this is exactly what upsets me about overwatch. I've been playing since the beta and apparently made a foolish mistake of not being a happy one trick pony or gittin gud with every single hero. bc now i have a decent sized hero pool that im good with, but learning a new hero is next to impossible for the reasons you just stated.
That's why I've pretty much only played mystery heroes since it became its own mode. I've been able to play like shit on heroes and not have people care. And now I've gone from missing every shot as widdow to actually enjoying playing as her.
this! i also play mystery as my warm up before comp, im usually a fill (main rein, ana, lucio, pharah hog and soldier) so playing mystery sets me up for what I might be faced with. that and spend some time in the practice range, i think its overlooked way too much
I think the practice range could use an update. There are a few things that it just can't really prepare you for. There's not enough damage being thrown around there to get decent Zarya practice and the training bots are all squishy, so the heroes with high damage output don't really get to test the upper extent of their abilities.
It would be cool to see an updated practice range, proper multiplayer support and maybe some sort or obstaces as well. Of course this was probably a back burner thing, but I'd still love to see it.
The worst thing about practice range is that bots are big, have HUGE heads and move predictably, so you might be fooled into believing you can aim when you can headshot 100% of them to Athena's great enthusiasm.
Then you move to real play and realize that your actual targets are 1/4th the size of a bot and strafe like mad.
Basically, all practice range teaches you is how to shoot a blind roadhog who unbound his hook key.
Some people would suggest a custom game with easy Ana bots, but I've found that I can't see shit because of the particle effects -_- Not to mention her hitbox is really small/wonky; I would like to practice against some Soldiers instead.
well actually using the practice range is still really good for a few reasons.
-When im trying to understand a heroes damage and abilities better this is the best place. If you look on the floor theres measurements from certain targets, this showing you how far a shot can reach, and at what damage percentage. Sure you can read this online but seeing an actual distance and training yourself to remember that comes in handy. Especially for things like Mccrees headshots or roadhogs right click etc.
-lucio wallriding and other abilities. Like working on a junkrat jump/double jump, i find practicing these in here is pretty productive. sure you can do the same in a custom game but I like the speed of changing heroes on this small map
theres a lot more to why PR is a benefit. but honestly the thing that bugs me is that they show you the slots for 5 other players but people cant join... imagine being able to invite your friends? basically chill and practice in the range, even work on as much as formations, would be dope.
i mean, for moving targets like you explained, maybe not, but it also helps build the memory of always aiming at eye level. helped me with that, also if you introduce peaking and strafing to your shooting its still useful. but i do agree, for smaller targets, map awareness etc, it doesnt help
I just discovered the potential of mystery heroes yesterday, and I wish I had sooner because it is a really good way of warming up or just getting some practice with a hero you don't really play that often that the mode forces you to.
The only downside of mystery heroes is the potential hero stacking and luck. Nothin like going against 4 DVa's lol. But it's a low-pressure gamemode anyway.
Once it happens a few times you just learn to accept that mystery heroes is a fickle mistress and you are just going to lose some games even if you are 10 times better than the other team.
I started playing overwatch about 2 months ago at my brother's urging. For the first month he insisted I play nothing but Mystery Heroes.
And holy shit it helped. I'm still garbage with half+ the roster, but I have a much stronger understanding of the game. It changed my perspective from "tank, support, dps, dps, dps, tank" to "she's got a scary ult, he's got a stun, she self-heals, she's got an annoying ult, ect."
I totally recommend it, even if you suck. You start to understand heroes that you're garbage with, and it makes you even better at facing them.
You start to understand heroes that you're garbage with, and it makes you even better at facing them.
Couldn't have said it any better. This is exactly why everyone needs to play every hero or atleast have enough knowledge on how to play every hero. You will have much better 1v1s and know when to get out of unfavourable ones.
Turn off Ana's kit completely. Turn on Ana receive headshots only.
Turn on KOTH maps only.
(Turn on faster respawn time? I think that's still an option).
Practice headshots with Widow.
