Overwatch

[Brandwin]

Re: Overwatch

Do you have it set to auto-join?

Yes I do. I also have team voice chat off. Should those been changed?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Operation Sports mobile app

[Speedy]

Re: Overwatch

Yes I do. I also have team voice chat off. Should those been changed?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Operation Sports mobile app

Yeah, I have both set as auto-join and get a decent amount of talkers.

[Brandwin]

Re: Overwatch

Yeah, I have both set as auto-join and get a decent amount of talkers.

That did the trick. Thank you. Crazy I never knew that. Haha

Sent from my Pixel XL using Operation Sports mobile app

[KSUowls]

Re: Overwatch

That's a pretty thorough review. Any tips on how to actually use her tools in an engagement? Like when to blink, how to manage blink and recall? any tips and tricks on how to win engagements you probably shouldn't with her? That kind of thing.

Thanks!

The short answer is as with any of the heroes, there really isn't a substitute for practice. And, while good blink management alone can keep you effective for quite some time, you'll need to combine really good accuracy to really take advantage of her 1v1 ability against heroes she isn't as strong with.

For blink and recall practice conservation. I see so many Tracers below the Diamond level blowing all 3 blinks in the first seconds of a fight. Sometimes this is enough to disorient someone enough to give you time to kill them, but it's not reliable. If you aren't being shot at then there is no reason to blink, and unless they have fully set their target on you then you might be better off just strafing around for a second since most enemies won't be able to finish you off in a single hit (use your best judgement obviously since you're quite squishy). Don't be afraid to use your recall even if you haven't taken a hit.

A few quick tips:
**Don't forget to reload before you blink. Similar to Reaper when he goes into his wraith form. Reload then blink, and you come out of your blink with full ammo.

***Recall is more than just a self heal, it can also be used to keep up the attack. Don't be predictable with it though. Sometimes I like to recall early in a fight if my recall position allows me to launch a 2nd sneak attack or he didn't see my original position so my recall completely throws him off. (imagine forcing out a roadhog self heal because he thinks you've run away after shelling out ~200 damage). When executing the early recall I usually have it up again by the end of the engagement if I don't blow through my blinks instantly (and die).

As far as 1 on 1 engagements. They are all going to follow similar rules, but start off by remembering this. The person on the other end is going to be similar to you. They won't react immediately once you begin firing on them, and unless you attack them head on (which I don't recommend in most situations, sneaking behind or on the flank should be your goal) then they won't set their crosshair on you instantly. Using that knowledge, and the high mobility afforded to Tracer, the more you do to cause your opponent to keep looking for you then the better you are. For instance if you can blink through (behind) the enemy whenever they lock onto you, then they have to do a 180 to get back to you (time you are spending unloading into him). Lastly, don't be predictable. Blinking through someone once is great, but they might be prepared for it the 2nd time. Maybe you blink to their side this time. It's a chess match. Keep him guessing to ensure you that extra second or 2 of uncontested damage.

Now, I'll use Roadhog as an example since I kind of mentioned him earlier and his kit has a lot which can make for a very bad day. Key #1 is avoid the hook. Yeah it's obvious, but you have a bit more defense than most as Tracer. Use your game sense and read the animations to strafe-blink when you think the hook is coming. I've had some success against Roadhogs by keeping my firing range slightly further away than I would against most enemies. The reason this works with Roadhog is because it lowers the potential for him to land that devastating 1 hit kill shotgun on you. It also gives you time to react to the hook, and you should still be doing decent damage because of his large hit box. You'll still need to risk diving onto at key times because otherwise you will have trouble doing enough damage to kill him so timing those dives is key. When he goes to heal that is a perfect time to jump directly on him and unload into his face neutralizing the heal he just had (plus probably making him panic a bit). Then blink through him and try to get some more shots on him from behind (putting distance between you and him). Chances are this is enough to kill him if he just tried to heal mid fight with you. Overall this isn't a great matchup for you, but it's doable.

