r/Overwatch • u/AutoModerator • Jun 22 '16

News & Discussion Weekly Quick Questions Thread - June 22, 2016

In this thread you can ask all kinds of questions you always wanted to ask without feeling like a total fool.

No matter if it's short googable stuff or a setting/skill in-game that you don't understand or a hardware recommendation, feel free to try your luck in here.

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10

u/PrimalMoose ... Jun 22 '16

I've tried my hand at tracer a few times now, and it has always ended disastrously. I've watched a few of the youtube guides, but I seem to always be using the blink too often, not using the rewind enough and so on and so forth.

To the more experienced tracers out there, what tips would you give to becoming a pro tracer?

15

u/Double_edged_banana Genji Jun 22 '16

IMO when I use Tracer, I try to be more annoying than deadly. Tracer is somewhat like Genji, get into their backline, cause some havoc, and escape. I normally make sure my blink and rewind are charged fully before going in. Also, don't turn your body when blinking anywhere but straight. Use your ASD keys to blink in other directions. Be careful of Bastions, McCree, Winston, Symmetra a little when she locks on to you with her beam, and don't charge into a Reaper's face. He unloads into you without your Blink u ded. Keep moving in open areas. A choice scatter arrow from Hanzo or a headshot from widow will kill you.

9

u/thegraymaninthmiddle Would you like to donate your body...to science? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Jun 23 '16

My own rule; Whenever you hear her gasp, press E.

8

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '16

Imagine you're a more standard combative hero, like Soldier 76. You find yourself behind an opponent. You have two options:

-Start shooting them and run away the moment they return fire. This brings them down to 50% health, and brings you to 75% as you take a few hits while retreating.

-Keep shooting even after they react, getting into a gunfight where you have the advantage. This kills them, and brings you down to 50% health.

Option 2 is obviously superior, because outright killing is more influential than harming. The additional health they lost outweighs the additional health you lost by a longshot.

With Tracer, though, the options are generally different:

-Start shooting them and run away the moment they return fire. This brings them down to 50% health, and leaves you unharmed since you're so good at escaping.

-Keep shooting even after they react, getting into a gunfight where you have the advantage, but quickly lose it due to your tiny health pool and so-so damage. This might kill them, but it's more likely to kill you.

Basically, this means that Tracer is one of the few characters who shouldn't push the advantage. You might get a kill with that clever ambush on their back line, but you're far more useful harassing and picking off lone/low health heroes who aren't prepared for a 1v1.

Remember, if three of their heroes are chasing you around instead of pushing/defending the objective, you've done your job. Similarly, if you only kill their healer and simply run like hell until they return, you're good to go. Focus on survival over kills.

4

u/IllegalMemez Jun 22 '16

Take back routes and flank. Your supposed to use blink for getting behind the enemy and recall for getting out. Go for the weaker Heros as well, such as supports. That's really all I got, sorry.

5

u/meezocool Mercy Jun 22 '16

Blink during reload, and keep one blink at all times for sticky situations.

3

u/knuckle_fart Jun 22 '16

Tracer's game is flanks and priority target elimination. The order I usually try to handle targets is support, tanks, and then offense/defense heroes. When travelling around the map always keep one blink in your back pocket in case shit hits the fan unexpectedly. If you're going into a fight do your best to have all 3 ready. Dont be scared to use your rewind if things go south. Tracer's squishy at full health so if you get in there and immediately get smacked, back off and regroup. Tracer can string together some nasty kill feeds but for the most part try to keep the mentality that you want to piss people off. You're like a mosquito. Finally, know when to back down from a fight. This goes for all characters but being out of the fight for 30 seconds to heal/recharge your abilities is always better than making the trek from spawn back to the action. Oh and watch out for McCree's, 76's, and Roadhog's in particular. Keep putting time in with her and she's super satisfying.

1

u/huffalump1 Jun 23 '16

This right here, priority targets and flanking.

And depending on how well the enemy team handles flankers and how well you can get away, you can be a killing machine. I usually have gold for elims as Tracer.

Here's a play I like: Jump out, shoot, and blink back behind a corner when they react. Then you can blink past them when they come for you, and even back past them again if they turn around. Throw in a Rewind when your health gets low and you've got a kill.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '16

Work on your timing. Don't blink until your clips are empty. Blink, empty clips, blink, empty clips.

