Overwatch boasts a colourful collection of characters, from a floating robot monk, to an esport celebrity in a mech, to deadmau5 on rollerblades. All of these characters have distinct, vibrant and relatable personalities, which have spawned a massive fandom and endeared them to players. However, like bad parents, everyone inevitably picks favourites. Here are ours.
Mark Serrels, Managing Editor
Soldier 76, Bastion and Reaper
I joined the game less than a minute before this.
I’m the Overwatch player everyone hates. I literally rotate between the characters that everyone hates because I’m old and I’m literal human trash.
Bastion, Reaper and Soldier 76. Those are the characters I play. I play them because I’m selfish. Because I’m a terrible person and I don’t care about team work. Because caring about Kill/Death ratio is hard-wired into my brain and nothing Blizzard does can change that. It’s just who I am now. I’m the Overwatch version of a baby boomber. Inflexible, rigid, unyielding. All I care about is my investment property and stopping boats. I sometimes use Bastion. The Carbon Tax was a tremendous failure and Australia needs Tony.
I’m sorry everyone.
Campbell Simpson, Editor of Gizmodo AU
Soldier Dude, Giant Robot Dude and Ghost Dude With Two Guns
I have played precisely 15 minutes of Overwatch. I have played precisely three characters. The soldier dude, the giant robot dude and the ghost dude with the two guns.
Robot dude — I think his name is Bastion? — is my favourite and therefore obviously the best in the game. He walks into a room and stops and then everyone dies. This is how I play video games.
Alex Walker, Editor of Kotaku AU
Mei
I played about 50 billion games as Mei, and this is the only Play of the Game I got. I’m putting it in here. I don’t care.
Please.
The only correct response to this, now and forever, is the adorable arsehole, Mei.
Mei is the kind of character for people who hate people.
Mei is the kind of character for people who don’t like video games.
She’s also the perfect character for people who love competitive video games.
Do you like being disruptive? Do you like having a good time at the expense of everyone else?
Mei. Mei is life. Mei is bae.
Spandas Lui, Lifehacker AU Journalist
Mei
It’s all about Mei. She’s probably the most versatile character in the game.
Mei can play offence and defence. She is a team player yet she is formidable when you face her one-on-one. Mei is a boss at crowd control, is suitable for beginners as well as experienced players and she’s inadvertently teaching me Mandarin.
You either love Mei because she’s is an invaluable member of your team or hate her because she’s so frustrating to go up against.
It also helps that she’s adorable. Long live Mei.
Amanda Yeo, Night Editor
Tracer
I didn’t die once in this round, which I am immensely proud of and need everyone to know.
When I first heard of Overwatch, it was Mei that caught my attention. Bespectacled Asian girl? Big, warm jackets? Ice powers? She was basically me.
Yet Blizzard looked deep into my soul and saw the true me, apart from this flesh trapping, and from that knowledge they crafted a hero to speak to my heart. An animated tribute to the true essence of what I am.
And what I am, over and above all other things, is annoying.
Tracer is the human equivalent of a wasp, or bee, or other small, zippy insect that hurts a lot and is difficult to swat. Her strength is in zipping around behind the enemy, weakening their lines, picking off lone heroes and laying down distracting fire.
I’m typically a support player, so I didn’t think my favourite character would fall into an offensive role. Yet Tracer is as much of a support as an offence hero can be. Though she darts about by herself, she is in actuality a team player. She softens up the opposition, finding or creating gaps in their defences to enable her allies to cut them down, then zooms after fleeing foes to deal a killing blaster to their face.
Symmetra
I’m the carry now.
I have a tendency to fall in love with characters that I thought I would hate. Symmetra is one of the less popular heroes, and upon initial glance I considered her the most useless character. A support that can’t heal? What is even the point of her?
But if she can get a teleporter up, her lack of medical expertise doesn’t matter so much. After a short interlude, teammates pop back up fully reset and ready to rumble, and her shield ability gives them a little extra staying power. In fact, her lack of healing ability can be an advantage, as it discourages teammates from rushing in like a conga line of Leroy Jenkins’.
True, her weapon feels mostly useless at first — and it is at long distance — but it is incredibly lethal up close. I have literally run in circles around D.Vas, sucking the life from them with my light beam of slow death while they spin like ungainly ballerinas, trying to get a bead on me.
And her turrets. Don’t get me started on her turrets. Much more elegant than Torbjorn’s TF2 Engineer-style rig, they can stick to just about any surface, such as the rims of doorways, ceilings above health packs or all over the payload itself. (Even when I’m playing Symmetra, I’m still annoying.)
Symmetra is also a great counter to Genji, and I hate Genji. Why do I hate Genji, you ask?
Bastion
Oh Bastion, my sweet PTSD murderbot child. There was a time in my life where I mained Bastion. People hated me. People still hate me, but not because I main Bastion.
