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- A splash of a Biotic Grenade can hit Widowmaker hard should you end up in close combat, but he Grappling Hook can get her back into a position where she's more comfortable fighting you. If attempting to counter-snipe Widowmaker, it's imperative that you wisely use cover or barriers, as Widowmaker doesn't need to land as many shots as you do to finish the fight.
- Chromie: A well skilled Chromie is one of the most oppressive Heroes in Heroes of the Storm unfortunately for her, Zeratul and Tracer are very much in the meta. Providing her team with vision, thanks to her Time Walker's Pursuit Talent, she can deal massive damage from afar.
Hanzo is a ninja from Japan who specializes in using a bow to slay his enemies. Hanzo is a defensive hero that works similar to Widowmaker in which they are both snipers and have different ways of mobility: wall climbing for Hanzo, and grappling hook for Widowmaker. Hanzo differs a bit from Widowmaker in which he is a bit more on the offensive side and can keep up in the front line with his team to help push forward, while Widowmaker usually stays in the back and snipes. Hanzo's Scatter Arrows make him very deadly close up and with enough practice one can get really good with Hanzo's aiming from all distances. Although Hanzo has a high skill ceiling to master, new players will still have a lot of fun playing with his abilities and getting kills from a bow & arrow always feels so good to pull off. Hanzo's ultimate Dragonstrike is a very useful tool for helping his whole team push forward and destroy static defenses (such as those annoying Bastion Sentries).
Name: Hanzo Shimada
Difficulty: Hard
Role: Defense
Age: 38
Occupation: Mercenary, Assassin
Base of Operation: Hanamura, Japan (formerly)
Release Date: 10-27-2015
HanzoIn This Guide: |
Main attacking weapon Hanzo nocks and fires an arrow at his target. Ammo: Infinite (no reloading)Fire Rate: Varies (max charge is 1.2 second) Damage: 29 - 125 Headshot?:YES Default Hotkey: LM Additional Key: RM will cancel a charged shot |
The mechanics for Hanzo's Storm Bow are simple: charged up shots will fly faster, with less of an arch and deal more damage, so those will be more efficient for longer distances, or for doing high damage in any range. The main drawback of charged up shots is that Hanzo will move considerably slower (30% slower) until you release the shot (or cancel it by pressing RM). The second drawback is that charged up shots can only be fired once every 1.2 seconds. Non charged up shots can be shot more frequently but they will fly slower with a big arch to it plus doing less damage, making them much harder to aim precisely (especially at longer distances).
Fully charged shots do about 66% more DPS overtime and you will typically be using charged shots more often than non charged shots.
Reasons for doing quick non charged shots
- Quick non charged shots enable you to move faster while firing, which can let you retreat from a losing fight more effectively or chase after fleeing enemies while still being able to do some DPS.
- When you only need to do a little bit of damage to finish off a victim.
- Lets you get a shot off before an enemy runs around a corner from you.
- To get a quick shot off before you think your about to die.
Enemies to keep a distance from with non charged shots
Some enemies are very deadly close up and (as Hanzo) you should try to keep your distance from these heroes below. You can use rapid non charged shots to enable you to move faster while still doing some DPS to the enemy:
- Mei - You will want to keep a distance from her freeze blaster.
- Reinhardt - Up close and he can use his Rocket Hammer to knock you down, or Charge at you.
- D.va - Her Fusion Cannons become more deadly the closer you get to her.
- Roadhog - Get far away from Roadhog as you can to avoid his deadly Chain Hook ability.
Bow Shot Then Melee Combo
Keep in mind that Hanzo can do a melee attack instantly after firing a bow shot. This holds true for all of Hanzo's different types of arrows as well. This combo enables Hanzo to do a good amount of damage almost instantly to enemies up close.
Hanzo's Storm Bow ranks right up there at the top of some of the hardest aspects of Overwatch to master. It will take a lot of practice and game playing to get better at aiming with Hanzo correctly.
Ability with cooldown Hanzo launches an arrow that contains a sonar tracking device. Any enemy within its detection radius is visibly marked, making them easier for Hanzo and his allies to hunt down. Cooldown: 20 secondsDuration: 10 seconds Damage: 29 - 120 (Remember that Sonic Arrows still do damage too) Headshot?:YES Default Hotkey: Shift NOTE: Pressing the default key again will cancel the Sonic Arrow rev. |
Just like Widowmaker's ultimate Infra-Sight which allows her team to see all enemies on the entire map, Hanzo's Sonic Arrow works similar but in more frequent smaller bursts around a fairly large radius, this is obviously extremely helpful for many reasons. It's good to use this in spots where you and your team are trying to push forward to, or in spots where the enemy could possibly flank you, such as alternative choke points around the map. For example you can put a Sonic Arrow next to a hallway that is a choke point leading up to your team's Bastion Sentry or Widowmaker. The Sonic Arrow can catch enemy heroes such as Genji or Tracer trying to sneak up on the Bastion or Widowmaker to flank him/her, which can inform your team to go protect your defenses quickly.
It's important to remember to keep using the ability. As soon as the cooldown finishes, immediately start thinking about where you want to put the next one, this is something I have noticed that not many people keep up with properly.
Sonic Arrow Sticks
Sonic Arrows also do damage like regular arrows do and if shot at an enemy directly it will stick to and follow that enemy. Being able to stick a Sonic Arrow on an enemy allows you and your team to keep track of that enemy for a period of time. This is especially useful on offensive flankers such as Reaper, Genji, and Tracer. It can also be useful on a McCree to warn your team when he approaches you and your allies to prevent getting flash banged.
These two heroes can dispel the Sonic Arrow from them:
- Reaper can dispel the Sonic arrow from him by using Wraith Form.
- Tracer can dispel the Sonic arrow from her by using Recall.
Please note that when Tracer or Reaper use these abilities, the Sonic Arrow will drop to the ground and continue to provide infra sight for its remaining duration.
