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For someone completely new to Overwatch, what are the recommended classes and heroes? I'm guess to start out with the assault ones.
I'm guessing that you're not completely new to FPS, right? They did create some heroes that are
similar to other games. For example, Soldier:76 was designed to appeal to the Call of Duty crowd. He uses an assault rifle with decent accuracy, mild damage fall-off (damage output reduction based upon distance to target) and modest spread. He also has a pretty good burst (Helix Rockets) on a modest cooldown (I think it's 12 seconds?). Unlike most non-supports, he's also able to heal himself and all allies that stand in his Biotic Field (also has a cooldown). The only other supports with self-heal on command are Bastion (Defense), Roadhog (Tank) and Mei (Defense). Tracer can technically heal if she recalls, but it only works if she recalls to a point in which she had more health.
Another good example is Pharah. Pharah is a nice entry point for players that are used to rocket weapons or other slower-moving (explosive) projectiles. She recently saw a buff that has made her a bit more agile while flying (she has a jetpack) and I believe they also raised the minimum amount of splash damage that can be dealt from the rockets.
Widowmaker is the game's main sniping character. (Ana, a support, can also snipe, but Ana does not have the ability to headshot.) Her mobility is a bit low given that her Grappling Hook is on a decent cooldown (18 seconds, I believe), but her weapon acts as a SMG when not zoomed in, which is still quite potent at close range.
Now, these are mostly attack oriented characters (Widowmaker is technically listed under Defense), but there are some other characters that are quite fun. Unfortunately, while Reinhardt is usually recommended as a tank, I'd probably avoid him during a free-play weekend that is jam packed with newer players. Reinhardt is designed to absorb damage for your team by creating a huge wall that absorbs enemy damage (except for Winston's Tesla Cannon and Symmetra's right click), but his team can still fire through it. The problem is that most people (especially those new to the game) don't play with Reinhardt, which makes him far less effective. However, Roadhog is a fun tank to play as he's far more of an attacker with high health, a self-heal, but saddled down by a small magazine (4), slow reload time, and slow movement.
So, to try to sum it all up...
- Close Range?
- Fast firing hitscan weapons with very quick gameplay? Tracer
- Slower hitscan weapons with high damage? Reaper
- Medium rate projectile weapons with very quick gameplay? Genji
- Medium Range?
- Fast firing hitscan weapons with mild heals? Soldier:76
- Slow-firing, single-shot, high-accuracy hitscan weapons with low escapability? McCree
- Fast firing hitscan weapons with very quick gameplay and subterfuge? Sombra
- Slow-firing, high-damage hitscan weapons with strong survivability and a "GET OVER HERE!" hook? Roadhog
- Far Range?
- Slow-firing, recharging, high-accuracy weapons with moderately low escapability? Widowmaker
- Slow-firing, splash-damage projectile weapons with no damage fall-off? Pharah
That's a somewhat basic overview of
some of the heroes. There are plenty more (23 in all), and I haven't even touched the supports. Frankly, I would recommend giving them a shot too, as I think they get a bit of an unfair rap as not being fun. However, I think if you pay attention a lot, you may find a match to be very frantic as a healer! If you want to just heal like you would in a MMO, try Mercy. If you want a bit more precision in your healing, try Ana. If you want lower healing with decent damage, try Zenyatta. Lucio is fine too, but he's far better if you swap between his speed boost and healing (it's one or the other).
Most of my videos are just Play of the Game or Highlight videos, but I have a few playing on certain heroes:
Roadhog on Hanamura (Defense)
Roadhog on Dorado (Defense)
McCree on Nepal (Partial Match)