How To Play Off-Tank In Overwatch 2

In Overwatch 2, there are a wide variety of tanks. These tanks, although in the tank class, have their own classes. Main tank and off-tank are the two main classes. Off-tanks are D.Va, Roadhog, Zarya, and Sigma. Since there are so many off-tanks, how do you play them in Overwatch 2?

15. Don’t Waste Your Abilities

This one is a hard pill to swallow, especially for new players. It’s extremely tempting to spam your abilities as soon as they come off cooldown. However, there are more effective ways to utilize your powerful abilities. If you waste them, you’ll find yourself at a disadvantage.

If Roadhog heals before he gets into a fight, he’s at a disadvantage because he can’t heal for another few seconds. The same applies to Zarya’s bubbles, Sigma’s rock, and D.Va’s defense matrix. Zarya’s bubbles protect her from enemy fire; Sigma’s rock stuns enemies for long enough for him to escape; and D.Va’s matrix can save her from enemy fire.

Having an ability off cooldown can make the difference between your life and death. Don’t waste them, and use them wisely.

14. Keep Track Of Your Health

As an off-tank, you’re doing more damage than a main tank. That means you tend to be more aggressive. When in the middle of a fight, it’s hard to know how much health you have. Keep checking your health to make sure you have enough of it to finish the fight. If you don’t, back off and get healed.

Without you, your team will die. They need someone to block damage and lead the attack. Although it’s good to be aggressive, especially if you have mobile supports, you shouldn’t overextend and feed. Don’t play out of position; otherwise, you’re putting your entire team at a disadvantage.

13. Check The Scoreboard

As an off-tank, you have high damage. All the off-tanks in Overwatch 2 have very high damage and blocking capabilities. However, if you are not doing or blocking enough damage, it might be time to switch. You can check your and your team’s performance by studying the scoreboard.

When you die, check the scoreboard and look for patterns. Are your supports dying a lot? If so, you need to instruct your DPS to peel more for them. If the DPS refuses, you may have to do it yourself, even if it means leaving the battlefield. Although it’s best to stay in position to lead the charge, you can’t live if your supports are dying.

You can also see who has their ultimates. If you have a DPS ultimate coming up, work with them to get them into a better position. Protect your DPS while they ult by blocking damage for them and pushing with them. If you have a Genji, follow them into the fight and keep up the pressure on the enemy team.

12. Use Your Ultimate

As an off-tank, you’re doing enough damage to build your ultimate consistently. You shouldn’t hold them because, given the odds, in the time you’re holding them, you could have built another. If you’re building your ult quickly, use it every fight you have it. It can give you a major advantage during your fight.

For example, Sigma’s ult is great at getting enemies off the point. This is why Sigma’s ult is so useful for game modes like control. The off-tanks have offensive ultimates you should use during team fights. Roadhog’s ult, like Sigma’s, is also great for point control. D.Va’s ult is good for pure damage, and Zarya’s is one of the most powerful ults in the game.

Use your ultimate whenever you can. Unless it’s for a strategic reason, use your ultimate during any team fight you can.

11. Have A Plan

During or after your ultimate, you should have a plan. Your ultimate is a powerful ability that can protect you and give you an advantage, but the enemy can still kill you during or after you use it. Before you use your ult, ask yourself what your goal is when you’re using it.

For example, if you’re D.Va, are you using your bomb so you can get your mech back? If so, plan to stay near your bomb so the enemy can’t see you. If they can’t see you, this gives you an advantage since you have more time to safely re-mech after the bomb is gone.

The same applies to all the other off-tanks. Make sure you plan how you’re going to play during and after your ultimate to increase your survivability.

10. Remember To Body Block

Body blocking is imperative in Overwatch 2. Support and tank players are perfect for body blocking for their teammates. Tank players in particular need to body block because they have the highest health in the game. You should be body blocking for all your teammates to increase their survivability.

As an off-tank, you have abilities that can mitigate damage. D.Va has her matrix, Sigma has his shield, Roadhog has his healing, and Zarya has her bubble. Even without those abilities, off-tanks have large hitboxes that make it so they can absorb more damage.

Take advantage of the large hitboxes and defend your team. Use a combination of your size and your abilities to block as much damage for your team as possible.

9. Keep Track Of Enemy Cooldowns

If you can keep track of cooldowns, your game sense is high. Knowing the enemy's cooldowns can make the difference between winning and losing a fight. For example, if you’re playing D.Va and the enemy has Kiriko, keep track of Suzu. As soon as she uses it, throw your bomb in and wipe out the team.

In that situation, if Kiriko has her Suzu, then your bomb won’t get as many kills. Keeping track of enemy cooldowns gives you more opportunity to attack more effectively. If the enemy has a Roadhog, keep track of when he uses his hook. When he uses his hook, you know you can safely jump in on him and he won’t have time to stun you.

Obviously, in the heat of battle, you’re not going to be able to keep track of every single cooldown of every single enemy. Instead, keep track of one or two important cooldowns.

8. Keep Track Of Enemy Ultimates

Like with the last tip, keeping track of an enemy’s abilities is important to your own gameplay. Enemy ultimates change the course of the game. When an enemy uses their ult, keep track of how close they could be to getting another one. There’s no sure way to know exactly when an enemy will get their ult, but use your experience to make a guess.