Enemies cannot see Sonic Arrow
Sonic Arrow is a silent ability. The enemy does not have any indication or feedback that a Sonic Arrow was shot next to them or on them, as it will all appear and sound like a normal arrow to them.
Two Sonic Arrows at the Start of a Game
Hanzo has a neat trick where he can have two Sonic Arrows out on the battlefield at once. To do this you simply look straight up in the air and then fire a fully charged Sonic Arrow. After 18 seconds that Sonic Arrow will land on the ground right where you looked straight up at to fire it. Now, Sonic Arrow's cooldowns start right when you fire it. This means that you can fire the second Sonic Arrow before the first one lands on the ground, allowing you to have two Sonic Arrows on the battlefield at once!
This double Sonic Arrow trick gets the most use at the very start of a match. This can provide a wider area of coverage for seeing where your enemies are coming out when a match starts. Achieving this is simple: at about 16-18 seconds right before a match starts, simply fire a Sonic Arrow straight up in the air where you want it to land at (usually in front of one of the attacker's entrance doors), and then fire the second one right when the match starts when the attackers are first coming out of their spawn. I highly recommend getting into the habit of doing this at the start of every Defender's match as Hanzo.
There might be more valuable uses for this trick and I'll be sure to include them here once they get discovered. You can also use this same exact trick for Scatter Arrows as well.
Ability with cooldown Hanzo shoots a fragmenting arrow that ricochets off walls and objects and can strike multiple targets at once. Cooldown: 10 secondsDamage: 75 per arrow, 6 total arrows once scattered, and 375 total damage if all arrows connect. - 125 unscattered Bounces: 5 total Headshot?: no (but initial arrow can headshot, scattered shots cannot headshot) Default Hotkey: E |
Scatter Arrow is one of my favorite abilities in the game, as a lot of it has to do with simple geometry. The initial arrow of Scatter Arrow acts just like any regular arrow, until it hits something. A target hit by the initial impact of a Scatter Arrow will not take any initial ricochet damage until the scatter arrows actually bounce off of something else first.
In order to deal damage to enemies with Scatter Arrow, a trick all Hanzo players will need to get used to is firing the Scatter Arrow at the ground in front of the enemy. The arrow will then scatter upwards to the target and can dish out more damage (sometimes a LOT more damage) than what a normal arrow would do. This also makes Hanzo very deadly in close ranges.
After the initial arrow of Scatter Arrow hits something it will scatter 6 arrows that will bounce 5 times each. The scatter shots can strike through multiple enemies and only bounce once they hit walls.
Overall, shooting Scatter Arrows effectively will take some practice. It's really a matter of simple geometry of the ricocheting arrows to try and hit your opponent.
Effective Scatter Arrow strategies
- If you are off in the distance and you see an enemy run into a room or hallway, fire a Scatter Arrow in there, you will be surprised by how often you will get kills by doing so. Smaller rooms make Scatter Arrows more deadly from the smaller space the arrows bounce around in.
- Taking out Bastion Sentries. Simply aim a Scatter Arrow at the ground in front of a Bastion Sentry to easily deal a lot of damage to him.
Double Scatter Arrow Trick
Like how I mentioned above about double Sonic Arrows, you can achieve the same thing with Scatter Arrows, allowing you to have two Scatter arrows out at nearly the same exact time. This works by simply firing a fully charged Scatter Arrow straight up into the air and after 18 seconds it will land on the ground and then scatter upwards. The best known time to use this trick is also at the start of a match so that when the enemies come out they have a chance of getting hit by it when it comes down or when it scatters after hitting the ground. I recommend doing this trick about 15 seconds before the match starts, which will hit the ground precisely 3 seconds after a match starts. Just do this pretty much right after you fire your Sonic Arrow straight up in the air.
If there are any other useful strategies related to this trick I will be sure to include them here as they get discovered.
| ULTIMATE | Ultimate Ability Hanzo summons a Spirit Dragon which travels through the air in a line. It passes through walls in its way, devouring any enemies it encounters. Cast Time: 1.5 secondsDamage: 200+ DPS Range: 4 meter radius Headshot?: no (but initial arrow can headshot, the Dragons cannot headshot) Default Hotkey: Q |
Ah Dragonstrike. one of the coolest looking ultimates in the game. New players might think Dragonstrike is a killing machine, but in actuality it's really meant for breaking up enemy formations, defenses, and scattering enemies around so they become easier to deal with and allow your team to push forward. Avoiding an enemy's Dragonstrike is actually not too hard as you can easily strafe around to avoid it.
Dragonstrike mechanics
- Hanzo has a brief cast time of 1.5 seconds. While casting Hanzo cannot move but he can continuously turn and aim before actually firing the Dragonstrike.
- Hanzo will first fire the initial arrow before it turns into spiral twin dragons. The initial arrow will act like any other arrow dishing out normal damage to any targets in front of him, but it can travel through walls. Regardless if the arrow hits an enemy first or not, it will then turn into the spiral twin dragons after it travels about 5 meters.
- The twin spiral dragons will fly directly towards the middle of Hanzo's crosshair.
- The dragons will fly through everything, including barriers, shields, and walls until it leaves the entire map.
- The Dragons will do a damage over time effect of 200+ DPS.
- Enemies will take more damage if they are closer to the center of the spiral dragons.
- A Dragonstrike does NOT do any damage to things that are constructed, including: Torbjorn's turret, Symmetra's Teleporter and Sentry Turrets, Junkrat's Traps and Mines, and Widowmaker's Venom Mines. Although, it will do damage to all heroes, including robot heroes.
The issue of actually getting hit by a Dragonstrike comes from an unexpected shot through a wall in which you have very little time to respond to it. There are many areas in the game where you can aim a shot so it will appear out of a wall unexpected to the enemy causing potential frags for Hanzo. I will cover all these spots later on in a separate guide.
