Reinhardt has been and is still the most popular main tank in Overwatch competitive plays. Reinhardt is an easy tank to start with as a newbie, but it’s also difficult to actually master it and be useful with it. Rein has been always useful regardless of ranks and meta in history of Overwatch. It is definitely a great choice to climb the tank’s ladder.
In this guide, we will show you several tips on how to improve and be effective as a Reinhardt in competitive matches.
Positioning
As main tank in the front line, you should always be in front of all your teammates and always be with your team. Unlike other tanks like D.Va or Winston, Reinhardt does not get much value from flanking his own or pushing alone. You have to be with your team at all time to be valuable as a Rein.
Sometimes you will lose track of whether or not your teammates are still behind you or if they are engaged by a flanker. If they are getting flanked, deal with the flanker first with your team. Communicate with your teammates on the voice to make sure they are still behind you while you push forward.
Always try to play near a corner or around a cover. This can help to reduce the damage taken and allows you to recharge your shield whenever necessary.
Situational awareness
As a Rein, it’s easy to lose track of where your teammates and enemies are and what’s going on around you. The tip here is while holding your shield up, you can look around you by rotating your camera with your mouse to check on your surrounding and to get more ideas of what’s going on around you.
Another thing you should always be aware of is your health point. I know the health point is sometimes hard to be aware of, but being a tank you have to always know your HP. Being a main tank in the front line, you have to know how much damage you are taking and whether or not you should be swinging your hammer. If the heals you get surpasses the amount of damage you take, you should swing your hammer as much as you can to contribute as much damage as possible to the enemy team. Otherwise, if you are taking too much damage, bring up your shield and stop attack. Don’t die simply because you aren’t aware of your HP.
When to put up your shield?
Use your shield only when you are taking major damages that could potentially kill you or not your teammate. Try not to use your shield for minor or non-fatal damage if that amount of damage can get healed up easily. Save your shield for major and full fight. You wouldn’t want to engage with a half damaged shield during a full engagement when your enemy rein has a full health shield.
When to swing your hammer?
As you push forward, if no enemy is within the range of your hammer, you should most of the time hold up your shield while pushing forward. Until you reach enemy within your hammer range, provided the incoming damage can be sustained by your heal, swing your hammer as much as you can. If you realize you are taking too much damage while swinging your hammer, bring your shield up again to give time for your healers to heal you up before you engage again.
Another tip of using hammer is that you should try to swing your hammer at least 180 degree, or even 360 degree if your sensitivity is high enough to do that. You have to do it quick within the time frame of one hammer swing’s animation. As you left click, as long as the swing animation isn’t ended, the hammer will hit everything your mouse move to. During a full fight and when you are in the center of your enemy team, swing your hammer 180-360 degree to hit as many enemy players as you can with each hit.
When an enemy Genji or other flank dive into your supports, swing your hammer to kill them. Rein’s hammer is one of the biggest counter to small divers who are hard to aim at.
When to use your Charge?
Do not simply use your charge to charge into the pack of enemy players. You would usually die most of the time doing that. Charge only when your enemy team is distracted (by a flank or an offensive ult) and make sure you can hit at least one player before you charge. You can also charge after using earthshatter if the enemy is an important target, has an escape ability and that there is a wall nearby where you can charge him onto.
Charge is not an ability that you should use whenever it’s available. In fact, most pro Reins rarely use their charge at all. They use it when they are sure they can hit someone and kill them or contribute some value without risking his own life.
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