Soldier doesn't have quite the insta-kill potential on you that Roadhog does, so it's safe to get in close for your max damage potential. He only has 200 hit points too which means your full damage potential kills him in 1 second. If you don't kill him fast then he'll lay down his biotic field. This isn't a huge problem since you still 'technically' out damage his max health plus healing in 1 second. Now, in reality you aren't going to land all of your headshots, but with you being in a lot closer you should be getting a lot of that max DPS so don't be afraid to keep the fight going (using mobility mentioned early) to burst through his healing.

Hope this helps!

[Brandwin]

Re: Overwatch

Good stuff KSU. I would like to see more. I usually default to the same 10 characters just because I play better with them, but I would like to branch out and your posts gave me a lot of good information.

[KSUowls]

Re: Overwatch

Thanks, but I'm probably about like you. I have time spent on all the heroes but there are only a few I am confident in paying at a high (for me) level.

If I have my pick I'm usually on
Tracer
Soldier
Mei
Lucio
Zenyatta
Ana

I've been playing a lot of McCree and zarya lately so I'm getting comfortable with them. There are a few others I feel like I could play in a competitive match if I had to, but only the 6 I listed above are my so called mains.

I did a write up on Ana that I will post later today. She is my most played hero over the last 3 or 4 months in all modes of play. So hopefully you guys like it.

I'm of course interested in seeing what others never to say as well.

[KSUowls]

Re: Overwatch

ANA

Platform - PC
SR 1 - 53 (56 high)
SR 2 - 2798
SR 3 - 2597


Heal –> Crowd Control -> Damage
In that order.

When to pick her:

Spoiler

Always. There really isn’t any reason you shouldn’t have an Ana on your team, at least at the start. I have encountered a small handful of games where I switched, but as a general rule if you want to play support and no one has picked her yet then pick Ana.

When to Switch:

Spoiler

Don’t. Ok, there are some select instances where I’ve switched off of her onto a Zenyatta because we really needed the discord orb, a Mercy for Rez, A lucio because we need to push/hold a point. If you have a 2 support team though you are usually better off if the other support switches. The only time I would say it’s ok to be the one to switch off Ana is if you just see that your team just isn’t killing the other team fast enough (usually there will be a Roadhog, Pharah or someone who just always seems to be alive.) In this case I’ll usually swap to Zenyatta because even though we lose a lot of burst healing our offensive power to shutdown some of those individual heroes has greatly increased. On Attack if you are having trouble getting through a choke point then I might switch to Lucio because his sound barrier ult is great for initiating an attack, and his speed boost can help you rush through a choke. So again. Don’t switch unless you’re just certain that no amount of healing will fix your current problem.

Role

Spoiler

You are the best healer in the game, and you can even solo heal if necessary. You also have 2 of the best support abilities in the game with your grenade and sleep dart. So, don’t go crazy thinking you are a sniper. When playing Ana you actions should follow a series of 3 questions, in order.
1.) Do any of my teammates need to be healed?

2.) Is there an enemy either flanking or not protected by a shield who I can put to sleep to give my team an engagement advantage. (The bolded part is important because putting someone to sleep is great, but it needs to be with a purpose or else you have just put one of the best abilities in the game on cooldown for nothing.)

3.) Is an enemy ulting? Put them to sleep.

4.) If the above checks are met then you can try to lay some damage down.

How to play: Positioning will largely dictate your role.

Defensive Sniper:

Spoiler

This is more of a pure healer play style where you want to stay far behind your team. In most cases I find this to be more beneficial on defense defending a choke, but it can also work if your team is advancing onto a point if you have good line of sight. I usually wouldn’t recommend this when advancing a payload though as there are usually line of sight issues in the streets as well as many angles for enemy flankers to get you).
Being so far away from the fight keeps you out of danger from a stray bullet, and it lets you keep a birds eye view on your team. This makes it easy to keep an eye on which teammates need healing. The 2 main disadvantages to this is you are: First, you’re extremely vulnerable to enemy Tracers, Genjis, Sombras, and anyone else with the ability to dive past the choke point. The 2nd problem with this play style is that your sleep dart (which is one of the best abilities in the game) is pretty much useless.
Again, your role here is to heal. Your priorities should be Heal, Heal, Heal, and then maybe take a quick shot at an exposed enemy when you’re sure everyone on your team is topped off. Don’t throw your sleep dart blindly into the enemy team. You probably won’t hit anything, and your dart is your primary defense against anyone diving onto you so far away from the rest of your team. When you sleep them, call it out to your team “Tracer asleep behind!” and run forwards to your team. A few low health characters like Tracer might be vulnerable enough to try and kill while you have them disable, with a quick shoot -> grenade combo, but that is still only 145 damage (including the sleep dart). So, unless that Tracer has already taken prior damage she can just recall away for full health and now you have to go 1v1 against a full HP Tracer (not good). So choose your battles carefully.

