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Acquiring the Game

If you have not already created an account on http://battle.net go ahead and do so here. On that page you should see these fields.
Fields (Click to View)

Before you download the client, it is optional if you wish to download the client before purchasing. However, you may purchase the game here and download the client later.

Fill out the information and confirm your email address. Then from there you'll want to download the Battle.net desktop client. This will allow you to access and download all of your games. Follow the directions in the set-up and complete it. Once completed you should be prompted with a small box with login information fields.
The box should look like this (Click to View)

The drop-down menu with the icon of the Earth allows you to set your region, by default it will be set to your custom region but if you wish to change regions that's how you do it. Keep in mind different regions will have different data (such as a different friends list). Just enter your login information and click Log In. Now, from there if you haven't already bought the game, go to Shop at the top of the window. Then, click Overwatch on the side bar to the left, this should take you to the Overwatch store page. From there, there are two options to purchase the game, the Origins Edition and the regular edition. The Origins Edition gives you exclusive cosmetics such as hero skins exclusively to holders of the Origins Edition. The regular edition doesn't have these skins but both are the same in terms of gameplay.

Click which one you wish to purchase and then it will take you to a page to chose your platform. From there chose your platform and then you can select which payment method you wish to use, then just follow the steps given and then you're set. You can then download the game by going back to the Games tab at the top, clicking Overwatch on the side, then click download. Once it's done you should be ready to play!

For console users:
The game for you guys will be $60 regardless, however, you still get the exclusive skins for Origins Edition holders which is a plus. You can either run to the store and pick up a CD version of Overwatch or just purchase the digital download off of your console's game store. Another option is to use what I said in the paragraph above and purchase the game using the PC client, then from there entering the information to your console's account and it should start downloading the game once you've purchased it.

What is Overwatch?

Overwatch is Blizzard Entertainment's latest title. It's a competitive first-person shooter which consist of two teams battling it out on different maps and game-modes. Overwatch takes aspects from multiple genres of games and combines it into one. There are currently 21 playable heroes (or characters) in the game and all of which are fairly balanced. All characters are good in their own way. Each different character can affect the outcome of each match or round by the way they play. There are three game-modes, one similar to King of the Hill, point capturing, and payload moving. Each of these game-modes are played differently and change the play style of players in their own way. I'll go more in depth into game-modes in a few chapters, but for now, those are the basics.

Leveling

Leveling in this game isn't too complicated in Overwatch. You gain XP once you finish a match, you get more XP for winning than you do losing. For each medal you get you'll get a certain amount of XP based on the type of medal (more on medals explained later on). For each level you gain you'll receive a loot box (more on that later as well). Once you reach level 100, you can prestige and you can keep leveling from there. Every ten levels your portrait (or border around your character image on the scoreboard) will change. Each time you prestige it will change as well. From levels 1 - 23 your XP will scale up each time you level, this meaning you'll have to earn more and more XP each time you level. Once you reach level 23 it will no longer scale and will just stay at 22,000 XP up until the level cap (which is level 100, then you can prestige).



Heroes
As explained in the summary of Overwatch, Heroes are the different characters players get to chose. As similar to many MOBAs, Overwatch presents us with a vast variety of characters that have different skill sets. There are four types of characters tanks, offensive, defensive, and support. Each character has two abilities and an ultimate ability. I'll go over all of the characters below.

Tank

• D'Va - D'Va is regarded as a good point holder. With her unlimited (no need to reload) ammo it makes it hard for attackers to rush into the area. She has a jetpack type thing to get her out of sticky situations and a shield to protect from heavy fire. Her ultimate ability essentially kicks her out of her mech-suit and it self-destructs. This does massive AoE damage and is effective for clearing dense areas.
  
