Overwatch Leads 2016 s Game Awards Winners

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 21 launch heroes, three at a time, with the hopes that you'll be able to recognize certain patterns on the battlefield.

With Overwatch, the charming hero shooter from Blizzard games On Steam, 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.

Junkrat's abilities aren't going to do as much damage as his Frag Launcher, but they're exceptional strategic items when used properly. Not only does his Concussion Mine allow him to place a remote detonated explosive, enabling perfectly-timed kills when used patiently, but it also functions as a super-jump when used underneath Junkrat. Considering most opposing players don't expect to see Junkrat flying a story or two into the air, using the Concussion Mine as a movement device not only functions as a way to throw enemies off their game, but it also allows you to access areas that foes won't necessarily expect grenades to rain down from.

The lack of strong story elements doesn’t overshadow what the game does do well: gameplay and map design. The 21 characters aren’t just diverse in their personalities, but also in their different abilities. Each character has two unique abilities that are assigned to the bumpers on Xbox One, R1 and L1 on PS4, and Shift and E on PC. A few characters, like Widowmaker and Soldier 76, have a third special ability assigned to LT/L2/RMB. Widowmaker can ADS her sniper, and Soldier 76 can use his assault rifle’s grenade launcher. Overwatch looks deceptively simple from the outside, but mechanically has a large amount of depth.

Winston's second ability, Barrier Projector, creates a bubble shield that absorbs a small amount of damage before cracking and breaking. This is best used as a way to temporarily slow down or distract enemies, rather than as a pure defensive ability like, say, Reinhardt's shield. Finally, Winston's ultimate, Primal Rage, not only fills his health bar up to 1000 hitpoints, but it allows him to punch enemies for massive damage and use his jump pack every three seconds. Simply put, Winston should be used as a distraction whenever possible, and then as a tool of destruction once his ultimate meter is totally full.

If you're looking to dive into the world of being a tank but don't necessarily want to just absorb damage or worry about only fighting at close range, then D.Va is the character for you. What makes this particular hero unique is that she's an absolute beast when inside of her mech, but once its health reaches zero, D.Va essentially gets a second life as a light glass cannon. While D.Va is inside of her mech, her main weapons are her Fusion Cannons, which allow her to fire unlimited ammo at short range. Despite the fact that these weapons function like machine guns, they shouldn't be thought of in the same manner as, say, Bastion's Recon weapon, as their range is considerably shorter than one would expect. Still, if you're looking to cause more damage than anyone else on your team, then you could do a lot worse than peppering your foes with D.Va's Fusion Cannons. A small note, D.Va loses a great deal of her movement speed when using these weapons, so you're not going to want to just permanently hold down the fire button.

If you were to rank all of Overwatch's heroes in terms of sheer quirkiness, then Lucio might wind up claiming the top spot. A support hero with potentially devastating offensive power when used properly, everyone's favorite Brazillian DJ has the potential to completely turn the tides of battle with proper positioning and ability knowledge. His main weapon, the Sonic Amplifier, has two distinct firing modes, each mapped to a specific mouse button (or trigger for those of you playing on console).

Lucio's abilities take a little bit of getting used to, but they turn him into potentially the best support hero if used wisely. It's important to note that Lucio emits an aura around him constantly, with its effect varying based on his use of his Crossfade ability. By pressing the corresponding ability key, Lucio will swap his aura frequency to either buff ally speed or health; of course, Lucio also gains this buff himself. The wisest players will use his speed buff on allies who are struggling in battle, or those who need to get back into the action after an untimely death. His other main ability, Amp it Up, allows him to increase both the range and strength of his aura, meaning that you can either heal a significant portion of your team in an instant, or make everyone on your squad incredibly quick. Finally, Lucio's ultimate ability, Sound Barrier, gives a massive, but temporary, increase in hitpoints to both himself and everyone in the surrounding area. Timing your use of all of these skills can take an average team and make it outstanding, but those who simply spam these abilities will find themselves either dead or completely ineffective.