Orisa and The Power of a Strong Anchor Tank
Learn how to maximize Orisa's offensive and defensive capabilites, and about why she has become the Tankiest of all the Tanks.
Orisa is powerful. She is the bone, muscle, and heart of any team composition. When played at the highest level, she is both an invincible castle and a relentless battering ram.
When given the opportunity, Orisa can be a strong pick for both offense and defense. Orisa's consistent damage, lockdown, and shielding, amalgamate into a hero that is more than the sum of her (their?) parts. As dive compositions become more and more situational, so to do Orisa (defensive) comps. On major Payload maps and 2 CP maps, Orisa is the master of the push and pull. Her constant flow of shields keeps her teammates safe while her constant flow of damage keeps her enemies dead.
Payload Maps
Most Payload maps are structured the same. The first point is the offense pushing against the defensive high ground. The second point is the longest point where both team battle for neutral control. The third point is the defense holding off against the offensive high ground.
JunkerTown is a great example of a map where dive compositions waver and Orisa can shine.
Offense - Orisa's strength on offense lies in her ability to push the objective. Now for many obvious reasons this is an important attribute. What Orisa does that no other tank can do is supply consistency.
Initial Push: On Payload maps, initial pushes can feel the hardest. The defense has a strong positioning advantage and can easily poke at you while you babysit the Payload. This is where Orisa's first point of power comes into play. When Orisa is on the battlefield, there is always a shield to stand behind. There are very few gaps in a coordinated Orisa push, meaning that she is always in the frontline supporting and enabling her team. Even when her shield breaks, Orisa can body tank using the high damage resistance (50%) of her Fortify ability. Orisa's second point of power is her displacement alt-fire, Halt! Just as easy as Orisa builds up offenses, she can destroy defenses. Although it's very telegraphed, pulling the defensive team from their high ground can win fights by itself.
Neutral push: At mid-range, Orisa can defend her team from poke while poking down the enemy non-stop herself. When an Orisa is posted up on the Payload, it turns from slow moving cart to lethal moving fortress. Orisa's ability to play from range is better than any other tank. She can control the neutral push while standing her ground on the Payload. offering cover with her shield and Fusion Driver from range.
Final Push: On a final push Orisa can make full use of the offensive high ground by putting up a shield so that her and her DPS can lay down punishment from a favorable position. This forces the defense to play more forward, which usually drags their attention away from the cart.
2 Capture Point Maps
2 CP maps are very simple, but can also be very frustrating. Both Capture Points have defensive favored high ground and frustrating chokes, but the maps are strangely offense favored. Because of the game mode's heavy reliance on momentum, it can feel like the game can be decided on the opening push.
Hanamura is potentially Orisa's strongest defensive map
Defense - Orisa's strength on defense lies in her ability to slow pushes. Orisa can craft a wall more durable than a Mei Ice Wall. Her ever prevalent lockdown can be oppressive and hard to push into.
1st Point: Orisa's job on any first point is to hold the line. For most part on 2CP maps, the first point is a "one-way-in-one-way-out" design. Orisa can make great use of her oppressive shield and Fusion Driver by essentially standing still and endlessly firing at anyone who approaches through the main entrance. Although very one-dimensional, this strategy can be really hard to deal with as the offensive team. It can be hard to get a proper push going when people are constantly getting pulled and poked at. Orisa can abuse this momentum stopper very well, and it makes her a vital Hero when full holding on the first point.
2nd Point- Orisa has two primary jobs on the second point: defend the high ground and to stall on the point. If you accomplish the task of not getting your second point capped 5 seconds after the first one was, you've already won half the battle. The high ground on 2CP always favors the defense. As an Orisa, this is primary shield location. Orisa, along with her DPS this time, can safely sit above the point, with the entire perimeter in view, and rain the damage from above, setting up an even more threatening and oppressive wall than on the first point. Finally, if the enemies ever end up taking a fight on the point, Orisa can be an excellent Hero in the nonsensical back and forth "2CP war of attrition". She can use her Fortify to creep up right on the corner of the point, place a shield right at her feet, and spam like there's no tomorrow while tanking as much as she can, giving her team enough time to spawn and retaliate.
To be able to dethrone Reinhardt as top Tank is quite a feat. Though as I stated previously - Orisa is powerful. With an entire team in font of her and her entire team behind her, she truly is the only one capable of being classified as an Anchor Tank. The bone, muscle, and heart of a team.
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