In fantasy-based games like Overwatch 2 the character you choose to play with makes a big difference. A good character in a good hand can cause carnage upon the enemy team while an overpowered hero in the clueless hand can cause the team serious damage or even a loss. In these types of games, a player should take some time to properly learn about characters that fit their skill set and play style.
Playing with random characters each day and hoping to win is foolish, and it will bring you nothing more than disappointment. Playing with a random hero every day can be a good idea when you are in search of the perfect hero to play with, but when you find one that complements your skill set, you should stick with it.
In this blog, we are going to talk about a hero, which is one of the easiest to learn but quite challenging to master. We are going to discuss d.va, her kit, how to use it properly, which playstyle she is perfect for, and much more. Since I play Overwatch 2 a lot and have a couple of thousand hours in it, I know a thing or two about every character. So we can blend things that I’ve learned so far in my journey to make this guide more helpful.
D.Va Playstyle:
D.va is considered to be one of the best tanks in the game. You should select her for multiple reasons, but the question here is what playstyle D.va commends the most. Is it an aggressive tank that rushes first into the enemy’s sight and takes the entry frag for its team? Or is it a wall against the enemy for their team? Or is it a sit-back playstyle that only trades its teams after they die?
D.va is one of the first 21 heroes that came with vanilla overwatch. Since then, Blizzard has buffed and nerfed her several times. But some players still complain about how overpowered and annoying she is to face. As a tank, she has quite a big H.P. while also having a precise weapon with quick-firing, which makes it hard to run away from D.VA, which is truly one of the best tanks in the game still, after all these nerfs on her.
d.va compliments two playstyles, one of which is super aggressive and just wants to take fight after fight and kill after kill as her booster helps her to go in any direction quickly without taking much damage. The other playstyle that she is good for is the one where a player thinks before doing anything since she is a tank, and her main goal is to provide a protection layer for her offense heroes. The players who possess a good amount of game sense and know when to do what can significantly benefit from her.
D.Va’s abilities and how to use them efficiently:
As she is one of the first characters of the game, everyone who has at least played Overwatch 1 knows about her abilities. But if you are a new player who has yet to have the chance to play with her, then don’t worry. I’ll list each of the abilities and explain how to use them and when the best use-case scenario for each ability is.
Eject! (Passive):
One of her most annoying abilities is that whenever her armor reaches 1 HP, she is immediately ejected from it. The annoying part of this is that she has an HP of 650, and killing her is really hard. If somehow you managed to kill her armor, she could just eject herself out of it, and she would still have around 150 HP left in her pilot and a handgun, which is more than enough to finish off low-HP enemies.
This ability has no skill gap about how to use it because it happens automatically. The only thing you can do is to get better at aiming because in her pilot form, she is very vulnerable, and if you don’t have a good aim, you’ll get killed pretty much instantly.
Fusion Cannons (Primary Weapon):
Fusion cannons are good in close or medium-range fights because they have a maximum range of 10 to 20 meters. With a really fast 6.667 shots/s rate of fire, they are surely a death machine. As the cooldown is non-existent, there’s not much that you can do while the fusion cannon is being sprayed down. The only way to counter it is by waiting until the recoil is uncontrollable, and then you should peek her.
As a default weapon of D.Va, there are few things that I can tell you that you don’t already know like practicing your aim and recoil control. My tip would be never to rush a team alone while being a D.va because she has very low mobility and even lower movement speed while spraying down. So peek team with your team so you can provide more value and protection to your team.
Light Gun (primary in pilot form) :
As you get ejected from the armor you are equipped with this gun and honestly most of the time when you are in your pilot killing you is very effortless. Make sure you don’t have to use the light gun or be in a pilot form to begin with. But if you have to then the light gun is very precise while moving. Running and gunning is easier with a light gun although it does have a limited amount of ammo and very modest damage. You could still make those bullet counts if you can aim well.
Defense Matrix:
d.va’s defense matrix can be used in multiple ways. As it only has a cooldown duration of 1 second it is easier to spam it whenever you or your teammate want to peek at an angle-holding enemy. What defense matrix does it create a square hologram in front of D.V. and protects her from any projectile-based weapon? It can not save you from the bullets of Cassidy Or the blood-sucking of Moira, or high damage from Venture.
Boosters:
As I have stated earlier, thanks to her booster, d.va can be an aggressive tank. These boosters give her a boost in speed of about 117% and also elevate her into the air upon blockage.
With a max range of about 24 meters and a cooldown of just 3.5 seconds, you can spam it frequently. Her boosters are good at keeping her alive so make sure to always have them while taking fights.
Since they have no cast time, you could activate them whenever you want to get out of a situation or when you have to rush towards a side. D.va’s boosters offer a lot of room for creativity, so take your time and learn about them.
Micro Missiles:
The Micro Missiles are d.va’s secondary fire, and they are pretty self-explanatory. Her secondary fire has a direct hit damage of just 7 hp, which makes them not the best thing to use in a fight. They are great for spamming and finishing off low enemies, but as a singular ability, they do not possess anything major.
Self-destruct (Ultimate):
The self-destruct of D.Va is a great way to scatter away the enemy team because, upon activation, no one wants to be in front of it. The self-destruct gives damage of 1000 to 100 depending upon the distance and kills the enemy instantly. With an area of effect of about 20 meters, her ultimate can be decisive.
The only downside to her ultimate is that after using it, the d.va is left behind without armor, and as I said earlier in her pilot form, she is the most vulnerable. So make sure to use the ultimate where you clearly have the upper hand or while your Tokki’s recharge is done.
Team Compositions:
As an aggressive and versatile tank, D.va can be paired with most of the other heroes. Since Overwatch is a team game, the team doesn’t have to be built around one player, and because of that, we can pair her with a few of the best heroes in the game. I will list some of them here, and you could try and mix and match the combination.
Ana is the first on the list because she is a sound healer in the game, can give healings from a distance, and can be a great wingman for d.va. The reason for choosing Ana first is that she is arguably the best healer in the game after Mercy, and she can also hold her own best in the game kit.
Ashe can also be great for Tank as she is an offense hero, and D.Va. can support her by providing her much-needed cover and support. But the player who is manning the ashe should be a great aimer because with it, this combo works better.
Tips And Tricks For D.Va:
While I gave you a lot of tips regarding her abilities earlier, you can’t run out of things to do while playing Overwatch. So here are some more tips and tricks for D.Va
Be a quick kill taker:
As a fast-moving tank, D.va can do a lot for her teammates. All of the heroes got health regeneration. You now have the chance to take more peeks and do more crazy stuff. Be a quick peeker and a kill-taker. You have to be quick with your thinking while playing Overwatch as a D.vaOverwatch.
Play with a clear mindset:
Most people play the game for fun. But that does not mean you should sabotage yourself or your team. At the start of the match, have a clear mindset about what you want to do and how you will do it.
Understand your counters:
As she is one of the oldest characters in the game, she has very well-versed counter-heroes like Death Reaper and Zarya. Study them and find their weakness. As Reaper doesn’t have good mobility, you can use your micro missile and your Fusion Cannons at a distance to finish him off.
Wrapping it up!
I hope you have great success with D.va with the help of this guide! I also work with the Overwatch 2 SR boosting team at Immortal Boost to help you increase your rank in OW2.
You head over to our boosting page, select your current and desired rank, and checkout!