Overwatch Character Guide: Winston, McCree, Hanzo

When it comes to defense heroes, no one has the potential to rack up kills quite like Torbjörn, the bearded Scottish turret-builder. Armed with the Rivet Gun and the Forge Hammer, Torbjörn is the type of character that requires a small amount of practice to master, but once you understand his mechanics, you really understand his mechanics, so to speak. His main weapon, the Rivet Gun, sports two distinct firing methods. The first is a medium-to-long range single projectile that has a slight arc to it, though it still is highly accurate considering its relatively strong damage output. Torbjörn’s secondary firing method functions similarly to a shotgun, firing shrapnel over a short distance with a moderate spread. As you can probably guess, using the primary firing method at a distance and the secondary firing method at close range is going to net you the most damage and kills.

Torbjörn’s first ability, and the one he’s most known for, allows him to build a stationary turret on any flat surface large enough to house it. Aside from the fact that this turret will automatically lock onto and fire at any enemies that wander into its range, but it can also be upgraded to a second, more powerful and hitpoint-heavy version through the use of the aforementioned Forge Hammer. Of course, this does require a bit of scrap, which is earned through kills. Not only is scrap used to upgrade Torbjörn’s turret, but it also plays into his second ability, Armor pack. For the cost of fifty scrap, Torbjörn can throw down a bit of armor for either himself or his allies, which raises the amount of hitpoints that they can take before dying. Finally, his ultimate ability is known as Molten Core, and this not only significantly raises Torbjörn’s health and firing rate, but it also temporarily increases the level of his turret, making it a massive damage-dealer. This lasts for a few seconds, and is a wonderful way to get foes off of an objective once a turret has already been built.

Yesterday evening (December 1st, at the time of writing this) was the night of the annual Game Awards show, a lavish live-streamed spectacle where the best and brightest of the video games industry gathered in Los Angeles — in order to receive awards voted on by industry peers and journalists, celebrating the year in gaming. It was a good night for big-name hits like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End , the reboot of DOOM and Blizzard’s mega-selling team shooter **Overwatch ** , as well as respected independent titles like That Dragon Cancer — and it was a chance for those in attendance to show off all-new trailers for upcoming tit

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’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

Overwatch is easily the goofiest of Blizzard’s main franchises, and as such there’s a big amount of tongue-in-cheek humor snuck into the game. One map features an arcade with nods to Starcraft and Heroes of the Storm . One of the game’s playable characters, mech pilot D.Va, is a competitive Starcraft 2 player. Swedish cyborg dwarf Torbjörn’s ultimate ability, Molten Core, shares a name with an infamous raid from World of Warcraft (one so famous that it might even appear in a sequel to the Warcraft movie. ) The Hollywood map features even more obscure references, with the names of characters from Blizzard’s Lost Vikings appearing as Hollywood St

Yes, we know that it’s only ever high noon once a day, but that doesn’t stop McCree from uttering his catchphrase at all times of the day. Aside from the fact that McCree memes are the greatest thing known to man, this offensive hero has the potential to be one of the most lethal killers on the battlefield when used correctly (which is actually quite tough). His weapon, the Peacekeeper, is excellent at doing massive damage with both of its firing modes. The standard left click fires single-shot revolver bullets that are extremely accurate and eliminate a ton of its target’s health with every shot. However, if you’re more interested in getting up close and personal, McCree’s secondary fire allows him to rapidly empty the rest of his clip, though the massive upward recoil makes this extremely difficult to control at first.

Sonic Arrow, Hanzo’s first core ability, replaces his standard arrow with one that reveals all enemies in the surrounding area, essentially producing a smaller version of Widowmaker’s Infra-Sight ultimate. This should be used when you have a sinking feeling that your team is being flanked, or if you’re simply looking to get the lay of the land around a given objective. Hanzo’s second ability, Scatter Arrow, is fairly self-explanatory. A single arrow that divides into a host of smaller projectiles, Scatter Arrow does a fair amount of damage when in an enclosed area, as each of its smaller arrows will bounce off of any surface they come in contact with. One major point on this: direct contact with an enemy before the split will cause every arrow to hit that foe, causing a massive amount of damage. Finally, Hanzo’s ultimate is perhaps the most iconic out of every one of Overwatch Halloween Event‘s unique special attacks. Dragonstrike allows his next arrow to split into two massive dragons that twist around each other, go through walls and do huge damage to anyone caught inside of its wake. Needless to say, this is an absolutely wonderful attack for clearing out an objective or payload destination, and perfect timing will often net players the coveted Play of the Game.