In my opinion, the importance of “being flexible” across categories is pretty overrated, especially with the Role Queue arriving in just a fortnight. If you enjoy a specific group of heroes considerably more than another it’s fine to just… stick to those ones.
While competitive is locked for you, Quickplay is probably the best mode to play, as it’s quite similar to the competitive format. If you’re interested in improving as much as possible, watch your own gameplay as well as other peoples and see what you can learn. Make use of the Replay feature.
I would always recommend watching hero guides from all the various youtubers, if you have the time.
I watched many of the guides as they came out cuz i find them really entertaining and helpful, but i had a lot more time to learn and it might be harder for you to watch them if you don’t enjoy them.
I do also think a lot of those guides are kind of outdated though.
While it’s hardly an optimal place to start, one thing you can say about the forums is that they’re up to date. If you make a topic asking tips, tricks, or strategies on how to use a certain hero, you should recieve a fair amount of useful responses.
If you can be patient, I would recommend not jumping right into comp at level 25. Spend more time in QP learning the basics of the game and certain heroes.
Learn positioning (this includes taking high ground) and when to press W.
Honestly everyone from plat and under play like they’re afraid of everything yet they position like idiots. Playing super far back, sticking to low ground, let themselves just get held in chokes. If you learn to play corners you’ll be better than at least 70% of the playerbase.
The ones you feel comfortable/have fun playing with. Practice them on quickplay as much as you can then play ranked and do your placements (i’d wait until 2-2-2 hits live).
Dont be a otp like the forum keeps suggesting. Soldier is a pretty good beginner dps to start out with. If u play a hero in every role u will learn the game faster than if u just one trick soldier/ashe or whoever.
Quickplay is always going to be your best bet when it comes to non-comp practice since it’s really the only mode without any major gimmick. Gonna get even better for semi-serious practice once Role Queue gets put into place in about a week or so.
Again, learning heroes from every role is going to be pretty outdated soon once Role Queue comes in, since you can choose whatever role you like and be guaranteed to get it. You don’t really need to worry about having to play a different role as a backup.
Just in general try out all the heroes for a fair bit, play a game or two on each, see what you like and who you don’t.
When you do have an idea of what heroes you simply enjoy playing and have questions on how to play them or what team compositions they’re good in, always feel free to swing by here again and ask for some more specific tips.
But don’t force yourself to like a certain hero just because you think it’d be good to be able to play them. Sure, being able to play a tank with a big shield like Reinhardt or Orisa might be nice, but if you don’t enjoy playing them, why even bother in the first place?
Also personally, I wouldn’t really listen to all the people telling you to never touch comp, or to wait a super long time until you’re like level 100 or something. Sure, maybe don’t go in the absolute moment you’re able to, but like level 30 is probably more than enough. There are things to learn there that you won’t be able to learn anywhere else, as your teammates will actually take you and the game seriously.
And honestly, it’s the best mode in the game if you want to play actual Overwatch. Just remember you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, if you end up in a lower rank, that’s absolutely fine. There’s absolutely no need to punish yourself just because someone tells you a certain number, be it your level or SR, isn’t high enough.
You don’t even need to be good at the hero. Just play them a little bit and you start to get an idea of what your teammates and enemies are thinking when they play that hero, and you can change your own playstyle around that.
You just play them and see which one fits you best.
Also I don’t recommend going into comp before reaching lvl 100 unless you want to be hard stuck in low elo (even though the ranking is probably going to reset for a first time in 3 years with the next season)
Welcome, EmpressMya to Overwatch. You are going to find this is a very diverse and entertaining game and as you invest time into it you are sure to enjoy the diverse heroes you can play as and meet many wonderful people in our community.
My first piece of advice is to remember to always have fun playing Overwatch. As a new player, you may find many things intimidating. If this is your first online multiplayer game, remember that while many of us do like to have fun and contribute to a positive game experience win or lose. There is going to be others who unfortunately can become “toxic” or exhibit detrimental behaviors and attempt to harm your experience. That being said, I do encourage you to become familiar in advance of the Blizzard Code-of-Conduct (click here) and don’t hesitate to report players (click here) who break the Code-of-Conduct. As always play nice, play fair.
I do recommend to not immediately jump into Competitive Play right away. For starters, the rules of Overwatch and specifically Competitive Play will be changing very soon with the addition of the new “2-2-2 Role Queue” feature. This will result in Competitive (and later quick play) to be restricted to team compositions of 2 tanks, 2 damage, and 2 support heroes and there will be no swapping heroes across roles. This change which has been heavily requested and favored by a majority of the community, will result in better quality matches and a more balanced gameplay experience overall.
In addition, I recommend only participating in Competitive play when you have a firm understanding of at least 3 heroes in any of one of the roles that you choose to play. There is no right or wrong way to go about learning a new hero, but taking time to learn heroes you like and mastering their abilities will greatly improve your chances to win matches in Competitive play when you do take the plunge. When you do begin playing Competitive Play, please remember the following.
Competitive Play is a high-stakes game that plays through an extended match of Overwatch (unless it is a Control map). Each team takes turns attacking and defending the objective point or payload and the team with more points by the moment a team runs out of time wins the game. So be sure to dedicate as much as an hour before starting a Competitive Match (very rarely do matches go as long as an hour but it is possible).
Most player will want to use voice communications in Competitive Play, if you have a headset, I strongly encourage you to use it and participate in team comms. (Remember you can always mute players who are toxic.) Try to keep the conversation about the active moments of the match such as stating the opponents you are needing help with. Keep statements short. Most players will understand key phrases like “Solider one” where this means the opponent Soldier: 76 is only one damaging hit away from being eliminated. Don’t get too overwhelmed with voice comms but the more you learn to use them, the more likely you will succeed. Finally, avoid unnecessarily criticizing your teammates excessively. It’s okay to call out a mistake or ask teammates to group up, but don’t micromanage them.
Make sure your system is ready for Competitive Play. There are severe leaver penalties for this game mode including a starting suspension of 10 minutes and a loss of 50 skill rating points. If you notice any technical issues including game crashes or disconnections, players like myself and Blizzard Support Agents are available to provide assistance in the technical support forum.
As you continue to play you may want to consider optimizing your computer to have the best possible Overwatch experience. I have an article that goes over detailed system setting recommendations, hardware recommendations, and ways to optimize your aim and controls here:
Again, welcome to Overwatch. Remember to have fun and don’t hesitate to ask for more help here on the forums. Most of us here on the forums are very friendly and ready to give advice or answer questions to anything you need to know about the game. I also maintain a database of all game developer responses which is a great resource of information about the game. If you continue to enjoy the game and the rich content, be sure to also check out the animated shorts and comics that explores Overwatch’s storyline. Also, be sure to check out the top professional players in exciting esport events including the Overwatch League and Overwatch Contenders.
