Date played: November 11th, 12th and 14th
Platform: PS4
Today's hero is Soldier 76.
Favorite quote: "I'm the one who does his jobs. I'm thinkin' you're the other one."
That's not to say he's not useful! He's the most reliable damage dealer in the game. Even the worst players can get a few kills with his automatic rifle, so he's almost always a welcome addition to the team. He and Reinhardt make excellent partners, since the shield is perfectly suited to Soldier's play style. Mercy is another great partner, with her 30% damage boost, particularly while using Tactical Visor. Not only that, but his biotic field can really help a team get through a tough battle.
Then there's the rockets. These things hit really fucking hard, so a solid hit with them can make a big difference. They have infinite range too, making them great at harassing Bastion, or even snipers. When I'm playing Reinhardt, I'm always hoping for a Soldier to join our team, as long as he stays behind my shield.
One of the problems with Soldier is that he's just fucking boring. I do well enough with him, but I just get bored of his kit. It's just shoot-shoot-shoot, heal, rocket, shoot-shoot-shoot. His abilities aren't really exciting, even if they are pretty good overall.
The other, bigger problem, is that McCree is usually a better choice than Soldier... McCree's Peacekeeper pistol is far stronger than Soldier's Pulse Rifle. The biotic field and rockets usually don't make a big enough difference to warrant taking Soldier over McCree. It depends on the player, but for me, McCree is almost always a better choice.
Most satisfying kill: Pharah
Platform: PS4
Today's hero is Soldier 76.
Role: Offense
Difficulty: ★
HP: 200
Armor: 0
Shields: 0
Total: 200
Favorite map to play on: Route 66
Appearance
Soldier 76 just might be the most boring-looking character in the game. He's a soldier, and it shows. He does have a really cool visor thing, so that's cool. He also has a killer jacket, it almost looks like a Nascar leather jacket. The big, stylized "76" on the back looks real nice. He's got white hair, and many of his comments and voice lines imply that he's been around for a while. He wields a big, high-powered assault rifle.
Skills
- Heavy Pulse Rifle: A fully automatic rifle with 25 rounds per magazine. It has a bit of spread after the first few shots.
- Helix Rockets: A set of tiny rockets that travel in a spiral at high speed. Hits hard and has some splash damage.
- Sprint: Soldier 76 can sprint at will, running faster than any other hero. He cannot shoot while sprinting.
- Biotic Field: A little emitter that is placed on the ground. It heals anyone inside it's 5 meter radius at a rate of 40 HP per second for 5 seconds.
- Ultimate - Tactical Visor: Soldier 76's badass visor locks on to any enemies for 6 seconds, granting perfect accuracy. Cannot headshot or target turrets.
Strengths
- Soldier 76 is the "bread and butter" damage dealer of Overwatch. His weapon is easy to use and reliable.
- Sprint is vastly underrated. Not only can it be used to get back into battle faster, it's also a great escape tool and and even better flanking tool.
- Helix Rockets hit fucking hard. They are perfect for taking out a Bastion, or other targets that are easy to hit, like tanks. Works well at chokepoints also.
- Biotic Field can help the healers when they can't keep up. It's got a pretty large radius and heals fast enough to be useful in a fight.
Weaknesses
- Tactical Visor is really hard to use efficiently... At range, the damage drop off hurts a lot. Also, it can be hard to pick a target due to how the ability works. Sometimes, I'll waste it firing at a healing Roadhog but I was aiming at the healer behind him.
- Soldier 76 has limited defenses against heroes like Winston, Roadhog, Reaper, Mei and even Symmetra. Basically, anyone that gets in his face and has a bit of survivability has a good chance of winning against Soldier.
- The long cooldown on both Helix Rockets and Biotic Field make it difficult for Soldier to defend himself when they are already on cooldown.
- Needs to be relatively close for his damage to be consistent. At range, there's significant damage drop off and accuracy is much lower.
Comments
Soldier often feels like he's just the "Call of Duty guy". In a game like Overwatch, where every hero has some crazy thing going on, either in their appearance or abilities, Soldier feels incredibly boring.That's not to say he's not useful! He's the most reliable damage dealer in the game. Even the worst players can get a few kills with his automatic rifle, so he's almost always a welcome addition to the team. He and Reinhardt make excellent partners, since the shield is perfectly suited to Soldier's play style. Mercy is another great partner, with her 30% damage boost, particularly while using Tactical Visor. Not only that, but his biotic field can really help a team get through a tough battle.
Then there's the rockets. These things hit really fucking hard, so a solid hit with them can make a big difference. They have infinite range too, making them great at harassing Bastion, or even snipers. When I'm playing Reinhardt, I'm always hoping for a Soldier to join our team, as long as he stays behind my shield.
One of the problems with Soldier is that he's just fucking boring. I do well enough with him, but I just get bored of his kit. It's just shoot-shoot-shoot, heal, rocket, shoot-shoot-shoot. His abilities aren't really exciting, even if they are pretty good overall.
The other, bigger problem, is that McCree is usually a better choice than Soldier... McCree's Peacekeeper pistol is far stronger than Soldier's Pulse Rifle. The biotic field and rockets usually don't make a big enough difference to warrant taking Soldier over McCree. It depends on the player, but for me, McCree is almost always a better choice.
Worst enemy: Symmetra
Best teammate: ReinhardtMost satisfying kill: Pharah