  Reinhardt - This dude is definitely one of the best tanks in my opinion. His shield protects allies from incoming damage (2,000 to be exact) he's great for leading pushes as well. Reinhardt has the ability to charge enemies and pin them up against walls dealing massive damage. His other ability is a ranged tornado thing that does decent damage if you want to stop someone from pushing up. The ultimate is a huge area of stun, all enemies hit fall to the ground and are stunned for three seconds. They cannot escape until the three seconds are up.
  
  Roadhog - Roadhog is very fun to play. The highlight of Roadhog is his ability to hook people in like Blitzcrank from League of Legends. His shotgun type weapon deals good damage to heroes up close. This makes the hook very effective and can help with defending and attacking an objective. He also has a self-heal which can heal up to 300 hit points and has a six second cooldown. Roadhog's ultimate activates a nonstop firing shotgun dealing good damage to those in its way.
  
  Winston - Everyone's favorite ape. Winston notoriously known for his ability to shock heroes to death. His weapon stay on to you unless you're out of his range, however this does not deal that much damage. He has great mobility for a tank with one of his abilities launching him up into the air and allowing him to lead pushes. Winston creates a large bubble shield and can be very effective if used correctly. Winston's ultimate makes him have 1,000 HP and buffs his movement speed. With this ultimate, it enrages him and allows him to punch people in the face dealing damage.
  
  Zarya - A very underrated hero to say the least. Zarya can deal good damage while maintaining a point and can help lead to good pushes. Her primary attack is a laser beam which only reaches so far. The secondary being exploding spheres she shoots into the sky. The thing with Zarya is that both of her abilities give shields. She can give one to herself and to her allies. The more damage block by her shields the more her damage stacks up. The more stacks the more damage dealt. Her ultimate sucks in heroes and holds them in a so-called "black hole" for three to four seconds. Allowing a bunch of team damage to be dealt.
  

Offense

• Genji - A very fast paced character who throws ninja stars at people. Genji is great for area clearing and flanking, he can climb walls, run really fast, and jump twice. His first ability allows him to dart forward and attack fast. Genji's second ability, Deflect, does what it says it does. Once you activate it, any incoming projectiles for two seconds will be reflecting back to the damage dealer or anyone near the source of the bullets. His ultimate gives him a sword which deals pretty good damage, his sword is only available for a temporary time so use it wisely by trying to avoid enemies with your movement advantages.
  
  McCree - McCree is a very viable option to offensive ranged and close quarters game-play styles. The reason being is his primary fire is good for ranged, and his secondary firse the whole magazine very fast at anyone up close. His movement is fairly decent as well which allows him to escape sticky situations, his first ability can help him with that too. His second ability is a stun which stuns an enemy for a brief time which can allow McCree to kill him/her very fast. His ultimate gives him vision of the playing field and anyone in his sights will be shot instantly with one click. He's a very good flanker as well and can help get an opening kill in a push.
  
  Pharah - Ah, Pharah and the high-flying rocket launcher. Pharah is a great hero for getting above the enemy and shooting from where they least expect it. Her flying ability makes it hard to hit her as well as her ability to push you away from her with the second ability. Her first ability on the other hand, shoots her high up in the sky allowing her great positioning for her ultimate. Speaking of which, her ultimate is rockets raining from above (hence the voice line she has when she activates it). It's most effective when Pharah's above the enemies, which makes it easier to clear areas out after they've been frozen/stunned.
  
  Reaper - One of the best flanking heroes in the game. Reaper is a hard-to-master hero, which means in a match you'll get killed easily if you don't know how to flank them. His first ability makes him invincible to all incoming attacks for 3 or so seconds. This makes him a really good hero for getting in and out of situations. The next ability is probably the highlight of Reaper. Wherever you point your "E" ability and click he will teleport. This is why he's regarded as a good flanker. His ultimate ability pairs well with his first ability, it basically shoots bullets at everyone around him while he is spinning.
  
