Orisa was one of the few heroes selected by Blizzard to be hit with all new abilities with a lot of her main defensive abilities being drastically reworked. In order to properly utilize her new abilities in the beta, here's the rundown of how the character is meant to be played.
Overwatch 2 Orisa: How to Play the Rework
Similar to the Doomfist overwork as of recently, Orisa has received a lot of changes to her abilities, and how she plays as a whole. One of the main focus points is the removal of her energy barrier, and it's replacement with a new javelin attack. This gives Orisa a huge AOE attack that can stun and knockback enemies.
In addition, she can spin the javelin which increases the amount of push given to it, as well as being able to destroy projectiles. With this, Orisa is capable of disrupting an enemy charge by knocking a formation out of alignment, and leaving them open to attack.
In addition to her new Javelin attack, Orisa's Fortify was given some decent buffs regarding her Fortify ability. While still reducing damage taken, it also gives her an additional 125 HP and a reduction in movement speed while the ability is active. In addition, it also reduces the heat generated from her new Fusion Driver while in use. This turns her from a passive, static defender to one that can actively charge into the heat of battle at close range.
Speaking of the Fusion Driver, it's received some tweaks regarding to how it's played. Rather than a traditional ammo system, it now operates on an overheat mechanic, and fires larger shots that gradually get smaller and deal less damage the farther they go. The mechanic places more emphasis at close range combat rather than her previous iteration of a long range defender.
In summary, Orisa has been tweaked to be a more mobile, active tank that excels at close range and can soak up alot of damage, similar to D.Va and Roadhog. With the PVP beta releasing on April 26, and many new fans joining the game, Tank players are looking forward to getting their hands on the new reworks. Hopefully the new tool set will give Orisa some much needed exposure, as well as helping to push her farther up the ranks of the meta.