Overwatch Character Guide: Reaper, Bastion and Mercy
The first thing you need to know when playing as Mercy is that you’re not in it for the kills. It’s entirely possible that Mercy might be the only character you have a negative K/D ratio with, and that’s actually totally fine. The name of the game with Mercy is to heal your teammates, and as such, pulling out your Caduceus Blaster should be a last resort. Think about it: any moment you’re using your relatively under-powered offensive weapon is a moment where you could be letting one of your teammates die. Granted, Mercy wouldn’t have a pistol if she didn’t need to use it at times, but it shouldn’t be the main item that you use when picking this character.
Mercy also boasts a slightly passive perk known as Angelic Decent, which allows her to fall slowly when in the air by holding the jump prompt. This not only allows her to hide in plain sight, but it will also allow for moments of healing Customization without being right in the thick of the action (survival is the name of the game with Mercy). Finally, Mercy’s ultimate seems simple to use, but it’s a wonderful way to frustrate your team if you’re careless. Resurrect gives Mercy the power to revive fallen teammates, which is exceptionally useful when trying to take over an objective or win in overtime. However, simply spamming the ultimate button whenever a teammate dies isn’t the most effective use of this ability, as it can often mean causing a swift second death. We recommend waiting for either multiple teammates to be down, or timing it for a massive push on an objective. As always, remember that Mercy is there to help, so in order to play this character effectively, you need to be committed to the success of others, which might not be your style if you’re always seeking your next triple kill.
In the end, though, I’m just jealous of the people who enjoy Overwatch. They seem to be having a great time. I like fun, and I want to have it, too. So, for people who are enjoying Overwatch, don’t stop. It’s great when people can come together over a game and have a great time. For those of you who don’t like it, rest assured that you are not alone. I’m with you, though I’m holding out hope that the game will get balanced and finished.
When you’re new to Overwatch, Bastion is the absolute bane of your existence. Inexperienced players far and wide complain that he’s overpowered, but thanks to Overwatch’s mechanic of enabling in-match hero swaps, savvy players can get some really simple kills off of everyone’s favorite bird-loving robot.
It should be noted that it is possible to create custom matches, banning a specific character. After learning about this when trying to research online why this title has received the acclaim it has, I tried to jump back in to see if I can create a public game that anyone can join and no one plays Bastion. The servers were down.
Not all would be resolved with this one change, though. There still is the fact that the title is woefully light on content. With no customization, outside of cosmetics, there is no true feeling of ownership over a hero and how they play. With no perks to tweak, no loadouts to worry over, and no sense of player investment, the game lives and dies by its modes. Sadly, these are currently lacking.
Symmetra’s first ability, her Sentry Turrets, allow her to place up to six turrets around the map. Once an enemy steps within range, these turrets will fire a continuous beam of medium-damage energy until that foe either dies or steps out of range. While these turrets are exceptionally easy for enemies to kill, they can be hidden in creative locations and grouped together to maximize effectiveness. Her second ability, Photon Shield, allows her to grant extra hitpoints to teammates within range. While shields will not heal those who are critically injured, equipping an entire team with them before a big push can certainly give you an edge. Finally, her ultimate, Teleporter, is one of the biggest game-changing abilities in all of Overwatch. By placing the Teleporter somewhere on the map, a second portal is opened up at the spawn point, allowing teammates to bypass that potentially long journey back to the objective. Not only can this assist your team in reaching an capture point quicker, but it makes escorting a payload a relative breeze considering it’s possible to always have one person moving it forward.
If there’s one constant in video games, it’s that rocket launchers are always cool, period. Pharah, Overwatch’s resident flying explosive expert, is no exception to this rule, as she has the potential to devastate an entire enemy squad when used properly. Her main weapon, the aforementioned Rocket Launcher, is not only incredibly powerful when it makes direct contact with an enemy, but it also possesses fairly large splash damage, so you don’t necessarily need to worry about hitting foes directly. This is a wonderful weapon for taking out enemies that thrive on camping, like Bastion, Hanzo and Widowmaker. In addition to the Rocket Launcher, Pharah also possesses a jet pack mapped to her jump button. Not only does this allow her to reach higher ground for sneaky firing tactics, but it also allows her to hover in mid-air for a limited time when used properly, making all of her abilities all the more surprising.