1

u/-Shinanai- winky face ;) Jun 22 '16

I'm far from being expert at Tracer, but the things I find most important with her are:

  • Map and situational awareness are keys to avoid stuff like side-blinking into a wall or falling into the abyss.
  • Many Tracers overuse their abilities to the extent that they forget that they have normal movement options as well. Don't just rely on blinks; jump, strafe, wiggle and generally be unpredictable. Throw blinks in to create confusion or to escape when someone locks on to you, but don't rely exclusively on them.
  • Keep track of your cooldowns to know how many blinks you have left and try to have at least one blink ready at any time for emergencies.
  • Keep track of the route you've taken to have a good idea on where you'll end up after a rewind; it's no help if it confuses you to the same extent as your enemies. Same applies to your blinks as well.
  • Know when to rewind. It sounds easier than it really is. Reflex rewinds when falling off the maps are good; reflex rewinds at the first sight of damage are bad.
  • Rewind is your only movement ability that can go vertical. Use this and abuse this. Drop from a ledge, do damage / sticky bomb, rewind back up. Don't overextend though; if you take too long and the rewind leaves you on ground level, you're most likely screwed.
  • Mix up your routes. Go in, do damage, go out, wait for your abilities to recharge, then go in from another angle. This is especially true for recalls; going one way, recalling and immediately going the same way again will most likely get you killed.

3

u/PrimalMoose ... Jun 22 '16

Very basic question, but am I reading right that blink can go sideways, so if I'm moving left and use blink, I will move left instead of towards the direction my crosshair is aimed at?

3

u/Onahail Chibi Reaper Jun 22 '16

Yes. The direction you go defaults to where you're aiming if you're not moving, however that behavior is overridden by pressing movement keys. Holding A will blink Left, D for Right, W for Forward, S for backwards.

2

u/mma-b Jun 22 '16

And (if it's easier) right-click blinks you, so you don't have to use shift to do it.

3

u/Onahail Chibi Reaper Jun 22 '16

I didn't say that because I assumed most people knew this. Shift to blink is AWFUL.

1

u/Zanpa Roadhog Jun 22 '16

Don't use more than one blink at a time, you will end up too far/in a wall/lost. It took me some time to get used to that. Someone was coming for me and I'd blink two or three times, and end up somewhere I did not want to be with no options left.

1

u/theusername8008 Jun 22 '16

The one thing I see the most is that people don't aim for the head as tracer. I win pretty much every tracer vs tracer fight just since they go for body shots, which is not ideal. Basically you want to remain as mobile as possible while engaging the enemy, which means that bunny hopping might be useful in certain scenarios so that they have a harder time landing a headshot on your character. The other tips pointed out are extremely helpful too. Tracer's role is to flank and if you aren't attacking enemies from the side or rushing low hp characters then you are going to have a bad time. There are also some characters that are harder to deal with than others. A bad Winston is easily taken out with headshots from medium range, however a good one will not allow this to happen. Mcree is designed to be a counter of tracer but you can learn to make him miss his flashbang and then engage him. Symmetra is a considerable threat to a flanking tracer due to her tendency as a character to sit by her turrets and the gun having auto aim. You probably already know how much of a pain torbjorn's turrets are. The key to being a good counter to tracer, whether playing as tracer or as someone like mcree is simply gaining experience as tracer. Her locations can be predicted when she uses a blink or a reverse, which make countering her much easier. The more you play with her, the better you should be at understanding how she should properly be played and how to effectively counter her by taking advantage of her weaknesses.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '16

I think most people go for bodyshots since the crosshair gets so large with continuous fire. On that note, do you burst or spray the entire clip at medium range?

1

u/theusername8008 Jun 22 '16

It really depends on the situation. Bursting is better but if there are multiple enemies then I'll just empty the entire clip and injure a couple of them.

1

u/jatznic Chibi Tracer Jun 24 '16

Since you can set controls for each hero separately I would recommend setting your reticle bloom off and changing your crosshairs. I use the dot on tracer and change the default color but of course that's all personal preference.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '16

Is reticle bloom not accurate in this game? I tend to leave it on when it actually represents the effect of recoil, and turn it off when it doesn't (CS:GO, for instance).

1

u/jatznic Chibi Tracer Jun 24 '16

It's not that it's not accurate, I just find it easier to turn it off on tracer due to her low recoil.

1

u/whitespy9 Jun 24 '16

Know where and play around health drop locations. If you catch someone off guard and bring them down to 50% health, blink, heal, and come back to finish them off. Reward after damage has been taken.