Overwatch Skins have quickly become one of the game’s most popular features, becoming to some even more important than the actual gameplay. Over this last year, we’ve seen tons of new skins and other cosmetics added into the game, mostly via events that give our favourite heroes a new lick of paint in a style we’d never normally see. Here are the 25 best skins that have been introduced in the last momentous year for Overwatch. Keep in mind that this list is totally subjective, but if you think a skin absolutely should be in the list, make sure to leave a comment!
Starting off the list is probably the rarest of all Overwatch skins to date, Blizzcon 2016 Bastion. This skin was awarded to Blizzcon 2016 attendees, and to those who had purchased the digital ticket, so consider yourself lucky if you run into a player using this skin. Besides being rare, the new look that Bastion gets thanks to this cosmetic is a super slick black-and-blue combo that’ll make you regret not buying that expensive digital ticket when you had the chance. Plus, his little bird companion gets a nice make-over, too.
For a long time, this was hands-down D.va’s best skin. Event skins have changed that a little, but for many D.va mains, this skin was and still is a go-to pick. Her Meka gets an intimidating black-and-red combo, and as you’d guess, the entire skin has a carbon-fiber texture to it. It also compliments the competitive reward of a golden gun incredibly well. Outside of her Meka, D.va wears a white, black and red bodysuit with dyed black hair, and she’s never looked better. For a simple epic skin, costing only 250 credits, it’d be a crime if you’re a D.va main who’s never had this look.
Introduced very recently in the last event, Uprising, Combat Medic Zeigler is a skin for Mercy that delves into her past as an Overwatch agent, giving us a taste of what she looked like during Tracer’s first ever mission as a part of the team. Her hair is down in this skin, and slightly shorter than how she normally looks, and she dons a cute nurse hat and a brilliant blue outfit adorned with the Overwatch logo. The best part about this skin is that not only does it look great, but it’s also lore-friendly, making it even more satisfying to use.
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#25: Blizzcon 2016 Bastion
Starting off the list is probably Overwatch's rarest skin to date, Blizzcon 2016 Bastion. This skin was awarded to Blizzcon 2016 attendees, and to those who had purchased the digital ticket, so consider yourself lucky if you run into a player using this skin. Besides being rare, the new look that Bastion gets thanks to this cosmetic is a super slick black-and-blue combo that'll make you regret not buying that expensive digital ticket when you had the chance. Plus, his little bird companion gets a nice makeover, too.
#24: Carbon Fiber D.Va
For a long time, this was hands-down D.Va's best skin. Event skins have changed that a little, but for many D.Va mains, this skin was and still is a go-to pick. Her Meka gets an intimidating black-and-red combo, and as you'd guess, the entire skin has a carbon-fiber texture to it. It also compliments the competitive reward of a golden gun incredibly well. Outside of her Meka, D.Va wears a white, black, and red bodysuit with dyed black hair, and she's never looked better. For a simple epic skin, costing only 250 credits, it'd be a crime if you're a D.Va main who's never had this look.
#23: Combat Medic Ziegler
Introduced very recently in the last event, Uprising, Combat Medic Ziegler is a skin for Mercy that delves into her past as an Overwatch agent, giving us a taste of what she looked like during Tracer's first ever mission as a part of the team. Her hair is down in this skin, and slightly shorter than how it normally looks, and she dons a cute nurse hat and a brilliant blue outfit adorned with the Overwatch logo. The best part about this skin is that not only does it look great, but it's also lore-friendly, making it even more satisfying to use.
#22: Talon Widowmaker
Widowmaker mains squealed with joy when the Uprising event came along and brought a new skin with it. Widow's last skin was during the first event, the Summer Games, and it wasn't that great. Once again, Talon Widowmaker is a lore-friendly (well, semi lore-friendly) skin that shows her gorgeous curves off to their absolute best. It shows Widowmaker just as she was starting to become Widowmaker, the cold-blooded heartless sniper that murdered her own husband and almost fatally wounded Ana Amari. It's truly a badass skin, and one she sorely needed.
