Overwatch tips and tricks

[Greboth 2,721]

From the discussion on Overwatch coaching I thought we could have a tips and tricks thread.  Whether tips you’ve picked up from playing a character a lot or from videos etc.  Share them here and I’ll keep this post updated by hero for them all.

 

As I’ve played a lot of Rein and watched a few videos I’ll post Rein first

 

Reinhardt;

Spoiler

By his abilities Rein is a shot caller – people generally want to stand behind his shield.  If you stand still people will too, if you use your shield to advance, to push a choke it can give your team the momentum to break through a choke.

 

It sounds counter intuitive but try to have your shield up as little as possible as the most important thing for a Rein is to shield manage – don’t just stand there taking damage to your shield.  There is no point of your shield being worn down by regular fire to then not have a shield to protect from a Dva bomb for example.

 

Leading on from that – call out when your shield is going down and don’t let your shield break.  If your shield breaks there’s a few seconds of it recharging until you can put it back up so try to drop your shield when it gets low.  That way should there be an ult like a Dva bomb your shield has a little health left to block it.

 

On payload maps, stand behind the payload.  It will cover a big part of your shield and helps to keep your shield up longer.  It will also act as cover when you take your shield down.

 

If you swing your hammer you will hit a target in front of you however if you swing your hammer and spin 180 you can hit the target in front of you and behind you.  It isn’t useful most of the time but when it comes to brawling on a checkpoint it can be a way to do a little extra damage.

 

As a general rule forget you have a charge – a lot of the time people use charge it puts them waaayyy out of position and gets them killed.  Even if the charge gets a kill it’s likely to be a trade so no real benefit.  If you’re going to charge then only do it when it is a short distance between you and the wall, for example by the gas station on Route 66, the end of Route 66, the start of Dorado etc.

 

Try to not waste your fire strike as it is the quickest way to build your ult.  The fire strike goes through shields and barriers and can hit multiple targets at the same time.  On defence and map dependant you can fire strike the spawn door as soon as the round starts and can be a quick 15%-20% ult charge.

 

If you have a Zarya on the team and she bubbles you – drop your shield.  It gives you a couple second of no damage on your shield and maybe a small bit of re-charge.  Any damage you take will also help charge up your Zarya.

 

If there is a Rein on the enemy team and you think he has ult play more defensively as you want to minimise the chance of your whole team getting earth shattered.  You can also try and bait the earth shatter by dropping your shield and putting it back up or dropping your shield, swing your hammer and animation cancel by putting your shield back up.

 

On the subject of Earth shatter – don’t hold on to it for an entire game as it isn’t a waste to use it on one hero.  Earth shattering 4+ member of the enemy team is great if your team is there to follow and kill them.  Though don’t underestimate the value of earth shattering one enemy if it is the right one.  Take out the enemy Rein or a healer and you’ll delay the attach until they respawn and re-group.  Especially if you get the enemy Rein, if your team can get another pick or 2 you can stagger spawn and delay the enemy team re-grouping even longer.  Earth shatter can also be used in a similar (but less effective) manner to Anna sleep – you can cancel ults (Roadhog, McCree, Soldier etc.) or when it comes to a Winston ult or a Bob, stun them for 2.5 seconds.

 

Earth shatter will also go under certain payloads it can be a way to surprise the enemy team who think they’re safe hiding behind a payload.

 

Rein is one of the slowest moving characters and is the slowest with his shield up.  If you need to move quicker while keeping his shield up, you can shield hop.  With your shield down and walking forward or backwards jump and while in the air active your shield.  You will keep your momentum but have the protection of your shield.  So jump, put shield up, land, drop shield, jump, put shield up, land etc.  You will still take some damage but you have a lot of health and can help you retreat or advance quicker while still having some protection.

 

While your shield is up, you can hold your primary hammer swing button and you can look around in any direction.

 

Brig is sometimes considered a counter to Rein because of her stun but 1 on 1, Rein wins every time.  Rein has a massive amount of health and so if you’re 1 on 1 with a Brig forget your shield just keep swinging and you will come out the victor.

 

[tronic44 3,642]

I still need to read through this, just haven’t had any spare time. Will try and look at later.

 

Great idea for a thread btw!

[GazzaGarratt 11,054]

Great start Greebs, we need more of this stuff.

 

Rein is on of my mains so interesting to read that. I dont usually stand behind the payload tbh so can try it next time, although our setup usually on attack is quite aggressive so I always feel like I have to be in front of everybody.

 

Agree with not using the Charge much. It really has more negatives than positives due to how far away you end up from your team.

[CaptainLegend01 0]

Great post. Very useful!