Tank is one of the four roles in Overwatch. You have the choice out of five different heroes: D.Va, Reinhardt, Roadhog, Zarya and Winston.

Let's start with the most offensive tank:

Roadhog

His basic attack is a shotgun shot which is extremely painful in close combat. For medium range you can use your second attack.Use your Chain Hook (E) to pick out the enemy healer or a defensive hero like Bastion. You may ask what distinguishes Roadhog as a tank? Even if you are in combat, his Take a Breather (Shift) can be used to heal himself up to 300 HP. His ultimate Whole Hog pushes enemies away and deals decent damage. Use it to push enemies away from a point.

Roadhog is indeed the tank with the most damage and the most offensive playstyle. If you want to win games with him, hooking enemies is the key to succeed. Use your ultimate to capture points or prevent enemies to do it.

Reinhardt

Reinhardt's Rocket Hammer and his Shield make him to the most defensive tank in the game. With his main attack you swing your hammer in front of you. Shield (Right Click) is his second ability that blocks up to 1800 damage. If you stop holding right click, your Shield will start to regenerate.

His third ability is Charge (Shift). Use it to charge forth in a straight line. Every enemy hit by you will be grabbed into your direction. Use your Charge to knock enemies against the wall to deal extra damage. With his E you fire a projectile out of your hammer into the direction and deal damage to every enemy you hit.

Reinhardt's ultimate is called Earthshatter. He slams his hammer into the ground and stun every enemy in front of him.

Rheinardt seems to be the standard tank with a really nice ultimate to wipe out the enemy team. For both, defense and offense Reinhardt seems to be the best tank to pick. He is also one of the easiest heroes in Overwatch and I highly recommend to play him.

D.Va

With her mech, D.Va is the only hero with two ultimates. D.Va's mech has infinite ammunition. Her Defensive Matrix (E) is a shield in front of her, that blocks all incoming damage for the next 8 seconds or until you cancel it. You can even block ultimates like Pharrah's Rocket Barrage or Junkrat's Rip Tire. With her Boosters (Shift) D.Va is able to fly a short distance and push enemies away.

While D.Va is in her mech, her ultimate is Self-Destruct. D.Va jumps out of her mech and the mech explodes for a huge amount of damage. Take care! You can kill yourself with the explosion, that's why you should always use your Boosters first and to push your mech into the enemies and use your ultimate afterwards. After D.Va's mech is destroyed you play her human form with a simple blaster. Dealing damage to enemies will regenerate your ultimate faster and you can call your mech.

D.Va is a really good tank to capture a point. Use your Boosters together with Self-Destruct to engage into enemies. Your Defensive Matrix can be used while Boosters is active, use it to block damage while you fly into enemies.

Zarya

The strongest women in Overwatch holds a particle gun, that fires a beam or an explosive grenade. Her abilities increase the damage and the width of her beam. She can shield herself with her Particle Barrier (Shift) and teammates with Projected Barrier (E) to absorb incoming damage. All her abilities sound pretty simple, but why should you pick her over other tanks? Her ultimate is the answer to this question. Graviton Surge launches a gravity bomb, that draws enemies and deals damage while trapped.

Zarya gives your team the best combination for ultimates like Rocket Barrage, Rip Tire or Pulse Bomb. With those combos you can easily wipe out the enemy team and win the game.

Winston

The last tank is Winston. A big monkey with a Tesla Cannon that can jump through the air and push enemies away with his ultimate. He is considered to be the best tank in the game. His basic attack is his Tesla Cannon, that spreads electricity between enemies. With his Jump Pack (Shift) he can jump towards a point and even high into the air, reaching sniper spots or higher ground. Winston can drop his Shield Projector (E) that blocks damage in a bubble-shaped field. His ultimate is called Primal Rage. He gets 900 HP and knocks back enemies with his fists.

Winston's Tesla Cannon makes it easy to kill enemies, because it automatically hits enemies and is the best counter to mobile heroes like Tracer and Genji.

Winston has the best potential to engage into enemy defenses and destroy their tactical positions. He is considered as the best attacking tank. Use your Jump Pack to engage into the enemies and drop your Shield Projector to absorb incoming damage. Primal Rage gives you the chance to destroy the tactical position of the enemy team.

What hero should I pick?

After you have seen the different utilities of the five tanks, you might ask yourself which one is the right choice for you. If you are the only tank in the team, I recommend to pick either Reinhardt or Winston. While Reinhardt is better for pushing a Payload or defending a point, Winston is the better choice for attacking points and break through difficult defense lines.

If you need more damage, either because you already got a tank like Winston or Reinhardt, or your team plays with two healers, you should pick Roadhog or D.Va to push your teams damage.

Zarya is the best option if you have a good ultimate composition. Pharrah and Zarya can easily wipe out a whole push together.

Conclusion

As a tank you don't always stay in front of the enemies and just block damage. The five different tanks provide different gameplay styles. Picking a tank that fits into the team is a good start to win a game. Use your abilities to break through a tough defense, pick out enemy healers or just block shots from Widowmaker and Bastion.

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