#21: Weightlifter Zarya
Zarya more often than not gets the short end of the stick when it comes to skins. The latest event finally gave her a new legendary, but it's not so great; people are comparing it to a toothbrush with all its garish colours. But before this latest skin, all the way back during the Summer Games Event, Zarya got two skins that were actually pretty great, but sadly overlooked by many. The skins are themed around Zarya as a champion weightlifter, and the strongest woman in the world, and its red variant, simply titled Weightlifter Zarya, is the best of the bunch. She sports an athletic red outfit that puts all her muscles on show, with her blonde hair in a ponytail. It's nothing fancy like we've seen on other heroes, but its still a really nice skin for a hero that doesn't get many.
#20: Blackwatch Genji
Another lore-friendly skin this time around, showing off Genji in his early days as a member of Blackwatch, Overwatch's seedy underbelly. It shows him just as he is getting used to his brand new and at this point imperfect body, after getting murdered and tossed aside by his own brother Hanzo. This skin is great because it not only gives us a huge insight into Genji's past, but it also is probably the most badass looking out of all the Uprising event skins. It really makes Genji look like he's been through hell and come out on the other side, ready to take on anything and anyone.
#19: Graffiti Tracer
The first skin from the Anniversary event hits our list, and it certainly won't be the last; there are so many amazing skins that have been added that it completely reworked the way this list was going to go. Graffiti Tracer is the next addition to the long list of Tracer legendaries, of which there are more of than any other hero by a long way. This one, however, is a little different to the rest; it paints Tracer in a more rebellious light, the complete opposite of how we've seen her portrayed so far, and it really works. The conversion of her guns into little spray cans is a really nice touch from Blizzard, too.
#18: Santaclad Torbjörn
Torbjörn is one of those strange heroes that isn't played super often, but still has some really nice skins that you can show off with. The nicest of his skins, though, is Santaclad, introduced during the Winter Wonderland event. It kits our favourite little Swede up in a cute Santa outfit, complete with a hat and boots, and gives his beloved turret some reindeer antlers. What tops the skin by far, though, is that Blizzard went to the lengths of changing his ultimate voice line. When it's time for Torbjörn to get fired up, he yells "MERRY MOLTEN CORE" at the top of his lungs. Hearing this coming from an enemy Torb is both adorable and horrifying.
#17: Noire Widowmaker
The second WIdowmaker skin hits this list, with another rare skin that you probably won't ever be able to unlock again. Noire Widowmaker was a pre-order bonus for the loyal Overwatch fans who decided to support the game from the get-go. This skin has been around for a long time, since Overwatch launched, but this skin never fails to impress. Widowmaker's long cord-like hair and her red and black stealth suit really reminds players that this hero is a force to be reckoned with.
#16: Captain Amari
Ana holds a special place in Overwatch history as the first hero to be added to the game post-release. Despite this, she's still cemented herself as a staple support hero, withstanding nerf after nerf and coming out on top. The Ana skin on this list is one of her basic legendary skins, so it's available to buy at any time, not just during events. This skin completely reworks Ana's looks, converting her to the way she looked right back when she was an Overwatch operative. She dons the standard Overwatch blue, and still retains her right eye. Sadly this doesn't give you any advantage in-game, but we'd like to think it does.
#15: Balderich Reinhardt
This skin was first announced during Gamescom 2016, and joined the roster as one of Reinhardt's base legendary skins during the Eichenwalde patch. The skin has two variants, Balderich and Griefhardt, with Griefhardt being basically an overgrown and rusted version of the former. The skin is supposed to be the armor of Reinhardt's old commander, Balderich, who passed away while defending the small town of Eichenwalde against the Omnics. Sadly, the skin doesn't change Rein's voice to Balderich's, but it still looks incredibly cool. His hammer is changed into a huge spiked mace/hammer hybrid, and who doesn't love that?
#14: Okami Hanzo
This Hanzo skin paints the bowslinging brother-killer in an entirely new light; as a survivor who is one with the wild. Okami Hanzo wears a white wolf's pelt over his head, making him look more badass than ever. There is an alternate version of this skin, but he wears a brown wolf instead, which is boring in comparison. A white wolf is so much cooler, no? On top of this, his ultimate voice line changes from the "ryū ga waga teki o kurau" everyone has heard a thousand times, to a new one, involving wolves. It also changes the dragons he fires into giant wolf heads that sweep across the map and devastate everything. You can't say that isn't cool.
