Blizzard Presents:Pixar's Monday Night Fortress [Overwatch]

[Mongrel]

I am going to use it, actually! Sorry, I was out buying chorizo!

[Mongrel]

Downloading nowwwwwwwww.

(Battle.net ID: Mongrel)

[Newbie]

Yep, that code's gone. Still, open beta for anybody who wants to try is just a couple days away! (Also, I'm jsnlxndrlv#1916)

[Mongrel]

It almost feels weird to have a battle.net id again. I haven't had one in well over 15 years and couldn't tell you what the username/email for the old one was (last used for playing original SC:BW multiplayer, IIRC).

[Mongrel]

Played for an hour or two.

Have to confess the game hasn't been very much fun so far. Lost every single match I played and frankly didn't do much other than die in a hurry with most characters. Wasn't even map knowledge... every team I was on seemed to be grossly outclassed in overall basic combat skills and I certainly can't say I contributed anything meaningful (am I mistaken or when you join random matches is the game not supposed to place you in games with players of roughly equal records? I mean, the tagline on the matchmaker seems to indicate this, but...).

The game is frenetic and noisy with no downtime and seems a bit visually cluttered when you're actually in combat.

So far the only character I can even manage basic functionality with is Soldier 76, as he's straightforward, simple, and well rounded. Was hoping to try others, but was massacred so fast in anything else that I really couldn't justify experimentation.

At this point I'll certainly try it some more and see if things get a bit better (the beta runs for a while after all), but it's sure not looking like I'll rush out to spend $50 to buy it right away.

[Büge]

The game is frenetic and noisy with no downtime and seems a bit visually cluttered when you're actually in combat.

Welcome to the World of Warcraft.

[Mongrel]

What I found weirdest is that I lived a lot longer with Soldier 76, who only has 200 hp than I did with say, Bastion, or D. Va. who have 500. Their health just seemed to VANISH. I get that Bastion is slow and you need to learn good positioning with him to do the sentry thing well, but D. Va amazed me with how little I did. I generally got off one one two shots and was dead, and wound up living longer in pilot form than I did in mech form!

Other characters I tried (in live games. I tried them all in the tutorials/AI training):

McCree - Just felt like an inferior Soldier 76, because I idn't have a grasp on how to use his secondaries well.
Tracer - Obviously good (seems like every pub match winning team had two or more of her), but I need a better understanding of match flow and maps to use her well.

I'm going to try Phara, Mercy, Ratbag and Symmetra today to start with in comp matches and see how they go.

[Z%rø]

[Wheels]

Still can't stop playing this game. High mobility things have always been crack for me, but options like Genji or Reaper take it to extremes. Combat is fast and intuitive and things are easy to pick out, perhaps too much so. I don't know how I feel about the semi-new highlighted lines on enemy teams, makes it too hard to hide.
It seems this game will devour my entire life... as I well could have expected a bloat free, crisp and clean TF2.

[Wheels]

McCree - Just felt like an inferior Soldier 76, because I idn't have a grasp on how to use his secondaries well.

McCree has the highest DPS of any of the heroes aside from snipers and can easily dominate short to mid-range. His standard fire is nearly a direct port of a Counter Strike Desert Eagle; perfectly accurate, shots doing ~40 damage. But the main attraction is his alt fire, which empties the drum of his revolver. E to flash them to helplessness, right click to instantly kill anyone except tanks (and even then...)

[Z%rø]

Don't forget roll to reload. Favored trick of McCree is to get up close, stun, hammer fire, roll, hammer fire. That's 12 bullets on a stunned target

More than enough to kill anything that moves.

[Wheels]

Another protip, since you're implying that you're playing like it's TF2: headshots matter. Even on an ejected D.Va, a few headshots will decimate your opponents. Also, all heads are at the same level, even Winston and D.Va's mech.

[Newbie]

I've been relying on this guide to all the heroes, although it can only do so much to counteract my computer issues. Also, not sure if this is still the case, but when I was playing in one of the earlier stress tests, your allies' bodies block your bullets. Most shields don't, though.

[Mongrel]

Yeah, I'm basically useless and hopeless at this game.

So, when are we gonna hook up for a game?

[Mongrel]

Mongrel#11155

[Mongrel]

It's a very minor point and wouldn't make or break my buying or playing a shooter game, but I have to admit that the flavour of Overwatch does seem rather bland and soulless. My god, could the dialogue be any more vanilla? It's like it was scripted by people who didn't make the cut at writing Magic card flavour text.

[Blossom]

I'm curious to try the beta tomorrow. Do you need to have bought the game?

[Wheels]

Open Beta starts on the 5th at 4 PM PST

[Mongrel]

Updated thoughts on heroes I've played in real games so far.

McCree - I've never been able to play fighting games effectively and effective use of Cree basically requires you have some basic ability to combo reliably, so this guy is right out for me, I expect.
Pharah - I was great with TF2 soldier and am pretty terrible with Pharah. The crucial difference is that Pharah's splash is far more useless than the TF2 soldier's so she might as well be armed with a rifle. Eh.
Soldier 76 - Basic competency. I can pull my weight alright in these noob-tier games.
Tracer - I was surprised that I actually had decent games with her, given how bad I am at TF2 scout. I was able to effectively use her ability set more than I was a lot of other heroes and actually did surprisingly well killing with her pulse pistols. I think the secret is that her movement is a lot less complicated than the scout's and she's actually somewhat slower. She was one of the few characters where I was actually able to start experimenting with next level stuff like using her deke to go back and forth to fake people out (I didn't pull it off, but I at least felt comfortable enough to start trying).

