D.Va - My Top 5 Tips

In light of the 'one-trick player ban' scandal (try saying that fast!), I thought I better start to play different Heroes, other than Torbjorn.............

Only joking! I do play other Heroes, actually, I like to consider myself a flex player (not a very good one, but a flex player non the less).

Anyway, recently I've been playing a lot of D.Va. and I've really enjoyed playing here. So much so, I thought I would write a quick blog of my top 5 tips on how I thing she should be played.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility in lost SR 1. Range – work on your range/ distance. Get in the oppositions face! Remember, you’re in a massive mech. You’ll do a load more damage. Don’t worry if you loss your mech, you can hide as baby D.Va and make pop shots at range to charge your mech faster. Defiantly be more aggressive.
2. Defence Matrix – learn when to use defence matrix, and when to let it cool. This took me a while to get used to, but just keep practising. The general role I use, if you’re not close to enemies use your defence matrix over your fusion cannons. You will be a lot more effective. Use it to shield your team mates, and also use it to put in the faces of the enemy. Don’t be scared to fly into the oppositions DPS and harass them with it. It’ll drive Soldier players nuts! I also found it useful to research what defence matrix blocks/ shields and what it doesn’t.
3. Self-destruct – Think of self-destruct as a way of crowd controlling the enemy. An example of this is if you’re playing a control point map, and the enemy has captured the point (also standing on the point), send the self-destruct in and watch them scatter. This is really effective if you communicate the plan of attack with your team mates.
4. Flank – Consider using D.Va as a flanker on some maps. I use D.Va to flank quite a bit. You do need to be really aggressive when flanking with her though, but once you get used to that style of play, you can really disturb the enemy backline.
5. Harass, harass and harass – I’ve mentioned this already, but honestly, if you get in the face of the enemy they will find it a struggle to deal with (just think of all the horrible situations you would have been in when facing a D.Va on the opposite team). You may not feel like your doing much, but even if you distract one or two of the enemies, you are creating space for your DPS to do some damage.

Toxicity?! But Aren't We A Lucky Bunch?

What a week to be an Overwatch fan! Like most of you, I pretty much spent the whole weekend watching Youtube clips of BlizzCon 2017, and of course the Overwatch World Cup finals. I was so excited to wake up on Saturday morning (remember I am from the UK) to watch the opening ceremony. It reminded me of being a kid, running down stairs on Christmas morning to see what Father Christmas (again, remember I am from the UK) had brought me.

Well, I wasn't disappointed!

In the weeks leading up to BlizzCon I had read a lot of articles and watched a lot of videos about what people thought Blizzard needed to announce, and I became a little disheartened by it all. Let me explain. It seemed to me that the community was solely focused on the toxicity in the game and that Blizzard needed to reveal some magical 'anti-toxicity' solution, otherwise the game would be doomed. "Ow bloody hell mate, cheers up. There are plenty more fish in the sea".

Well after watching the opening ceremony, all those negative feelings just slipped away. Who cares if people are shouting at me because I've picked Lucio over Mercy - as long as Blizzard give me Moira (ow and by the way, if you want a Mercy in the team so badly, why don't you pick her, or at least learn how to play her). And who cares if a stropping Torbjorn keeps jumping off the map because they cannot play Soldier 76 - as long as Blizzard give me Blizzard World.

These are just two examples from a long list of new content that Blizzard announced. New legendary skins, Overwatch League, Overwatch League skins, a new animated short, nerfed Mercy (ok, maybe that one's too soon, sorry)............ and all for FREE. Sometimes I think we, as the Overwatch community, need to step back and be thankful to Blizzard. They do, and are doing, a great job.

Ok yes, obviously I have been a little flippant. Of course we cannot tolerate toxicity in the game. And yes, Blizzard are responsible for sorting the issue. However, I trust Blizzard will get it right in the end, because the one thing that came across from all the reveals, presentations, interviews at BlizzCon, they care about the game!

