With Overwatch Comparison, the charming hero shooter from Blizzard, launching this week, we want to make sure that you’re as prepared as possible to help your team dominate. Overwatch’s main focus is clearly on the interplay between its dynamic characters, so in order to become competent, you’ll need to understand how every character works. Throughout the week, we’ll be publishing guides on each of the twenty-one launch heroes, three at a time, with the hopes that you’ll be able to recognize certain patterns on the battlefield.

When it comes to characters with a high skill-ceiling, Zenyatta resides near the top of the list. A glass cannon with the ability to heal teammates, a good Zenyatta has the opportunity to completely shift a match in his team's favor, which is certainly a strong case for giving him a shot. Let's get his downsides out of the way right off of the bat: everyone's favorite robotic monk sports a mere 150 hitpoints and doesn't have any movement-based abilities or perks, making him an easy target when in the thick of battle. Still, his main weapon, the Orbs of Destruction, do a great deal of damage for a Support hero, as they can either be fired one-by-one with extreme accuracy, or charged up and fired (with the amount of orbs that are fired based upon how long the secondary fire button is held for). If you're the type of player that is really good at aiming your shots, consider giving Zenyatta a shot, as he is an absolute blast when played proficiently.

There are certain characters in Overwatch that lose their effectiveness when solely used for killing, and Reinhardt is firmly in this camp. If you've spent any time watching or playing Overwatch, you'll recognize this massive sheild and hammer wieldimg knight from a mile away. Reinhardt is one of the lucky few characters that has two distinct weapons, one offensive and one defensive. His Rocket Hammer does massive amounts of damage to anyone who falls inside of a given swing, though it should be noted that these swings are exceptionally slow in the grand scheme of things. In addition to the Rocket Hammer, Reinhardt also utilizes the Barrier Field, his iconic light shield that can reflect up to 2000 hitpoints before retracting. Not only does this shield automatically retract when it runs out of HP, but it also recharges when it's not in use and Reinhardt is much slower when using it. For these reasons, it's best to save up your shield for when you're right on top of a payload as a member of the attacking team, as this is where the Barrier Field is easily the most effective.

Arguably the toughest character to be proficient with in all of Overwatch, Symmetra can generate some heart-stopping victories for her team when used successfully. It's important to note that she is the one Support character whose role does not focus on healing, so it's totally okay to run dual Support heroes when she's on your squad. Her main weapon, the Photon Projector, functions very similarly to a traditional flamethrower in that it fires a continuous beam of damaging energy. However, what makes the Photon Projector special is that it latches onto the nearest enemy when fired in their direction, with its damage increases the more that its beam is in contact with them. Its secondary fire, although extremely slow, has the ability to unleash massive damage. It's essentially a charged shot that slowly projects a massive ball of energy in the direction of the reticle, and it's a perfect way to hang back behind your team while still assisting them in pushing the enemy squad back.

If you're looking for a character that deals a massive amount of damage and has a relatively high skill ceiling, then you can do a whole lot worse then Genji. Hanzo's brother utilizes a combination of sword-based abilities and shurkiens not only makes him an awesome choice for kill-seekers, but also allow him to easily take out some of the most frustrating characters on the roster. Genji's primary fire allows him to throw ninja stars in three-round bursts in a straight line, making this the best option for doing large amounts of damage, though you have to be extremely accurate for any hope of success. His secondary fire allows him to throw three shurkiens in a fan, allowing you to do a smaller amount of damage, but increasing your potential for contact. Oh, and let's not forget that Genji can also climb up walls, so sneaking up on campers and snipers is an absolute breeze. Those who use a combination of his attacks, as opposed to simply sticking to one, will find themselves racking up kills at a staggering pace.

Pharah's first core ability, known as Jump Jet, allows her to rapidly boost into the air. Aside from the fact that this is an awesome tactic for maneuvering around the map, it also presents Pharah players with a huge advantage, as most players are concentrated on ground-level encounters. Needless to say, any rockets that come from above will generally take the other team by surprise, so use this to your advantage. Her second ability, Concussive Blast, doesn't do a great deal of damage, but it has the ability to push enemies a significant distance. If you're looking to annoy the hell out of opposing snipers (or anyone during the second round of Capture on Nepal), try using this to push them off of the map. Finally, her ultimate, Barrage, causes her to remain stagnant while she unleashes an insane amount of rockets in the direction of her reticle. This is best utilized in combination with Jump Jet, but you should be aware that you're going to be a relatively easy target for those behind you, so try to plan accordingly.