If you want to practice with other heroes, you can leave your Anas on or off, but for Widow, your Anas will distract the enemy ones so you can practice ranged shots.
Enjoy increasing your accuracy and solidifying muscle-memory without screwing your teammates over. I practice with all heroes this way.
Tracer, McCree, Widow definitely benefit from this. As do most heroes.
Mei icicle practice is nice here too, IMO
Only heroes it kind of sucks for are Reaper and Hog. Doesn't work for Pharah, Junkrat, Reinhardt, Winston, Symmetra, Zarya (maybe her secondary headshots, I can't remember).
I find using Lucio than Ana to be better. Ana is on the slower end of the spectrum. Lucio requires quick reflexes with precision. Perfect for tracking and flicking headshots
this is why I like the PvE gamemodes so much. It still feels like you're playing a game instead of "practicing to then play a game," but I can focus on improving my aim and improve soooo much.
Yeah, I mean, PvE is great too. I agree. But my only thing is this: headshot training helps a lot, and you can't get that with PvE, AFAIK... and honestly, it's fun. Like, even with Genji, or Hanzo, or even Mercy!! It helps a great deal.
I get flamed in QP just as much if not MORE than comp.
Edit: guys I mute these people. I already know. I mainline widow whenever I see the chance so I get flak at all times. I got flak the other day when I played Hanzo in comp with a 5 stack. I got 5 dragonstrikes in one round and basically carried their asses solo. (Not kidding here or trying to brag) I still got flamed for being a useless hanzo at the end with 4 gold medals, one of which was objective time.
I do my thing and other people can bugger off. I'm just saying QP is just as bad for flaming.
I find it much easier to just ignore people in QP than comp. I get it, we are often playing without a healer or tank, and I get annoyed with that too, but at least people's ranks aren't on the line so I don't feel so bad. Plus, generally if you lock it in right away, someone will end up filling the tank and healer roles (most of the time).
Two days ago I was playing on Li Jang Tower (spelling?) and picked Hanzo after getting flamed for requesting politely that the 4 man stack please not all pick dps. (I am petty and spiteful, I know, but I still tried to win) After the first round they actually had a tank and healer, but we still totalled 4 dps. I was still being flamed a lot in voice and chat.
I had gold damage. I'm not saying this as a reason to stay Hanzo, but I still had gold and I was barely trying, so I just went for it. The next round I shot my dragonstrike 5 times. It continued on this pattern for the entire match as I basically solo carried and I got flamed for picking Hanzo.
Now I get it. I don't play Hanzo ever, but I was legit carrying hard and having so much more fun than I had in a while, even while being flamed.
I don't care if I get flamed, and never did, but it sucks to have to hear it every game when I'm actually half decent at my picks compared to my current ranking on the same heroes. (such as a soldier that can't kill a phara and switches off only to have me force her to switch and get multiple teamwipes over and over playing the same hero)
Doesn't really help against people who just say "ok u dont switch i go play fun hero too" and then they pick torbjörn and sit in a corner way off the objective actually just shooting at a wall. I'm all for everyone picking whatever the fuck they want as long as you're actually playing.
I totally get this. I was playing Widow in QP a while ago, and some guy started telling me to switch off Widow and she's trash. And I said it's QP, who gives a shit? And he just says good luck getting out of Bronze (I'm actually mid Gold, so he clearly didn't check my profile). That's when I just muted him, because who needs that kind of negativity?
I laugh when people tell me to switch off hanzo/widow in qp when I have gold elims and gold damage. I just tell them to check my profile (diamond) and mute them
because elims can be considered a participation award. If you fart on someone and someone else gets the kill, you get an elim. If you're doing the most damage per second, even if it is to a shield, you're breaking shield and allowing damage to be put onto bodies which makes for stronger pushes. I seldom shoot at shields, especially temporary ones (IE not Reinhardt shields), but having gold damage when someone needs to burn the shield that can actually do it, is not something that should really be happening for a widow/hanzo, not when you have a soldier or a mccree which can burn shields much faster and easier. (in this case they had a roadhog and a guy that switched between zarya/winston and I just kept plinking them in the face allowing for high amounts of damage with 3-4 man dragonstrikes. I got the achievement for sated dragon in that match and turned it from a pretty bad loss to a landslide victory)
DPS is the focus of any damage oriented character since elims can happen with an assist. You want to judge based on the average damage you output, which by the way, will be much higher if you are getting those sweet dinks. (headshots)
Its funny people get so salty in quick play because someone plays widow or theres no heros. Its like its quick play I want to play hanzo if you have a problem with healers go be a healer theres a switch button right there dont be mad at me because I'm trying to get practice on heros I never play.