“Bastion!” I hear you say. “That soulless, skill-less, point-and-click Play-of-the-Game-o-matic? Surely not!”
Surely yes.
Okay, all you Bastion haters, listen up. I’m tired of hearing you chew out my tin can son and I will hear no more of it. Bastion is a great inclusion in the game, and he actually has some pretty good counters (see: Genji). He got a bad rep because early no one knew how to deal with him, but now that people are more familiar with all the characters and their abilities he’s no more overpowered than any other hero.
Often when Bastion gets Play of the Game, there’s some bright spark in the chat going ‘ugh, Bastion.’ ‘such skilz.’ ‘lol Bastion.’ Which is sad, because Bastion is an excellent hero for newbies. When you’re starting out, it can be all the various skills and roles can be daunting. More exciting than Solider 76, less intimidating than Zenyatta, Bastion is like a robot teddy bear, gently guiding players in the ways of machine-gun slaughter and encouraging them with kill streaks and Plays of the Game until they have the confidence to leave the bullet-casing nest.
Who is your favourite Overwatch character? Let us know in the comments! (Pro tip: It’s Tracer.)
Comments
27 responses to “Our Favourite Overwatch Characters”
Junkrat. Symmetra. Mercy.
I’m surprised only Symmetra got a mention. You guys are all scrubs!
Seriously though, these guys fit my play style. I’m bit on supports, so Mercy feels good, especially when I get to team up with a good Reinhart or Zarya or McCree. The next healer I’m trying to develop is Zenyatta, although he’s more a damage dealer who can heal.
Junkrat is my bread and butter. I love trapping choke points and then covering a second area with grenades. As soon as the trap springs, just turn to the choke point and bomb the crap out of it. Easy kill. Need to run away? Self bomb. Need to clear the point? Rip tyre. So good.
Symmetra is tricky. I enjoy the making microwave ovens out of choke points, but often against well practiced teams, she gets smashed easily. The next utility role I’m looking to develop is Mei.
I also spend a lot of time with Winston. That big tank harasser. Love jumping in, starting a fight with the back line, then when they turn around and get help from the front, jump back out. Enough time to give my side the chance they need to stab them in the back.
Zenyatta, 76, and DVA.
Lucio, Mercy and Soldier 76.
I’m not great at Overwatch so I tend to gravitate towards the ‘easier’ characters. Lucio, Junkrat and D.Va are my go-tos (usually others on the team will have already selected enough Offense characters, but when they don’t, I usually go Pharah). Surprisingly, I’ve found myself pretty effective with Zarya too, so she’ll get a spin every now and then.
Zarya’s pretty solid pick for most situations since she can survive well and is a good all round tank. Then when you get used to her she becomes an inhuman unkillable russian death juggernaut that graviton surges your soul into oblivion before firing her giant ion cannon into your face leaving you to drag your blob of an upper torso back to spawn in a sorry state of anguish and dread.
Tracer>>>Everyone else
Soldier 76, Tracer, Reindhart, Lucio, Zarya and Tjorbion. Depends on the map and who my team mates play as.
Uh, since the free weekend and buying both versions of the game I’m honestly having a hard time picking a favourite. I’m seeing some gains with Roadhog, Mercy, and getting better with the squishy attack characters.
Torbjorn and Mei are – especially in the Arcade mode currently being featured in Brawl – pretty easy to get trapped into using exclusively, I shouldn’t play them as much as I do.
I like Reinhardt I guess, I don’t plant my feet in a zone or atop the payload like I did at first, I move around and mainly give hell to the healers or other tanks on the other side.
I need to learn Zenyatta and Lucio, as character types they seem very intimidating to learn in such a fast-paced match, but yeah I’ve literally never used them.
Lucio is way easier to play solo than Zen. Zen in a co-ordinated group with comms is crazy good. But he is difficult to get used to, and for the most part isnt really a healer since the harmony orb is only really good for top off health.
Lucio is really easy to play, but hard to master if you want to play him properly (aka using speed boost most of the time rather than heals). Again, the high level Lucio requires co-ordination, so most of the time in solo queue you’ll be healing.
Symmetry, D.va, junkrat, Zentatta and Soldier 76
No love for poor ole Winston. 🙁
Winston – Roadhog – Zen
And for most disliked
Lucio, screw that guy.
I love playing as Winston, but I’ll be damned if I can actually do anything useful with him.
D.Va, Symmetra, Soldier 76, Torbjorn.
Yes, I like Torbjorn, especially now that he’s so challenging to play with. Finding unexpected spots in which to put the turret is fun.
I cycle pretty much through everyone at times. Biggest overall play times are:
1. D.va – I prefer her over Rein for the mobility. Also, I prefer playing her as another Offense char rather than a pure tank, but can do either.
