Overwatch: Five big tips to get you started

Overwatch went live at 9.00 am AEST, but that doesn’t mean everyone’s had the chance to play yet. For those Aussies desperately counting down the last hours of the workday, we thought we’d give you some tips to start running as soon as your in-game feet touch the ground.

Know your class

Overwatch has four main classes — offense, defense, support and tank — and while Blizzard encourages you to “play heroes, not classes”, it’s good to keep these four pillars in mind. Offensive characters should be the ones dealing the most damage, but they can’t do that without the help of defensive and supportive characters. The tank characters are almost a blend of everything — they can hold the line support their allies and deal massive damage when things open up.

Offensive characters have lower health reserves than tanks and defensive characters, and that’s exactly why support characters should concentrate healing on those types first. Defensive characters should hang back and snipe or deploy turrets — the latter have amazing aim pretty much all of the time. Tanks should try to be in the middle of things, controlling and funneling enemies as best they can. Work together and play to your class’ strengths.

Know your character

Overwatch has myriad characters, each with his or her own unique abilities. Our advice is to pick one or two from each class and get to learn how they work. Widowmaker, as an example, has a weapon that works as a long-range rifle or short-range pistol. While the pistol can be used in a pinch, it’s far less effective than sniping. As such, hang back with her and support teammates from afar. Use her claw to get up into high, hard-to-reach areas to provide a little cover to make things easier on yourself.

Reinhardt has an amazing shield that absorbs enemy damage while letting allies take cover — and most importantly, shoot through said shield. Stick together and get ‘er done.

If you’re struggling but have some experience with shooters, Soldier: 76 is your man. He’s the most traditional shooter-like of the lot, offering devastating firepower with the smallest learning curve.

Pay attention to that character select screen

This one’s pretty simple: if the character select screen tells you that you don’t have enough offensive players, pick an offensive player. No tanks? Be a tank. You’d be surprised how many players come in late to a game and pick the third Mercy of the match. Victory is achieved by working as a fully fleshed-out team.

Learn from both your mistakes and the successes of others

Even if you’re having trouble getting used to abilities, hang in there! With practice, you’ll get better. Try to chain abilities and work on getting used to those cooldowns.

Finally, take advantage of in-game kill cams — watching how others play might give you some much-needed insight as to how a character can be used effectively.

Play the objectives

This should go without saying, but just in case: you’re in a team-based game, so work together and meet those objectives!

In Escort mode, the attacking team will try to deliver a payload to a delivery point. That payload needs to be escorted — funnily enough — to the end goal. As the opposing team, you try to stop that. Simple, no?

In Assault, you capture objectives. One team attacks, the other defends. While eliminating opponents is important, capturing those points should be your biggest focus.

The Assault/Escort mode is a combination of the two modes described above. You basically play Assault to capture a point, then switch over to Escort to deliver a payload.

Finally, Control will see you fighting for control of an objective in a best of three format.

Anything else?

We’ve played for a big portion today and have also ducked into the beta, but we’re by no means experts as yet. What tips do you have for us and the community at large? Sound off in the comments area, below.