Tips for racking up wins with Overwatch’s Orisa

Security-minded robot Orisa has made her official debut on the Overwatch hero roster. The third post-launch addition to the game is a compelling hybrid tank, with an interesting blend of damage mitigation, support, and disruption in her tool kit.

As with all the new character launches to date, every Overwatch fan will want to get their shot at playing Orisa. Here are eight tips to make you comfortable right away with the latest hero.

1. Burn that Fusion fire

The main gun Orisa uses, the Fusion Driver, is pretty killer at close and medium range. Accurate, controlled fire makes her a serious threat to just about any other hero class, especially the squishy healers hanging out on the back line. At longer distances, the bullet spread gets to be a problem. Orisa probably won’t be picking off snipers on her own, but she can certainly harass them out of position. The clip on the Fusion Driver is also a respectable size. Mow 'em down.

2. Be intentional about shield placement

Orisa’s Protective Barrier deploys in a similar way to Sombra’s Translocator. It’ll pop out a tall, concave shield from the spot where it first makes contact. The shield won’t soak up quite as much as Reinhardt’s, but the versatility of placement seems like a more than fair trade. Protective Barrier is a very useful tool for fending off ground attacks, and if you’re on the attacking force, drop one on top of the payload if you can.

3. Supercharge me!

The same rules of placement apply to her ultimate ability as well. The Supercharger is a great way to turn the tide of of fight, but making it impactful requires some map savvy. It boosts the damage of any ally in the device’s line of sight, but it has a health bar and can be destroyed. Dropping it in the middle of an exposed street means it probably won’t stay alive for long. If you can keep it hidden around a wall or in a protected corner, you’ll be able to maintain its power boost for longer.

4. Stop right there

Halt! is probably Orisa’s most powerful ability. It’s a graviton surge, like a smaller version of the ultimate ability for Zarya, that pulls enemies towards it and slows their movement. The range on Halt! isn’t huge, so it may take some practice to get used to just how far away an opponent it can latch onto. The timing is also tricksy. The player controls when the graviton detonates, but it takes a few seconds between you pulling the trigger and the effect launching. But once you have that range and timing mastered, Orisa can let all hell loose. Yank snipers down from their perches. Jerk enemies away from the protection a shield (and yes, it does go through shields). Pull an unwary opponent out of bounds to fall to their deaths. The possibilities are endless.

5. Fortify against ultimates

Orisa’s final ability is Fortify, which is one of her more traditionally tank-like skills. While in this mode, the damage she takes is greatly reduced and she can’t be impacted by other heroes’ action-impairing effects. That means, if she’s in Fortify, Orisa can withstand Reinhardt’s Earthshatter or Zarya’s Graviton Surge. If she’s also at full health, she can probably survive some ultimate attacks, such as Tracer’s Pulse Bomb, that are often one-hit kills when properly landed. You can also use Fortify as a final line of defense when your Protective Barrier is on cooldown or when your healer has been taken out.

6. Watch your flank

Most of Orisa’s arsenal is forward-facing, so the players with the best chances of taking her down are the highly mobile ones who can pop up, unload a clip into her side, then zip away. Think Tracer, Sombra, and Genji (whose Deflect ability is especially bad news if you’re playing on autopilot). Don’t let all the action in front of you distract from the high likelihood of those flanking attacks.

7. Find a healer buddy

Many of Overwatch’s tanks work well as solo fighters. D. Va, Roadhog, and Winston do very well on their own, for instance. Orisa can handle herself just fine, but if you pair her with a skilled healer, then she becomes a bigger force to be reckoned with. Orisa plus Mercy is an especially potent duo, making the tank seem unkillable if you both time your abilities and movements well.

8. Practice in No Limits mode (for now)

Thanks to the one-hero-per-team rule of most game modes, competition to play Orisa over these first few days will be tight. But everyone can join in the new hero fun with the No Limits mode in the Arcade, where it’s probably going to be all Orisa all the time for a few days. This is a perfect place to test out your skills with other real players; not a bad way to go since bots don’t always make for a realistic challenge. Besides, with all the sprays and voice lines to pick up for a new hero, you’ll want those extra loot boxes for Arcade wins.