The Overwatch hero pool is ever extending and it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming to choose a hero. So here is an article summing up the 10 best DPS heroes to help you choose the right one.
#10 Symmetra
Symmetra, due to the lights-bending technology of her ‘Photon Projector’, is able to build barriers and shields for her allies. Her main damage of 60 - 180 is supported by 3 Sentry turrets, that she can place anywhere on the map.
Symmetra is a good hero to choose for a slow moving team, since she can create a teleporter pad, which will allow her allies to make up some ground. Especially in lower ranks when it’s all about getting to know the game, she is a great first choice.
Additionally, her ultimate ability ‘Photon Barrier’ is a giant shield that splits through the entire map. Therefore,she is most advantageous when defending a stationary point.
What Makes Symmetra Great:
- Teleporter
- Turrets
- Easy mechanics
#9 Soldier 76
The artificially enhanced super-soldier ‘Jack ‘Soldier 76’ Morrison’ is an American vigilante and an ex-commander of Overwatch. With his experimental ‘Pulse Rifle’ and his ‘Biotic Field’, he is a dangerous flanker and can support the team during quick dives.
His rifle shoots ‘Helix Rifles’ that causes a small explosion and can cause self-harm if fired too closely. His passive ability enables him to ‘Sprint’ across any distance. This makes him a good flanker, but lets him regroup with the team fast to dive together.
Soldier 76’s ultimate ability ‘Tactical Visor’ is in line with the principles of aimbot. For 6 seconds the automatic rifle aims at the closest enemy target in sight that isn’t covered by a shield. This makes him deadly for flankers like Tracer or flying heroes like Pharah and Mercy.
He is a fan favourite in the silver ranks of Overwatch, because he teaches new players the fundamentals of movement and healing yourself in battle.
What Makes Soldier Great:
- Independent
- Self-reliant
- High damage
- Good for quick dives
#8 Reaper
Gabriel Reyes, known as ‘Reaper’, is a genetically enhanced super soldier like Jack Morrison. The two were friends before power dynamics and visions changed. After the end of Overwatch, Reaper joins the world as a mercenary.
With his two ‘Hellfire Shotguns’ and the ability ‘Shadow Step’, which enables him to teleport through the map, Reaper makes for the ultimate tank killer. His high damage output and the chance to fall back and repeatedly poke at the enemy gives him an advantage over the bulky tank line.
Aside from farming tanks, Reaper is also excellent in DPS battles. ‘Wraith Form’ allows him to fade into an invincible smoke like form and turn the battle in his favour or even retreat from it.
Due to his passive ability called ‘The Reaping’ , he heals himself at a rate of 35% of the damage he deals with his guns. His ultimate ability ‘Death Blossom’ turns Reyes into a tornado of bullets and smoke, killing everyone within 8 metres of him.
What Makes Reaper Great:
- High Damage
- Wraith Form
- Tank killer
Hanzo — Overwatch DPS
#7 Hanzo
His long range and high damage makes him dangerous for all heroes. Without a scope, he is one of the harder snipers to play and the way his arrows fly takes some getting used to. But even with the fairly high skills required for his play style, he can totally make or break the game.
His abilities are ‘Sonic Arrow’, an ability with which he can make enemies visible through walls for his teammates, but only in a section of the map, and ‘Storm Arrow’, which allows him to shoot upto 5 arrows in quick succession even though he usually has a 0.5 second recovery time between shots.
On the bright side, Hanzo can achieve both headshots, even from a long distance,whilst dealing adamage power ranging between 27.5 to 125. This can easily give heroes with small health bars the finishing shot.
The strongest part of him is probably his ultimate, since it can tear through the map, doing damage even to heroes further away. Additionally it is so big,that it can help clear the enemies of a point or corner them for a quick team kill.
What Makes Hanzo Great:
- Long range
- High Damage
- Powerful Ultimate
- Special abilities
#6 Cassidy
The young cowboy Cassidy was a member of the Deadlock Gang before joining Overwatch. His incredible marksmanship was what caught the attention of the higher ups.
His ‘Peacekeeper’ has two firing modes, one allowing him to empty the entire barrel into the target. He carries a ‘Magnetic Grenade’ with him, which when thrown can attach to an enemy to deal additional damage.
Cassidy can be played as a flanker, especially against teams without shields, but when Cassidy doesn’t have the protection himself, he is a bit tricky to play. In the silver ranks he is commonly played to learn about positioning fundamentals.
What Makes Cassidy Great:
- Easy mechanics
- Teaches Positioning fundamentals
- Deadeye
#5 Doomfist
Doomfist’s passive ability allows him to generate shields out of 30% of the damage done by using one of his three active abilities. His ‘Hand Cannon’ is a shotgun, but he can also use it to punch and slam the enemies through the map.