Dragonstrike strategies
A very important use of Dragonstrike is to break up defenses. It can be used to kill Bastion Sentries, and force Widowmakers to move somewhere else.
Dragonstrikes are useful in tight confined spaces such as hallways or narrow passages, as enemies will have a much harder time escaping it.
Allied ultimates that pair well with Dragonstrike
- Zarya's Graviton Surge - After an allied Zarya uses her ultimate Graviton Surge (clumps up enemies together), simply shoot a Dragonstrike at it to kill all the enemies that are clumped up in the surge.
- Reinhardt's Earthshatter - Earthshatter will drop enemies to the ground for a few seconds, which could give Hanzo some easy kills with Dragonstrike.
- Widowmaker's Infra-Sight - Being able to see all the enemies on the map can enable Hanzo to fire a Dragonstrike through walls to kill those enemies before they even have time to react to it.
- Mei's Blizzard - Blizzard can slow and then freeze a bunch of enemies together. This would be a great opportunity to launch a Dragonstrike at the chilled/frozen enemies.
Hanzo's Strength and Weaknesses Vs Other Heroes
Bastion: All of Hanzo's Storm Bow shots can be devastating to a Bastion Sentry as you can fire them from long distances and since a Bastion Sentry is stationary, it will be very easy for Hanzo to aim and fire at him dealing a lot of damage in return.
Remember the closer you get to a Bastion Sentry the more damage he will generally do to you than you will do to him, so keep your distance if you can.
You can fire a Sonic Arrow on Bastion which will stick to and follow him even if he relocates elsewhere, which will make it easier for you and your team to know where he is at (for a brief time). Remember Sonic Arrows will also do damage like a normal arrow as well. Hanzo's Scatter Arrow shot at the ground in front of a Bastion Sentry is an easy target and will deal a large amount of damage to him too.
Dragonstrike is very powerful against Bastion. Dragonstrike travels across the entire map (even through walls) and does insane DPS to anything in its path. This can either kill a Bastion Sentry or force one to move around to avoid it, thus giving your team an easier time to push forward.
Zenyatta: Zenyatta is not too much of a threat to Hanzo. Zenyatta is a relatively slow moving hero and is not too hard to hit with the Storm Bow. Scatter Arrow shots at the ground in front of Zenyatta can be difficult to aim because Zenyatta floats in the air a bit and the Scatter Arrows can actually go underneath of him and miss.
The worst thing Zenyatta can do is put a Discord Orb on you, and even then Hanzo is usually not a prime target for Discord Orbs. Hanzo can climb walls to potentially help him get behind a wall to remove the Discord Orb but other than that Hanzo is very susceptible to additional damage done by the Discord Orb.
Zenyatta's slow mobility makes him a bit more susceptible to Hanzo's Dragonstrike, but he does have option of using his ultimate Transcendence to save himself and potential allies from it.
Mercy: Hanzo does well against Mercy since he is able to shoot long distances along with being able to see behind walls. Mercy tends to hide behind corners and tries to stay out of the line of sight from her enemies, but Hanzo is able to use his Sonic Arrow to see behind walls enabling him to line up shots faster once she comes in contact with him. While being able to see behind walls, Hanzo can also attempt to ricochet Scatter Arrows behind walls/corners in hopes to take her out as well.
Torbjorn: Torbjorn is another slow moving hero that is relatively easy to hunt down for Hanzo. Torbjorn is often found repairing or building turrets usually next to a wall for him to take cover. With Sonic Arrow, Hanzo can see him before he pops around the corner to repair his turret, giving you an easy opportunity to head shot him quickly when he comes in contact. Scatter Arrow can also be used to ricochet off of walls in hopes to take Torbjorn out before he finishes building/repairing his turret.
Torbjorn's turret is immune to a Dragonstrike, but Hanzo has a relatively easy time taking turrets out simply with charged bow shots.
Ana: Hanzo counters Ana in similar ways how Widowmaker counters Ana. Hanzo can snipe from a distance doing more impressive damage with potential headshots (Ana does no headshots). Sonic Arrows enable Hanzo and his team to spot Ana behind walls making it easy to snipe her when she pops in view.
Ana's poor mobility makes her an easier target for Hanzo's Scatter Arrows, but as long as Ana keeps her distance from Hanzo she should be safer from Scatter Arrows.
As Hanzo revs up a bow shot, he moves considerably slower, which is a better chance for Ana to land a Sleep Dart on him during this time, but since Hanzo and Ana are both long distance snipers, overall it will still be difficult for Ana to land a Sleep Dart on a target that is far away. Although Ana will have an easier time landing a Biotic Grenade on Hanzo which will prevent healing on Hanzo for a short period of time while also doing some damage.
Since Ana snipes from a distance she is generally a bit safer from Hanzo's Dragonstrike, but Ana's poor mobility will make it extremely difficult for her to escape from a Dragonstrike if caught in the midst of one.
Ana's ultimate Nano Boost can be very effective against Hanzo. A Nano Boosted enemy will have a much easier time honing in on Hanzo to take him out.
Roadhog: Since Hanzo is not a close up combatant, he does well against Roadhog since he is usually out of reach from Roadhog's Chain Hook. Sonic Arrow further helps Hanzo stay out of Roadhog's reach and helps him to aim and ricochet Scatter Arrows at the same time at him. If Roadhog does actually manage to Chain Hook Hanzo in, Hanzo will most likely die as there is not much he can do about it except fire a Scatter Arrow, which won't do much to Roadhog.
To get away from Roadhog's deadly Chain Hook more effectively, you can do rapid fire shots at him to enable you to back away from him quicker while still doing some damage.
Since Roadhog is a slow moving hero with poor mobility, it's generally very easy to aim bow shots at him, and Roadhog will have a harder time dodging Hanzo's Dragonstrike due to his poor mobility as well.
