He there,
I’m trying to learn Zenyatta and have some trouble to aim with him. So there are a few questions:
Should I focus first on keeping my Orbs up all the time or should i try to better aim?
Where is the best place to practice Zens aiming? Deathmatch? Quickplay? Or even ranked?
I know its best to always discord the heroes who are currently “under attack”, but for a beginner, should i keep the discord on tanks or on dps / healers?
During a push, should i stay near the tanks for better protection and more damage (when I’m closer to the enemies I can hit more shots) or should a stay in the backline?
Work on both if you want to get maximum effectiveness out of Zenny then you need good aim
I use Deathmatch and QP but I also lfg for scrims and aim practice in custom games
Discord the tanks first getting rid of a tank from the team fight is a huge priority if you want to win a team fight, also it depends on who you discord first, If they have Moira Id target her first also discord pharah to make your Mccree or 76’s life much easier.
Zenyatta typically is gonna want to stay in his teams backline
Zenny orbs are best suited to sustain flankers. You want to keep both orbs first and foremost. Aiming is after that. Unless someone is really low.
I would say every mode. There are dedicated games for aim drills. I personally preffer qp since it forces better game sense.
Keep discord on focused target. If you see soldier shooting at Phara discord her. If Roadhog is overextending - discord. Usually best is to kill enemy healers quickly, so prioryte them.
Backline os your best place since you have no damage fall off just remeber you will be target for Gengus and Tracers, thentry to be closer to team
Both ideally. I wouldn’t say focus on one or the other, because that can reinforce bad habits.
Personally I like Deathmatch. Quick Play is too much of a crap-shoot, but Deathmatch allows you to focus purely on the DPS mechanics instead of having to try and keep 5 DPS alive as the solo-healer.
I think this is one of those things that’s best to practice with a team (or at least a few friends). Knowing who to Discord at the time is one of the most vital skills for Zen, but without a coordinated team, just Discord whoever you personally are shooting at.
When you’re diving, often the objective is to trade Zenyatta’s. I’d recommend playing safe, especially if you have (or are close) to Transcendence, because nothing feels worse than going down as Zen with Transcendence and then immediately hearing Angry Japanese Yelling followed by TEAM KILL.
No projectile hero, with the sole exception of Mei, has damage fall-off on their projectiles.
Personally I like to focus on damage over healing, the best Zens generally have higher damage stats over healing. If this is your main focus you will have your ult up way more often and Zen ult is arguably the most powerful in the game.
Best thing with Zen - Practice, practice, practice
Try to do both. Over time you will become more comfortable with Zen’s projectile speed and popping orbs.
I learnt Zen before arcade came in but Deathmatch might be feasable
Orb priorities I try and use:
Discord orb on healers or tanks unless there is a high priority target (e.g. Pharmercy combo).
In comp call out your targets so your team can focus them (the new orb target listings in the bottom right corner really help with this) and/or co-ordinate targets with your team.
During pushes I try to stay towards the back or in a spot so I can see everyone but be aware of flankers.
Other tips:
Charged shot is good for stationary targets, door ways and choke points (hearing the glorious ‘tings’ of those headshots, mwah).
Discord is also handy to track flankers briefly before the orb is returned.
Recommend the video “1 Zenyatta Tip for Every Hero” by KarQ
1 orbs first then aiming orbs are easy once they’re on. keep them on players in fights not tanks behind barriers like rein.
2 all the above. trial by fire. start with qp then dm then ranked once you feel comfortable. also arcade can be helpful too since rules change and helps you adapt.
3. first call who you discorded so your team knows. sometimes the icon isn’t enough. second depends on whats going on. you need to learn priority targeting. for example is mercy flying towards a target to rez? discord and call it so she doesn’t rez. or maybe genjis deflect just ended discord and call. or maybe roadhog was anti healed during his heal discord and call. it truly depends on the situation.
