Overwatch Guide: How To Play Orisa

The latest hero has been added to Overwatch’s roster across all supported platforms, with the new recruit called Orisa offering a brand new way to play for the game’s ever-growing fanbase. Of course, with a new character comes a learning curve, and this guide will get you up and running so that you can take down your enemies and support your team with few problems.

First of all, Orisa is a tank character that can both take and deal a lot of damage. She moves slowly as a means to offset her power, but utilized correctly she can be a force to be reckoned with. It’s best to always stick near your team for backup due to her low movement speed, as solo can allow her to easily be flanked and ganged up on. Her Fusion Driver weapon packs some good firepower to get her out of some tough situations, but it won’t be enough when things get intense.

Thus, a general game will have you moving around surrounded by your team and instead initially focusing on backing them up. You’ll want to make use of her Supercharger ability frequently, which increases the damage output of all allies that remain within 25 meters of the device. You need to be very careful when deploying the device, however, as it can be destroyed by the enemy team. As a result, it’s best to place in a spot that is behind cover or even protect it yourself with Orisa’s Protective Barrier, ensuring you get the full benefit of the buff. Of course, you also want to make sure you use it in a spot where your team will be located for a while, as if your team is pushing forward they will quickly move out of range.

When it comes to using Orisa’s Protective Barrier, it’s most useful to use in confined spaces where it can’t be easily flanked. It’s not as big as Reinhardt’s Barrier Field and has only 900 health, so it’s best used in situations where there are fewer enemies and plenty of cover for yourself when it eventually breaks. Places like small rooms or tight corridors are the best spots for it, and you’ll want to avoid using it entirely in open areas. Also, keep in mind that you can’t have two of these barriers out at once, as deploying another while one is already active will just eliminate the first one.

If you find yourself in a tricky situation and your Protective Barrier has already broken, then Orisa’s Fortify is another solid method for keeping from being taken down. The move reduces the damage that she takes by half and makes her temporarily immune to special moves like Roadhog’s Chain Hook or Reinhardt’s Earthshatter. However, it only last for 4 seconds and has a 10 second cooldown, so you’ll want to use it as you’re making your way out of harm’s way. Another great time to use it is right when an enemy is using their Ultimate, which will greatly reduce the damage and give you a much better shot at survival.

Now we’ll shift back to one of Orisa’s very useful offensive moves, which is called Halt! This move fires a projectile that pulls in enemies towards its center within a 7.5 meter radius once it detonates, while also slowing the captured enemies down in the process. This can be a fantastic move to help your teammates out, as you can shoot it to drag an enemy out of cover for you and your allies to take down quickly. Also, if an enemy happens to be near an edge of the map, you can shoot it so that it drags them to their demise. You’ll know you have captured an enemy by the tether that latches on to them, giving you a visual cue to open fire.

As mentioned previously, it’s in these situations where you want to go all out with her Fusion Driver, which holds 150 rounds and packs a very quick rate of fire. It’s a weapon that you’ll want to constantly hold down the trigger for and spray in the general direction that enemies are located in, though be aware of its reload time and your reduced speed while firing it. You’ll ideally want to be firing from behind your teammates so you’re less likely to be surrounded, or have a spot with good cover that will allow you to continuously fire with less opportunities for you to take damage. It also has poor accuracy at long distances, so you’ll want to be within medium to close range of your enemies when firing.

That’s all you’ll really need to know when you’re getting used to using Orisa for the first time, so now it’s time to just take the plunge yourself and figure out whether or not she suits your playstyle. If you have any other tips or tricks when using Orisa then be sure to let us know in the comments below.