TIP: When Roadhog uses his ultimate Whole Hog, he will be forced to move very slowly until the 6 second duration is up, this would be a great time to launch a Dragonstrike at him to finish him off, since he will be unable to avoid it in time.
Reinhardt: Reinhardt's shield is the main reason why he is tough to deal with for Hanzo. His massive shield protects everyone behind it from Hanzo's Storm Bow. The fact that Reinhardt can move closer to Hanzo while having his shield out makes Hanzo an easier target for Reinhardt's Charge ability. As Hanzo do the best you can to get as high up as possible from Reinhardt (use wall climb). When you are high up you are protected from most of Reinhardt's abilities, including his deadly close range melee attacks, Charge ability, and safe from his ultimate Earthshatter. Reinhardt has no vertical mobility so that is another reason to stay elevated away from him. You just need to watch out for Reinhardt's Fire Strike ability, which he can use every 6 seconds. Fire Strike travels in a straight line and you will need to strafe around to avoid it properly.
If you find yourself on the same ground level as Reinhardt and he is approaching you, that would be a good time to back away from him while doing rapid non-charged bow shots, so you can move faster (but do a bit less DPS). If Reinhardt gets too close to you he can use his Rocket Hammer to knock you down or even Charge at you close up easily.
When trying to shoot down Reinhardt's shield, you will be able to do more DPS by doing fully charged shots. Your DPS will drop the less charged up your shots are.
A Dragonstrike can be used to temporarily make Reinhardt move out of the way, disabling his shield for a short period of time, enabling your team to do some good damage for a short while.
Winston: Winston's Barrier Projector (shield) does a good job of protecting his team from Hanzo's Storm Bow shots. Winston's Jump Pack ability allows him to quickly propel himself in close range, where he can do some serious damage to Hanzo and his team with his Tesla Cannon and Primal Rage (ultimate).
As Hanzo, keep your distance from Winston and if he leaps at you, use a Scatter Arrow shot on the ground in front of him and try to keep backing away from him. If you can, quickly climb a wall next to you, it should give you enough time to escape before Winston can use another Jump Pack.
If there is a lot of enemies inside of Winston's Barrier Projector, consider firing a Dragonstrike at it to force all the enemies to scatter out of the barrier.
Genji: Brother Vs Brother, who wins? Overall I think it's a pretty close matchup, but I think Genji has the advantage thanks to his Deflect ability. Deflect can be used to deflect arrows back at Hanzo to kill him. Genji would need to time Deflect very precisely though which can be a bit difficult. When fighting a Genji as Hanzo, keep strafing, that way you will avoid being hit by deflected arrows. Scatter shots to the ground in front of Genji can be an effective way of taking Genji out, but Genji can do double jumps in the air which can potentially avoid Scatter Shots to the ground more easily.
Genji is also a good target for sticking a Sonic Arrow on him, allowing you and your team to track his whereabouts for its duration.
For 1on1, Genji's ultimate Dragonblade is more effective than Hanzo's Dragonstrike. Genji can Deflect the initial arrow from Hanzo's Dragonstrike, sending it back at Hanzo and turning it into a Dragonstrike for Genji's team (it's rare to see this though). But Genji cannot Deflect the actual twin Dragons once deployed.
Tracer: Tracer is a tough fight for Hanzo, it's incredibly difficult for Hanzo to hit fast & small moving objects with his Storm Bow. One would need to be really good with Hanzo (lots and lots of practice) to get better at shooting down Tracers.
If you can, try to shoot a Sonic Arrow on Tracer as it will follow her, allowing you and your team to see exactly where she is at. Unfortunately though, Tracer can dispel the Sonic arrow from her by using Recall. The dispelled Sonic Arrow will drop to the ground and continue to provide infra vision for its remaining duration.
Tracer can easily avoid Hanzo's ultimate (Dragonstrike) by blinking away from it, but Hanzo will most likely die to Tracer's Pulse Bomb, as there is not much Hanzo can do about it. However, I predict when it comes down to high level of play, this will become more of an even fight between the two.
Widowmaker: Sniper Vs Sniper? This is an interesting matchup and I believe that Widowmaker has the advantage here simply because her sniper abilities are simply more superior in long range snipe battles. However, the closer Hanzo gets to Widowmaker the easier it will be for him to take her out. Since Widowmaker is usually way in the back from her team and away from Hanzo, she doesn't need to worry too much about a Hanzo shooting her down (even though it can happen). There are numerous places in Overwatch that Widowmaker can use her Grappling Hook to get up to that Hanzo cannot climb to, thus giving her more of a safe advantage over Hanzo in those situations.
On the bright side for Hanzo, he doesn't usually need to worry about Widowmaker's Venom Mines, since her mines are mostly used for dealing with offensive heroes that try to get close to her team.
Hanzo's ultimate Dragonstrike happens to be somewhat useful on Widowmakers, since it forces her to leave her current sniping spot to find another one, temporarily disabling her from combat for a short period of time, which can be huge.
Reaper: Hanzo is one of Reaper's prime targets to take out. Reapers are very deadly to Hanzo thanks to his sneaky mobility with Shadow Step (teleport) and Wraith Form (invulnerability). If you know the enemy has a Reaper, always be on the lookout for getting flanked from behind. Make sure you stick with your team so they got your back and fire Scatter Shots at the ground in front of Reaper to hopefully take him out before he uses his shotguns on you. If you see him coming at you from a distance, remember you can always wall climb yourself away from him if possible.
Use Sonic Arrows to detect Reaper from flanking you and be prepared to take him on if he approaches. If you see Reaper using Shadow Step, get ready and fire a charged bow shot at his head when he teleports in, it could be an easy kill for you.
You can fire a Sonic Arrow on Reaper to track where he is at, which can potentially warn you and your team if he gets close too close. But keep in mind his Shadow Wraith ability does remove the Sonic Arrow from him. The dispelled Sonic Arrow will drop to the ground and continue to provide infra vision for its remaining duration.
