Barrier

Barriers are semi-transparent, semi-permeable structures that block incoming damage and most projectiles. Barriers can also block line of sight for certain abilities. They do not prevent heroes from crossing, nor block any melee attacks. Some attacks can pierce barriers. Barriers only affect the opposing team.

Barriers have shields for their HP.^[1]^[2] Unlike the shields on heroes, barrier shields only regenerate while the barrier is inactive, and with a 2 second delay instead of 3. Since most barriers are always active once deployed, the only barriers that can regenerate are the ones that can be recalled back. Like all shields, they are destroyed by EMP.

List of barriers

Hero	Barrier	HP	Duration	Cooldown	Shield regeneration rate	Notes
Brigitte	Barrier Shield	250	Any	8 seconds	85 per second, after recalled for 2 seconds	A flat personal barrier Reduces Brigitte's movement speed by 30% Allows Brigitte to use Shield Bash Becomes 700 during Rally
Mauga	Cage Fight	1200	8 seconds	N/A	—	A large cylindrical barrier Mauga's ultimate ability; requires 2400 charge. The barrier casting device also produces chains that traps Mauga and all nearby enemies within the barrier.
Orisa	File:Protective Barrier icon.png Protective Barrier	600	6 seconds	8 seconds	—	Selected perk only.
Ramattra	Void Barrier	1000	4 seconds	13 seconds	—	A large hexagonal barrier that can protect allies. Can be positioned in midair, if placed on top of abilities such as Mei's Ice Wall or a moving platform. Can be deployed up to 35 meters away.
Reinhardt	Barrier Field	1500	Any	5 seconds, if shattered	160 per second, after recalled for 2 seconds	A large rectangular barrier that can protect allies Reduces Reinhardt's movement speed by 30% Allows Reinhardt to view 360°
Sigma	Experimental Barrier	700	Any	2 seconds, if recalled 5 seconds, if shattered	100 per second, after recalled for 2 seconds	A large curved barrier that floats in the air Can be deployed and launched at any angle Can be recalled at any time
Symmetra	Photon Barrier	4000	12 seconds	N/A	—	An enormous flat barrier, infinite in size Symmetra's ultimate ability; requires 1680 charge Can be deployed up to 25 meters away
Winston	Barrier Projector	650	9 seconds	12 seconds	—	A large dome-shaped barrier, 5 meters in radius Winston drops the device that generates it
Zarya	Particle Barrier	225	2.25 seconds	11 seconds, upon removal	—	A bubble-shaped barrier that surrounds Zarya Zarya is invincible while inside Zarya is cleansed of most status effects 2 charges, but is shared with Projected Barrier
Zarya	Projected Barrier	225	2.25 seconds	11 seconds, upon removal	—	A bubble-shaped barrier that surrounds a target That target is invincible while inside That target is cleansed of most status effects 2 charges, but is shared with Particle Barrier

Abilities whose lines of sight are blocked by barriers

Hero	Ability	Notes
Baptiste	Regenerative Burst	Players will still heal if LOS is blocked after they are successfully healed by it.
Brigitte	Inspire	Can still be procced through a barrier, will not heal teammates on the other side however.
Brigitte	Rally	Players keep armor if LOS is blocked, after successfully being affected by Rally.
Echo	Duplicate	Behaves as normal after LOS is regained.
Lúcio	Crossfade/Amp It Up	Lucio can still crossfade, but players on the other side of the barrier will not feel its effects.
Lúcio	Sound Barrier	Players keep the shields gained by Sound Barrier when LOS is broken afterwards.
Moira	Biotic Orb	Orb acts as normal once it passes through the barrier.
Ramattra	Annihilation	Players standing behind barriers will not take damage from the nanites emitted by Ramattra.
Soldier: 76	Biotic Field
Sombra	Hack	Applies the penalty for a LOS break as normal.
Wrecking Ball	Adaptive Shield	Only blocks additional shielding, standard 100 flat shield is always applied.
Zenyatta	Orb of Harmony	Ability only blocked when applying. Orb will stay attached after LOS is broken.
	Orb of Discord
	Transcendence

Projectiles that bounce off barriers

These abilities will not stick to, or activate on a barrier. Instead, they will continuously move or fall until they reach the floor or a wall.

Hero	Ability	Notes
Ashe	Dynamite	Acts as if it has hit a wall, bouncing off and deploying nearby This does not start the timer for the detonation.
Junkrat	Concussion Mine	Will not stick to barriers, instead will tumble off them and stick to the nearest surface
Junkrat	Steel Trap	Acts as if it has hit a wall, bouncing off and deploying nearby
Lifeweaver	Petal Platform	Acts as if it has hit a wall, bouncing off and deploying once it lands on the ground
Ramattra	Ravenous Vortex	Acts as if it has hit a wall, bouncing off and deploying once it lands on the ground
Torbjörn	Deploy Turret	Acts as if it has hit a wall, bouncing off and deploying nearby
Torbjörn	Molten Core	Ability will still hurt enemies if the area is either side of a barrier
Widowmaker	Venom Mine	Will not stick to barriers, instead will tumble off them and stick to the nearest surface

Abilities that travel through barriers

Hero	Ability	Notes
All Heroes	Any Movement	Shield Bash has a unique interaction with barriers, in that it can allow Brigitte to move past them, but will not stun an enemy behind it.
Ashe	B.O.B	B.O.B. can charge through barriers, but barriers block his arm cannons.
Baptiste	Immortality Field	The field generator can travel through barriers, and its effects are not blocked.
Junkrat	Total Mayhem	When killed, Junkrat drops 6 grenades which can bounce through barriers, but barriers block their explosions.
Junkrat	Rip-Tire	The tire can travel through barriers, but barriers block the explosion.
Mei	Blizzard	Snowball can travel through barriers. The Freezing Effect is not blocked.
Moira	Biotic Orb	The orb can travel through barriers, but barriers block line of sight for the damage or healing.
Sombra	Translocator	The beacon can travel through barriers.
Symmetra	Sentry Turret	The turrets can travel through barriers, but barriers block the beams they emit.