10 Hours In Paradise - A Overwatch Beginners Guide

I was going through some old stuff on my laptop over the weekend and I came across this Overwatch guide I wrote for the OverPWN forum last October. It's a guide of my first 10 hours with Overwatch.

Anyway, most of the points are still relevant, so I thought I would share it. Enjoy - bushie83

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I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences of my first 10 hours with Overwatch. I am in no way claiming to be an Overwatch expert, far from it, I am only level 23 so haven't even played Competitive. However, that said, I thought some of my experiences may help improve your game.

It's also worth noting that I've read and watched a lot of guides, which I recommend you do.

So below, in no particular order, are my beginner tips for Overwatch

Heroes:
Make sure you spend  time with all the heroes. You may not have a good game with one hero, but persevere - that hero may just become your favourite. I couldn't get on with Torbjorn at first but I forced myself to play him, and now he's one on my "go to" defence heroes, if needed.

Playing all heroes also gives you flexibility if selecting your preferred hero means creating an unbalanced team. You're more than likely not going to master every hero (although I am sure there are some of you out there that have), however by testing all heroes, you will find the ones that suits your playing style. Maybe try and master one hero from each class? That's what I tried to do.

Practice makes perfect..........well better in the case of Overwatch:
There is a reason Blizzard put a training mode in the game. Use it!

You could argue that playing  quick mode is practicing. I found, at first, because the game is so fast, I tended to panic when under attack. By entering the training mode and practicing using the heros abilities and trying to come up with new combos, it helped me stay calm when under attack, and it ultimately helped my game.

There are a load of hero guides on the internet. I would recommend reading/ watching some before playing a new hero.

Do your job:
There are 4 main roles/ classes in Overwatch - offence, defence, tank and support. Make sure you know and play your role. I've seen Windowmakers (the out-and-out sniper of Overwatch) on the front line of an attack. Needless to say, she died pretty quickly.

The roles are not rigid, that's what makes Overwatch so good. An example of this is some offencive heroes i.e. Soldier 76 and McCree are very good in some defensive situations, depending on what tactics your team are playing.

Again, I would recommend doing some research on the heroes, and read/ watch some hero guides.

Know your surroundings:
Get to know all of the maps. By knowing the maps, you will know where to set up some good defences, or know the best places to retreat to if your being chased down by a hero.
You can spend time exploring the maps in skirmish mode.

Also, get to know where all the health locations are - you are going to need them. In fact...........

Heal, heal and heal:
Other than some support heroes, your health will not regenerate over time, like some FPS games. So make sure you are always healing, especially if you do not have a healer in your team, for what ever reason.

I found I good tactic is to know all the health locations, and stay close to them!

Overtime:
You're defending the point, it starts to count down, 97%, 98%, 99%....... OVERTIME!

Be aware of overtime. Don't be complacent at 99%, stay calm and continue with the plan. So many times I've seen people get excited at 99% thinking the point is won, rush into the enemy and die! I've even been involved in a game were the whole of my team rushed into the enemy at 99% and all died - we ended up losing the point.

Keep calm, and defend the point as planned.

Play as a team:
Within a couple of games, I soon realised that Overwatch is a team game. I "came" from Destiny were you mainly play solo (yes, I know you play as teams for Raids, but generally, you play Destiny solo). Overwatch is not Destiny! If you go running into a game, over extend, you will die! Go into a game as a team, even if you are not in communication with your team mates, go into the battle as a team. If you die, respawn and see all of your team mates have died, don't just run back into the battle. You will die. Wait for your team mates to respawn, and go in together.

Obviously there are some heroes you can play "solo". Maybe your playing Tracer or Reaper and want to flank the enemy, you could argue that you are soloing! Yes, you are going into the battle on your own, but it's still important to start the attack or defence as a team. So before you flank, wait for the rest of your team to start.

Don't SOLO!

Hopefully you have found this guide to be of some help. As I have mentioned, I am in no way a expert at Overwatch, but if you've taken one thing from this guide, I would be happy. Likewise, you may be an experienced Overwatch player and don't agree with something I have written, please let me know, I am still learning and the whole point of OVA:done is to become a better Overwatch player.