Reaper can avoid a Dragonstrike by using Wraith Form to escape it safely. Unfortunately if you are close to Reaper when he uses his ultimate Deathblossom, there is nothing you can really do about it except try to either run from it, head shot him quickly to take him out, or Scatter Arrow shot to the ground in front of him.
Pharah: Shooting Pharah down as Hanzo can be very difficult, as aiming at her while she is moving around in the air can be hard to land shots on. While revving up Storm Bow shots Hanzo moves a bit slower, thus making it easy for Pharah to fire rockets down at him. Pharah can also use a Concussive Blast on Hanzo if she needs to either reload or knock Hanzo around to protect her from bow shots.
A good Hanzo player can be devastating to a Pharah. With good aim, Hanzo can shoot Pharah down from the air more consistently, but this will take a lot of practice.
Sonic Arrow makes it easier to spot a Pharah's movement behind walls. This can make lining up a shot easier for him and his team. As Hanzo, you need to watch out for Pharah possibly flanking you from behind. Use Sonic Arrows around choke points leading up to you, to see if enemies such as Pharah tries to sneak up on you.
Pharahs tend to be out of range of Hanzo's Dragonstrike, since she is usually flying around in the air. But Hanzo will need to watch out for Pharah's ultimate Barrage since his mobility is not the greatest for avoiding it. When Pharah uses Barrage, Hanzo can fire a headshot on her to take her out with one shot (as long as she is not protected in some way).
McCree: As long as Hanzo keeps a distance from McCree he does very well against him. Hanzo's climb ability helps him to further keep a distance from him. Although if Hanzo gets too close to McCree it could be a quick death for Hanzo, due to McCree's deadly close up Flashbang and Fan Fire combo.
If McCree uses his ultimate Deadeye and you have Dragonstrike ready, quickly get behind a wall to take cover then fire the Dragonstrike at him to maybe take him out and/or make his team scramble away making McCree an easier target to deal with.
Sticking a Sonic Arrow on McCree is an effective way at warning your allies if he gets close to flashbang them.
Mei: Don't under estimate the power of Mei's Ice Wall. Her Ice Wall can shield herself and her teammates from Hanzo's Storm Bow shots allowing her team to move closer to the objective, or preventing the other team from guarding the objective. Keep in mind that an Ice Wall can be completely destroyed by one of Hanzo's Dragonstrikes after a few seconds.
As Hanzo, you may find yourself coming in close contact with Mei trying to freeze you with her Endothermic Blaster, which can be very deadly. Your best bet in this situation is to aim a Scatter Arrow at her to hopefully kill her or at least force her to use a Cryo-Freeze to disable her for a few seconds. You can also get away from Mei's freeze blaster effectively by doing quick non charged up bow shots to enable you to back away from her quicker while still doing some damage at her.
Mei's ultimate Blizzard can be tough to deal with for Hanzo. Run away from it if you can and you should be fine, and remember you can climb walls to help you escape it.
If you can climb really high up away from Mei you will generally be very safe from her, as she can't do much to you when she is further away from you (besides Icicle shots). Keep in mind she can use her Ice Wall to propel herself upwards a bit to get to higher spots, but Hanzo can still climb higher.
Soldier 76: This is an even matchup. Soldier 76's Pulse Rifle is great for short to medium range, but his damage starts to drop off at longer ranges, giving Hanzo the advantage from long range. If Hanzo keeps his distance from Soldier 76, he will have an easier time dodging his Helix Rockets and take less damage from his Pulse Rifle.
In short range, Soldier 76 becomes more deadly, but Hanzo can always shoot a well aimed Scatter Arrow at him to potentially take him out.
Soldier 76 can avoid a Dragonstrike by sprinting away from it.
Soldier 76's ultimate Tactical Visor can be deadly to Hanzo. Hanzo can try to avoid Tactical Visor's aimbot by losing line of sight with him, possibly by climbing away.
Junkrat: Since Hanzo doesn't have any super fast movement abilities he is less prone to getting trapped by Junkrat's Steel Trap or Concussion Mine, even though it can happen. If you know the enemy has a Junkrat, just be on the lookout for his traps and mines laying around on the ground and you should be fine.
Junkrat's Frag Launcher spam can be annoying for everyone, but remember Hanzo can always climb walls to get to spots where Junkrat may not think about spamming his Frag Launcher at. Speaking of staying at higher grounds, that is generally a better place to be to avoid Junkrat's ultimate Rip-Tire. Even though Rip-Tires can climb walls, not many Junkrat players steer Rip-Tires up walls, at least from what I have observed, but at least watch out for it! Remember, a good Scatter Arrow shot to the ground in front of the tire will have a good chance at killing the Rip-Tire before it reaches you.
Another deadly ability that Hanzo can do is use a Sonic Arrow to spot Junkrat behind walls, and he can then attempt to shoot a Scatter Arrow to ricochet in his area to knock Junkrat out.
Lucio: Lucio himself isn't much of a threat to Hanzo, but his crossfade team auras can give Hanzo an overall much harder time. Hanzo already has a tough time aiming at his enemies with his bow, imagine all his enemies with much faster movement, it becomes so much harder to hit enemies, that's why Lucio's amplified movement speed is devastating to Hanzo. Lucio's amplified movement speed also helps his team escape from Hanzo's Dragonstrike ultimate.
Lucio should be a prime target for Hanzo, as it's important to remove his team auras as often as you can.
When you hear Lucio use Sound Barrier, you are better off just taking cover for the next 5 seconds until their shields wear off. This would be a good time to reposition somewhere else to confuse the enemy of your whereabouts.
Symmetra: Symmetra usually stays in the backlines while putting up Sentry Turrets and lobbing slow moving Photon orbs at her enemies, and is usually out of Hanzo's sight most of the time. If Symmetra gets close to Hanzo her Photon Projector can be a pain to deal with as it will auto aim at you and it can be hard to fire bow shots at her during this time.
