Reaper is the harbinger of death. With his various skills and high damage guns, he is unstoppable when paired with the right team and with the right person behind the controls. Reaper is primarily an attack character, however in the right hands he can be deadly on defense as well. Here are some pointers to help you get the most out of Reaper on the attack.

Guns/Skills:

Reaper has two guns (named Hellfire Shotguns) that deal 2-7 damage per pellet with 20 pellets per shot. They are extremely effective at close ranges as the falloff range is between 11 to 20 meters. Don’t expect these to help you much against a flying Pharah. Reload time is 1.5 seconds and ammo is 8 per reload.

Reaper’s other skills include:

- A passive skill named The Reaping which allows you to collect globes that replenish your health by 50 and has a range of 5 meters.
- Wraith Form which allows Reaper to become a shadow for a short period of time. During this time, he cannot take damage. Cooldown is 8 seconds.
- Shadow Step is what makes Reaper a stealthy silent killer. After picking a destination, Reaper is able to teleport from his current location to that new location. The max range on this is 35 meters. Cooldown is 10 seconds.
- Death Blossom is Reaper's Ultimate Ability. This is able to deal 510 damage and has an 8 meter AOE. 1500 points are needed to obtain this ability.

Reaper Pros/Cons:

Pros:

- Stealthy
- High damage up close
- Self heals from the Reaping
- Able to Shadow Step in a pinch
- Death Blossom can take down a whole team
- Annoying to enemy team

Cons:

- Reload times can feel like forever when you are in the thick of a gun fight
- Health bar is only 250 and can be easily taken down by a skilled opponent
- Need to get up close to deal heavy damage
- Lack of in-combat mobility

Get Behind Enemy Lines:

Reaper is best known for his annoying upfront combat and the ease that he takes down tanks, but have you ever wondered how he gets close enough in a pinch? Using Reaper's Shadow Step skill enables him to get behind the enemy team and gives you and your team a tactical advantage. About to die? No problem! Use his Wraith Form to easily get back to friendly territory. Always know your surroundings when using Reaper, as the cooldowns for his abilities can be his downfall. If you have just used Wraith Form, you now have an 8 second cooldown to contend with, so make sure you are not in a place where the enemy can easily get to you.

The Anti-Tank:

Reaper's Hellfire Shotguns can do a lot of damage, but they do most of their damage at close range. Due to this, he can easily take down tanks without much effort. His shotguns are highly effective when aiming for the head so I cannot stress this enough…Make sure you aim for the head! Reaper is fast moving when compared to tanks like Reinhardt, so when attempting to take them down, you should keep moving as it is hard for some tanks to turn quickly and get out of your way. Keep an eye on your health bar and always use Wraith Form when low to quickly evade enemy attacks and get out of danger as quickly as possible.

Teamwork is Key:

Reaper has one of the deadliest Ults in the game. Death Blossom really shines when you can use Shadow Step to get behind the enemy team and unleash. However, he is left vulnerable while the skill is being used and can be easily taken down by a few well-placed headshots. The best way to use Death Blossom is in conjunction with another teammate's ult. Have a Mei on your team? Have her use her ult which will freeze enemies within her circle and then unleash Death Blossom in the middle to shatter anyone who is frozen. Have a Zarya instead? Have her use her Gravity Surge to lock enemies into place and unleash your ultimate. Both of these should make your enemies into target practice.

Final Thoughts:

Although this guide is meant for an offensive Reaper, he can also be used on the defense. Using Shadow Step to get behind the attacking team leaves them vulnerable. Blast away, use Wraith Form to get back to safety. Reload, rinse and repeat.

Reaper is annoying to most, if not all, defenders and a well-placed Reaper using Shadow Step can do some serious damage. Just remember to keep an eye out for what’s around you. A really good sniper can take you down easily.

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