  Soldier: 76 - The running and gunning dude. Soldier: 76 is a fast paced hero which can deal pretty decent damage in tight situations. 76's right click shoots three projectiles and upon impact create a small explosion, which deals good damage if you hit an enemy. He's a pretty simple hero in terms of abilities. His first ability is simply a sprint which compliments his good movement. The second one is an AoE heal which is pretty effective. His ultimate shoots at anyone in his sights, similar to McCree's but you can fire unlimited bullets.
  
  Tracer - The face of Overwatch and is regarded as one of the most annoying heroes to fight. Simply because her movement is so good. Her first ability allows her to teleport a short distance very fast (it has 3 charges, once you run out of those charges you cannot teleport until they cool down). Here second ability warps her back in time, meaning wherever she teleported last is where she will end up with that warp. Her ultimate is a sticky grenade which deals pretty decent area damage and is more than likely a guaranteed kill on the person who is stuck. She's an overall great flanker and probably up there with Reaper, use her movement to your advantage.
  
  

Defense

• Bastion - One of the cheapest heroes in the game, but can easily be countered. Bastion is a good defensive point holder due to one ability, that is his turret transformation. Bastion turns into a turret and where ever he shoots will be instantly melted. It does an unthinkable amount of damage to anyone hit by any of his 200 bullets. His other ability is a self-heal for when he takes any damage. Bastion's ultimate is great for getting opening kills onto a payload or a point. He turns into a tank for around five seconds, and wherever he shoots will pretty much be instantly dead within one or two shots.
  
  Hanzo - One out of the two snipers in this game. Hanzo is a great from range and can get really important kills when needed. His first ability shoots a sonar type arrow at a certain area, anyone within range of that sonar will be marked and can be seen through walls. The second ability shoots multiple arrows upon impact which can bounce in any direction for a short time until they dissipate. This second ability is most effective at an enemy's feet. Finally, the notorious Hanzo ultimate, two dragons are shot out into an area in a spiral formation. Anyone within the range of these dragons will take massive damage, this ultimate is good for spreading enemies out.
  
  Junkrat - One of my favorite defenders. Junkrat is great for clearing a cluster of enemies with his grenade launcher. His first ability, the C4, explodes when you want it to, which is good for timing pushes right. The second one is a trap, although it's easily noticed it can still be effective if you have someone chasing you. Now we have his ultimate, the RIP-Tire. This ultimate is a steerable, wall-climbing, spiky wheel. It deals a great amount of damage to anyone in its area. This makes Junkrat great for clutch situations.
  
  Mei - Mei is regarded as one of the best defenders because of her ability to freeze others, self-heal, and throw up ice walls to block damage. She has two attacks, her frost beam which fires frost at an enemy. The longer the enemy is hit by the beam the slower they get, until they freeze. Her second attack is a long-range icicle which does pretty decent headshot damage. Mei's first ability freezes her in impenetrable ice, the longer she is in this ice, the more healing she does to her self. The second ability throws up an ice wall, this is great for stopping opponents from pushing into an area and blocking any incoming damage. Her ultimate is essentially a blizzard. She throws down a grenade that does an AoE freeze, anyone in this area will freeze for around 3 - 5 seconds. This ult is regarded as one of the best in the game as insane amounts of damage can be done from your team.
  
  Torbjörn - The equivalent of the engineer in Team Fortress 2. Torbjörn is great for holding off pushes with his turrets and such. He can support allies by giving them armor, this armor increases their max HP by around 75. He carries two tools, a hammer for upgrading and repairing turrets, and a gun for dealing damage to heroes. His first ability allows him to build a turret, pretty simple. The next one places an armor pack, these armor packs cost scraps. These scraps can be obtained by running over the area where an enemy died. It should indicate where the scraps are on your screen with little waypoint type arrows. His ultimate ability, Molten Core, essentially buffs his turrets and gives him a ton of armor, it buffs his attacks too. The play style of Torbjörn is different compared to others as your objective is to stay alive and let your turrets do all of the work.
  