Sentry Turrets are probably the second biggest threat to Hanzo because they can be hard for him to shoot down with his bow and his lack of fast movement abilities will make it harder for him to avoid them. If you know there is Sentry Turrets in a room, you can fire a Scatter Arrow in there with the hopes of knocking some of them out.
Keep in mind that Symmetra's Sentry Turrets and Teleporters are immune to Dragonstrikes.
Hanzo is usually not a Teleporter hunter as that is a job for offensive heroes with superior mobility, so that is another advantage for Symmetra. Although Hanzo's Sonic Arrow could potentially spot Symmetra putting down a Teleporter behind a wall. This can be tough to deal with for Symmetra because enemy Sonic Arrows have no indication that it was used on the battlefield.
A good way to spot a Symmetra, is to see exactly which angle her Photon Orbs are flying at you, just trace it back and you should see Symmetra in the distance. Shoot a Sonic Arrow in her area and use some good charged up long ranged shots to take her out when she peeks within view to lob her photon orbs.
Hanzo: Fighting another Hanzo comes down to who has the better overall aim with the Storm Bow and who can pull off their Scatter Shots better. Sonic Arrows also really help when dealing with opposing snipers such as Hanzo, as it will allow you to start aligning shots while taking cover.
Zarya: Zarya isn't too much of a threat to Hanzo due to her weapons being mostly short and medium ranged, but she is one tough chick to take down. As a tank with a lot of HP, it's going to take a number of well aimed shots to take her down. Zarya can put a Particle Barrier on her and one on her teammates occasionally. Don't shoot at these Particle Barriers because they will block and absorb damage, then turn it into energy for her weapon, making it stronger.
Zarya's ultimate Graviton Surge clumps her enemies together and can be rough for Hanzo, as he has no counters for it. The best way to deal with her ultimate is to try not getting stuck in it in the first place by splitting up a little bit from your teammates. Find a higher ground or another area to shoot from to avoid being pulled in by her Graviton Surge.
Zarya's Particle Barrier will block and absorb Hanzo's ultimate Dragonstrike, but a Particle Barrier will not fully protect Zarya (or an ally with a barrier) from a Dragonstrike, as Dragonstrike actually does a damage over time effect, in which it can take down her Particle Barrier and then quickly eat away at the actual hitpoints.
D.va: D.va is another tough tank that will take a number of shots from Hanzo. D.va doesn't really have anything too brutal for Hanzo to deal with but you will need to keep your distance from her as best as you can because her Fusion Cannon weapon becomes stronger in closer ranges.
To get away from D.va's deadly Fusion Cannons up close, you can do rapid fire shots at her to enable you to back away from her quicker while still doing some damage at her.
Remember when her mech is destroyed, the little D.va will pop out of her mech and you will then need to kill her too before she calls up another fresh mech.
D.va can use her Defense Matrix ability to block and absorb the initial arrow of Dragonstrike, but once the actual Dragon gets deployed it cannot be blocked/absorbed by Defense Matrix.
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Zarya is well known for being one of the world's strongest women athletes. Later on in her competitive bodybuilding career, she decided to drop her all star status and join Overwatch to protect her family, friends, and country instead.
Zarya, being a tank, has the lowest amount of hitpoints out of all tanks. What she lacks in hitpoints she easily makes up in raw damage output with her Particle Cannon weapon. Zarya's weapon is able to harness raw energy and use it to create Particle Barriers on herself or her allies which block and absorb firepower from her enemies for a brief period of time and transfer it to her own Particle Gun to make it stronger. These Particle Barriers have many uses for keeping Zarya and her allies alive, allowing them to push forward and absorb firepower for Zarya at the same time.
Zarya's ultimate Graviton Surge unleashes a gravity bomb that draws all enemies close to it in a swirling clumped up mass that becomes extremely vulnerable to area effect damage such as Zarya's own explosive particle charges.
Zarya's main weakness is her lack of mobility as she will have a bit of trouble retreating from a losing battle or able to chase after nearly dying enemies.
Name: Aleksandra Zaryanova
Difficulty: Hard
Role: Tank
Age: 28
Occupation: Krasnoyarsk Front, Russia
Base of Operation: Horizon Lunar Colony (formerly)
Release Date: 10-27-2015
Base Hitpoints: 400 (200 of it is shield)
Because Zarya is comprised of 50% shield, it's important to keep these points in mind:
- Shields regenerate at 25HP per second after 3 seconds of not taking damage.
- Shields can still be healed up by healers and health packs.
ZaryaIn This Guide: |
Particle Cannon Zarya's mighty Particle Cannon unleashes a short-range beam of destructive energy. Ammo: 100Fire Rate: 20 rps Damage: 75 - 150 DPS (depending on how charged up it is) Range: 15 meters Reload Time: 1.5 seconds Headshot?: no Default Hotkey: LM |
Zarya's primary fire unleashes a short-range beam that fires out roughly about 25 feet in front of her. It acts similar to the lightning gun in Quake. The beam does not go through multiple targets as it only hits one target at a time. Shields and barriers will block the beam. It does more DPS than her alternate fire (explosive charges) and works best on single targets. If there is more than a few enemies close up you are better off using explosive charges to do area damage to them instead as it will do more DPS.
Gun Charge Strength
Zarya's Particle Cannon gets charged up and deals more damage when she absorbs enemy fire from her Particle Barriers that she can use on herself or Projected Barriers that she can put on her allies.
- Particle Gun strength value is from 0% to 100%.
- Particle Gun strength increases at 1% per 5 shield damage taken for weapon attacks and 1% per 2 shield damage taken from all melee attacks (this also includes Genji's Swift Strike and Dragonblade). This means that melee attacks will absorb a higher percentage of power for Zarya's weapon than normal attack weapons.
