I’m late to the Overwatch occasion. Instead of working round Blizzard’s vibrant worlds for the final 12 months I stayed in my consolation zone: Team Fortress 2. It’s been my go to sport since I began PC gaming, and I’ve racked up almost 400 hours in it.
Related: preserve abreast with Overwatch’s new heroes.
But after watching lots of of suitably flashy gifs on the Overwatch subreddit earlier this month, I made a decision I’d had sufficient ready, and took the plunge. I’d learn quite a lot of items evaluating the 2 video games and their characters, and Blizzard clearly took classes from Valve’s multiplayer masterpiece. So it bought me pondering: would my time in TF2 profit me in Overwatch?
I focussed my first ten hours or play on 4 characters that had most similarities to my favorite TF2 lessons to search out out.
Torbjörn (Overwatch) and Engineer (TF2)
Torbjorn
Engie
One is a muscle-bound Viking dwarf with a bionic arm, the opposite a soft-spoken Texan who calls his enemies “corn cakes”. But they each share one essential ardour: turrets.
Functionally, their devices work in the identical manner – you throw down a low-level gun and hit it along with your melee weapon to improve it. The Engineer’s has three ranges to Torbjörn’s two in common play – however Torbjörn’s final skill upgrades his turret one stage additional, so that they’re just about the identical in that respect.
Both turrets pump out harm and auto-aim, so all of the ability is available in putting them in the best positions. TF2 ready me nicely for this – I averted the noob entice of flinging them down within the open, preserving them sheltered behind at the least gentle cowl so they might fireplace on enemies with out being taken down. Pretty easy stuff.
However, I discovered myself taking part in far too passively. As an Engineer, you’re continuously tending to your dispenser and teleporters alongside your turret – as Torbjorn, I used to be simply twiddling my thumbs and flinging out the odd armour pack. What I hadn’t fairly realised was the ability of Torbjorn’s rivet gun, which fires molten lava in an arc or, when you proper click on, in a good shotgun-style unfold.
That is basically his essential supply of DPS. It’s a very totally different mindset to taking part in Engineer and took quite a lot of getting used to. The rivet gun places out a shocking quantity of harm at mid vary, supplied you’ll be able to land headshots, which is less complicated mentioned than achieved.
Success as Torbjorn appears, to my eye, to depend on getting good with this weapon – and I’m not there but. There is not a comparable gun in TF2, and I am nonetheless getting used to its projectile drop off, in addition to when to make use of its main and secondary fireplace. Until I can persistently land headshots, my well-placed turrets will do some work – however I will be far much less helpful to my workforce than I’m as an Engineer.
Hanzo (Overwatch) and Hunstman Sniper (TF2)
Hanzo
Sniper
Hanzo might not carry a jar of piss round to soak enemies with, however he’s fairly just like TF2’s Sniper, particularly when our favorite Aussie is utilizing his Hunstman.
Both characters have bow and arrows that require you to purpose forward of your goal so as to land a shot. For new gamers used to firing weapons, it may well really feel a bit alien. But maybe partly due to my expertise with Sniper I immediately began scoring nicely with Hanzo, getting gold medals for eliminations in two out of my first three video games with him.
Mechanically, there are variations between the 2 weapons. Hanzo’s arrows journey a lot quicker than Sniper’s, putting his Storm Bow midway between the Hunstman and a hitscan weapon. That makes it, from my expertise, much less spammable – a faster journey time provides enemies much less likelihood to easily stroll into your arrows once you shoot at a possible spot, as you’ll be able to typically do in TF2. But these are variations of levels, not basic shifts.
Both heroes are additionally best at comparable mid-range distances, sitting behind or above your tanks, and so positioning felt pure. And it helps that Hanzo’s talents are additionally simple to grasp and use: you’ll be able to’t actually go fallacious with Sonic Arrow, which reveals enemy areas, his Scatter Arrows are pretty situational, so I bought away with utilizing them sparingly, and his final is simple.
Hanzo final
It did take a little bit of time to get used to Hanzo’s Wall Climb skill, which sees him scamper up the aspect of buildings to achieve the upper floor. It’s the type of manoeuvrability that the Sniper lacks.