4. again it depends and you need to figure it out on a case by case basic. near tanks who creates space is best but not too close so you get caught in AoEs. being near certain dps like mcree helps since he can stun and your discord can help him when dived but be careful you’re also a high priority target and genji could bait a flash bang and stun both of you. also if youre running dive as zen don’t sit alone since the enemy is most likely also diving and most your team will be away. deathball is easy since youre all together.
While I’m no Zenyatta professional, there are some general tips I can offer:
Use a mic; being able to call out discord targets is one of the most useful components of Zenyatta’s kit and also why dive comp works so well. From target to target, divers move in with Lucio speed boost to annihilate enemies.
Focus supports/primary targets; as the most high-class support in the game, focusing down enemy supports when possible is useful, but…
Constantly be building ultimate charge. Your ultimate is the only thing between your team and a team kill, so always be building it up for those clutch moments.
Always be discording and healing allies with your orbs because once you press q, your orbs are the only way you can contribute to fights outside of your mass healing.
If you’re not applying orbs or shooting at a target, charge up a secondary fire. More times than not, a new target to do damage to will be within line of sight before you’re ready, so having a charged shot ready can help you burst someone to death or wound them so that they get out of your face.
About the callout of discord: I tried to call out every discord, but since I’m switching it quite often it resulted in a “callout” spam in the voice chat that made my teammates beg me to stop it.
Your damage and healing orbs are the things that only you can do on the battlefield, so they’re your top priority. However, because the orbs keep doing their thing after you stick them to someone, you have a lot of free focus to then immediately turn and start doing damage. Be sure to work on aim for both your primary fire and your charged shot–you’ll need them both.
I think Deathmatch or Quick Play, either one will work. The main thing is that you’re getting to work on learning to aim on heroes who move like real people. But if you’re still getting the feel for the weapons, don’t discount the practice range–it can help you gauge how long it takes the projectiles to travel in a very controlled environment, which can help you adapt to the dynamics of a real match.
In my mind, there are two main ways to use discord–firstly, to help burn down a target that’s already being focused (say, your Winston dived someone), which is a reactive way to use it; or secondly, proactively, where you put it on a high-priority target on the enemy who needs. to. die. That can be the DPS who’s carrying, the tank who’s in your way, or the healer who’s keeping that tank alive. It’s just going to take some time to learn how to identify who’s being the biggest problem for your team.
In general, you want to stay in the backline so you can keep vision on your team and on the flow of the battle. But you never want to be lagging too far behind on your own (that can make you ripe for getting picked off by a flanker). You want to be able to flee into your team if someone starts attacking you from behind, to let your teammates give you some cover and peel for you.
This is a great video. KarQ has a lot of excellent hero tips in general–I think he’s got one of the better informative how-to-Overwatch channels out there.
I would say that in general, you don’t want to move your discord orb around all that much. Is there someone you can help kill with it? Leave it there until they’re dead, if you can. Is there someone who needs to die like NOW because they’re threatening to wreck your team? Orb them and leave it until they’re dead.
Also keep in mind that your team can see the discord, so it’s almost like a callout in and of itself. I generally only call it out if I’ve proactively orbed a target I think we should focus, rather than just informing my teammates where it happens to be.
For the first time in my life I feel like I’m qualified to answer someone’s questions.
Zenyatta is unique in that he offers a massive advantage in team fights simply by being alive and throwing his 30% increased damage taken on someone. Learning how to prioritize harmony and discord orbs is probably the most important part about being useful as Zen. I’ll talk about how I think you should prioritize each of those abilities.
Harmony Orb - A lot of people will say your orb is most useful on flankers like Tracer/Genji. I think that they can be very useful on them, but in my experience, anyone who is in a fight they might lose needs the orb. If your D.Va/Winston is diving, chasing a risky kill, or your second healer is under attack, or literally anyone is getting focused by the enemy, give them your heals and pray they make it out alive. A lot of the time you need to predict who is going to need your orb as a fight begins so that you can have orb on them long enough to be useful. Often times decisions won’t be easy and you’ll be better off choosing to let someone die to keep someone else alive, so try to learn how to figure out who needs to stay alive the most so you can prioritize heals correctly.