- Particle Gun strength decreases at 2% per second. This means you have to keep absorbing damage to maintain your gun strength up or it will slowly dissipate over time.
There are five different indicators that show you how charged up Zarya's Particle Cannon is.
Redrix claymore destiny 2. The 5 indicators that show Particle Gun Strength:
(from most helpful to least helpful)
- Your crosshair becomes thicker and bolder. I find this particular one is the most visually useful in the heat of battle.
- The sound of your Particle Gun will become more bolder and louder.
- When charged up further it will increase the width of Zarya's Particle Cannon's beam (primary fire). Please note that the increased beam actually has a larger hit area and can make hitting targets a tad easier.
- Your crosshair has a numerical value from 0 - 100.
- The energy ball grows larger in Zarya's gun.
NOTE: When you get to 100% charged, Zarya will sometimes say: 'Maximum charge!'
Not Charged at all (0%)
Half Way Charged (50%)
Fully Charged (100%)
Zarya will also look like this in-game to other players:
0% Charge - 50% Charged - 100% Charged
Importance of knowing how charged up you are:
When fully charged, Zarya becomes one of the greatest damage dealers in Overwatch. From 0% to 100% you will literally do twice as much damage per second. It's good to know how charged up you are so you know how much fire power it will take to kill someone. This especially helps in knowing how many explosive charges you need to lob out to kill something before moving on to another target.
Particle Cannon Alternatively, Zarya can lob an explosive charge to strike multiple opponents. Ammo: 100 (uses 25 per shot)Fire Rate: 1 rps Damage: 46 - 95 DPS (depending on how charged up it is) Self-Damage: Up to 50 self-damage (depending on how charged up it is) AOE Blast Radius: 2 meters Reload Time: 1.5 seconds Headshot?: no Default Hotkey: RM |
Zarya's alternate fire lobs explosive charges and explodes on the first thing it hits doing splash damage. The charges fly in an ark to its destination and just like the short range beam it will also benefit from Zarya's charged up gun status, dealing extra damage the more your gun is charged up. Enemies hit by an explosive charge will deal a slight knockback. Keep in mind that the slight knockback just might be enough to knock enemies into pits if they are close to one. A lot of Control maps have many pits where you can knock enemies into them with charged shots.
The alternate fire is Zarya's means of doing damage from longer ranges. You can lob explosive charges over walls or obstacles to hit potential enemies behind them. Remember that Zarya's short range Particle Beam does more DPS than charged shots, so always switch to your particle beam for close up enemies, unless you can do a lot of splash damage with the charged shots.
Precisely aiming explosive charged shots properly will take some practice. You can practice firing charged shots in the practice range at targets very far away from you for some good aiming practice.
Drained Ammo Trick
Each shot requires 25 ammo out of a pool of 100, this means you can only fire 4 shots until a reload is needed. However, you can still fire an explosive shot even if you only have 1 ammo left. This means you can make extra use of your ammo before a reload is needed via using three charged shots, then using your short range beam for about a second, then releasing the 4th charged shot. This can give you a little extra fire power before a reload is needed.
No Headshots :(
Please note that both Zarya's primary fire and her alternate fire will not do headshots, so don't bother aiming at heads with her as it will not make a difference.
Ability with cooldown The Particle Cannon can emit a personal barrier that shields Zarya against incoming attacks, redirecting their energy to enhance her weapon's damage and the width of its beam. Cooldown: 10 secondsBarrier Strength: 200 Duration: 2 seconds Default Hotkey: Shift |
Particle Barrier is Zarya's personal shield which only last 2 seconds that blocks and absorbs damage. The Particle Barrier then transfers that absorbed damage to Zarya's Particle Cannon to make it stronger (but only temporarily). The shield only blocks/absorbs up to 200 damage.
Particle Barrier is best used when you are consistently taking damage. I have noticed a lot of new players turn on the ability immediately when they see enemies, this is not usually efficient because Particle Barriers only last 2 seconds, you generally want to use this ability right when you are taking damage. Remember that Zarya's health is comprised of 50% shield, so you can let that wither down a tad then activate Particle Barrier, it tends to be more effective that way. The same thing applies to when you give an ally a Projected Barrier (more on that later).
Particle Barrier is great for blocking enemy ultimates and other situations where high damage output could occur. I explain more in-depth when using Particle Barrier is important at the hero counters down below this guide.
Knock Backs
Particle Barriers and Projected Barriers do not fully protect Zarya (or allies) from knockbacks. If something was blocked by the bubble outside of Zarya (or the ally) he/she will NOT be knocked back. However, if the hit was done inside the bubble, Zarya (or the ally) can then be knocked back.
Ability with cooldown Zarya surrounds one of her teammates with an energy barrier that simultaneously absorbs fire and boosts the power of her Particle Cannon. Cooldown: 8 secondsShield Strength: 200 Range: 30 meters Duration: 2 seconds Default Hotkey: E |
Projected Barrier is very much like Zarya's Particle Barrier but can only be used on her allies. If you look closely at the stats between the two barriers, you will see that Projected Barriers are slightly more powerful by having a 2 second less cooldown, but both barriers last the same length of 2 seconds and absorb the same amount of damage. Because of the lower cooldown for Projected Barriers, you need to be continuously using this ability to protect allies and absorb damage to enhance your Particle Cannon. You will be relying on the Projected Barrier just as much as your personal barrier to charge up your Particle Cannon.
As noted above, for every 4 points of damage blocked, Zarya will temporarily gain +1% on her Particle Cannon's energy output. If she blocks 100% of a personal or projected Particle Barrier Zarya will gain +50 on her weapon power.
Projected Barrier Mechanics
- Projected Barriers (and Zarya's personal Barriers) do not charge your ultimate meter directly, but they do indirectly via the increased output of your Particle Cannon's damage.