#13: Junkenstein's Monster
The Halloween Terror event for Overwatch was amazing. It was the first time we saw a PvE game mode, which tasked us with killing hordes of Zomnics, and facing off against super overpowered versions of heroes we know and love. It introduced some seriously amazing skins, too. One such skin was Junkenstein's Monster, that converted Roadhog into a whole other kind of lumbering beast. The skin is a direct parody of Frankenstein's monster, as you might've guessed, and Blizzard really knocked it out of the park in terms of detail. The skin is a companion skin to Junkrat's Dr. Junkenstein skin which, while it's still cool, wasn't as special as the Roadhog skin.
#12: Chang'e/Luna Mei
There are two skins in this entry, but they are basically just recolours of the same skin. These skins were introduced in the Lunar New Year event, which brought a lot of focus onto Mei, thanks to her Chinese background. Chang'e and Luna Mei is dressed in a beautiful Chinese outfit, with Luna being a dark red that you'd see at festivals, and Chang'e being a slightly more liberal take on the outfit, with a white and purple mixture. Technically, the outfit isn't strictly traditional, but Blizzard definitely gets brownie points for trying.
#11: Yeti Winston
Back at Christmas, when the Overwatch event came around, everybody was surprised to see Winston get a really great skin. Everyone is always begging for more Zarya or Hanzo skins, that nobody realized that the big gorilla himself was in dire need of a skin. Turning Winston into a yeti is a great way to turn his aesthetic and build into something completely different, while not having any major effect on gameplay. He looks absolutely feral with this skin, with his boosters being two giant ram skulls. That said, he's still wearing his glasses, so we know the lovable big guy is in there somewhere.
#10: Nutcracker Zenyatta
Now we're getting into the REALLY good skins. Claiming the #10 spot on this list is a skin for everyone's favourite Omnic guru, Zenyatta. Zenyatta's Nutcracker skin was introduced in the Christmas event, and it completely blew everyone away with the way it looked. Nobody expected the super-serious Zenyatta to be dressed like the Nutcracker, and were amazed once again when they saw that the floating balls he uses as weapons had been turned into nuts. This skin visually looks amazingly detailed and hilarious, but the best thing about it is that Blizzard animated his little mouth, so it chatters when Zenyatta performs most of his actions.
#9: Jingle Tracer
Another of Tracer's vast horde of legendary skins joins this list, but this one we think is the best of the bunch. Jingle Tracer was brought in during Christmas, and paints our lovable Brit in a whole new light: as a spunky Elf. This skin lets you dash through the snow with a little bell, and loads of new voice lines, saying things like "Ho ho ho!" after a dash. In terms of design, the skin is also amazing, and filled with load of nice little details like a textured effect on her leggings and a candy-cane colored chronal accelerator.
#8: American McCree
Who doesn't love a bit of patriotism? This skin for McCree was introduced in the Summer Games event and, while it's only an epic skin, it really managed to stand out amongst others. McCree is normally portrayed as a stoic, cool-headed cowboy so it was a little surprising for us to see him wearing a US flag as a poncho. And yet, it strangely makes a lot of sense to his character. What is more American than a gun-slinging cowboy? Aesthetically, the skin looks great, too, with the bright colors of the American flag really standing out amongst the dark colors of the rest of the skin. On top of this all, his gun is decorated with the stars and stripes. You can't get much cooler than that.
#7: Oasis Symmetra
Symmetra was another hero that fans were desperately pleading for a new skin for. The hero hasn't had a single legendary skin added into the game in the whole year since Overwatch's release, and the two epic skins she got for Halloween and Lunar New Year were lacklustre at best. So when Blizzard dropped this bomb of a skin, fans went wild. The designers more than pulled their weight with this one, and not a single Symmetra main was dissatisfied; it was worth the wait. The skin itself is flower-themed in nature, with her outfit flowing smoothly and falling like petals, with some stunning extra details. The blue parts of the skin glow in the dark in-game, and her teleporter opens graciously like a lotus flower when placed. This skin is truly wonderful.