2. Junkrat – Just so fun to play and is decent on both sides.
3. McCree – Love the character, plus I have a pretty good win rate with him. He’s pretty versatile too
4. Lucio – Win most games with Lucio. He’s great for Solo queue, or double heal teams.
Those are my staples if I’m not practicing others, or if the game goes to shit and we need a change. At the moment though I’ve found myself playing:
1. Roadhog – Really fun to play, but too many times gets stuck as the single tank which sucks. He can do the job in some games, but most of the time a Rein or something is also required for Roady to truly shine. Also my hook accuracy leaves a lot to be desired haha.
2. Mei – Deceptively good character on either side. The buff to her ult was huge, since it now pretty much fills the capture point. Also she’s stupid annoying which is hilarious
3. Zenyatta – He is a great character to play as, but difficult to play a lot of the time as most people wont pay attention to where you’re throwing discords. Also on a lot of teams he needs healing help as his harmony isnt really good for burst healing.
4. Hanzo – Again, super fun. Used to be trash at aiming, but since I practiced a lot with McCree, it’s gotten a lot easier. Also, the buff has made him a bit better on both sides and made him a reasonable pick now.
I play Soldier sometimes, but typically lose because I die inexplicably often with him. Just cant get used to his squishyness.
I’ve eyed off Hanzo but he’s requiring the superior aim skills like you say, plus I am too slow with him. Is he more suited to offence or defence?
My aim is improving, except I practice with WidowMaker and Ana.
The current hitbox of his arrows makes him easier than Widow and Ana I find. Also, Ana sucks as an actual sniper (never understood why her weapon is a sniper tbh) since she cant headshot, and most of her greatness comes from her grenade and close range gameplay.
Hanzo is let down a bit by his lack of escape mobility, but the way to play him is more zone control. Stand off from your team and use your sonic arrows on cooldown. He can get out of quick jams with the scatter arrow at close range if you’re not good enough to flick headshot. I have found him obviously much better on Defense because you typically have more time to pick your targets, but on Offense he has surprisingly good DPS capability. You’ll want to hang around the Tanks, or just behind, and again pick off targets using the sonic arrow. Having said that, McCree is probably a better pick at the end of the day, but if you prefer projectiles over hitscan then Hanzo is great too.
Last night, in some nook and cranny of Numbani an Ana kept sleep-darting me over and over during an Arcade match. Being Reaper, I could do nothing but watch each shot sap my health over and over. Nobody else came near us as they were all fighting over the payload.
This lasted for about two minutes I think.
I got down to about a quarter of health before someone from my team bumbled in and broke up this act of torture. My Ultimate had been charged the whole time so that was the most satisfying Death Blossom ever.
Yeah this is why I hate the arcade mode. Several characters are broken in it.
I had one on Route 66, where I stupidly chased an Ana with Winston, and then when we were suitably away from the Payload, she sleep darted me repeatedly. I think after about 5 minutes of me being alt-tabbed, she got bored and went to help her team…
D.Va. She flies around in a giant robot suit eating Doritos’s. What’s not to love?
Ana, Zayra or Pharah. If on defence I’ll go Symmetra and use Reinhardt to take point on offence
I’ve played the most as Symmetra, but I wouldn’t consider her my fav character. I’ve really enjoyed Ana especially if I’m quick and able to run rings around opponents. Mei is probably my most favourite to play. I’ve brought matches on Kings Row and Hanamura to a standstill with an annoying/strategic Ice Wall.
While I was playing on console I mained Soldier 76 and Junkrat because I’m not great at console multiplayer shooters, but since playing on PC I’ve been playing a lot of Reinhardt and Road Hog. I am not usually a massive fan of defensive characters, but since sinking a few hours in to Reinhardt and getting to grips with his role I find him to be one of the most rewarding to play. Used in the right way he can often dictate how and where a match plays out, or turn the tide on losing match.
D.Va, Mercy and Lucio are my go-to characters. I don’t need the best aim to assist the team with them. Also, I don’t mind a bit of Torbjorn for the bot fire support as well. Aiming on console is so challenging for me but I love this game
Engie, Soldier and scout are my main 3.
ive also recently started using Drogoz, his 1 hit K.O. is great against Fernando and Grover
i hanjo
I love zenyatta, as he’s very much a glass cannon. Can deal an absurd amount of damage to one team but one or two well placed sniper shots can make quick work.
Also junk rat, because it’s just an evil thing to do to launch grenades at enemies which will deal a lot of damage and the enemy team will never be able to see you whilst killing them(if you play him right)
Also mercy pretty cool, I suppose
I badly need to get better with more characters. I play a lot of support – About equal Mercy, Lucio and where appropriate, Symmetra. trying to improve with Zenyatta without an enormous amount of success yet.
If I’m not healing or teleporting folks I’m playing as one of the Aussies, bouncing around with concussion mines and skolling inordinate amounts of “gas”.
Zenyetta for this quote alone – ‘I’m on fire…. but an extinguisher is not required’
…I’m easily amused.