- The bubble size of the Projected Barrier will be the exact same on all allies (from small heroes like Tracer to big ones like Roadhog).
- Allies cannot do self damage while having a Projected Barrier on to charge Zarya's weapon.
What separates a Zarya player from a really good Zarya player comes down to how good she is at keeping up with her Projected Barriers properly. It will take some skill to constantly keep an eye out on all your allies and to give a Projected Barrier to who needs it the most. This will come with practice, but here are some tips.
Who should receive Projected Barriers:
- Offensive allies that are in the midst of harassing the enemy.
- An ally that is getting flanked.
- An ally that is in trouble of being hit by an enemy ultimate.
- An ally that is pushing forward in the front lines.
- An ally that is taking damage with the Orb of Discord on them.
- An allied Roadhog who just Chain Hooked an enemy into him.
- An ally who just jumped or boosted right into the midst of enemy fire, such as a Winston leaping, D.va boosting, Reinhardt charging, a Pharah flying, or a Genji Swift Striking.
- Most heroes in Overwatch become especially vulnerable while using their ultimate, but when they have a Projected Barrier on them, they become invincible.
These allies benefit the most from Projected Barriers while they use their ultimate:
- Genji's Dragonblade
- Roadhog's Whole Hog
- Junkrat's Rip-Tire (while he stands still)
- Soldier 76's Tactical Visor
- McCree's Deadeye
- Reaper's Deathblossom
- Pharah's Barrage
- Bastion's Tank Form
- Mercy's Resurrect (she stands solid for a brief time while casting)
Particle Barriers can block infinite damage
Particle Barriers and Projected Barriers can block infinite damage from a single hit. Let me explain. Particle Barriers can block 200 damage before it disappears. If an attack does more than the barrier's strength it will not roll over to your heroes HP pool, but instead will have no effect at all. For example, Junkrat's Rip-Tire does up to 600 damage and D.va's Self-Destruct does up to 1000 damage. A Particle Barrier can block all this damage and Zarya (or an ally) will take no additional damage from these higher damage abilities, but your barrier will drop prematurely.
Don't attack enemy barriers!
This is probably obvious by now, but worth mentioning anyways. Since Zarya's barriers absorb enemy fire and then transfers the energy to her weapon to make it stronger means you need to avoid attacking enemy Particle/Projected Barriers at all costs! This will also be mentioned throughout my guide on the other hero sections to continuously remind you about this.
Turn on Allied Health Meters
By default, allied health meters are turned off for Zarya. I highly recommend turning them on (in Zarya's custom control settings) so that you will be able to make more informed decisions on who to give a Projected Barrier to.
NOTE: Because I feel like Projected Barrier knowledge is so important, I may come out with a more in-depth guide about this topic later.
| ULTIMATE | Ultimate Ability Zarya launches a gravity bomb that draws in enemy combatants and deals damage while they're trapped. Duration: 4 secondsDamage: 22 Range of Surge: 8 meters Headshot?: no Default Hotkey: Q |
Zarya's ultimate Graviton Surge is arguably one of the most powerful ultimates in Overwatch. The ability lobs a gravity bomb similar to the mechanics of one explosive charge shot, but once it hits the ground it opens a massive ball of gravity that draws all nearby enemies to it and keeps them there for up to 4 seconds. Enemies can still use their abilities while being stuck in the surge. Graviton Surge does a very small amount of damage itself, but where this ultimate really shines is the ability to let you and your allies do AOE damage to the clumped up enemies, which can easily wipe all of them out. After clumping up enemies in a Graviton Surge you can dish out damage to the trapped enemies with your explosive charges as you will take full advantage of the AOE damage that your explosive charges can do. Graviton Surge has no effect on you or your allies, as you can walk right up to it and it will not trap you or your team, this allows your allies to get right up to the clumped up enemies to deal damage to them.
Graviton Surge also combos very well with many allied abilities and ultimates, most notably:
- Zarya's explosive charges
- D.va's Self-Destruct
- Junkrat's Rip-Tire
- Tracer's Pulse Bomb
- Reaper's Death Blossom
- Pharah's Barrage
- Reinhardt's melee attacks
- Symmetra's Photon Orbs
- Bastion can easily aim in the general direction to do a lot of damage, or use his Tank form to do AOE damage.
- Hanzo can launch a Dragonstrike at the mass
Because Graviton Surge is the best paired ultimate in the game, it is important to communicate with your allies that you are getting ready to use your ultimate so they will be ready to combo it with their ultimate or abilities. I recommend binding a key for 'Communicate: Ultimate Status' so you can press it when you are getting close to use your ultimate.
These heroes have the capability to actually escape a Graviton Surge after getting trapped in one:
- Tracer can use a Recall to escape, or two quick Blinks.
- Reinhardt can use a Charge to escape.
- Genji can use a Swift Strike to get out of it.
- Reaper can use Wraith Form to escape.
- D.va can use her Boosters to escape.
- Widowmaker can use her Grappling Hook to escape.
- Mercy can use her Guardian Angel ability to fly to an ally to escape out. The ally must be further away from the Gravition Surge in order for it to work.
Winston and his Jump Packs?Pharah and her Jet Packs?
- Lucio can use Sound Barrier to protect his trapped allies.
- Zenyatta can use Transcendence to save him and heal his allies while trapped.
- A trapped Zarya can put a Projected Barrier on a Mercy, allowing her to survive, she can then Resurrect all the dead heroes.
- D.va can use her Defense Matrix ability to block incoming projectiles.
- Mei can throw up an Ice Wall to protect from incoming enemy fire.
- Roadhog can use Whole Hog to knock enemies down and to prevent them from firing.
- Winston can use a Barrier Projector.
- Reinhardt can put out his shield.
- An enemy Zarya can use a Particle Barrier to protect herself, or a Projected Barrier on one of her allies.
Zarya's Strength and Weaknesses Vs Other Heroes
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