Overall I find this style to be more map/match specific. If I’m solo healing then I lean a little more towards this way because staying alive to heal is more important than your CC abilities. I also choose to do it on certain maps like the first point on Hollywood where I can get to the high ground for both better LOS coverage and some added defense against flankers.

Offense:

Spoiler

You’re still a backline support (not DPS), but you can make the backline of your team a lot closer to the action than above. Basically, position yourself close enough to the action so that your entire arsenal is usable while also being able to keep an eye on the battle field

You are a little more vulnerable to stray bullets and a quick Winston Dive into your stack, but you do get some added protection of having your team (hopefully) around you to protect you against a diving enemy. The advantages though are that your full kit is at your disposal since you should be able to see opportunities to use your sleep dart and your Grenade offensively and defensively.

Again focus on healing. It can be a bit more difficult since you may not have all of your team on your screen at one time, so just keep checking around to see who needs health. Look for opportunities to sleep someone, but don’t just spam it into their team because you don’t want to be in a situation where you don’t have it when the enemy Roadhog is ulting or someone just dove your back line. Sleep dart accuracy is probably one of the best skills to develop with Ana.

General Hero Target Prioritization.
Healing

Spoiler

First I’m going to talk about who you should be healing. Obviously go for anyone who is being focus fired, but when you have multiple teammates with half health focus on healing your DPS and Support and THEN tank. Half a health bar on McCree is a lot different than half a health bar on Reinhardt, and your Rein’s big shield is pretty useless if there isn’t anyone behind it to dish out some damage.

Who should you be fighting?

Spoiler

Well first of all you should not be looking to 1v1 as Ana. You are a healer first and foremost, but when you do fight think of yourself as a Sniper. You want to fight enemies who aren’t fighting you back and retreat when they lock on to you.
I just called Ana a Sniper…don’t try to outduel Widowmaker unless you are safely behind a barrier. I’ve been guilty of this a number of times, and if you’ve ever played Ana then you’ve probably tried to do it like me and even had some success. Still, as a general rule don’t do it. Your job as Ana is not to take out Widow, and Widow holds a massive advantage in this Sniping contest. You have to shoot her 3 times, she can 1 hit kill you. I generally find Hanzo to be a fairly even Sniping match though, with the advantage going to Ana at longer ranges (remember this is plat and below skill).
Pharah, if you’re shooting offensively then you should probably be shooting at Pharah. You have one of the more reliable shots against her and 3 of them will kill her. It’s better if you are just supplemental damage on her though because time spent shooting her is time that you aren’t healing your team.
The rest of the cast is pretty much the same. As Ana you’re just trying to provide supplemental damage to help finish off enemies. Don’t try to go on a mad flank to 1v1 people, or even try to get up on the high ground and snipe them (unless you can also heal your friends in the same position).
Quick tips on abilities:
Make sure you are using your grenade to it’s full effect. Don’t be afraid to throw it just on your Reinhardt or D.va who is low health. Even if the PTR nerf goes through to live, you will still do massive healing to a high HP character in a short amount of time. Keeping these beefy targets healed is important.
Also, don’t forget about the great effect it has on the enemy. It neutralizes Zen’s ult. Throw it on a Mei who is being a nuisance so that she can’t heal when she goes into Cryo. The same goes for Soldier and Roadhog as well.

Your Sleep Dart is most effective on:

Spoiler

Ulting enemies
Flanking Enemies
Reinhardt charges
Try to save it for these 3 targets, but don’t be afraid to sleep a Roadhog who peeks around a shield to give your team an engagement advantage either.

