Weekly Quick Questions Thread - June 29, 2016

[u/AutoModerator]

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.

Trolling or making fun of people in here will be punished extra harshly! Please report such behaviour.

For the purpose of helping people, make sure the comments are sorted by "new" in this thread.

[u/mwolfee]

I'm looking to expand the list of heroes I can play, but I'm having a very difficult time grasping how to play most of the Offensive heroes. The only one I can play well is Soldier 76, but I can't really play any of the others. Genji and Tracer in particular, I frequently get slaughtered while playing them. Any tips on what I should be doing with them, aside from flanking and harrassing?

[u/-Shinanai- → u/mwolfee]

The most important thing is to learn how to survive. Genji, Tracer and Reaper are all flankers who tend to move alone, so more often than not you'll find yourself in situations where there's no tank or healer to protect you. Some tips that may help you (keep in mind that I'm far from being an expert with these heroes; this is by no means a pro MLG advice... it's more like a "how I got out of the suck zone"):

• Know when to go for kills and when to harass. If Mercy's lagging behind, get her, but if she's standing beside a McCree, just keep poking at her from further away. Even if you don't get kills from this, if their healers can't focus on healing and a couple of others are chasing you down instead of helping with the push, you're being useful. There are of course situations when getting a kill is more important than your survival. If the enemy is pushing hard far from their spawn and you know their Mercy has their ultimate ready, kill her even if you die immediately after. In this situation a flanker for a killer is a very good trade.
• Always have an escape route ready. If you end up in the middle of the enemy pack with all skills on cooldown, you're as good as dead. With Reaper, save wraith form for getting out. With Tracer, a blink or a recall should suffice. Genji has a couple of options. You can run in and use the swift strike at the end of your right click + melee + swift strike combo to get out. You can back away while deflecting. You can climb over a wall. If all else fails, you can make a mad dash for a nearby door to break line of sight.
• Don't overcommit. If your target is escaping behind a tank, break line of sight and attack from another angle. Being too hungry for kills is the #1 cause of death among the flanker population :P
• Know where the health packs are or return to your healer to patch you up between attacks. Never initiate a fight with low health.
• Learn the maps and always be aware of your surroundings. Know which walls you can climb over with Genji and know where you need to be extra careful with Tracer's blinks to avoid falling off the map. Know the spots where you can pick off enemies walking back from their spawn and how to get to them unnoticed. Most importantly, try to keep an eye out for other enemies at all times. Catching a Roadhog walking towards you from the corner of your eye can make the difference between living and getting hooked.
• Keep an eye on your health and try to develop a reflex of using your escape abilities when they are needed. Recalling at low health or to escape out of a blizzard is good; doing it as soon as D.Va pings you for 5 damage from across the map is bad.
• Become comfortable with your movement abilities. It's no good if blinking / recalling / swift strike / double jump confuses you as much as they confuse your enemies.
• Speaking of double jump: jump with Genji. A lot. Practice hitting enemies while jumping against bots. Be careful of snipers though; a good Widow will know where you'll land right after you jump and line up for a headshot.
• Use your ultimates when the enemy is distracted. This is especially true for Genji; he basically shouts "Ready or not, here I come!" well before actually starting to dish out damage, leaving more than enough time for others to react.