Bastion - On defence I can make quite effective use of this guy but on offence he is totally useless, at least for me. Pretty straightforward and uncomplicated character, making him easy for me to play, so it's a shame he's pretty much being ruled out for higher levels of play and only works on certain modes.
Junkrat - I love that his main weapon is essentially the alt-fire of the flak cannon from Unreal Tournament, which was one of my favourite weapons in any FPS ever. Also indirect fire is generally good for me too (lobbing bombs over walls and Reinhardt shields is always good times). However, he has the same issue as Pharah, in that his AoE splash is not great. I've been making okay use of his abilities, which is more than I can say for some heroes I've played.
Mei - I can't manage her abilities well at all, and can't lead the delayed icicle worth a damn.
Torbjorn - He's an Engie. I do good with Engies. He's kind of bland though and definitely has less depth than TF2 Engie, so while he's one of the characters I'm most effective with, I've found playing him kind of boring.

D.Va - More useless games than strong ones, but sometimes I've had the chance to shine with her. The lack of true flanking paths on a lot of maps really frustrate my ability to use her.
Reinhardt - Being the pure tanky guy has never really been my thing. Plus I can't seem to make his offensive abilities work well for me. Like McCree, you really want to be comboing to do well with him offensively.
Roadhog - Blah. If you like fuelling your opponent's Ultimates, I guess?
Zarya - I just don't have a handle on how to play her well at all.

Symmetra - She's much more interesting as an Engie-type character, and I've had some of my few really good games with her, but managing all her stuff is really exhausting. It's very rarely that I get my whole team shielded and have 5 or 6 mini sentries up.

Characters I still need to try: Reaper doesn't seem too complicated, but there seems to be a flow or rhythm to using him that's been shying me away. Widowmaker can apparently bodyshot all day and still be quite useful to her team, and she also seems more well-rounded as compared to TF2 sniper, so while TF2 sniper was one of my very worst classes, I think I might do okay with her? Worth a try. Mercy is medic, obv obv must try.

Characters I probably won't be playing: Genji and Hanzo require an actual ability to aim well to do anything, so no way. Lucio is apparently the strongest character at high level play at the moment, but the amount of management his abilities require is well beyond my capabilities. Nothing about Winston excites or interest me and Zenyatta just seems kind of useless - his ult is mainly a distraction effect to attract fire, a trick which won't work on anyone who's learned the basics.

[Wheels]

McCree - I've never been able to play fighting games effectively and effective use of Cree basically requires you have some basic ability to combo reliably, so this guy is right out for me, I expect.

E > RClick is not really a combo... (you're aware one right click empties the entire drum, right?) A much better comparison would be a sap > Backstab on a Spy, though you don't need to change where you're aiming and it's much easier as McCree. There's not really any parallel with a fighting game.

Pharah - I was great with TF2 soldier and am pretty terrible with Pharah. The crucial difference is that Pharah's splash is far more useless than the TF2 soldier's so she might as well be armed with a rifle. Eh.

I think you're basing this and the Junkrat bit off of shooting people with 600 HP. The splash width on both of their explosives is pretty darn wide, and can do 70ish damage easy if you're semi-accurate. That's enough to three shot any hero except the tanks.

Bastion - On defence I can make quite effective use of this guy but on offence he is totally useless, at least for me. Pretty straightforward and uncomplicated character, making him easy for me to play, so it's a shame he's pretty much being ruled out for higher levels of play and only works on certain modes.

That's before the recent changes where he can literally just stand up and leave with no transform time, which I suspect will change his usefulness in serious games, I can feel the difference already. You don't really want to stay in the same place anyway. If they know where you are, then you're dead. Get a few kills, then move to a different area that covers where you were so that when they look for you, you fill them with lead.

Torbjorn - He's an Engie. I do good with Engies. He's kind of bland though and definitely has less depth than TF2 Engie, so while he's one of the characters I'm most effective with, I've found playing him kind of boring.

He has a lot more killing power than an Engineer, and his turrets are almost completely disposable. You can have a tier 2 turret up in just under 10 seconds, no scrap required. Even if it's being focused when you're not around, popping Molten Core will instantly heal it to full and give it an enormous DPS boost, probably wiping out the guy trying to destroy it. Wander around with him and fill people with rivets. 2 good headshots is enough to get a kill, and you can also lead them into your turret's LOS. You'd want to wander around anyway to make sure you're getting scrap to spew out more armor packs. 75 extra HP on any hero is huge, and it stacks with Symmetra's shield buff.

Reinhardt - Being the pure tanky guy has never really been my thing. Plus I can't seem to make his offensive abilities work well for me. Like McCree, you really want to be comboing to do well with him offensively.

None of his abilities have synergy like McCree's at all, which is what I think what you mean by comboing? If you're covering your team or capping a point, hold RClick. If you have someone in front of you you want to fight, hold LClick. If they are running away from your manly fighting prowess, either charge them or hit E. You can't really chain them together like McCree's E > RClick, but he's one of the more straightforward heroes imo.

Zarya - I just don't have a handle on how to play her well at all.

Don't blame you on this. She's the weirdest hero of the lot.

Zenyatta just seems kind of useless - his ult is mainly a distraction effect to attract fire, a trick which won't work on anyone who's learned the basics.

That's not the point at all. The AOE heal on the ult will outheal anything in the game except sniper fire. Dropping it on a cap point when your team is weakened turns the tide just as effectively as Mercy rezzing everyone. You also block LOS from enemy ultimates while doing it, meaning that if your team is behind you and Reinhardt Earthshatters in front of you, everyone is still standing. And while he's probably my least favorite hero due to how much you have to hang back all the time, the enormous offensive power with support abilities is insane. Paired with Orb of Discord, he can wittle down pretty much anything.