Overwatch Character Guide: Torbjörn Zenyatta Widowmaker

Zarya's weapon, the Particle Cannon, has two distinct firing modes that both gain additional attack power based off her use of her two defensive abilities. Her main firing mode is a short-range laser that maintains a straight line of fire and consistent output, which is outstanding for doing a great deal of damage to those who get within range. The bad news about this firing mode is that it's completely ineffective once an enemy gets too far, though Zarya's secondary allows her to fire an energy grenade in a fairly shallow arc. Both of her abilities allow her to create damage absorbing energy shields, which then directly increases the power of her Particle Cannon based on the amount of damage absorbed by said shields. The Particle Barrier allows Zarya to protect herself from oncoming fire, and it lasts significantly longer than her Projected Barrier, which can be placed on a nearby ally. Finally, her ultimate, the Gravitron Surge, pulls all nearby enemies into its aura and does a small amount of continuous damage to everyone trapped inside. The best Zarya players charge right into battle, activate their Particle Barrier and then stay behind one other ally, allowing for the simultaneous use of the Projected Barrier.

There's a number of good explanations as to why Overwatch is such a fantastic game, but none greater than Blizzard's clear emphasis on making a shooter that feel awesome to play. Every character is immediately readable, meaning that the more that you play, the more knowledge you gain and, thus, Www.Overwatchtactics.Com the more your strategy evolves. Throughout my time with Overwatch, I have yet to encounter a dropped frame or a moment of lag, despite having every graphics setting maxed out and the servers existing in a beta state. Its shooting is as tight as a Call of Duty or Counter-Strike game, and the sheer number of colors on screen at any given moment finds a way to fill me with glee during even those frustrating moments when your team is getting throttled. Outside of playing Overwatch at the past two PAX Easts, it found a way to completely fly under my radar, and I couldn't feel dumber for brushing it off. At this moment, the only negative thing that I can say about it is that I do not want to spend a moment playing it on a console, as Overwatch feels far too good with a mouse and keyboard.

Overwatch's single most iconic character is also one of the toughest to master, as Tracer's time-bending skillset is quite unlike anything we've seen in a first-person shooter. Armed with two automatic energy pistols, she has the ability to completely empty a clip in around a second, with her reload time taking roughly the same amount of time. For this reason, accuracy is key, as her roster-low health count of 150 makes her squishy to the point where any moment spent not shooting has the potential to cause an untimely death. Luckily for those who choose Tracer, her abilities focus on a combination of speed, confusion and evasion to make her one of the most frustrating characters for newcomers to go against.

Perhaps it'll be a bit easier to collect my thoughts on Overwatch once the beta period is over, thus giving me a bit of time to ruminate on what has been the best surprise of my time here at Hardcore Gamer to date. Right now, I find myself stuck in a mode of childlike wonder that rarely comes along and the last thing I want to do is ruin this through academic over-analysis. I haven't had a multiplayer experience that has come along and completely enraptured me quite like this in seven years; on top of all of this, any semblance of being jaded as a result of playing too many games has all but vanished as a result of Blizzard's impeccably polished arena shooter. Since you all probably would like to see a bit of negative criticism in here to balance out the single most glowing article I've written this year, however, I'll leave you with this: I really don't like the feeling of knowing that I already need to write off hundreds of hours of my life.

Reinhardt's first ability, Charge, is quite tough to control, but can basically guarantee you a kill when used properly. As the name suggests, this ability propels Reinhardt forward a great distance, but it also allows him to do damage to everyone in his path. What's more, any enemies that you pin up against a wall with charge will receive massive damage, usually resulting in a kill. His other ability, Fire Strike, allows him to launch a flaming projectile in the direction of the reticle for large close-to-medium range damage. Using Charge and Fire Strike in combination with his ultimate, Earthshatter (which stuns all enemies in a straight line) makes for a wonderful opportunity to get multi-kills. Still, you're going to want to choose Reinhardt for his shield and its benefits for objective play over everything else.

The traditional sniper hero of the bunch, Widowmaker is a particularly lethal character for those with solid keyboard and mouse skill, or those who are particularly great at sniping with a controller. However, if you don't consider yourself to be particularly precise with your aim, then it's best for everyone involved if you don't weight down your team with a desire to get the greatest headshot of all time. Her weapon, the Widow's Kiss, has two distinct firing modes that make her one of the highest damage dealers of the entire roster, assuming that you play her correctly. If you fire without aiming down sights, it functions as a close-to-medium range automatic assault rifle, though this should only be used to get yourself out of a jam, as it is nowhere near as powerful as its standard firing mode: the long-range sniper rifle. The longer that one aims down sights, the more powerful the shot will be (up until it fully charges to 100%), so if you're looking to get your quickscope on, you're playing the wrong game. Headshots are absolutely lethal, so take your time, line up your shots and ensure that you're fully charged, as spamming only functions to give away your position.