 months working at GAMINGbible as a full-time journalist. She loves all things Nintendo, and will never stop talking about Xenoblade Chronicles.