Have you ever wondered about the back story of a character in a game? A character who is really mysterious or interesting and you just want to know about it more and more. Like Jin Kazama in the Tekken series or Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2. Some video game characters leave a mark on our heads. But it also depends on the perspective of the player and on which lens he is observing the game.
For me, that character is Junkrat from Overwatch. There is something in his character that is just really interesting to me. In this blog, we will discuss everything about him, whether that is his back story or his abilities and team composition. This blog is going to be a guide on him and I will provide every bit of information that will help you play him better.
We have uploaded another blog where we did a complete comparison of ow1 vs ow2, do check it out here.
Let’s talk about who he is and what his backstory is. So Junkrat was added to the game as the first 21 original characters of Overwatch 1. He is a damage-class hero whose kit is built on explosions and bombs. After the numerous nerfs he got in recent times he is not as great as he used to be but you could still play him and make the life of the enemies hard.
His backstory is that he spent his entire life in a lifeless wasted junker town. In which he grows a passion for explosion. He is a lawless junker from the town. He and his partner, road-hog now commit crimes for a living. His backstory is a little more detailed than this but I am not going deep into it right now. Let’s start with his guide, shall we?
Playstyle:
There are many effective playstyles of junk, in my opinion. You could also be aggressive with Junkrat or flank him. You could also be the diver and take the early picks. the best playstyle is surely whatever you feel comfortable with. I will try to discuss some of these playstyles and then you can copy which one you like.
Flanking Junkrat can be really annoying and he can create a lot of value while doing this. Since his damage is good on his weapon and mixes with his abilities, which provide him with a lot of mobility, he could cover a lot of distance in a short time. But keep in mind that flanking is a harder thing to do, especially in higher ranks, since you need to sneak up on the enemies. So, while it is really entertaining to finish up the entire team while backstabbing them, it is not the easiest thing to do.
The next play style is a more natural one and it is to get control of a location and then damage the enemy whenever and however you can. Let your tank make space for you and then try to take picks. It is a safer playstyle than flanking, and if you have good aim and game sense, it can also do some real damage to the enemies. You could be in the front row taking charge of enemies along with your support. While this is an overview of how you should play you can mix and match things and make up your own way of playing him.
His abilities and their best use cases:
Total Mayhem:
The junket has two passives. The first one is the damage role’s passive, which gives him an ability that when he damages an enemy, they stop getting healed for a brief period. His hero passive on the other hand is a lot different. So when he dies he leaves a few bombs on his corps which gives splash damage to the nearby enemies. Each bomb gives 50 damage and 6 bombs detonates after Junkrat’s elimination.
Now there are not many things that I can advise you to do because the passive itself starts after your death. The neat thing you could do is to time your death as such that these bombs detonate upon the enemies causing them small damage.
Concussion Mine:
The concussion was unique in Overwatch 1 because, unlike other heroes who have the flying ability which requires no skill upon activating it. The concussion mine needed players to get used to it and adapt to it. The concussion mines are what raze satchels try to be. You could use them as a damage and stun ability. You could also use them for trolling, and lastly, they are the best way to send yourself flying through the sky.
Now, how do you use them, you might ask. Now there are several things that concussion mine is good for. First is that it can be used as a secondary fire or something to follow up on your damage which can provide instant kills on half-hp enemies even if it does not kill them it can send them flying if the angle is right or the worst case scenario would be that they got a 50 hp damage which is in my opinion truly useful.
The mobility part of the Concussion Mine is heavenly. Since Junkrat carries two of these mines in his pocket you could deploy one on the ground and wait for seven seconds for the cooldown. Now you have one mine in beneath you and two in your pocket which you could use to rotate from a location or just to get in a fight. Each of them will provide a long-distance elevation. This goes without saying but concussion mines take a lot of practice to get them right so be sure to use firing range whenever you can.
Steel Trap:
The next ability is steel traps which is pretty straightforward. You put these traps in the way of enemies and they get caught in them for three seconds. In those three seconds, they are completely still and cannot even an inch making them a very easy target to kill. The heroes who are stuck in the trap can still shoot you and they also can use their abilities. Keep in mind that there are exceptions when it comes to the steel trap’s effect on certain characters. The reaper can use his shadow step to teleport out of it, mei can freeze herself in it so you cannot damage her while she is stuck.
Now there are a lot of things you could do with the steel trap. You hide it in the terrain with concussion mines, so whenever an enemy gets trapped, you can spam it and eliminate them right away. Even if you didn’t finish the enemy you still can get a lot of value out of it. The steel trap is an ability that doesn’t require much skill. You put the trap and shoot someone once they get trapped in it. Which is pretty basic but really valuable.
RIP-Tire :
Rip tire, or the rest in peace tire, is Junkrat’s ultimate, and like his kit, this one is pretty fun to use as well. The ultimate is an explosive tire that, upon activation, does damage from 100 to 500, which is enough to kill any hero currently in the game, whether it is a tank or a support. The usage of the tire is a pretty situation since the enemies can destroy it by shooting at it and because its health is only a hundred hp that is why it is pretty easy for enemies to destroy it.
Here’s how you want to use it. In my opinion, the best time to use it is while the enemy team is grouped up or when they are committing to a site ideally in the middle or toward the end of the match. Just use it after they use their utilities to commit to a site because it will be harder for them to counter the tire since they do not have the ability to do it so, and they can run away from it because it’ll be harder for them to retake a site with little to utility available. So if you use it while they just used all of their abilities and are ready to take 1v1’s. Use your tire and finish them off.
Team compositions:
Mercy:
Mercy is a great pick for supporting Junkrat. There are numerous I can state that will make up your mind. Firstly, she can increase his damage by a flat 25% which means that you could do more than 150hp damage per bullet with your frag launcher. Not only that she can be a great healer because of her guardian angel ability.
Symmetra:
The next on the list is Symmetra. She and Junkrat can put pressure on the enemies at choke points since one has spamable explosives while the other one has traps that can put in terrain, which gives the enemies some serious damage. Symmetra is also good for providing a plus point to Junkrat in the form of the turrets or a teleporter.
Zenyatta:
Zenyatta is also a good ally pick for Junkrat. He can use his orb to provide health to Junkrat while also providing him with some back support with his discord orb. I can go on and on about how good Zenyatta and Junkrat pair would be. But that is a story for another time.
Wrapping it up:
Junkrat is still a competent hero in Overwatch 2. If you read the blog till the end then I know that you are interested in playing with him and getting better at it. I have tried to give you all the information that you need to dominate the opponents. Now, if you liked this blog, then be sure to comment below and let me know about it. Till then goodbye.