Your Ult:

Spoiler

Nano is still one of the best ultimates in the game, and remember it charges really fast. Because it charges so fast, don’t be afraid to use it. If you only used your ult twice in a round then you probably held it too long. It’s certainly better to use it in tandem with another who has his ult, but don’t hold on to it waiting for that perfect opportunity. Let your team know when Nano is up, and try to see if anyone is close to theirs. Don’t be afraid to dictate who it goes to though. If no one is really close for the next engagement then tell them “I’m going to give it to you in the next team fight Rein”.
Your best combo ults are:
Reaper (will outdamage a Zenyatta transcendence)
Soldier
Pharah
Roadhog
Bastion
Genji
If you can’t combo then put it on:
Reinhardt – He becomes a terror running at you with Nano
D.va – With her movement speed buff she is a decent option, especially when considering her 400 armor. I’m not sure how she will do post armor nerf patch.
Reaper – His shotguns still do work
Bastion
Pharah
Soldier

Hopefully you have at least one of these on your team. If not just throw it on whoever has the best base damage potential.

Hope everyone finds this useful. Let me know if you have any tips as an Ana, and remember. These are just general strategies that I have found to be effective at my level and below.

[Speedy]

Re: Overwatch

Really good points on Ana.

When I play Ana, I try to play the healer versus a sniper (which I see my team doing so much, it's frankly annoying). I'm admittedly nearly as good with her as with Mercy or Zenyatta.

[The_Wise_One]

Re: Overwatch

I'd like to talk about Roadhog

Platform: PS4

S1: 65

S2: 3150

S3: 3480

Hook -----> Damage -----> Tank

When to pick him: When you need more DPS. For example if tracer, sombra or genji are your attackers. If the other team has lots of squishes (200 heath heroes). When you need a tank that can break Reins shield.

When to switch: If you are the main tank. So basically if you don't have a Rein or D.va. Even though D.va is supposed to be a "dive" tank, she can block lots of damage in the front lines and has more health because of her armor. Roadhog in the front lines is basically a battery to charge opponents ultimate. Zenyatta, Reaper and other Roadhogs are counters.

Role: Roadhog is an off tank or hybrid tank. He's the only tank that has no ability to block damage. He's also the only tank that can self heal (although Zarya has shields). So in this sense, Roadhog is basically an oversized attacking hero. The job of roadhog is to get picks and punish opponents that are out of position. He can also hook enemies into bad positions.

Ultimate: People tend to think that Hog has an awful ultimate. Probably because they're just trying to get kills. It's strange because while you're playing Roadhog you are constantly trying to get people close to you. His ultimate does the complete opposite, pushing them away. It's all about disruption and knocking people out of position. Obviously it has the potential to knock people off the map and if you can pop it in a small room it can do serious work. Understand that Hog is very vulnerable to mid and long range heroes if it is used at the wrong time.

Combo: For those that don't know there is a simple combo that finishes off all but tank heroes.

Mid range shot (left click)
Hook
Short range shot (right click)
Melee.

This may not be needed as much after Hook 2.0 is released.

Also when it comes to Roadhog vs. Roadhog....NEVER HOOK FIRST.

[Brandwin]

Re: Overwatch

Good stuff on Ana

Also when it comes to Roadhog vs. Roadhog....NEVER HOOK FIRST.

Why is that?

[Speedy]

Re: Overwatch

The other guy can get a close shot on you after you hooked him...then hook you and get the shot/knife combo.

They essentially get 2 shots on you versus your one.

[CC]

Re: Overwatch

Do Genji or Winston. I'm probably the worst player of those two out of the entire player base.

[KSUowls]

Re: Overwatch

I'd love to see one for either of them... And Reinhardt. You'd think just standing there with your shield would be easy but it's not

[kingkilla56]

Re: Overwatch

Dvas skin looks better than Mei's for the Chinese New Year event.

I have a bunch of credits waiting to be used.

[KSUowls]

Re: Overwatch

Looking forward to the new event. I really hope that there is a PvE mode like Junkenstein's Revenge.

Been following a youtuber Skyline lately for his user vod reviews, and I have found them very helpful. I don't think he has said anything really revolutionary, but just kind of seeing the game in action and his comments helped to clarify what you should do in certain situations. Watched his stream for the first time tonight though on Twitch. He's a top 500 player, and wow are people in that rank toxic.