Overwatch 2 Guide – How to Merge Accounts, and Earn Skill Rankings in Competitive Play

Confused about all of the changes to Ranked play? Here's what you need to know, along with how to carry over cosmetics from Overwatch 1.

Posted By | On 19th, Oct. 2022

Overwatch 2

It’s no secret that the rate of unlocking Legendary skins in Overwatch 2 is a little slow. Like, 32 weeks slow, if you try to get one by earning free Overwatch Coins from completing the Weekly Challenges. On the bright side, Overwatch 1 fans don’t have to worry about sticking out – they can transfer all their skins, profile icons, and so on into Overwatch 2 without hassle.

But what if you want access to all of those across every platform? This is where Account Merge comes in. First, log in to your console of choice. You’ll be prompted to select an account to merge, and only one is possible from each platform. A Battle.net account is necessary for this process (though Overwatch 1 players will already have one). After merging, you can’t change the linked accounts for at least one year.

Once this is done, your progress, skins, icons, and so on should be available on Overwatch 2. Even better, you get the Founder’s Pack, which provides instant access to the new Support hero, Kiriko, across all platforms.

Skill Tiers and Skill Divisions

Overwatch 2 has revamped its Competitive mode, doing away with placement matches and Skill Ratings. Instead, players must win seven matches, or lose 20 on each role to earn their rank. Ranks are divided into eight tiers – Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, Grandmaster, and Top 500. Except for Top 500, each has five Skill Divisions, with five being the lowest and one the highest.

You still earn Competitive Points regardless of the role played but depending on the rank achieved, you may gain a certain number from completing Competitive Challenges. Skill Tier and Division will reset a bit each season, so you’ll need to grind out the seven wins (or 20 losses) again to earn a ranking.

Your rank also determines who you can group with. If you’re below Master Tier, then you can play with friends within two Skill Tiers. So a Bronze player can group with Silver or Gold players. Master Tier players can only group with those within a single Skill Tier, so Diamond or Grandmaster.

Grandmaster players can only group with those within three Divisions. So if you’re a Grandmaster 5 player, you can play with a Master 3-5 player or Grandmaster 5-3 player. All Top 500 players can group with others in the same tier within their region. Finally, in Grandmaster Tier upwards, you can only have two players max in the group.

For more details on Overwatch 2, check out our official review here. It’s available as a free-to-play, early-access title on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.


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