'Overwatch' hero spotlight: How to suck less with Winston
Want help with a different hero? Click here to check out our master Overwatch guide, where you'll find links to tips and strategies for each hero in the game.
Each Overwatch hero is a special snowflake.
Different guns, different abilities, different movement speeds, different quirks. Learning to excel with one hero doesn't mean you've mastered Overwatch.
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Playing a hero the "right" way only gets you so far, of course. Positioning, team formation (on both sides) and overall skill level are still important; you can play a hero perfectly and still lose. But you probably won't win until you learn to play whoever you're using right.
We've got you covered. Read on for tips, strategies and ideal maps/modes to help you suck less at using Overwatch's totally-not-an-X-Man rip-off talking ape, Winston.
Ability breakdown
Primary weapon: Tesla Cannon. Fires a sustained burst of electricity that hits all enemies in a wide arc at close range. Does moderate damage over time. 100-round clip is exhausted after five seconds.
Jump Pack: Winston makes a rocket-assisted leap in whichever direction he's facing, dealing moderate damage to any enemies close to where he lands. 6-second cooldown.
Barrier Projector: Erects a bubble-shaped force field that blocks enemy fire but allows Winston and his allies to shoot through it. Has 800 health and last for five seconds, if it's not destroyed first. 12-second cooldown.
Ultimate ability: Primal Rage. Winston puts away his Tesla Cannon and enters a frenzied state. During the 10-second duration he gets an additional 500 health and a reduced 2-second cooldown on his Jump Pack. Winston's melee-only Primal Rage attacks deal only light damage, but they deal significant knockback.
How to Winston
Winston is a mobile tank who excels at harassment tactics. He can get to a position quickly, shield himself for a few seconds while he attacks and then escape with equal swiftness.
It comes down to a very simple combo with Winston: Jump Pack your way into enemy ranks, drop your Barrier Projector, unload with your Tesla Cannon and then Jump Pack out. Rinse, repeat.
Most of what you should be doing is some variation of that. Winston's primary function is to disrupt an enemy formation and make them scatter. If you can zero in on a lone support (or similarly squishy) hero after the initial strike, go for it.
Just keep Winston's ability cooldowns in mind. Jump Pack recovers twice as fast as Barrier Projector. If you've just dropped your shield, the former is your best getaway.
Winston's health pool, mobility and disregard for pinpoint accuracy -- all you need to do is get close -- also makes him excellent for dealing with flankers. If a Reaper or a Tracer or a Genji is hitting your team's flank, leap in, drop your shield and fry them.
The same is true for snipers, since Jump Pack can reach their elevated positions. Ana is more of a ground-based hero, but Widowmaker and Hanzo are easily flushed out by a Winston push.
Primal Rage is unique among Overwatch Ultimates. It's almost a support ability, though it provides no healing.
The knockback on Winston's Primal Rage punches is significant enough to send most enemies sailing out of their effective combat range. It's helpful if you want to completely lock down a position, especially during a match's overtime phase.
Primal Rage is also handy on maps where firefights play out next to death drops. A well-placed punch can send even a flier like Pharah or D.Va plummeting to unrecoverable deaths.
Best maps/modes: Winston is an ideal tank for Control matches and he brings a lot of value to the attacking side of Assault/Escort/Hybrid matches. His ability to move quickly around the battlefield and sow chaos for more damage-focused teammates to exploit can be the key to controlling the battle flow in those modes.
Topics Blizzard Entertainment Esports Gaming
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
