Overwatch Guide: How To Play Reaper

Overwatch is built around its stellar cast of characters that play very differently from one another, making it hard to just switch from one character to another and know just how to use them right away. That’s why we wanted to help you with a breakdown of each character on how to use them, as well as their biggest strengths and weaknesses in battle, with us starting off with the Offense class character Reaper.

Like the rest of the characters in Overwatch, Reaper is a lot of fun to use in the game, but he definitely does take some getting used to before you can really start to dominate with him. As an Offense class character, Reaper is pretty speedy with traversing the map and his goal is to take down enemies and then escaping before others realize he was even there.

Reaper’s weapons are his dual Hellfire Shotguns that can really pack a wallop by pressing R2 on PS4, with a magazine size of four in each for a total of eight in quick succession, with the ability to either reload automatically when running out or reloading rather quickly before that point. Like most Offense class characters, Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns do not have much range, making the need to get in up close very important.

Trying to do this can be dangerous normally, but one of Reaper’s abilities makes it quite easy for you to do. By pressing R1, you can activate his Shadow Step ability which lets you aim towards most anywhere in sight and teleport there. This is especially useful for getting to higher ground or also teleporting directly behind nearby enemies to create the element of surprise by flanking them. This can be dangerous in a pack of enemies, but it is highly effective in one on one combat.

After taking down an enemy and another starts to rush in when your health or ammo is low, Reaper’s Wraith Form can literally save your life. By pressing L1, he will enter this special form that gives him a speed boost and makes him invincible. The only real downside here is that you cannot shoot your Hellfire Shotguns at all. This move works well in tandem with Shadow Step as it can let you go in for the surprise kill and then can use his Wraith Form to escape the skirmish and live to fight another day.

These two abilities can also be used together with Reaper’s Ultimate, Death Blossom, to unleash a deadly attack within a group of enemies and still manage to stay alive. The key here is to wait until your Ultimate meter is full and then teleport with Shadow Step right into a pack of enemies. Instantly unleash your barrage of attacks on them and if anyone is left standing to take you down, quickly use Wraith form to get out of there.

Reaper also has a very useful passive ability calling The Reaping, which provides him with Soul Globes that restore 50 health for each enemy he kills. This helps you to take out a few enemies in succession while helping to recover the health you may have lost in the battle.

Reaper’s ultimate weakness will come out especially against Tank characters like Zarya and Roadhog, as his attacks will take awhile to defeat these high health characters, while he can be taken down much quicker. He can certainly defeat them if he can get the jump on them and their focus is on other characters, but it is best advised to focus on flanking characters of the other classes, especially characters like the sniping Widowmaker that you can use Shadow Step to surprise from behind.