5 Common Mistakes Players Make When Playing Overwatch

Overwatch is a unique game that comes with a thrilling rush of excitement. Each hero has unique strengths and weaknesses that you must understand clearly to maximize their use in your teams. When you’ve figured out the complexities surrounding each of the Overwatch heroes, you’re up for an exciting adventure as you navigate through the hectic and chaotic fights. But then, the game can also be incredibly frustrating for you if you still haven’t totally figured your way around the heroes, the maps, team formation and the entire gameplay.

Excellent Overwatch players look out for ways to capitalize on their strengths to make their team formidable while fishing out their enemies’ weaknesses and taking advantage of the loopholes to crack them down. In this article, we’ll be showing you some of the common Overwatch mistakes players make that you need to avoid. Let’s get to it.

1. Lack of Cohesion in the Team 

There are only two ways you can play Overwatch– it’s either you’re playing alone or with a team of six. When you’re playing alone, you have the freedom to solely rely on your expertise and successfully eliminate your enemies, but when you’re playing in a team, you can’t just rely on your skills, no matter how much of a badass you think you are.

Cohesion is one of the most critical tools a team needs when playing Overwatch. In fact, no matter how skillful you’re at playing the game, if you don’t work cohesively with the rest of your team, then you’re preparing yourself and your team for defeat.

Overwatch involves a high level of team collaboration that makes even the most skillful player feel powerless because a single mistake from anyone in your squad affects the entire team and could jeopardize your chances of winning. This is why some players prefer to play solo in competitive games. But then, this is Overwatch, and the thrill lies in building a formidable team!

Your entire six-man squad must be on the same page and aiming for the same target to achieve your ultimate goal. Always follow your team, and remember that, whether you’re on the offensive or defensive side, you can only function as a part of a larger unit, and you alone cannot guarantee your team’s victory.

2. Unintelligent Drafting 

Winning Overwatch is easy when you know the best maps on which to use each of your heroes. Overwatch heroes have unique features that make them excellent on specific maps, but almost useless on other maps. For smooth navigation and seamless victory, you have to be conscious of the map you’re using and use your knowledge of the maps and heroes to figure out what your opponents plan to do.

This may seem so complex, but it really isn’t. That’s why you have the meta to point you at the best way to play the game. While you shouldn’t rely solely on the meta, it provides you with the hack you need to get by, so you won’t waste your time trying to force heroes to perform magic in a map where they don’t fit into.

If you notice that your selection isn’t working, switch them as soon as possible. However, ensure that you use up your ultimate charge before switching to avoid wasting your team’s chances at clinching a victory.

3. Playing the Wrong Role

Let’s face it; every Overwatch player has their area of core competence. If you’re excellent at playing Tank, stick to that support role. I know that sometimes, after playing Tank for a while, you just feel like going out there to blast the enemies away with, let’s say, McCree. Yeah, that’s some killer move you’re trying to make, but please resist that urge!

Sometimes, you may get lucky and disseminate your opponents with that swift move, but it’ll often destabilize your team and give your enemies an edge over you. To avoid being the reason your team loses, just stick to what you know how to do unless your entire team decides that you should make that switch. This brings us to another critical mistake that Overwatch players make– lack of communication.

4. Lack of Proper Communication 

Like every other activity involving two or more persons, communication is one of the most essential tools an Overwatch squad needs to succeed. If yours is an old team, then it’s safe to say that each player already knows what to do and when to do it. But for new teams, you need to do a lot of communication to bring everyone on the same page.

If your team isn’t in sync through efficient communication, then you have to get ready for your opponents to start picking you all off one after the other. To avoid this “humiliation,” making quick calls in-game can help turn the tide. Overwatch has simplified the communication process for you, so why not use the pings, hero voice commands and other features to your advantage?

5.  Playing Overwatch without Understand the Basics 

Many people believe that Overwatch is a complex game, but the truth is that it is also effortlessly simple to play if you understand the basics. So here’s the thing: there are a bunch of heroes in there who play different roles. There are also different maps in the game, each one with its own unique goals.

Some players don’t take the time to understand the roles of each hero before they start playing. That’s why you’ll see a support player coming out to wreck damage, which isn’t their role, and in the end, they mess up their team’s efforts.

Ideally, they may have noble intentions while doing this, but it takes away from the time they’re supposed to heal and shield their teammates. Tank players always make this mistake, which results in passively soaking in damage and giving up free ultimate charge to the opponents.

Final Thoughts

Every Overwatch team needs to understand the concept of division of labor. Team members should stick to their roles and work towards one goal. Newbies make many mistakes when playing this game, and while we try to point them out individually, they’re all related to not understanding the rules of the game and how to tweak them in your favor. To avoid these Overwatch mistakes and become a better player, you need to master the basics and improve on the other points we’ve listed above. Also, endeavor to spend more time watching professionals play because apart from practicing, the second-best way to learn is by watching the pros do their thing.