'Overwatch' Defensive Guide: Do All The Damage

Overwatch is a team-based shooter, with 25 characters as of right now. Because
it’s a team-based shooter, you’ll need a well-rounded group to get the upper
hand on opponents. This guide will highlight the defensive heroes in Overwatch,
noting each character’s strengths and weaknesses. Try all of the characters to
find the one that is perfect for your play style!

Defense Heroes

The tank heroes in Overwatch are the following:

• Junkrat
• Bastion
• Torbjorn
• Mei
• Hanzo
• Widowmaker

Junkrat

Since the Open Beta, I’ve been in love with Junkrat. His reckless play style and in-your-face aggression fit me perfectly. His primary weapon is a grenade launcher that works a little differently than the “aim and shoot” weapons of most of the other heroes in Overwatch . His grenades explode when they hit an enemy, destructible terrain or after three bounces; there is no time limit on when they go boom. They do 120 damage when taken to the face, but do less damage the farther you are from the explosion’s epicenter.

When shooting, Junkrat works best with angles. If you can bounce a grenade onto an occupied objective or payload, you might do some serious damage. You also want to have the high ground, shooting grenades and then dipping out to find another location to shoot your mayhem.

Junkrat also has traps to help aid him in the field. Concussion Mine throws a small plastic explosive on the ground that can be detonated whenever you want, as long as the mine dosen’t get spotted and destroyed by the enemy. If the mine explodes underneath Junkrat, he can propel himself into the air. Good Junkrat players can propel themselves towards enemies and launching grenades directly in their face.

Steel Trap places a bear trap on the ground that will root an enemy if stepped on. Enemies can also destroy this trap, but when placed it’s slightly harder to see. My favorite easy kill combo in the game is to placer down both your traps in a doorway, then when you see that your Steel Trap is triggered you explode the Concussive Mine. This will kill squishy heroes like Tracer or Mei.

RIP-Tire is my favorite ultimate in Overwatch . Junkrat takes the tire off his back and controls it for ten seconds, or until it’s shot down or detonated. This tire can do insane damage, killing heroes in one blast. Getting the tire to the enemies isn’t always easy, though; it has relatively few hit points and can be shot down easily. Holding jump can allow your tire to climb walls, so try and hit an enemy from a vantage point they weren’t expecting. Also, the tire makes a lot of noise, but if you keep it still it will quiet down. Try stopping your tire out of site of the enemies so they think it’s gone, and then running it at them when they think they are safe.

I will never be as good as some of the Junkrat players I’ve seen, but I’m cool just bringing a little more mayhem into the world instead.

Bastion

Bastion is without a doubt, the most complained-about hero in Overwatch . He’s considered “brainless” and has little trouble mowing down enemies by himself. I even wrote an article on how to counter him , to try and show people he can be beat. Bastion has relatively low mobility, but makes up for it with the highest DPS in the game.

Bastion’s basic gun is nothing special; it’s his turret mode that gets people angry. He plants himself on the ground and transforms into a two barrel Gatling gun with 200 ammo. Consider any enemy in front of you dead as long as you have a little bit of aim. He has 360 degrees of vision when he’s planted, so don’t be afraid to check out all of your surroundings. Don’t plant yourself in the middle of a firefight; Bastion works best when aiming from a faraway distance where he’s safe.

Bastion can also Self-Repair, healing himself for any damage he’s taken. It’s really hard to screw this up, but try and heal behind cover. If you get caught in the open without defense, you will most assuredly die.

Configuration: Tank is his ultimate which turns him into a giant tank. He now has a missile launcher and can move around with relative ease. You can do some cool things with your tank, like shoot at the ground to propel yourself over obstacles and surprise the enemy (though it isn’t easy to do.) Bastion is a relatively straightforward and simple hero to play, chances are you’ll get a triple kill somewhere in your first Bastion game.

Torbjorn

In the early days of the Overwatch beta, Torbjorn was a serious problem. His turrets were so strong, that it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to see five people pick him on defense and win the game. After some nerfs and some heavy readjustments, this little dwarf is still around and pretty good. He’s one of the best defenders in the game (alongside Bastion) and can deal damage while also helping his team.

Torbjorn has an array of different weapons at his disposal. His rivet gun can shoot two different ways, as a shotgun-style blast or as a single rivet shot. The single shot does more damage, but is much harder to aim, while his shotgun blast does insane damage close up, but very little far away. The rivets shot are different than bullets; they don’t immediately reach their target and arc when shot, so if an enemy is far away, try to aim over their heads.

Turrets are where his real damage lies. Torbjorn can set them up anywhere, where they start at level one. After five hits from his hammer (which is also his melee weapon), the turret upgrades to level two, gaining more damage and health. When placing your turrets, you want them to be able to do damage but also not exposed in the open; there’s no point in having your turret in the middle of open ground. Try to place them at high vantage points that can see a lot of the field. Also, don’t upgrade them in firefights when they are just going to blow up again.

Torbjorn’s passive allows him to pick up scrap metal that spawns from dead heroes or dead tier two turrets. He can then forge the metal into armor packs that give 75 armor to allies. Don’t forget to keep making these, squishy heroes can benefit from that extra armor. Keep in mind that no matter how many Torbjorns are on your team, you can only equip one armor pack.

