Gaming
With Blizzard’s team shooter ready to take off, we check out the characters headed for a nerfing.
We’ve seen some massive swings in Overwatch’s metagame within the closed beta, since Blizzard have adjusted the heroes numerous times in the build up to the launch of the game, but the patches are coming less frequently now and things are beginning to stabilise. Whilst Blizzard have done extremely well in balancing everything out, we are seeing certain heroes rise to the top of the pool for their consistency over a range of maps and within a mix of different line-ups.
With this in mind, we’ve chosen the top hero for each class in competitive play. The top professional picks will usually filter down into public matches pretty quickly, so get ready to go up against them. These are going to be the most rewarding heroes to learn first but don’t worry if none of them are to your liking: any hero can feel god-like in the right pair of hands so if you want to stick to picking people off with Hanzo’s Storm Bow or blowing them up with Pharah’s Rocket Launcher then you’ll be fine, but it might be handy to know what you’re going to be up against.
Winston
A fearless giant gorilla in Stormtrooper armour, Winston has been rising in popularity over the past few months and he’s now the go-to Tank hero on the majority of maps. Many teams in the North American region have adopted EnvyUs’s strategy of frequently running a double-Winston line-up and it now a regular sight in competitive games. The mobility of his leap allows him to position himself perfectly in team fights, disrupting enemy teams and focusing down supports with his Tesla Cannon, whilst Barrier Projector forces enemy players to back off during engagements or risk trading unfavourably. He has a huge health pool, which is boosted further by his ultimate and there’s pretty much no down side to this hero.
Winston is not a particularly challenging hero to play, especially since Tesla Cannon requires zero skill to aim with, but he does have a decent skill cap because landing Jump Pack successfully every time can be tricky. If you’re playing with Winston, your job is to make life easy for your team-mates by frustrating the enemy team, so don’t be afraid to play aggressively but always keep on the move so you don’t get focused down. If you get in a tight spot then it’s time to activate Primal Rage and start smashing things. If you’re not a fan of Winston, then Reinhardt and Zarya are strong alternative tanks.
Lúcio
The most dependable hero in Overwatch right now, Lúcio the Brazilian rock star is the first pick for many sides and probably the hero most in need of a small nerf. He provides his team with so much in terms of mobility, healing and control, and his Ultimate can be completely game winning since it gives his team-mates personal shields that can carry them through a key engagement. He’s largely leaving other Support heroes behind and he’s also great fun to play, because who doesn’t enjoy running up walls?
If you’re practising with Lúcio then bear in mind that his projectiles travel slowly so you’ll often want to aim slightly ahead of your targets, and this takes time to get used to. In areas of maps where heroes can fall to death, try to use the Soundwave blasts to knock people off ledges for cheap kills. While Lúcio is definitely the stand-out Support, Mercy is another great option and she can work wonders within a coordinated team.
McCree
Jesse McCree is probably the most flexible Offence hero in the pool and that’s why you’ll see him picked up on a regular basis by professional sides. He offers decent damage with Peacekeeper his trusty pistol, as well as burst damage from its alternate fire mode, just enough mobility with roll to position himself, a decent amount of lockdown with Flashbang the blinding grenade, and the potential to secure multi-kills with his Ultimate. Players with fast reactions can really excel on McCree and that’s what we’ve been seeing from some of the top sides. The most popular hero last week in competitive Overwatch, we saw McCree dominating the Overkill League in both regions and this seems likely to continue.
Tracer has been rising in popularity, but McCree still holds the top spot since no hero can match the bounty hunter’s capacity as a duellist. His stun grenade allows him to easily kill off even the most mobile solo targets. If you’re playing with McCree never forget that Combat Roll will refill your ammo and look to your team-mates for support since he does lack escape options.
Widowmaker
Comfortably the most picked Defence hero, Widowmaker’s sniper class can be useful to any side and the tactical advantage her Ultimate gives in revealing enemy heroes is almost unparalleled. She’s a hero who excels in team play, since without decent support she’s vulnerable to being picked off while she’s fully zoomed in and Infra-Sight takes some decent coordination to take advantage of. With the longest range in the game and the capacity to kill most heroes with a single well-judged, fully-charged headshot, she’s always going to have a place in the meta on maps where she has the space to find kills. You’ll frequently see Widowmaker picked up on King’s Row, for instance, with both Cloud 9 and Reunited.gg starting off with a Widowmaker in game one of the One Nation of Gamers Overwatch Invitational Final.
When playing Widowmaker try to find unexpected vantage points with Grappling Hook for you to fire from. The Venom Mine can protect you from flankers to some extent since you will see an alert on your HUD when it detonates or gets destroyed, but the best ways to stay alive is not to be too greedy: your rifles shots leave long, visible tracers so once you’ve revealed yourself you should relocate to a new position whether you made the kill or not, before Pharah zooms up and blows you to smithereens.
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