If you are like me and have found that FPS games have become a bit stale, then you are in for a treat with Overwatch. BLIZZARD has once again taken a beloved game genre to the next level by incorporating all the things the fans love and adding some much needed innovations. Even better, this is a title that will be playable for much longer than others that offer a new game every year.
The game’s been out for a couple of weeks now and the internet is saturated with guides and tips videos as the competitive scene starts to pick up. However, I’ve yet to find an easily digestible list of all the characters and their abilities. So, I decided to put one together. Below you’ll find all the heroes listed by class with their suggested difficulties, abilities and accompanying Xbox controls (something I added since most sites list PC controls and I didn’t want to neglect my fellow console players).
A few quick notes: This is in no way a comprehensive guide. In the interest of time (I want to get back to playing) and ease of reading, I only explain abilities that aren’t obvious in their names. Any enemies that have two weapons in their arsenal can switch between them using the left D-Pad button. All things listed as named in the game are italicized and in caps. So here are the heroes and what they do:
GENJI (Difficulty Rating – 3 Stars)
Primary weapon: SHURIKEN
Primary fire (RT): accurate burst of 3 projectiles
Secondary fire (LT): fan of 3 projectiles
1st ability (LB): SWIFT STRIKE
2nd ability (RB): DEFLECT
Passive ability (A): CYBER-AGILITY, double jump and climb walls
Ultimate Ability (Y): DRAGONBLADE, fast-moving katana attack
McCREE (Difficulty Rating – 2 Stars)
Primary weapon: PEACEKEEPER
Primary fire (RT): single revolver shot
Secondary fire (LT): fan the hammer to empty the cylinder
1st ability (LB): COMBAT ROLL, reloads weapon while moving
2nd ability (RB): FLASHBANG
Ultimate Ability (Y): DEADEYE, locks on to multiple enemies, press Y again (or RT) to fire
PHARAH (Difficulty Rating – 1 Star)
Primary weapon: ROCKET LAUNCHER (RT)
1st ability (LB): JUMP JET
2nd ability (RB): CONCUSSIVE BLAST
Passive ability (A/LT): HOVER JETS, hold to hover
Ultimate Ability (Y): BARRAGE, fire a volley of rockets
REAPER (Difficulty Rating – 1 Star)
Primary weapon: HELLFIRE SHOTGUNS (RT), dual wield, short range
1st ability (LB): WRAITH FORM, move faster, become invulnerable, cannot shoot
2nd ability (RB): SHADOW STEP, teleport to target location
Passive ability: THE REAPING, collect SOUL GLOBES to regain health
Ultimate Ability (Y): DEATH BLOSSOM, damages all enemies in AOE
SOLDIER: 76 (Difficulty Rating – 1 Star)
Primary weapon: HEAVY PULSE RIFLE
Primary fire(RT): full auto assault
Secondary fire (LT): HELIX ROCKETS
1st ability (LB): SPRINT
2nd ability (RB): BIOTIC FIELD, heals you and allies in AoE
Ultimate Ability (Y): TACTICAL VISOR, auto-aim on enemies in field of view
TRACER (Difficulty Rating – 2 Stars)
Primary weapon: PULSE PISTOLS (RT), dual wield, full-auto
1st ability (LB): BLINK, teleport in direction of movement
2nd ability (RB): RECALL, go back in time to previous location and health
Ultimate Ability (Y): PULSE BOMB, sticky explosive
BASTION (Difficulty Rating – 1 Star)
CONFIGURATION: RECON, mobile with SMG (RT)
CONFIGURATION: SENTRY, stationary with rotary cannon (RT)
1st ability (LB): RECONFIGURE
2nd ability (RB): SELF-REPAIR, hold to heal
Ultimate Ability (Y): CONFIGURATION: TANK, move on treads with powerful cannon
HANZO (Difficulty Rating – 3 Stars)
Primary weapon: STORM BOW (RT), hold to charge
1st ability (LB): SCATTER ARROW, RT to shoot, fragments and ricochets
2nd ability (RB): SONIC ARROW, RT to shoot, highlight enemies in AoE
Passive ability (A): WALL CLIMB
Ultimate Ability (Y): DRAGONSTRIKE, spirits can travel through walls
JUNKRAT (Difficulty Rating – 2 Stars)
Primary weapon: FRAG LAUNCHER (RT)
1st ability (LB): CONCUSSION MINE, LT to detonate, launch yourself or enemy into air, does damage to enemies
2nd ability (RB): STEEL TRAP
Ultimate Ability (Y): RIP-TIRE, driven explosive, can climb walls
MEI (Difficulty Rating – 3 Stars)
Primary weapon: ENDOTHERMIC BLASTER
Primary fire (RT): short-range freezing spray
