What is Off Tank and Main Tank? Difference

General Discussion
1

I know Rein and Orisa are Main Tank. But What about Winston and Hammond? Pretty sure Dva on Off Tank. I know aldready that Roadhog is Off Tank.

2

Main Tanks define the pace of the comp
Hammond
Winston
Rein
Orisa

Off-Tanks compliment the Maintanks
D.Va
Zarya

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3

Main tanks are supposed to clear space and allow everyone else in. Off tanks have more situational protective measures but can deal more damage. That’s super simplified but that’s about what it is. Winston and Hammond are main tanks while D.Va, Zarya, and Hog are off tanks.

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4

Why Hammond is Main Tank?

5

He can bowling ball into the other team and clear them out. Pile driver also can force the other team to move around.

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6

Defines pace of the team

7

My classification:
Main tanks = ability to absorb and prevent huge amount of damage on regular basis. Main Tanks = Rein, Orisa.
Dive tanks = high mobility and ability to jump on enemies, engaging fights. Dive tanks = D.va, Winston, Hammond.
Secondary tanks = complementary tanks that cannot absorb huge amount of damage, but can provide something else, like CC, high damage or utility. Secondary tanks = Zarya, Roadhog. Dive tanks can fit role of secondary tank to complement main tank.

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8

This is pretty much how I regard them as well, but to put a bit more color on what you’ve described as ‘Dive tanks’.

Winston and Hammond can fill the role of Main Tank on a team, if there is a good synergy with the other tank pick. Winston is usually regarded as your main tank if he is running with a D.Va as his off-tank, and Hammond is usually regarded as your main tank if he is running with Zarya as his off-tank. Two simple examples there.

Winston and Hammond can also be run in a pure DPS slot, as well. In some circumstances this can be a really good idea, so keep that in mind. You could say that D.Va is capable of being run as DPS as well; she’s definitely got the kit for it, but it’s such a waste of her best ability (Defense Matrix) that nobody does so.

@OP, just be sure you don’t get into the trap of thinking that if your team just picks a Main Tank and an Off-Tank, your job of properly composing a team is done. True that Rein / Orisa / Zarya / Hog are fairly well-defined in their roles, but when it comes to these Dive Tanks Winston / Hammond / D.Va, it gets a bit squishier and nuanced.

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9

In WoW, the original definition came from the role each tank played in the fight.

Warrior and Paladin back in the days was a good example of this. Warrior had strong mitigation and single-target threat, so they were the premiere main-tank. Whereas Paladins had strong utility and fantastic tools for picking up adds and handling other mechanics, so they were favoured as an off-tank. (Druids healed).

In Overwatch the definition isn’t super different. Main Tanks are those who protect the team, either by creating space or putting up Barriers, and off-tanks are those who protect the main-tank. It’s not black and white of course. While Reinhardt and Orisa are the quintessential main-tanks and Zarya the quintessential off-tank, Dva has excellent capabilities for protecting everyone with Matrix, while Winston’s capabilities for protecting teammates are far weaker than Rein or Orisa’s.

Personally I don’t consider Hammond a main tank, nor the “maintank/offtank” duality strictly necessary.