Discord Orb - The simple advice is to discord whoever you want to die, or whoever is getting shot, or whoever can die. I usually go down a list of questions like this when I’m figuring out who I should discord.
Is someone putting me in danger? Discord them.
Is someone a free kill/out of position/Is my team diving or about to dive someone? Discord them.
Is there an enemy tank trying to create space for their team (like a rein/orisa pressing w or a dive tank diving on someone) that can be pushed back by melting them with discord? Discord them.
Is there someone alive that shouldn’t be or that I don’t want to be like a healer?
Is there someone who I really just want to annoy/make them swap by always discording them?
In my opinion, aiming is the second most important part of playing Zen. If you can’t aim precisely when you need to (which isn’t all too often) you will always die to Tracer/Genji/whoever decides they don’t like you. Being as easy to kill as you are, you’re likely the first to be dove every fight. So learn how to hit shots unless you want to be in spawn the whole game. For someone who struggles with aiming, I would tell them to practice McCree and Soldier a ton because that will help with both tracking and flick aiming. I go to practice range a ton every time before I go into comp to make sure my framerate is good and to remember how to aim. I don’t really have any drills for the practice range, but I like chilling out on McCree, Soldier, Widow, and Zen for as long as I feel like I need to.
Some advice from my experience playing Overwatch is that good aim will bail you out of poor positioning and awareness 100x more than good awareness and positioning will save you from not being able to aim at the enemy. Learn to aim first, learn the game second.
Positioning is always situational which makes it hard to explain to others. I don’t like staying on top of team unless we’re surrounded or there is a Tracer/Genji I don’t like. What I usually do is stay behind team but within healing range from my second healer and try to move around where I can discord people and deal easy damage to things like barriers, clumps of enemies, tanks, etc. Basically, try to keep an eye on the enemies and keep your team between you and them if you can. Or you can be like me and knowingly go on high-risk low-reward flanks for the memes.
Hopefully this helped you. If there’s anything you need me to clarify or if you have any other questions, feel free to let me know.
For the aiming part: I made the experience that aiming with Zen feels kinda different than with every other hero cause of the “trave time” of his bullets.
I only play zen on qp so I can’t give you top notch advice regarding types of comps and what to do in them, but I can help a bit.
The best advice I’ve heard for zen is “don’t just hold left mouse button. Shoot each orb individually, with purpose”. Eventually you will get good at it and will be headshotting tracers in no time.
Also zen is a great tank buster. So Imo it’s almost always a good idea to prioritize discording tanks, especially if you are new at zen and his aiming. The healers can be dealt with by flankers. But of course your position is most important. Don’t go chasing anyone that isn’t overextended. You want to be in the backline and accompanied by ideally 2 others who are always ready to help you. If they are busy, help them so they can be available to help you sooner. Always be close to a wall or obstacle in case you get surprised by an ultimate or if you get spotted by an enemy, otherwise you might have to waste your ultimate just to save yourself from something stupid, and won’t have it to save your whole team 15sec later. Also if you’re trying to make long range shots, charge your alternate fire and stand still for a second as you shoot, that way there is less spread and the surprise 5orbs are more likely to kill your target.
Edit: I forgot to mention that from my experience playing zen with mei on my team is really great. I think mei and zen have a lot of synergy. Her walls and ice blocks stall the enemy team, giving you more time to heal someone or for your shield to recharge. And discord headshotting a slow/frozen target is a breeze.
![:smiley:](https://d74zh8edaijub.cloudfront.net/en/overwatch/images/emoji/twitter/smiley.png?v=5" ":smiley:")
![:slight_smile:](https://d74zh8edaijub.cloudfront.net/en/overwatch/images/emoji/twitter/slight_smile.png?v=5" ":slight_smile:")