Ow......... hello stranger!

It's been a little while, but I am back. Without going into details, I've been away for a number of reasons. But finally I seem to have some time to invest into Overwatch and OVA:done again!

When OVA:done was first created I had aimed to post at least once a week, however for the same reasons as above, this just proved impossible.

So, OVA:done is going to change from my original intention. It's going to be more of a place where I visit when I have something specific to say, rather than force topics on a weekly basis.

Also, the OVA:done YouTube channel has launched recently, which you can follow here;

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCisNHKhlE-Kkw1AFpz0_QtQ

It currently contains several video of "new" heroes I am trying to improve on. Please feel free to leave your tips in the videos comments. Trust me, I need as much help as I can get!

Anyway, hope you continue to follow and enjoy OVA:done.

Bushie83

Dear Diary, Please Help!

So, as some of you will know, I recently received a season long ban from Competitive play. Personally I think a season long ban is slightly harsh but enough of that, I made my point quite clear in my last post here.

At first the ban really bothered me. How the hell am I supposed to keep myself entertained in Quick Play for the remainder of the season - we're talking nearly 2 whole months after all. Don't get me wrong I enjoy Quick Play as much as the next person, but I need a goal to work towards. That's what I find so appealing about Overwatch - it feels like a sport. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Quick Plat, but most of the time It just feel like going through the motions. So I was really concerned that I would get bored of just playing Quick Play. I had to come up with a plan, a goal to work towards. 

Anyway, after much thought I decided to start a 'smurf' account. I know, I know, I am one of "those", however I feel like Blizzard have forced my hand. 

So I created an account dedicated solely to OVA:done and have been working towards reaching level 25. The idea is that once I get to level 25 and into Comp, I am going to start a new series where I concentrate on improving on a set Hero, and document my progress - sort of like a diary if you will. 

In this "diary" I'll be posting stats, targets, and general thoughts on how I need to improve. This will serve as a great learning tool for myself, but hopefully you guys too. 

So keep posted, the new series will begin as soon as I reach level 25! Now, where's that damn diary?!

Red Carded

So, I've been banned from Competitive for the rest of Season 4, for consecutively leaving games "early". "Good, so you should be you dirty quiter!"

I've never been banned from anything in my life! Looks like I'll be keeping the bench warm for the remaining on the season.

Now, I just want to explain, I am not actually an early quiter! I admit I have been guilty of leaving games "early", however when I say "early" I mean leaving games at the 'play of the game' or 'defeat' screen once the game has been concluded, not whilst the game is still in play. In my defence (well, kind of) I wasn't aware that leaving the game at the conclusion counted as an early leave until I Googled Overwatch bans.

Surely this doesn't warrant a season long ban?

Do I believe people should be punished for leaving match early whilst the game is still in progress? Yes. I can't stand it when people leave halfway through a game. 

Do I think people should be punished for leaving the match once the game has been concluded? Personally, no. The result has been determined, and leaving on the 'defeat' or 'play of the game' screen does not, in my opinion, hurt or involve the other players on the team. 

Overwatch can be a frustrating games at times, as we all know! Let's face it, that's why it's such an addictive and fun game. If it was easy, it would get boring very quickly. So I'll be honest when I say I get frustrated, especially when I've gone on a losing streak and at the fourth consecutive loss I leave the game "early" at the 'defeat' or 'play of the game' screen. I've never shouted abuse at people, I've never "thrown" a game because we're losing, I've never trolled anyone. I always try to play fairly and to the best of my abilities. All I am guilty of, as it seems, is leaving a match at the conclusion of the game. 

Now, if leaving the game at the conclusion is indeed a punishable offence, then I am willing to hold my hands up, take my punishment like a grown up, and learn from my mistake. However, this said, I do believe a season long ban in this case is a bit extreme. I appreciate that the system probably just registers it as an early leave, and cannot distinguish at what point the player actually leaves, which makes sense. But surely Blizzard employ the support guys to review individual cases? 