I love playing D.Va. She’s one of my favorite heroes in the game. As an avid D.Va player, if I ever play against a Zarya, I play with the mindset that the enemy Zarya always has her ultimate. If I play in that mindset, I notice I eat the grav more often. Always know what to do if the enemy has their ult. Don’t get caught off-guard; otherwise, your team will suffer for it.

There are also ultimates that are easier to track, like support ultimates. Support ultimates charge quickly, especially ones like Moira’s, Mercy’s, and Kiriko’s. Before the heat of a team fight, increase pressure on the enemy supports to try and force them to use their ults.

7. Counterplay

Counterplay is a huge gameplay mechanic in Overwatch 2. Counterplay is the idea of playing to counter the enemy. For example, if you’re playing against a Roadhog, consider telling one of your supports to play Ana. As a tank, you’re the frontline, meaning you’re taking fire from all the enemies. Keep track of what heroes are using and play to counter them.

Don't be afraid to switch to counter them. Hero switching is a huge part of Overwatch since you can switch heroes at any time. Along with that, if you have some ult charge, if you switch, you won’t lose all that charge. Overwatch 2 made a change where you can recover your ult charge even when you switch.

If you’re an off-tank main who hasn’t considered using counterplay yet, incorporate it into your gameplay and see how much smoother that makes your matches go.

6. Use Combos

Although your ultimate and abilities are powerful on their own, use combos to increase the impact you have on the game. For example, consider who your supports are. If you’re playing D.Va and about to dive in on the enemy, ask your Mercy to come with you so she can support you. You’re much more likely to secure a kill this way.

You can also combo with your teammates. If you have a Hanzo and you’re playing Roadhog, tell your Hanzo to use his ult. From there, use yours and push the enemy team into Hanzo’s ult. This will secure more kills since this is a powerful ultimate combo.

You can also combo abilities. Mercy’s damage boost is good for any off-tank since off-tanks already do lots of damage. If you’re Roadhog, ask Mercy to damage boost you when you hook an enemy. The more you combo your abilities and ultimates, the more likely you are to win the game.

5. Don’t Forget The Objective

In Overwatch 2, the objective is what determines if you win or lose the game. I can’t tell you how many times I play support and see my tank forget about the objective. Obviously, as a tank, you should be playing frontline. However, at the end of the game, when tensions are highest, you need to stay near the point.

As a tank, you need to hold down the point. As an off-tank, you have more survivability because of your self-preserving abilities. D.Va’s matrix and boosters allow her to stall for a long time; Roadhog’s healing and high health make him hard to kill; Zarya’s bubbles protect her from damage; and Sigma can protect himself with his rock and barrier.

If you’re going to leave the point at the end of the game, let your team know so they can take your spot. D.Va has high mobility, so her leaving point to secure a kill can be very useful. But again, if you’re going to do this, make sure your team knows so they don’t leave the point and lose the game.

4. Communicate

Communication is key in Overwatch 2. It’s more important in competitive modes, but even in casual modes, communication helps your gameplay improve. Communication doesn’t have to be talking, either. You can still communicate with your team even if you don’t have a microphone.

The communication wheel exists for you to communicate with your teammates. There’s also team, match, and group chat you can type in. This is a bit harder on consoles, but on PC, it is a viable option if you’re having trouble communicating with a mic.

Use the communication wheel to announce when you’re going in, how charged your ult is, which target you’re going on, and more. You can use the communication wheel in a variety of ways, so you should utilize it since it can give you a big advantage.

3. Patience

Patience is more important than most players think. Although Overwatch 2 is a very aggressive game, you gain nothing if you rush into a battle with only one or two other teammates. Take a deep breath and wait. Be patient and wait for your teammates to completely come back before you jump into another fight.

I mainly play tank and support. When I’m on support, I’ll always follow the tank. What I’ve noticed is that the difference between a good and bad tank is when a tank is patient. Tanks who rush into the next fight without regard for their teammates frequently lose.

When playing tank, you must be patient. It’s better to wait an extra ten seconds and push in with your team than jump in immediately with only three teammates. Yes, occasionally you can pull off a good fight with only three people. However, it’s better to wait so you have more support behind you.

2. Prioritize Targets

Roadhog and D.Va players, in particular, need to know how to prioritize targets. With Roadhog’s hook and D.Va’s boosters, they can get any target they want. Roadhogs can hook any player in range, and D.Va can use her boosters to jump in. You need to know what targets to prioritize; otherwise, your attacks won’t run smoothly.

Call out which target you want to prioritize so your DPS and supports know where you’re going. If your DPS want to prioritize a target, help them prioritize as well. The more your team plays together to eliminate targets, the more likely you’ll secure kills and win the game.

1. Don’t Play Passively

You’re an off-tank, not a support. You don’t need to hide or calculate every single move you make. Don’t be scared to be aggressive and intimidate the enemy. If you intimidate the enemy, they’ll back up. This move will create more space for your team.

Playing passively will negatively impact your team. Your team won’t have as much room to work with, and the odds are you aren’t fitting their style. Overwatch 2 is a very aggressive game. Thanks to that, more players are adapting and becoming aggressive too.

If you can’t adapt, you’re going to bring down your team. Keep up the high level of aggression and jump in on the enemy. As an off-tank in particular, you need to be laying down damage and staying in the enemy’s face. Off-tanks are supposed to do more damage and get more kills than main tanks. Off-tanks, in general, do more damage than the other tanks.

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