#6: Cruiser D.Va
D.Va has been getting some good skins lately, receiving a not-too-shabby legendary skin during the Lunar New Year and a quest related skin (that'll show up very soon), and finally now, in the Anniversary event. Cruiser D.Va is based on an old-style 50's idea of what the future will be like, with her Meka being the style that you'd expect to see in a Fallout game. D.Va's out of Meka look is fresh, too, having tied-up hair in a ponytail and wearing old-style southern garb. This is also one of the few times we've seen D.Va get brand new skin-related voice lines too, for example saying "Hey Daddy-o!" instead of her usual 'hello,' voice line. There are loads more, too, but you can find them yourself.
#5: Officer D.Va
Another D.Va skin right off the bat, Officer D.Va was released just a few weeks ago, as part of a cross-promotional deal with Heroes of the Storm. If you completed 10 games with a friend on Heroes, you'd unlock this skin in Overwatch. While the practice of making fans play another game in order to get a skin they want is somewhat questionable, and thankfully this is changing in a future patch, there is no doubting that this skin is phenomenal. D.Va's Meka is transformed into a police-bot, complete with sirens that sound when you boost and a slick blue finish. D.Va's out of Meka outfit is also probably her best, too, wearing a Korean-styled police officer's uniform, complete with a hat and tie. The thing that stands out the most with this skin is the vibrant colors, which are brighter than any of her other skins, and really helps this skin stand above the rest.
#4: Pumpkin Reaper
Our favorite edgelord has had his fair share of nice skins, even getting himself an Origins Edition skin, but Pumpkin Reaper is far and away the best of the bunch. Quite simply, Reaper is dressed in a brilliant dark coat with orange highlights, and has a pumpkin for a head. This sounds stupid (and it is), but Reaper manages to pull it off and make it look brilliantly spooky. The amount of detail put into the outfit he's wearing is incredible, making him look like a villain straight from a Spider-Man comic. The colors are beautiful, too, with a deep glowing orange really standing out on the muted browns and blacks that make up the rest of the skin. The guns are also out of this world, too, with little candles on top that stay lit no matter how much abuse they take. It's a shame he throws them away constantly.
#3: Sentai Genji
Sentai Genji is straight up a Kamen Rider reference. Scratch that, it's a Power Rangers reference. Both? Whatever it is, this skin is genuinely amazing. It gives our cyborg ninja a look in which we've never seen him before, and oh boy, does it suit him. The bright green gives him a look like he's come straight from one of your favorite kid shows (take your pick, I don't know anymore), and is ready to kick some ass in Overwatch. He dons a scarf that flows in the wind behind him, adding to his coolness-meter, and his glowing-green dragonblade has little horns of its own. What's more, whenever Sentai Genji dashes in-game, he screams in an over-the-top and exaggerated manner, again reminding us of the shows we loved so much as kids.
#2: Jazzy Lúcio
Jazzy Lúcio is another skin that was introduced with the latest event, and it does something that no other Lúcio skin has done before; it changes his songs. Normally, Lúcio uses a techno-styled tune to either speed up or heal his teammates, but with the Jazzy skin, the beats he uses are much, much smoother. Every time you switch between healing and speed, you'll hear the beginning of a jazz track, and it's quite literally music to your ears. Aesthetically this skin is really nice, too, with Lúcio having slicked back hair with a hat, a stylish shirt/jacket combo, and a purple tie. His bottom half appears to be made out of different instruments and musical parts, and the device on his back is simply two horns that blow whenever he activates his abilities. This skin follows a theme, and it does it brilliantly.
#1: Witch Mercy
Taking the top spot on this list is none other than Witch Mercy. When this skin first released, it all but made everybody's jaw drop. The Halloween event was the first time we saw skins with real intricate detail, and a lot of new additions like voice lines. Witch Mercy was the first skin to truly do this, with a whole host of new lines that pretty much remade Mercy into an entirely different character with a new backstory. Everything about this skin is perfect, from the brilliant big hat to the very tip of her broomstick. It honestly never fails to make me crack a smile whenever I'm in-game and I hear "My servants never die," even when its an enemy Mercy rezzing the entire team. Blizzard, take note: this skin is, as of right now, your magnum opus.
About the author
Sammy Cooper
UK-based fledgling games journalist. Recently graduated with a Games Journalism & PR degree from Staffordshire University. I love all things Nintendo, Overwatch, and Esports!
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