Molten Core is his ultimate, which turns him into a Magma Rager with increased armor, attack speed and damage. If your turret is already level two, using the ultimate upgrades it to level three, which gives it increased health and rockets. Even if you are nowhere near your turret, don’t be afraid to use your ultimate to increase its level. You can see where your turret is and what it’s doing even if you are nowhere near.

Torbjorn without his turret is very weak, so make sure to fight either alongside it or with your team. Torbjorn can’t 1v1 anyone alone, even Lucio will whoop his ass.

Mei

Everyone’s favorite little ice wielder, Mei is a support mixed with a tank mixed with a damage dealer. She can soak up damage, freeze enemies in their tracks and kill them with no problem. If people dislike Bastion, people really hate Mei. Getting frozen over and over by a cute little Eskimo can get on people’s nerves.

Mei’s main gun has two uses, it shoots an AOE spray that damages and freezes enemies, or it can shoot an icicle with long range. Aiming the icicle isn’t always easy, but its damage sure makes up for it. Freeze an enemy in place and then shoot them in the head with an icicle and you just secured yourself a kill. It does take a bit to freeze enemies though, so make sure you don’t chase them too far into the open hands of the enemy team.

Ice is a dangerous weapon but also a powerful ally. Mei can cast Cryo-Freeze and instantly surround herself in a block of ice. While submerged, she’s invulnerable to all forms of damage and is safe until the timer runs out or she recasts it. If you end up in hot water, use this ability to let the enemies cool down while you wait for your team to show up. Bad Mei players tend to waste this ability and just die when she emerges from her ice cocoon. Knowing when to freeze yourself can win you a duel.

Alongside Mei’s cocoon, she can create a giant Ice Wall. It’s one of the most underappreciated powerful abilities in the game. Create a wall next to an objective to keep your enemies from breaking in, or to keep them trapped like rats. The wall does not stop payloads from moving, though; they will just push on through.

Blizzard is Mei’s ultimate, she throws a drone that creates an ice storm in a location. Enemies caught in it are slowed and take damage. If they stay in it for too long, they freeze. Throw this down in a hectic team fight and watch the kills come rolling in. If enemies can’t escape, like Tracer or Reinhardt, they are essentially stuck until they die. Mei isn’t just adorable, she’s dangerous.

Hanzo

You’d think that the guy who uses a bow and arrow would be outgunned and outclassed by all these gun-wielding psychopaths, but you’d be dead wrong. Hanzo has one of the highest skill caps in the game, but if you can aim well you can do some serious damage. He’s a sniper who excels at picking off enemies with well-placed shots. Hanzo can climb on walls to get himself into exactly the right position.

Storm Bow is Hanzo’s basic weapon, which does more damage depending on how long you pull the string. He can pull back while moving, though his movement speed falls by quite a lot. Seriously, Hanzo is useless unless you have good aim. His arrows have very tiny hit boxes and can be difficult to aim in the heat of battle. Still, a full-power Hanzo arrow to the head is a kill on everyone that doesn’t have a shield or is a tank.

Hanzo has three special arrows in his arsenal. Sonic Arrow creates a field around wherever he has shot, and enemies that are tagged can be seen by your whole team for ten seconds. Use Sonic Arrow around a main enemy choke point so that you can track where they are before shooting them right in the head.

Scatter Arrow launches an arrow that on impact breaks apart, scattering into multiple different arrows. As a new Hanzo, this ability is your best friend. It doesn't matter if you can’t aim because Scatter Arrow goes everywhere. If you are in an enclosed space with an enemy, shoot the arrow at their feet. All the scatter shots will hit them, most likely killing them or forcing them to retreat.

Even if you’ve never played Hanzo, you know about his ultimate Dragonstrike. Hanzo lets loose a Japanese saying: “Ryuu-ga, Wa-ga-te-ki-wo, Ku-ra-u” which means “let the dragon consume my foes,” and shoots an electric blue dragon. The dragon will travel through all obstacles, dealing 200 damage a second for as long as it travels. When you hear that scream, you better start running because if it hits you, you will die. It’s a powerful ultimate, that if used at the right time can completely wipe the enemy team.

Seriously, don’t play Hanzo unless you have good aim.

Widowmaker

The traditional sniper of Overwatch , Widowmaker is a deadly assassin who can shoot enemies from afar. She’s the only hero with an actual scope in her basic kit, which she uses to destroy her enemies with a French accent.

Widow’s Kiss is her basic weapon, which fires like a submachine gun when used normally. When you activate her scope, it turns into a powerful sniper rifle. The longer you keep her scope, the more damage it does, up to 100 percent. It consumes three bullets a shot and does have small recoil when shot. Like Hanzo, if you can’t land her shots she is useless. Finding great places where the enemy can’t see you is imperative to your success as Widowmaker. If you get shot before you get to shoot, your essentially useless.

Grappling Hook is like a Spider-Man web that pulls her to wherever she shoots. Use it to find the high ground so that you can rain hell from above. Venom Trap puts down a small mine that triggers when stepped on by an enemy player, dealing poison damage to whoever was nearby when it exploded, including Widowmaker herself but not her allies. Infra-Sight is her ultimate that gives every member of her team vision of every enemy player for 15 seconds.

Widowmaker is an assassin sniper, just like in every other FPS. If you love to play as the sniper in any other shooter, she’s essentially the same thing. Shoot them or die trying, that’s the Widowmaker way.