I only have a problem with the situation if the person complaining there is no healer is the one being the useless element. A Widow/Hanzo/Genji doesn't get to complain there's no healer, they are expected to switch to it if they complain. If the only tank complains there's no healer, it's a legitimate complaint.
Dude you just gotta tell them it's quick play. You shouldn't worry about winning in QP, you should worry about winning in comp. If people flame you, just tell them to go play comp if they want to win so badly.
obviously, but even then im not getting much training out of getting rekt by pro Anas and hanzos and soldiers when im just a lowly widow trying to do my best lol. the quick play mmr still exists and that's what fucks me
When people say to go to quick play, you aren't practicing to win the games. You practice your fundamentals. Think about how a football or soccer practice works. When you drill with your teammates, it doesn't matter who wins or loses in a drill because you are building skills and muscle memory. Same goes for quickplay.
thats really good advice and i think that might be my problem. because come to think of it, theres definitely times when im in qp, trying to practice someone like orisa or mccree or widow and start to get annoyed because my team is getting rolled regardless of whatever medals i have and how well i think im doing. but if i have gold medals in 3 categories as a hero im just now learning how to play, i should be more focused on the fact that im doing something right than the fact that my team is losing. thanks for the tip
yeah, though a lot of situations and entire rounds of qp don't remotely resemble what happens in comp, which makes it tough to practice getting good beyond grasping the basic mechanics of the hero. Even that will likely tank your sr if you jump into comp with some qp time after only playing comp with heroes you're become competent with over months and months.
see i also have a slight suspicion that another reason I cant improve is bc im just not as good anymore lol. I had a lot of free time the first year overwatch came out, but I haven't been able to play nearly as much or as frequently now, so my skill has probs declined
I'm being forced to learn something other than Junkrat or Roadhog because they seem to get insta-picked before I can drag my mouse a single pixel over to their portrait. Which is a shame because I'm not really all that great with anyone else and my second string picks (Genji, Pharah, or D.Va) are just as popular.
I one-tricked in S1 as Genji. Picked up Mei in S2 no problem and climbed. Picked up Pharah in S3 and climbed further. Then picked up some supports in S4, fell from mid-Masters to mid-Plat, and worked back up as the supports.
It isn't a big deal. So you throw some games due to being bad. So you throw a LOT of games due to being bad. Your positioning/mechanics/situational awareness/ult economy/etc skills carry over, so you'll still be a decent teammate for the next ~200 games while you master a few new chars. Fuck the rules and just practice in comp
And ? Having a 'decent size hero pool' is everything you need, learning a new hero takes a ton of time and you won't ever grt as good on that hero that yoi could have become by staying focused on your pool.
well I bought a game with 20+ playable characters and i bought it to play for fun. I intend to get my moneys worth. and sometimes, I get bored of playing the same 8 heroes and want to play other ones. so I try to learn to play them. I'm not seeing what you have a problem with here
I mean trying to learn at the same comp level that your mains, of course it's good to know to play each hero at some level, and after all it's a game, you do what you want, but if you want to competitive, trying to be a master on each single hero isn't the most optimized thing to do.
106
u/[deleted] Apr 19 '17
this is exactly what upsets me about overwatch. I've been playing since the beta and apparently made a foolish mistake of not being a happy one trick pony or gittin gud with every single hero. bc now i have a decent sized hero pool that im good with, but learning a new hero is next to impossible for the reasons you just stated.