I additionally haven’t fairly bought the knack of headshots – maybe as a result of I’m used to TF2’s notoriously giant hit packing containers. But I’m getting there. Playing Hunstman has given me a stable grounding in bow and arrow fight, and I’ll make an honest Hanzo but.
Bastion (Overwatch) and Heavy (TF2)
Bastion
Heavy
The web advised me that Bastion was the closest comparable hero to TF2’s heavy weapons man, and so I believed it. But whereas each have weapons that may shred enemies in seconds, they play very in another way, as I shortly came upon.
The large Russian is hardly cell however he can at the least transfer, in contrast to Bastion in his sentry kind, which took some getting used to. I needed to attempt to push round corners as you’ll be able to with Heavy, however was instantly shut down. Run in when in recon configuration and your harm output isn’t excessive sufficient; plonk your self down and also you’re a sitting duck.
I quickly learnt to make use of Bastion extra defensively than I’d ever achieved with Heavy, bedding down in strategic positions, revving up, killing a number of enemies, and shifting to a unique spot.
However, I actually had no reference for the place to place myself – nothing that I may take from my TF2 days. Sometimes I’d discover a great place the place I may catch enemies off guard, however most of the time I appeared to face out like a beacon, come beneath fireplace, and should retreat.
Sure, once you mow down a line of hopeless enemies, spurting out lots of of bullets, it’s simple to see the place the comparisons come from. But the likeness is extra visible than strategic and if I’m trustworthy, my time as Heavy has been of little assist for succeeding as Bastion save for studying to trace enemies with my mouse, which I may’ve achieved in any FPS.
I’ve tried different tanks to see if there’s any crossover, and Orisa was in all probability the closest I discovered, however she and the others are so reliant on their talents that controlling them appears like a unique world. Which, in any case, it’s.
Mercy (Overwatch) and Medic (TF2)
Mercy
Medic
This was the one I used to be most enthusiastic about. Medic is my favorite TF2 character, and I’ve ploughed greater than 100 hours into the category and tens extra watching professionals to choose up ideas. I take into account myself to be a stable healer – it’s the one class I can persistently shine with within the sport’s aggressive mode.
So I held excessive hopes for Mercy. Her Caduceus workers has the identical beam-based mechanics because the Medic’s Medi Gun: purpose within the route of an ally, click on, and voila – well being.
With that information alone I used to be in a position to make respectable progress. From my time with TF2 I’m used to preserving a cautious eye on my workforce mate’s well being bars, prioritising heals for these in quick hazard, and guaranteeing I preserve peripheral characters topped up earlier than intense firefights. Switching to break enhance when all people was totally healed felt like a pure development of the Medic’s overheal mechanic, which permits him to spice up well being above 100%.
Another advantage of taking part in as Medic was that I used to be in a position to keep away from quite a lot of harm. I used to be extra cautious than most, ensuring I had stable objects – Rheinhart’s protect or, ideally, a brick wall – between me and the enemy workforce. I even bought used to popping Guardian Angel to fly away from hazard when all of it bought too scorching.
So far, so good. But there’s one factor I can’t get my head round: avoiding flankers. I merely don’t know the maps nicely sufficient but, and simply after I suppose I’m on a superb run a Tracer or Reaper will emerge from a gap I didn’t know existed and blast me within the face earlier than I can fly away.
Mechanically, the Medic has ready me nicely – however there’s no getting away from the truth that taking part in as Mercy requires you to study the maps higher than maybe another character. I nonetheless don’t know each bend of Route 66, or all the very best flanking routes on Ilios. Sadly, that may simply take time – and no quantity of TF2 expertise can change that.
So, there you could have it. TF2 has given me some benefits getting began in Overwatch, significantly with Hanzo, and shifting from one to the opposite appears like a pure transfer for anyone that enjoys team-based shooters.
But with regards to mastering the nuances of Blizzard’s heroes, there’s going to be no substitute for practise. It’s very a lot its personal sport, and in 400 hours’ time I’m positive I’ll nonetheless be studying new tips.
Have you had an analogous expertise shifting between the 2 video games? Are there any expertise you’ve picked up in a single which might be instantly attributable to different? If so, go away a remark under.
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