  Widowmaker - Widow is the other sniper paired with Hanzo. She is decent at long range due to her sniper, and mediocre at close range with her assault rifle (just aim down the sight to get the sniper, and hip-fire for the assault rifle). Her primary ability is her grappling hook. This allows her to get into good spots for sniping, as well as escape sticky situations. Her next ability is a poison mine, anyone who runs over this will take poison damage for around five seconds. Finally, the ultimate ability is Infra-sight. This marks all enemies in the game, each enemy is highlighted red and can be seen through textures. Like Hanzo, good aim is key for mastering her.
  

Support

• Lúcio - Lúcio is my opinion, is the best support. He's a pretty complicated character at first glace, but is easily understood. Under your crosshair is your active support buff. To the left is healing and to the right is speed. In the middle is the amount of heroes within range of your buff. So if I had speed buff on anyone in range would receive extra movement speed. To switch between healing and speed buff use your first ability (or Left Shift). Lúcio's second ability will buff his passive buff for a few seconds. So anyone around me will receive double the speed/healing once that buff is activated. His ultimate will briefly provide allies in the area of his ult with shields. They dissipate after around five seconds. Lúcio's weapon shoots sonic projectiles at other enemies, this doesn't do much damage, though. His secondary attack pushes nearby enemies away. The reason he is my favorite is because you don't need to worry about directly healing someone, it's just an area heal. All you have to do is keep up his buffs and keep enemies out. Another advantage is his wall-riding feature, hold your jumping button while near a wall and you'll be able to run along it.
  
  Mercy - Another great healer, Mercy is a clutch healer and can provide heavy healing to her target. His works similar to the Medic in Team Fortress 2. She has a laser type gun and locks onto allies. Her primary attack (or left click) is a heal, the secondary attack is a damage buff. Both are great in pushes and mid-game situations. She has a pistol as well for dealing damage. Her primary ability allows her to fly over to allies, press LSHIFT while aiming at a nearby ally and you'll fly to them. Good for escaping/re-entering fights. Her ultimate is what makes her a clutch healer, it revives any downed allies. So if there are three allies down and the game is tight she can use that.
  
  Symmetra - An underrated support to say the least. Symmetra's primary attack shoots and locks on to enemies and it deals a pretty consistent amount of damage. The secondary attack shoots a large bubble projectile at any foes dealing good damage as well, however it travels very slow and is easy to avoid. She is able to play five sentry turrets, this is great for preventing large pushes and it slows enemies down. She can also provide a shield to allies, increasing their max HP by 25. Her ultimate is similar to the portal in Team Fortress 2. Symmetra sets down a teleporter wherever she deems a good place to put it, and another entry portal will be placed in your team's spawn. This is great for re-entering fights to stop the objective/capture it.
  
  Zenyatta - Zenyatta is and all-around good support. While he is very squishy and has little health he can apply buffs to allies and de-buffs to foes. His primary attack shoots an orb at an enemy, effective at close range and far away. This orb deals 45 damage per landed hit. Zenyatta can put an orb over an ally's head to heal him for three seconds. He can also put a Discord orb on an opponent's head which increases their damage taken, this is notoriously known as it contributes to his ability to melt tanks. His ultimate activates an area of heal for nearby allies, it heals 100 HP per second and makes Zenyatta invincible. This is perfect for pushing into points and getting kills when needed the most.
  

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Maps and Game Modes

Assault
The Assault Game Mode involves two points in which the attacking team must capture. Attackers have a certain amount of time to capture both of these points before time is up. When the Point A is captured time is added, this gives the attackers more time to capture the (usually harder to capture) Point B.

• Hanamura
  • Located in Japan, Hanamura is considered a hard attacking map for most teams. To capture point at, teams must make their way through an archway and into the capture point. Be weary, you can instantly be countered from entering through that singular doorway so do your best to survive. Once A is captured, you must enter B. The B point is a little bit easier to capture with the 2 - 3 entry points. However, these are easy to flank and you can be caught off-guard.
    
