Overwatch Character Guide: Reaper Bastion And Mercy

It cannot be overstated how vibrant, unique, and full of life Overwatch’s roster feels, nor how much its diversity and broadness helps encourage both veteran gamers and those new to shooters to pick up the game. In a genre dominated by gritty, sci-fi realism, and populated mostly by angry white guys shooting at other angry white guys with assault rifles, Overwatch’s multi-ethnic, female-heavy, colorful, and unapologetically fun roster absolutely stands out from the pack. Each character’s animations, visual design, and dialogue all come together to bring them to life, and in the waiting room before games, they’ll engage in dialogue with each other to further emphasize the world that connects t
The 21 characters are grouped together in 1 of 4 classes: Offense, Defense, Tank and Support. Though characters may share a class, each plays completely different from one another. For example, Soldier 76 and Tracer are both part of the Offense class, but each has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Soldier 76 players like a traditional Assault character from a Battlefield game. He deals good damage at mid-range and can even drop a healing beacon, but he doesn’t have a lot of health. Tracer, on the other hand, has small clip-sizes and low health but is fast and able to rewind time to pull herself to safety. There aren’t two characters that are similar, and there isn’t a single character that is a perfect "all-around" character. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and learning how to play to those strengths and exploit enemy weaknesses is all part of the game’s meta.

Still, defeating Bastion is actually pretty simple. When he's in his Sentry Configuration, he actually gets a second critical hit zone on his back, so any character that can sneak behind him is going to be able to make short work of him. Needless to say, Tracer and Reaper, with their Blink and Shadow Step abilities, respectively, are awesome against Bastion. In addition, characters like Junkrat and Pharah are really awesome at causing massive amounts of explosive damage to Sentry Bastion. Finally, if you have a coordinated team, you can certainly use Reinhardt's massive shield to absorb Bastion's gunfire while other teammates unleash chaos on him from safety.

Bastion is different from most of Overwatch's heroes in that his main ability alters his main weapon. His standard configuration, Recon, allows him to move freely and gives him a moderately powerful assault rifle designed for medium range encounters. His Sentry configuration is his most useful, and potentially most frustrating, setup. In this mode, Bastion is completely stationary, but has a turret that can do insane damage at close, medium and long range. Needless to say, running straight into Bastion when he's hanging out in his Sentry configuration is straight up foolish. Add this to the fact that his other ability, Self-Repair, allows him to heal himself, and it's easy to see how Bastion can be frustrating for those who just bumrush an objective without thought. Oh, and weblink let's not forget that Bastion's ultimate, Tank Configuration, not only makes him more mobile and gives him a powerful rocket launcher, but it also decreases the size of his hitbox significantly.

When you're new to Overwatch, Bastion is the absolute bane of your existence. Inexperienced players far and wide complain that he's overpowered, but thanks to Overwatch's mechanic of enabling in-match hero swaps, savvy players can get some really simple kills off of everyone's favorite bird-loving robot.

This level of inclusion might not mean that much to gamers, but after showcasing the game to a few close friends, including female and minority gamers, we were all in agreeance that Blizzard’s design decisions made the game resonate with us more so than other games have, even if they aren’t an integral part of the experience. Still, as much as I am a fan of the diverse characters of Overwatch, the diversity within the game’s playable heroes is only one facet of the game’s dedication to inclusivity. While there are plenty of diverse characters, there are a few traditional, archetypal ones as well, though these are used to great effect.

Take Soldier 76, for example. On the surface, he is the most recognizable of the bunch. To be honest, he looks like he was plucked from any semi-futuristic shooter, but his inclusion and design is an important one. Overwatch is a game that awards team and skill-based play, and Soldier 76 serves the important role of acclimating less experienced players into the game. His moveset is simple, with an ultimate ability that essentially allows you to hold down a trigger and rack up kills without aiming, and he also has a healing item, which helps to minimize the importance of avoiding enemy fire. He also has the benefit of handling like a traditional first person shooter, which is bound to resonate with fans of the genre. There’s also Widowmaker, a fan favorite who wields a powerful sniper rifle. While her moveset and weapons require more skill to successfully use, her character design harkens to the femme fatale types that are instantly recognizable, which makes it easier for newcomers to discern what her purpose is within the game.