Anyway, I have written to Blizzard to see if I can get my ban reduced, or even lifted. However, from what I have read on other forums, this is unlikely to happen. I am really gutted I've been banned for a whole season, which essentially means I won't be able to play Comp for 2 month.

The only positive that has come from this is that at least we now know Blizzard do punish those annoying quiters!

UPDATED

So, I got in contact with Blizzard. Sadly they are unable to lift bans. I am pretty annoyed to say the least, surely Blizzard should look at individual cases if bans are questioned?! 

I have to say, they were very quick to respond to my email, so cannot critise their customer support. 

Anyway, it looks like I won't be playing competitive unit next season. 

Mercy Positioning: Tips and Tricks by Wooly Centaur

Foreword:

I would like to give a huge thank you to Wooly Centaur for very kindly writing this guest blog. Please check her Overwatch blog out here. There are some great articles that she has written.

Anyway, hope you enjoy

Bushie83

Mercy Positioning: Tips and Tricks

Playing Mercy can be a dream or a nightmare, and a lot of it comes down to positioning.

First things first: I would like to thank OVA:done for having me do a guest blog here! I really appreciate it!

I don’t claim to know everything when it comes to my favorite Overwatch hero; however, I do have 430+ hours of experience on quick play alone as Mercy. A little experience can go a long way, and I am more than happy to share what I’ve learned while playing! A lot of gameplay with Mercy (or any hero, really) is situational, but these strategies normally work for me.

Without further ado,  here are my tips for positioning yourself to be a better Mercy player!

1. Use Your Team’s Positioning To Your Advantage

I can’t stress this enough; Mercy’s Guardian Angel ability is one of the most useful in her kit. It can be used either to get closer to allies to heal them or to escape, and I use it often. I used to have the option Toggle Guardian Angel on; however, after a recent video by Animetic, I decided to turn it off and I absolutely love it!

If you do have Toggle Guardian Angel on, make sure to press shift again to cancel your flight. I can’t tell you how many times I flew past my Reinhardt’s shield or straight into the enemy because I didn’t know how to cancel my flight!

2. “It’s over, Anakin! I have the high ground!”

Just like it helped Obi Wan, the high ground will help you. Taking up a higher position will not only give you a good vantage point to heal your allies, but it will often allow you an easy escape route from anyone trying to murder you and will keep you far enough away from any crowd control or zoning ults the enemy team may have, which brings me to my next tip!

3. Don’t Get Too Close

That’s right. While you should be close enough to your allies to heal or damage-boost them, staying right next to them can be dangerous, especially if the enemy team has any crowd control abilities (Roadhog’s hook, Orisa’s Halt!) or zoning ultimates (Zarya’s Graviton or Reinhardt’s Hammer Down). Remember, you’re the one who can res the rest of the team; they can’t res you!

4. Be Conscious of Both Teams’ Ult Statuses (And HIDE)

Playing Mercy takes a lot of game awareness, and being conscious of ult statuses is part of that! I try to be aware of the ults on my team and the ults that the enemy team might have; that way, I can be prepared to run and hide or stay and fight depending on what I think the enemy or our team might use next. If you think someone on the other team might be about to ult, back off and try to find a spot where you can still heal while also having a fast and easy getaway.

5. Be Aware of Enemy Positioning

With game awareness comes awareness of enemy positions; this is key for figuring out how to position yourself. Is a flanker attempting to come after you? Go toward the nearest ally you trust to help you, or toward the nearest health pack. Is there a Widowmaker who has the point on lockdown? Duck around corners and stay out of her sights. While it’s great to be aware of your team’s position (refer back to tip #1), it’s also great to be aware of the enemy and your immediate surroundings. If you aren’t you could get flanked or sniped or randomly charged by a Reinhardt. Which, let’s be honest, still happens to me if I’m not paying enough attention.

That’s all, folks!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Please comment and let me know what you think about these tips, if they help you while you play, and if you want to see more! Big thanks to OVA:done, as well; check out their blog and be sure to follow them!

~ Wooly

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