  
  Temple of Anubis
  • This map is stationed in Egypt, it has a desert theme to it with a few Egyptian icons. In Temple of Anubis the capturing of A is pretty easy if you can counter the defenses. The B point may look easy to capture, but it's not. It's right in front of the defending team's spawn, so it's easy for them to re-enter into a fight and knock you down. Watch out for any ultimates as that seems to be a pretty common way of reentering on this map.
    
  
  Volskaya Industries
  • This map is located in Russia as you can tell by much of the architecture. On this map it's pretty easy to capture if you can counter the defenses like in Anubis. You can overwhelm the other team depending on your positioning and timing with your plays. There are flank routes usable by certain characters with movement features such as Tracer and Pharah. However, the main entrance to Point B is a bit tricky, so chose your heroes wisely.
    

Escort
In Escort, you must push the payload through checkpoints and to its destination. The more people on the payload the faster it goes, but be weary of AoE ultimate abilities as they could ruin your day if your team is exposed to any. Each checkpoint you reach time is added for you to reach the next one. If no one is on the payload for a while it will begin to push itself backwards, however this action is really slow and can be recovered easily.

• Dorado
  • Close-quarters map located in Mexico. Attackers must work their way up a hill and into a base/head-quarters. It gets harder for the attackers the further it gets up the hill so make sure you check everywhere. Once in the base, attackers must weave through walls and up to the destination. A lot of combat is close-quarters on this map so watch out for flanks and such.
    
  
  Watchpoint: Gibraltar
  • This map is unique to all of the others. It's located on the Rock of Gibraltar and has it's own art-style. In relations to lore, Winston's laboratory is located here prior to an attack. From a game play standpoint it's a large map, many vantage points for snipers and many entry-ways into other rooms.
    
  
  Route 66
  • Located in Western United States, Route 66 displays the atmosphere of the real life attraction with all of the details and landscaping features. Attackers must push it down the road to its destination. Many more hiding spots and buildings will pop up as you get closer so keep your eye open.
    

Hybrid
Hybrid is a mix of Escort and Assault. Players must capture a point first, after that they must push the payload from that point to its destination. This proposes two different objectives and different play styles must be applied.

• King's Row
  • In the heart of England lies King's Row. Around the first point lies many vantage points for attackers and defenders. As soon as you gain control of the point it's hard for the defenders to retake it without a few opening kills for themselves. Just like Escort, once you've captured the point a payload will come out from the garage door and you must escort it down to a base.
    
  
  Numbani
  • Numbani is located on the western coast of Africa and is a modernized city with many intriguingly shaped buildings. The first point is fairly easy to capture if your team commits to capturing it. There are many vantage points for defenders so proceed with caution. Once captured, as you make your way closer to the destination it gets more difficult. The defenders' advantage of having a closer spawn works very much in their favor on this map. Every kill matters in the final stretch.
    
  
  Hollywood
  • This map has probably the most variety I've seen. The whole atmosphere of the map changes the further you go. Starting out with the outdoors you see different buildings used for movie scenes. Next is a wild west film set, then once you enter the building it's a sci-fi typed film set. In terms of game mechanics it's quite difficult to enter on to the first point. Especially with a Symmetra considering her turrets. With the right team composition and communication a win can be achieved. However, it can also be difficult to move the payload. All around are place for Widowmakers and Hanzos to sit and shoot.
    

Control
Control is similar to king of the hill. The longer the point is under a team's belt the higher percentage they get until they reach 100%. The losing team must capture the point back by strategically making their way in and capturing it. It's a best of three. So the first to win two rounds wins the game. There are three different capture points on each map.

• Nepal
  • Nepal is based in, well, Nepal! It's an indoor/outdoor map and players have many entry points into all control areas. Each point has its weaknesses and with this map it's the lack of escape points when inside the point. You'll easily be chased down by a fast offensive hero if you're not careful. That be said, stick with your team and focus on team play.
    
