DPS is one of the key roles in Overwatch. Make sure you have all the help you need in our Overwatch How to play DPS guide.
After covering how to tank and support your team, the next step is to go over the most sought-after role in Overwatch. Even though tanks and supports are also fun to play, people want to be the hero for their teams. Hence, most of them want to pick a DPS.
The number of DPS heroes in Overwatch is significantly higher than those for every other position. Although you can pick whatever you want, we can divide them into two big groups – attack and defense.
The DPS heroes used for attacks are usually those who are swift and can escape from danger. On the other hand, those used for defending deal more damage and need to use a given part of the map.
Of course, there are many other things you need to be aware of, so let’s take a look at them in this review.
Not all DPS are made equal
One of the things that many people don’t realize about Overwatch is that every DPS hero is different. Some rely on burst damage, whereas others deal constant damage and kill opponents by outlasting them. Therefore, your role in the team depends on the hero, the setup, and the map you play.
If we take a look at heroes like Junkrat and Torb, we can see that they are often the team’s main damage dealers. Due to their abilities, these two heroes typically do a lot more than others. Of course, this doesn’t mean the other DPS heroes are weak because they excel in different areas.
The important thing to remember is that you don’t necessarily need to have the gold damage medal to be effective. For example, heroes like Widowmaker and Tracer seldom have a gold damage medal, but they are excellent at killing specific heroes.
Your job as DPS will be different, depending on the hero
As mentioned in the beginning, Overwatch is a game where there are all sorts of DPS heroes to choose from. Each one has unique skills, so their role in the game is different.
If we take a look at heroes like Pharah, we can see that her job is to deal as much AoE damage as possible. Hence, she is often picked in situations where the opponents are grouped up. Pharah needs to be aggressive to do damage.
Unlike the flying damage dealer, Symmetra has a different role in the game. Instead of “hunting” for kills, this hero uses the map to her advantage and lures targets to her turrets. What’s more, she provides utility to her team because her Teleporter can be used to dodge certain chokepoints.
Generally speaking, most DPS characters in the game have to take advantage of the space on the map. Some users will use it to set up their defenses, whereas others can utilize it to jump on the enemy backlines.
Always think about the high ground
Whether you play Dota 2, CS:GO, or any other game, you will typically hear the term “high ground”. The latter is used when someone stays in a position that allows him to be above his enemies. Needless to say, this provides a considerable advantage, especially in games like Overwatch.
Having access to the high ground gives you all sorts of benefits. For instance, it should be much easier to score kills, especially with heroes that can land easy headshots. Aside from being more effective, you are also safer because many heroes won’t be able to kill you. For example, it is really hard to get a kill with Junkrat and Symmetra on a hero that uses the high ground.
Flanking
Another really important thing about DPS heroes in Overwatch is called “flanking”. This is a term that describes heroes whose job is to try to avoid the direct fight and focus on killing enemies in the backlines. Usually, heroes achieve that by using their maneuverability.
Flanking is popular and extremely powerful in Overwatch, especially on some maps. Unfortunately, being a good flanker is easier said than done and requires a lot of experience. Moreover, not every DPS hero in the game can become a flanker. Most of them can’t do that because they are better for spamming damage.
It is safe to say that Tracer and Genji are probably the best flankers. Both heroes can move fast and escape from danger when needed. Furthermore, they deal a lot of burst damage, which is good because they can kill opponents much faster.
Spammers
Unlike flankers whose job is to pick off important heroes, spammers are there to do as much damage as possible. Although they can also focus on a specific hero, their goal is to break barriers and force the opponents’ healers to use their abilities as often as possible.
If you decide to play this role, you need to have good positioning. Usually, those people position themselves behind the tank, but there are cases where they might stay elsewhere. Junkrat is the first name that comes to mind when talking about spammers, but we can also include heroes like Bastion and Reaper.
Points Defenders (a.k.a zoners)
This group of heroes differentiates from the rest because they are primarily used when the team needs to defend a given point. Needless to say, this doesn’t mean people can’t use them when attacking because they can do wonders.
The idea of having zoners in your team is to make sure that the enemies can’t just walk into the point and get it. Often, those heroes deal insane amounts of damage, which requires their opponents to be more creative.
Unsurprisingly, the hero heroes that stand out here are Torb and Symmetra. Both of them have turrets that can kill enemies in seconds. Bastion is also a hero that can be placed here because once he uses his sentry configuration, he becomes the most significant damage dealer in the game.
Even though the zoners are excellent for defending specific objectives, those heroes are not good for moving around. After all, they need at least a couple of seconds to set up everything, which is usually enough time for their opponents to score kills.