Overwatch

Date played: September 18th, 19th, 20th and 24th
Platform: PS4

Today's hero is Tracer.

Role: Offense
Difficulty: ★★
HP: 150
Armor: 0
Shields: 0
Total: 150

Favorite quote: "The world could always use more heroes."
Favorite map to play on: Hanamura

Appearance

Tracer is the poster child of Overwatch. She is prominently displayed in most of the promotional material for the game, and has been a central character in the short movies and trailers. She is a petite woman who wears some really tight pants and a cool aviator jacket. In the center of her chest lies a chronal accelerator, a device built by Winston that allows Tracer to manipulate time to some degree. She wields a pair of automatic pistols.

Skills

• Pulse Pistols: Two automatic pistols that fire rapidly and deal a lot of damage at close range. Interestingly, Tracer never actually reloads. Instead, she uses the chronal accelerator to revert the pistols to a time when they had full ammo.
• Blink: Tracer travels through space instantly, moving her a few meters in the direction she was moving. It has three charges that recharge automatically over time. Can be used to cross gaps.
• Recall: Tracer's signature ability. Allows her to travel back in time (maybe 4 or5 seconds). This returns her to her previous position but also restores health and ammo. The cooldown is long, at 12 seconds, but it's a very powerful ability.
• Ultimate - Pulse Bomb: Tracer drops a powerful bomb that deals up to 400 damage in a 3 meter radius. Adheres to any surface, including enemies.

Strengths

• Deals a lot of damage in a short time.
• Fast enough to flank, then retreat without dying in most cases.
• Very hard to hit because she moves quickly and has a small body.
• Can use alternate routes by using Blink.

Weaknesses

• Very vulnerable to stuns, like Junkrat's trap, McCree's flashbang and Roadhog's hook.
• Smallest health pool in the game. 
• Can be useless on certain maps against certain team compositions. For example, it's pretty rare that Tracer is useful on Payload defense.
• Her Ultimate is kind of difficult to pull off and isn't nearly as powerful as some of the other Ultimates in the game.

Comments

It took me some time before trying Tracer properly. She gets killed really quickly if not played correctly, so she seemed frustrating. However, as I gained experience with the game, I started to see how Tracer can be useful. She's fast sure, and yeah she's a good flanker, but I firmly believe that Tracer is at her best when she's close to her team.

This is because her damage output is amazing. When she flanks, she can get a hit or two on enemy healers or something, but then she'll have to retreat. This can work sometimes, and it's a useful tactic. However, I find her more effective when she's fighting along with her teammates because she is small and fast. The enemy will often focus on the tank or the healers, so that means I'm free to shoot at will without much risk of repercussion. 

I'm still trying to find a way to use her Ultimate correctly. It seems underpowered honestly. It works really well against Bastion, when I manage to flank him. It also works well against Reinhardt and Winston, but even then, it's not even strong enough to kill them. I still have to finish them off with a few pistol shots.

I love using Tracer when we need some extra damage and mobility. She's also just really fun to play, mostly because her guns are just awesome. 

Worst enemy: Roadhog

Best teammate: Reaper
Most satisfying kill: Reinhardt

Rating ★★★