  
  Lijang Tower
  • Based in China, the Lijang Tower in terms of gameplay is another indoor/outdoor map. In addition, it's also a map with little escape points. The indoor point has a high ceiling which is great for Pharah and there are two walls along the borders of the capture point. This is what makes it difficult to escape, but it can also be used to your advantage. The other two points put you near a ledge where you can fall you your death. So be careful if there is a Pharah/Lucio in your game.
    
  
  Ilios
  • Located in Greece, this is my favorite map from an aesthetic standpoint. The colors fit the Greek culture and architecture. We're presented with another dangerous point in terms of holding it/escaping. There is a large well hole in the middle of one of these which players may easily fall into if not careful. Another one is located on a peninsula typed foundation and it works in Lucio's favor. The final point is in the ruins of a building and is nice for ranged play. Ultimate abilities like Mei's will be very effective at this point considering the escape routes are dangerous and can lead into enemy territory.
    

Competitive Game Modes
These are the modifications to the game modes that are located in Overwatch's Competitive Play feature. Each Game Mode has been modified for a more intense and competitive environment for the player.

Assault

• Each teams will play on both sides (Attack and Defend) in one match. You must capture as many points as possible and as quick as possible. Depending on how many points you capture within the time given, you'll be given a point. It is the other attacking team's job to capture as many or more points than the other team. If one team fails to capture as many as the other the match will end. However if both were tied, then they both play another set of rounds on attacking. Instead of playing with a five minute clock teams will have the time that was remaining on the clock when they completed their last round. If the time they had was below two minutes it will be bumped up to two minutes automatically. If a team had no time remaining they do not play an additional round.
  

Escort and Hybrid

• A point is awarded to the attacking team each time the payload reaches a checkpoint or they have captured the first point (Hybrid only). If the score is tied and both teams managed to capture the first point (again Hybrid only) the team who pushed the payload the furthest wins (this also applies to escort). Now on Hybrid maps, if both teams fail to capture the first point or it's tied then they will do to sudden death.
  

Control

• Not much has changed with Control in Competitive Play. The only change is that the first team to capture three points wins (otherwise known as a best-of-5).
  

Sudden Death

• Sudden Death happens when both teams are tied after many outcomes in a match. The way it works is with a coin flip, this decides what side you are on during sudden death. For attacking teams normally in all game modes except Control you'll have to capture the first point/checkpoint. The defense's job is to, well, defend! If you can stop them from capturing the first point then you win.
  

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Competitive Play

Newly introduced in the summer of 2016 is Overwatch's Competitive Play feature! This allows user to be placed in a certain ranking among other players with similar skill. Skill Ratings are used to determine how you match up against other players. Along with this, game modes have been modified to be more lengthy in order top make for a more competitive environment.

Intro

• To get started with competitive play just click Play on the main menu of the game and click Competitive Play which should be located in the middle of all five options. To be eligible to participate in competitive you must be level 25 or higher, anything below this will make you ineligible to play competitive.
  

Skill Rating and Competitive Points

• As said in the first paragraph Skill Rating is used to decide how you match up against other players. After playing ten matches you will be given a Skill Rating, a number used to determine your skill within competitive play. You gain and lose this skill rating by winning and losing matches, each time you win a match you'll more than likely gain Skill Rating. Here's a GIF which sums up how the system works at the end of each match.
  Spoiler (Click to View)Source: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20167051
  
  In addition to gaining Skill Rating you also earn Competitive Points each time you win a competitive match. You also will earn competitive points at the end of each season (depending on how good you did). These points can be used to purchase Golden Weapons for certain heroes. The golden weapons can be purchased in the Hero Gallery.
  

Seasons

• Now, Blizzard has also introduced seasons for Competitive Play. Each season will last 2.5 months and around a two to three week off-season. Every season corresponds to the four seasons of the Earth (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer). Each time a season ends all Skill Ratings are reset and leaderboard stats are reset. Speaking of leaderboards, at some time during each season leaderboards will be activated. These will show how you rank among all of the players in a season and if you're good enough to reach the top 500 players in the season you'll receive an in-game notification that looks like this.
  