Attacks and abilities that pierce or ignore barriers

Hero	Ability	Notes
All Heroes	Quick Melee	All Melee attacks will pierce barriers, allowing players to attack those behind it, without moving through it themselves. They also damage the barriers themselves.
Ashe	B.O.B	B.O.B will ignore barriers and charge through them. He was also throw enemies into the air (such as Reinhardt) who are holding a barrier.
Baptiste	Immortality Field	Immortality field ignores barriers, and will stop the death of players inside it, even if a barrier intersects its LOS.
Brigitte	Rocket Flail	All Melee attacks will pierce barriers, allowing players to attack those behind it, without moving through it themselves. They also damage the barriers themselves.
Doomfist	Rocket Punch	All Melee attacks will pierce barriers, allowing players to attack those behind it, without moving through it themselves. They also damage the barriers themselves.
D.Va	Boosters	Boosters will ignore barriers, as if it was a melee attack. It cannot damage barriers however.
Genji	Swift Strike	All Melee attacks will pierce barriers, allowing players to attack those behind it, without moving through it themselves. They also damage the barriers themselves.
Genji	Dragonblade	All Melee attacks will pierce barriers, allowing players to attack those behind it, without moving through it themselves.
Hanzo	Dragonstrike	Dragonstrike ignores barriers, but deals no damage to them.
Kiriko	Kitsune Rush	Kitsune Rush ignores barriers, buffing all allies on either side.
Lifeweaver	Tree of Life	The AoE healing ignores barriers.
Mauga	Cardiac Overdrive	Cardiac Overdrive ignores barriers, granting its effects to all allies on either side.
Mauga	Cage Fight	Barriers do not prevent the chains from trapping targets inside.
Mei	Blizzard	Blizzard ignores barriers and will freeze enemies through them.
Mercy	Caduceus Staff	The Healing beams of both abilities ignore barriers, and allow players start healing, and maintain healing through them.
Mercy	Valkyrie
Moira	Coalescence	Coalescence pierces, and damages barriers.
Orisa	Javelin Spin	Orisa will ignore barriers while charging through them. Javelin Spin won't damage the barrier.
Orisa	Terra Surge	Terra Surge can pierce through barriers.
Ramattra	Pummel	All Melee attacks will pierce barriers, allowing players to attack those behind it, without moving through it themselves. They also damage the barriers themselves.
Reinhardt	Rocket Hammer	All Melee attacks will pierce barriers, allowing players to attack those behind it, without moving through it themselves. They also damage the barriers themselves.
	Charge	Rein will charge through barriers, dealing no damage to them.
	Firestrike	Firestrike pierces, and damages barriers.
Sigma	Gravitic Flux	Gravitic Flux ignores barriers but cannot damage them.
Sombra	EMP	EMP completely destroys all barriers.
Torbjorn	Forge Hammer	All Melee attacks will pierce barriers, allowing players to attack those behind it, without moving through it themselves. They also damage the barriers themselves.
Winston	Tesla Cannon	Tesla Cannon will not only pierce a barrier, but also damage it as well.
Winston	Primal Rage	All Melee attacks will pierce barriers, allowing players to attack those behind it, without moving through it themselves. They also damage the barriers themselves.
Wrecking Ball	Grappling Claw	Grappling Claw ignores barriers, and Wrecking Ball is not slowed down by them. He will still deal damage if he passes through one at high speed however.
Wrecking Ball	Minefield	Minefield ignores barriers during deployment and will damage them if they're touching after activation.

Trivia

Unlike most barriers, Zarya's barriers are pink and smooth on the surface.
- Originally, they were blue with hexagonal patterns like all the other barriers.^[3]
Bastion used to generate a curved barrier in front of him while in Sentry mode.
Symmetra could previously generate a moving barrier, similar to Sigma's. This ability was also named Photon Barrier.
Barriers are often informally called "shields."
- This confusion comes as many voice-lines in the game do not distinguish between HP Shields, and Barriers.
  - One such example is the command for needing assistance when activated on Zarya, will request a Shield.
  - Reinhardt also refers to his Barrier as a Shield, in several voicelines.

References

↑ Overwatch Beta Patch Notes – March 1, 2016 — The health on Winston's barrier is specifically called "Shield health"
↑ OVERWATCH PTR PATCH NOTES – SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 — The health on Brigitte's barrier is specifically called "Shield health"
↑ Zarya Ability Overview | Overwatch

[1] Overwatch Beta Patch Notes – March 1, 2016 — The health on Winston's barrier is specifically called "Shield health"

[2] OVERWATCH PTR PATCH NOTES – SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 — The health on Brigitte's barrier is specifically called "Shield health"

[3] Zarya Ability Overview | Overwatch

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[2]

[3]

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