Overwatch Character Guide: Tracer, Roadhog, Junkrat

Aside from Tracer, Reaper seems to be a favorite for more casual players (AKA you’ll sometimes see full teams comprised of the two). Despite his relatively low barrier of entry, this hero-hunting mercenary also boasts a pretty high skill ceiling. Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns are absolutely devastating from short range, though they dramatically lose effectiveness as encounter distance increases. For this reason, you’re going to always want to try and attack him from mid-to-long range. What’s more, Reaper generates a collectible health orb whenever he kills a foe, meaning that he can go on some absolutely devastating runs if opposing players get too close.

With Overwatch, the charming hero shooter from Blizzard, launching this week, we want to make sure that you’re as prepared as possible to help your team dominate. Overwatch’s main focus is clearly on the interplay between its dynamic characters, so in order to become competent, you’ll need to understand how every character works. Throughout the week, we’ll be publishing guides on each of the twenty-one launch heroes, three at a time, with the hopes that you’ll be able to recognize certain patterns on the battlefield.

In an era where games are released unfinished to make a profit later and fighting games suffer from player bases where character access is gated off behind DLC, Blizzard Seasonal Update’s decision to patch in new matches, modes, and characters for free rather than asking players to pay for the privilege is nothing short of incredible. If Overwatch’s community begins to dwindle, it won’t be because they’re divided between base game players and those with the money to buy extras, because Blizzard’s decision means that anyone who picks up the game will have the same access to modes, maps, and heroes as everyone else. Speaking of heroe

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.

Out of the gate, there are effectively only two types of gameplay modes available: attack/defend, or escort/prevent. Not exactly a deep pool to draw upon as both of these modes have already been run into the ground years ago. There are, admittedly, some slight variations. Sometimes, a point must be captured, and then a vehicle must be escorted. Otherwise, this is nothing that hasn’t been seen in Team Fortress or Call of Duty. It is personally baffling that other games recently released that offered a deeper, more varied multiplayer experience, like Star Wars: Battlefront or Rainbow Six: Seige were lambasted for being too light on content, yet this gets a pass.

If you’re looking to dig your teeth into a hero with an exceptionally high variance between high and low-level play, then look no farther than Mei. If you were to take a poll of everyone’s favorite and least favorite characters, assuming that you’re speaking to players who have sampled each of them, then it’s likely you’ll find equal amounts of Mei-haters and Mei-lovers. Her main weapon, the Endothermic Blaster, has two distinct firing modes that can take out even the strongest enemies when used in combination. By clicking the left-mouse button (or pulling the right trigger), she can continuously fire a stream of frost, which will both do damage to enemies and eventually freeze them in their tracks. Its secondary firing mode charges up a massive icicle, which does an insane amount of damage upon contact. Needless to say, the Endothermic Blaster has the potential to be ruthless against long-range foes while also making it relatively easy to deal with faster characters like Tracer and Genji.

With Overwatch, the charming hero shooter from Blizzard, launching this week, we want to make sure that you’re as prepared as possible to help your team dominate. Overwatch’s main focus is clearly on the interplay between its dynamic characters, so in order to become competent, you’ll need to understand how every character works. Throughout the week, we’ll be publishing guides on each of the twenty-one launch heroes, three at a time, with the hopes that you’ll be able to recognize certain patterns on the battlefield.

Overwatch is one of the year’s most-hyped games, and not just because of promising first impressions and its impressive pedigree. Since the game’s reveal in 2014, Blizzard has periodically released trailers , comics , and video shorts that give glimpses into a world torn apart by a cataclysmic war, a new civil rights movement, and clashes between governments, corporate interests, and militias. The story of Overwatch’s creation as a peacekeeping force, its fall from grace, and newfound resurgence in a world that needs it more than ever is far more in-depth than one would expect from a multiplayer shooter. The video shorts produced thus far are Pixar-level quality, and are good watching even for non-gam