Secondary fire (LT): ICICLE, long-range, higher damage
1st ability (LB): CRYO-FREEZE, protect and heal yourself
2nd ability (RB): ICE WALL
Ultimate Ability (Y): BLIZZARD, freeze all enemies in AoE
TORBJORN (Difficulty Rating – 2 Stars)
Primary weapon: RIVET GUN
Primary fire (RT): long-range, slow-fire
Secondary fire (LT): short-range scattered burst
Secondary weapon: FORGE HAMMER (RT), upgrade and heal turrets, melee enemies
1st ability (LB): BUILD TURRET
2nd ability (RB): ARMOR PACK
Passive ability: SCRAP COLLECTOR, pick up resources to build armor
Ultimate Ability (Y): MOLTEN CORE, temporarily upgrade turrets and adds armor, buffs weapon attack speed
WIDOWMAKER (Difficulty Rating – 2 Stars)
Primary weapon: WIDOW’S KISS
Primary fire (RT): automatic assault rifle
Secondary fire (LT): aims down sight for sniper rifle, RT to shoot
1st ability (LB): GRAPPLING HOOK
2nd ability (RB): VENOM MINE, slows down enemies, does some damage
Ultimate Ability (Y): INFRA-SIGHT, highlight all enemies for your team
D. VA (Difficult Rating – 2 Stars)
Primary weapon: FUSION CANNONS (RT), mech-mounted, no reload
Secondary weapon: LIGHT GUN (RT), used when out of mech
1st ability (LB): BOOSTERS, deals damage to and knocks back enemies
2nd ability (RB): DEFENSE MATRIX, shoots down incoming projectiles
Ultimate Ability (Y): SELF-DESTRUCT, eject from mech and cause massive explosion
CALL MECH (Y), after mech has been destroyed, regains some ultimate charge
REINHARDT (Difficulty Rating – 1 Star)
Primary weapon (RT): ROCKET HAMMER
Primary defense (LT): BARRIER FIELD
1st ability (LB): CHARGE, pins enemies to walls
2nd ability (RB): FIRE STRIKE, hammer throws a flaming projectile
Ultimate Ability (Y): EARTHSHATTER, knocks down and damages all enemies in AoE
ROADHOG (Difficulty Rating: 1 Star)
Primary weapon: SCRAP GUN
Primary fire (RT): short-range spread
Secondary fire (LT): medium-range spread
1st ability (LB): CHAIN HOOK, catch and pull in enemy
2nd ability (RB): TAKE A BREATHER, self-heal
Ultimate Ability (Y): WHOLE HOG, knock back and damage enemies in front of you
WINSTON (Difficulty Rating – 2 Stars)
Primary weapon: TESLA CANNON (RT), frontal cone electric barrage weapon
1st ability (LB): JUMP PACK
2nd ability (RB): BARRIER PROJECTOR
Ultimate Ability (Y): PRIMAL RAGE, gain increased health, leap and melee enemies
ZARYA (Difficulty Rating – 3 Stars)
Primary weapon: PARTICLE CANNON
Primary fire (RT): short-range linear beam
Secondary fire (LT): energy grenade launcher
1st ability (LB): PARTICLE BARRIER, personal barrier boosts damage output when blocking enemy attacks
2nd ability (RB): PROJECTED BARRIER, give barrier to teammate, boosts damage
Ultimate Ability (Y): GRAVITON SURGE, pulls in and damages enemies
LUCIO (Difficulty Rating – 2 Stars)
Primary weapon: SONIC AMPLIFIER
Primary fire (RT): burst of sonic projectiles
Secondary fire (LT): SOUNDWAVE, knocks back enemies
1st ability (LB): CROSSFADE, switch between speed and health boosters
2nd ability (RB): AMP IT UP, increase boost
Passive ability (A): WALL RIDE
Ultimate Ability (Y): SOUND BARRIER, high capacity temporary shield
MERCY (Difficulty Rating – 1 Star)
Primary weapon: CADUCEUS STAFF
Primary fire (RT): hold to lock on and heal ally
Secondary fire (RB): hold to lock onto ally and boost damage
Secondary weapon: CADUCEUS BLASTER (RT)
1st ability (LB): GUARDIAN ANGEL, fly to an ally
Passive ability (LT): ANGELIC DESCENT, hold to fall slowly
Ultimate Ability (Y): RESSURECT, brings back all nearby fallen enemies
SYMMETRA (Difficulty Rating – 2 Stars)
Primary weapon: PHOTON PROJECTOR
Primary fire (RT): short-range beam
Secondary fire (LT): hold to charge, release to fire orb
1st ability (LB): SENTRY TURRET, have up to 6 at a time
2nd ability (RB): PHOTON SHIELD, give to ally
Ultimate Ability (Y): TELEPORTER, connects to spawn room
ZENYATTA (Difficulty Rating – 3 Stars)
Primary weapon: ORB OF DESTRUCTION
Primary fire (RT): single energy projectile
Secondary fire (LT): charge for rapid-fire valley
1st ability (LB): ORB OF DISCORD, increases enemy taken by enemy
2nd ability (RB): ORB OF HARMONY, heals an ally
Ultimate Ability (Y): TRANSCENDENCE, become invulnerable and heal nearby allies.
The Eagle Eyes 