Overwatch Character Guide: Reaper Bastion And Mercy

Ignoring a required Day One patch that's larger than the actual game, it seems best to acknowledge a major flaw right at the outset: Bastion. Yes, there are many ways to counteract this character. The most obvious being attacking from the rear. However, one cannot attack from the rear when the enemy converts into a turret, his back to a wall. In turret form, this thing can chew through a shield and tank in seconds, and take down most players before anything can be done. Should the opposing team be controlling every avenue of ingress with multiple Bastions, the situation devolves into hopelessness.

Overwatch doesn’t have a plot, but it does have a ton of character. Overwatch’s cast of quirky characters are interesting and diverse with unique personalities. Junkrat is a limping psychopath who wants to blow things up. Winston is a scholarly gorilla who, when provoked, dips into his rage-filled primal instincts. Tracer, the spunky Brit who serves as the game’s mascot, is full of little quips as she zips around the battlefield. Players who take the extra time to stop and admire the different map’s scenery will learn even more about the different character’s backstories. Cues, like a D.Va poster, provide clues into a character's history prior to the game. It’s an interesting way to convey lore, but it’s never quite enough. Blizzard clearly wants Overwatch to be a big franchise with an interesting lore and they do provide that outside of the game. Much like Destiny’s Grimoire Cards, players will need to turn to sources outside the main game to learn about the lore. For example, without the animated shorts, I never would have known Hanzo and Genji were brothers. Blizzard also plans to release digital comics and graphic novels to further flesh out the lore. Now, Overwatch may not need a campaign, but it would have been nice to have some access to story content in the main game.

Aside from Tracer, Reaper seems to be a favorite for more casual players (AKA you'll sometimes see full teams comprised of the two). Despite his relatively low barrier of entry, this hero-hunting mercenary also boasts a pretty high skill ceiling. Reaper's Hellfire Shotguns are absolutely devastating from short range, though they dramatically lose effectiveness as encounter distance increases. For this reason, you're going to always want to try and attack him from mid-to-long range. What's more, Reaper generates a collectible health orb whenever he kills a foe, meaning that he can go on some absolutely devastating runs if opposing players get too close.


Yesterday evening (December 1st, at the time of writing this) was the night of the annual Game Awards show, a lavish live-streamed spectacle where the best and brightest of the video games industry gathered in Los Angeles - in order to receive awards voted on by industry peers and journalists, celebrating the year in gaming. It was a good night for big-name hits like Uncharted 4: A Thief's End , the reboot of DOOM and Blizzard's mega-selling team shooter **Overwatch ** , as well as respected independent titles like That Dragon Cancer - and it was a chance for those in attendance to show off all-new trailers for upcoming tit

Each map was designed specifically for the game mode it's paired with, meaning nothing feels wrong about the design. An Escort map is designed with one straight path and a few off-shoot areas to accommodate different playstyles. A control map features one central point and multiple paths players can take to try and flank the enemy team and take the spot. These maps also play into the game’s meta. For example, a close-quarters Escort map will benefit Reinhardt whose shield would Doomfist Power Block Tips everything straight in front of him, but an open control map would leave him vulnerable from many different directions. Being able to control the map with the right hero, managing choke points and figuring out the path that works best with your character’s range is imperative.

It's really that feeling of working as part of a team, mastering the characters and controlling the map that makes Overwatch such a joy to play, even without getting the content you want for your favorite character. In one match, my team and I made a last defense on a capture map. Our Bastion entered turret mode to spray one entry point, and Reinhardt held up his shield at another with Zarya close behind, supplying him with a personal shield. Soldier 76 sprinted to the front to deal heavy damage with Mercy flying behind providing a damage boose. All the while, a Widowmaker hid at the very back, ready to snipe enemies that somehow made it past our defenses. In a world filled with so many "go-it-alone" multiplayer shooters, having a game like Overwatch that offers so many unique ways to play as a team is refreshing and fun.

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 twenty-one launch heroes, three at a time, with the hopes that you’ll be able to recognize certain patterns on the battlefield.