What makes Tracer from Overwatch so good?
Let’s think. Who is the most iconic hero in Overwatch?
Is it Winston? No. Is it Reinhardt? No. Is it Tracer?
Of course, it’s Tracer. But you already knew that (didn’t you?), first of all from the title and even if you didn’t guess it from that, probably you guessed it because SHE IS ON THE COVER OF THE GAME! Don’t take our word, she is consistently tops every Overwatch Tier List as the best hero.
What is curious about the case of Tracer is that not only she is an iconic character for the game, but also that she seems to be the most spot-on hero that the Overwatch team has created. Of course, most of the heroes of Overwatch feel amazing to play. Every hero has their unique style and feel (even if we don’t like their feel, BASTION) but there seems to be no hero from the beginning of Overwatch that has been changed so little by the patches. Tracer has only received 3-4 small changes to her since the release of the game, which is saying something.
What is it that makes Tracer such a good hero to play?
Nice question self. We should start with her role. Tracer is a damage dealer. From our experience, in every kind of game we have played, the most popular role is the one of the damage dealer. It seems like this role has the most responsibility and feels like it is the difference-maker (although in reality, it’s a collaboration between all the roles). So, naturally, Tracer would be in that role.
Now, let’s talk about her playstyle. Tracer’s way of attacking the enemy is by going on their backlines utilizing her great mobility, poking away at their heroes from angles they would never expect. Her blink makes her extremely hard to catch or even aim and her small character model helps with that. Even if you manage to catch her and do some damage to her, she will use her Recall ability, erasing that damage and repositioning herself. Her Pulse Bomb is a nice guaranteed kill if you know how to stick it properly. For last, we leave her pulse pistols, which do some of the highest DPS in the game (provided you land all the shots. If you watch some of the professionals playing this hero, you will definitely wonder if this hero is unkillable. Don’t worry, we all have been there.
How can a hero like that not be Overpower?
That’s the beauty of Tracer. She is extremely strong, but if you are not careful while playing her and get too greedy, you will be punished instantly. Tracer is the hero with the lowest HP in the game (150 HP). If you stay static for a few seconds with Tracer, you will be killed by accident. People don’t even need to aim at you. Also, you need to practice a lot your aim. Overwatch is not your typical FPS where you just need to adjust your aim to the recoil. You need to have your aim fixed on the enemy even though you are jumping back and forth, up and down among a maelstrom of bullets and explosions.
There seems to be the perfect risk/reward ratio while playing Tracer. The risk is high, but so is the reward. For us, this is what Overwatch is about. Playing a game where the stakes are high and you are “forced” to constantly develop your skills to survive in the battleground. The steps go like that:
Step 1: Start playing Overwatch
Step 2: “Oh that’s Tracer, I will pick her”
Step 3: Get destroyed in the game, but still enjoy it
Step 4: Repeat step 3 a few thousand times, while learning
Step 5: Profit?