12 Things You Need To Know About Overwatch
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.
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.
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 Ana Guide’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
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.
Out of the gate, there are effectively only two types of gameplay modes available: attack/defend, or escort/prevent. Not exactly a deep pool to draw upon as both of these modes have already been run into the ground years ago. There are, admittedly, some slight variations. Sometimes, a point must be captured, and then a vehicle must be escorted. Otherwise, this is nothing that hasn't been seen in Team Fortress or Call of Duty. It is personally baffling that other games recently released that offered a deeper, more varied multiplayer experience, like Star Wars: Battlefront or Rainbow Six: Seige were lambasted for being too light on content, yet this gets a pass.
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).
The support class is also carefully designed for players of all skill levels. While it doesn’t ring true in every situation, there are a few support characters that focus more on aiding the team rather than outright combat, allowing for less skilled players to contribute to the overall success of the team, while more skilled players can pick from certain support characters that demand more strategic use, like Zenyatta.