Searching for tips on how to increase your skill rating in Overwatch? Many players hoped that Patch 1.43, the latest update to Overwatch, would change the “shield meta” that dominated the game throughout the latter part of 2019. While Patch 1.43 included sizable nerfs to shields and barriers, the patch added buffs to shield heroes themselves. This has lead to the rise of the “shield hero meta,” which puts focus on eliminating the powerful shield-wielding heroes instead of their barriers.
If you haven’t been ranked in Overwatch yet, there are some prerequisites you’ll need to meet before diving into Competitive. First of all, you’ll have to reach Level 25 by playing Quick Play or Arcade. These are the most casual modes in Overwatch, which are based more on playing for fun than winning. The reason you need to do this is because Overwatch has an ever-expanding roster featuring a plethora of heroes with all kinds of abilities. If you were dropped straight into Competitive, you wouldn’t be able to tell a Meteor Strike from a Graviton Surge, so this is just practice, a way of earning your stripes before entering the fray.
Talk with Your Team. There are a lot of gamers (and a lot of pros actually) who prefer not to communicate during matchmaking games, but in game like Overwatch using voice chat is also a key to success. Imagine you have an Earthshatter (Ultimate Ability) ready as Reinhardt and just died with it on the point. You have a Mercy with Resurrection and one DPS alive there also, but there are ~6 enemies on the point. So let’s say since you’re dead it’s 2v6 and there is no reason to use Resurrection there, but you know that Earthshatter is a game changer ultimate ability if used properly. The problem here is that even on high ranks most likely Mercy do not check the scoreboard that frequently so she misses a huge opportunity. So it’s all about one call from your side and you will have a chance to save the game.
Skill rating improvement advice: Oftentimes, lower ranked teams don’t have a leader. Be the person who makes the callouts if your team doesn’t have one—even if it’s just a little bit. Even a small amount of communication is better than none. Help your team out by suggesting when to push or when to pull back. But don’t be unwilling to listen to your teammates. You’re not the only person with ideas; make sure you’re not being the toxic or pushy player that everyone mutes. Alternatively you can try to use a professional skill rating improvement provider. See more details at Overwatch Boosting.
Most likely, the infamous triple-tank, triple-support brawling composition known as GOATS (based on the team who invented it) will be the strongest strategy in the game. This means that Reinhardt, Zarya, D.Va, Zenyatta, Lucio, and Brigitte are all heroes you should try learning during Season 15. However, on open maps, this composition is weaker and more exploitable. Specifically, heroes that are either very mobile or more effective at long range will find success against the GOATS strategy in these scenarios. For that reason, Winston, Wrecking Ball, Genji, Bastion, Pharah, Ana, and the new hero Baptiste are great heroes to learn as well so that you can effectively fight GOATS when it’s played on these maps.