Overwatch Character Guide: Abilities And Strategy Tips

With 22 heroes to choose from, there's a lot of variety to Overwatch. Each hero has their own abilities, strengths, and strategies that really make them shine in combat, but figuring all of that out as you play can be both intimidating and time-consuming. I've compiled a positively massive guide to every hero in Overwatch that includes a breakdown of their abilities and a few paragraphs giving you some useful pointers on how to shine.

Updated Nov 15th 2016.

Contents

Offensive Heroes: Those who excel is dishing out damage and harassing the enemy.

Genji Abilities And Strategy Tips
McCree Abilities And Strategy Tips
Pharah Abilities And Strategy Tips
Reaper Abilities And Strategy Tips
Soldier 76 Abilities And Strategy Tips
Tracer Abilities And Strategy Tips
Sombra Abilities And Strategy Tips

Defensive Heroes: Heroes who shut down plays and control the flow of battle.

Bastion Abilities And Strategy Tips
Hanzo Abilities And Strategy Tips
Junkrat Abilities And Strategy Tips
Mei Abilities And Strategy Tips
Torbjorn Abilities And Strategy Tips
Widowmaker Abilities And Strategy Tips

Tank Heroes: Frontline fighters who can dish it just as good as they can take it.

D.Va Abilities And Strategy Tips
Reinhardt Abilities And Strategy Tips
Roadhog Abilities And Strategy Tips
Winston Abilities And Strategy Tips
Zarya Abilities And Strategy Tips

Support Heroes: Characters who specialize in healing and buffing their allies.

Lucio Abilities And Strategy Tips
Mercy Abilities And Strategy Tips
Symmetra Abilities And Strategy Tips
Zenyatta Abilities And Strategy Tips
Ana Abilities And Strategy Tips

As always, Overwatch is a game about embracing that variety and switching heroes often, so don't get locked into playing just one. If a strategy isn't working for you, swapping to a new hero is often the best course of action.

It's also worth noting that, as with any competitive game, the balance and meta is expected to shift over time, so I've done my best to give you a good foundation without getting so granular that my advice risks falling out of fashion.

If you're looking not for how best to play each Overwatch character, but how best to beat them, visit our Overwatch counters guide for tips on how to counter every Overwatch hero.