If you're looking for some Overwatch D.Va tips then you've fallen for one of the most popular characters in the game. She appears in almost every match from Bronze to the Overwatch League. Because of this, lots of people think she’s an easy character to play, which is partially true - D.Va can be pretty forgiving. However, playing her correctly is incredibly difficult, which is why she remains a staple pick at the highest levels of professional play. D.Va actually has some of the most complex and powerful abilities in all of Overwatch, and learning how to use them properly is no easy feat.
Overwatch D.Va abilities and ultimate
D.Va’s passive ability, Eject, is often ignored because of how inherently obvious to the game it has become. When D.Va’s mech is destroyed, D.Va herself - known as Baby D.Va in the professional circuit - pops out from the mech equipped with a light gun, endearingly known as the “Bunny Blaster.” What a lot of people don’t know is that you can still activate Self-Destruct even after you’ve been knocked out of your mech, which can allow you to easily dispatch of the enemies who de-meched you in the first place while simultaneously calling down a brand new mech in a matter of seconds. Ejecting might make you look vulnerable, but you can subvert that perceived vulnerability by drawing enemies into the wake of a devastating D.Va bomb and fully restoring your HP.
D.Va’s Micro-missiles are also often misunderstood. Although they can deal up to a whopping 126 damage, there are lots of D.Va players who use Micro-missiles every single time they see an enemy. Micro-missiles should only ever be used at close range, and should preferably be used in conjunction with D.Va’s Boosters in order to maintain the minimum possible distance between you and your foe, allowing you to achieve their maximum damage potential. It’s also important to note that you can’t cancel your Micro-missiles, so once you press the button they’ll fire until the end of the animation. As a result, many Zaryas and Genjis will use bubbles and Deflect, respectively, in order to thwart your efforts and redirect your aggression back toward you and your team. If this happens, be sure to look away, even if it means firing your missiles aimlessly into the sky. At least this way they’re not being used against you, and your enemy will have wasted their defensive abilities for no reason.
People also regularly misuse D.Va’s Defense Matrix. As opposed to being held like a shield, it should instead be used in short bursts designed to swallow projectiles. It’s fine to eat Moira’s orbs and Reinhardt’s Fire Strikes, and eating Zarya’s Graviton Surge is one of the most impressive and game-changing plays a D.Va main can make. However, you need to remember that Defense Matrix wears down quickly and takes a long time to regenerate. You should always have at least some charge left in case you need to protect one of your healers, and not every projectile needs to be eaten. For example, if you’re at full health, it’s better to charge a Barraging Pharah without activating your Defense Matrix, as her missiles will reflect off you and cause her to kill herself before you're even de-meched.
D.Va’s boosters are self-explanatory. They afford her a massive amount of mobility, but that doesn’t mean you should be super aggressive. Instead, these should be reserved for reaching places that would otherwise be inaccessible, diving on low-HP enemies, and, most importantly, quickly flying to a teammate in trouble in order to protect them from their foe. In the blink of an eye you can save an ally while simultaneously overwhelming their adversary in a 2v1 firefight.
Self-Destruct is D.Va’s Ultimate and is by far her most interesting ability. While most people tend to send their mech blindly over walls in pursuit of glory - which often results in a waste of an ultimate - Self-Destruct serves as a fantastic defensive ability. It can be used to zone enemies away from the point, or to give D.Va a second life after she has been de-meched. Sometimes it’s fine to go for a multi-kill, if there’s a Graviton Surge or an EMP holding the enemy team in one place, but most of the time Self-Destruct is better suited for more tactical endeavors. Also, in lower ranks, people will never see your cleverly-executed D.Va bombs coming.
Overwatch D.Va tips and tricks
Be careful who you’re shooting: D.Va’s Fusion Cannons have infinite ammo, which has led many players to believe that the best course of action is to shoot forever. This is wrong, and I have been killed by a friendly D.Va shooting an enemy Genji’s Deflect more times than you can imagine. Shooting constantly also slows you down and informs the enemy team of where you are, so be sure to only shoot when you’re in plain sight or at close-quarters. Also, don’t jump off the edge of the map when you get de-meched just because some of the pros do it. It can take a long time to respawn and return to the action, and D.Va’s Bunny Blaster is far more powerful than people give it credit for. When you’re out of your mech, instead of being conservative with shooting you should spray directly into the biggest target you can find. You’ll have your mech back in no time and won’t have had to die to boot.
Know who counters D.Va: D.Va is usually annihilated by tank busters like Reaper and Hanzo. Because Reaper in particular regenerates 50% of the damage he deals as HP, and D.Va is such a huge target, Reaper will probably gain more health from fighting you than he’ll lose, so this isn’t a fight you ever want to take. Roadhog also gives D.Va a hard time, as if he hooks the mech, his Scrap Gun’s spread will land several headshots on D.Va’s massive hitbox. Clever Zarya players will use D.Va for charge, and crafty Genjis will use her Micro-missiles to take out her teammates. Playing D.Va well is all about picking your fights and alternating between protecting supports and eliminating low-HP enemies, so be sure to coordinate with your team or you’ll likely be countered hard.
Best strategies for D.Va: The most essential thing to know as a D.Va player is that your primary job is to protect your support heroes. That’s why you’ve got your Boosters and Micro-missiles, which make for a combination guaranteed to instantly annihilate a single 200-HP flanker. It’s important to dive low-HP targets with your DPS too, but protecting your supports always takes precedence over this, as they can’t heal you or your other tank if you’ve foregone them in search of eliminations. D.Va is best played as a supplementary all-rounder, building on everything her teammates do without having to instigate anything herself. After all, she's not a main tank, so she isn't in charge of determining engagement. Also, if the enemy Widowmaker is picking your Zenyatta off every 20 seconds, fly straight at her and chase her back to where she came from.
Heroes with the best synergy with D.Va: Interestingly, D.Va synergizes brilliantly with almost every single hero in the game. She can work well alongside every tank - especially Winston - and so long as she peels for them correctly, can make a great combination with any of the support heroes. As for DPS, D.Va works best with annoyers like Genji and Tracer, as she can use her Boosters to quickly reach the enemy they’re targeting and finish them off. Although D.Va’s bomb is best used for tactical purposes, it’s well-suited to be combined with area-denial ults like Zarya’s Graviton Surge, Mei’s Blizzard, and Sombra’s EMP. The most important thing to remember is that you're the all-rounder who helps your teammates out based on the priority of their current engagement. It's not all about flying at the enemy missiles blazing. You need to observe all of the action, all of the time, and use your exceptionally versatile kit to make educated decisions as to how you should be helping your team at any given moment.
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