Blizzard’s
acclaimed team-based shooter is delighting millions with its brash
visual style and surprising tactical depth. But while there are many
online guides drilling down into the specific nuts-and-bolts of each
character, some players are still struggling with the fundamentals of
this fresh take on the first-person shooter.
So let us take you through some basics, some not-so-basics and some dirty secrets.
1. Health / Armour / Shields
This is one of the first things Overwatch explains, and it’s pretty clear that a lot of players didn’t take it in. We could go into endless depth but it’s important to understand some basics about how the different types of HP operate: health and armour doesn’t regenerate (unless you’re certain support classes), but shields do regenerate. Hence, with the shield-heavy Zarya, the character’s being set up to bait shots with her shields before dropping her barrier to absorb the fire and power-up (which lets the shield regenerate.)Much more importantly, having armour as any part of your health pool reduces the damage of incoming fire for as long as it’s there. This is super-effective against high-frequency low-damage weapons, where every shot will be affected, and less so against single-shot big-damage weapons like rockets.
As a practical example take the oft-misunderstood tank D.Va, sometimes seen as a poor alternative to the Reinhardts and Winstons. The whole point of D.Va is that her health pool is disproportionately stacked with armour, and therefore she’s the choice counter for teams attacking with Tracers and Soldier 76. Dash into their vicinity and the shots bounce off you like confetti.
2. Exploit hidden shield effects
To briefly return to the Russian bicep queen, Zarya is built around applying a barrier to herself and teammates, and it has one very special property. The barrier has 200HP but can absorb a single attack greater than that value before disappearing, meaning it has incredible utility against something like Junkrat’s Rip-Tire ultimate or even D.Va’s self-destruct – pop a barrier on yourself and any nearby teammate, and you’ll emerge unscathed from the explosion.3. Audio cues are practical, not realistic
This is one of the first things Overwatch explains, and it’s pretty clear that a lot of players didn’t take it in. We could go into endless depth but it’s important to understand some basics about how the different types of HP operate: health and armour doesn’t regenerate (unless you’re certain support classes), but shields do regenerate. Hence, with the shield-heavy Zarya, the character’s being set up to bait shots with her shields before dropping her barrier to absorb the fire and power-up (which lets the shield regenerate.)Much more importantly, having armour as any part of your health pool reduces the damage of incoming fire for as long as it’s there. This is super-effective against high-frequency low-damage weapons, where every shot will be affected, and less so against single-shot big-damage weapons like rockets.
As a practical example take the oft-misunderstood tank D.Va, sometimes seen as a poor alternative to the Reinhardts and Winstons. The whole point of D.Va is that her health pool is disproportionately stacked with armour, and therefore she’s the choice counter for teams attacking with Tracers and Soldier 76. Dash into their vicinity and the shots bounce off you like confetti.