This makes him an excellent support hunter. In the platinum rank he is the best chosen hero, due to the lack of coordination in many teams. Doomfist’s independence from his own team and the freedom of movement through the map enable him to prey on the enemy when they aren’t coordinated.
When playing Doomfist it is important to learn the enemy team’s routines and changes as well as pay attention to their ability cooldowns, for example when stalking Mercy, it’s important to pay attention to her resurrection ability, since it leaves her vulnerable.
Doomfist’s ultimate ability makes him jump up and slam down on his enemies. When hit directly, heroes with 200-300 health points will be killed on impact.
What Makes Doomfist Great:
- Independent
- Strong hunter
#4 Echo
In the diamond ranks Echo is the most played hero of the DPS. The flying evolutionary robot uses her ‘Tri-Shot’ to fire three pellets at the enemy, causing 51 points of damage.
Her mobility is high, due to the ability ‘Flight’ that enables her to chase down retreating enemies or single out supports from their team. She can shoot ‘Sticky Bombs’ at her enemies or use the ‘Focusing Beam’ to make extra damage.
Her ultimate ability allows Echo to take on other heroes in the form of a hologram and copy their abilities. Even their ultimate abilities are copied, enabling Echo to have the copied hero’s ult several times.
What Makes Echo Great:
- Flight
- Ultimate
#3 Ashe
Ashe’s semi-automatic rifle ‘The Viper’ is used comfortably on the hip for short distances or for sniping with its aim down sights. Ashe in contrast to Widowmaker can jump while using her sights.
For added mobility, Ashe carries a ‘Coach Gun’ that allows her to push back enemies and knock herself backwards. With her ability ‘Dynamite’, she can set a time bomb in the map, that will explode after a moment and set enemies within range on fire, dealing additional damage.
Ashe is mostly used within the Grandmaster rank, for her high damage output. She dominates on the high ground and it’s a dream for any Ashe player to have their own pocket Mercy.
Ashe’s ultimate ‘BOB’ is a giant omnic robot that serves as Ashe's butler and partner in crime. He fires on any enemies on sight and has his own health bar.
What Makes Ashe Great:
- BOB
- High damage
#2 Widowmaker
Widowmaker is equipped with a poisonous mine and a big sniper rifle called ‘Widow’s Kiss’. Her scope allows her to accurately snipe down her targets.
With her ‘Grappling Hook’ she can scale any walls to reach the high ground. Her ultimate ability ‘Infra-sight’ enables her to detect the heat signatures of her enemies and make them visible through walls.
Widowmaker takes a lot of mechanical skill and is only really played in the top 500 of Overwatch. She is not recommended for beginners, even if you bring a lot of mechanical skill from previous games, the strategies and tactics surrounding Widowmaker are very advanced and when not played properly, it can cost the team more than it gains.
Nonetheless, Widowmaker’s 3.6 - 120 point of damage can be a big carry in battle and if played correctly, her headshot damage bonus of x2.5 makes her the ultimate killer.
What Makes Widowmaker Great:
- High Damage
- Headshot Damage Bonus
#1 Tracer
From all the DPS Heroes, Tracer is probably the one requiring the highest skill. But she is still the most played hero in the current meta. Her mobility is unparalleled and the way she can keep disrupting the enemy team and taking out the enemy support makes her probably the strongest damage hero in Overwatch.
Tracer is a British adventurer aiming to right wrongs all over the world. With her twin pistols and the ability to travel through time, she is almost impossible to keep up with in battle.
Her abilities include ‘Blink’, a quick burst of movement that lets her zip through the map, and ‘Recall’, a skill that enables her to rewind time to three seconds before. Her health returns and she is returned to the place on the map she was three seconds ago. This allows her to keep returning to poke at the enemy repeatedly.
Her pistols rapid fire 20 shots before reloading. With a quick reload time of 1.15 seconds she is one of the fastest heroes and due to her short range, headshots can still be fatal even though the damage of the bullets is a mere 1.8 to 6.
Tracer is mostly played as a flanking hero and is especially effective in dealing with the enemy support. Her strongest counter is Brigitta with her ‘Rocket Flail’, but even if the enemy supports are too guarded, Tracer can still push together with the team and make use of her fast charging ultimate.
Tracer’s ultimate ability ‘Pulse Bomb’ can be stuck to an enemy for maximum efficiency. It can blow up a whole team and with the speed it recharges when Tracer keeps poking the enemy team, it is a powerful tool in battle.
What Makes Tracer Great:
- High Speed
- High Mobility
- Recall
- Her ultimate
- Good for flanking