That's about it for competitive play, if you wish to learn more information regarding the gamemode differences between Quick and Competitive Play check out the Game Modes section of this guide.

Cosmetics and Micro-transactions

Loot Boxes

• Loot Boxes can be obtained from leveling up or purchasing them from the Battle.NET shop. These loot boxes contain different items ranging from player icons, to hero skins, and more. Each item is categorized by a different color or tier, and the tiers are Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary. Common being the most common to get, Rare is the next step up but they aren't that rare as they say they are. You are guaranteed a Rare item each time you open a loot box, if you're lucky you can get a better item. Epic items are in the middle, you're never guaranteed one and they are pretty difficult to obtain. Now Legendaries are the hardest to get, however they consist of the best hero skins out there. The feeling of getting one truly never gets old.
  

Types of Obtainable Items

• Skins - Simply a different variant of a hero in terms of looks. Typically, a Rare skin will change just the color of their original clothing. As you go up through Epic and to Legendary they receive more and more detail and eventually you'll get to the rarer skins which look really nice on some heroes.
  
  Emotes - Essentially, it's your taunt move. To use this hold "C" and a wheel of different moves/sayings will come up, select emote and you will use your emote you have equipped in game.
  
  Player Icons - What your buddies will see in a party/group. You can make this like a bird, or even a jar of peanut butter. It's your preference so use it how you wish.
  
  Sprays - A spray is similar to ones on games like Garry's Mod or Team Fortress 2. You can spray a custom image that you have equipped on any surface in the map. To use your spray, press "T".
  
  Voice Lines - This is your hero's signature saying. Players can interact with others with his or her voice line. Each character has different ones which is some cases pertain to lore. Just like the emote, press "C" and navigate and select Voice Line.
  
  Victory Poses - At the end of a match it will show the winning team with all of their heroes lined up side-by-side. You may chose a certain pose to use on this screen with a Victory Pose.
  
  Highlight Intros - If you receive play of the game or you're just using the highlights feature, you can chose a certain movement you wish to do in the event of a POTG.
  

Career Profile

About

• Your career profile displays information regarding your performance in all of your games. It shows your total eliminations, final blows, deaths, and more. In addition it shows your time played for each hero, along with any statistics exclusive to them. For example if you're looking at Mei's stats, it shows how many players you've frozen.
  

In-game Statistics Explained

These stats display in-game and on your career profile at the main menu. In-game it displays them below the player list by hold "TAB", each of these different stats is explained below.

• Medals - There are three medals, gold, silver, and bronze. Each medal simply indicates how well you are doing in a specific statistic compared to other members of the team. Gold meaning you're doing the best, silver is second, and bronze is third. A gold medal gives you 150 XP/ea, silver medals give you 100 XP/ea. bronze medals award 50 XP/ea.
  
  Eliminations - Eliminations can be obtained by assisting a kill or getting the kill. If you do sufficient damage to an enemy and your ally finishes him off you still get an elimination. Typically offense heroes will get the most eliminations depending on their involvement in combat or skill level.
  
  Damage Done - The amount of damage dealt to enemies, this includes damage absorbed by shields and such. As with eliminations, offense heroes usually get the gold medal for this one as well.
  
  Healing Done - Amount of healing done to yourself or allies. Self-healers like Bastion or Roadhog are eligible to get gold medals in this category, especially if they heal from really low health. However, support heroes (except Symmetra) will typically get the most healing done.
  
  Objective Kills - This tracks the amount of kills or elimination achieved within the borders of the objective. As long as you're in the objectives boundaries and you kill someone it counts as an objective kill.
  
  Objective Time - Simply the amount of time you held the objective. For example, the longer you're on the payload, the more objective time you get. In most cases, Reinhardt will get the most objective time since he's always there to block damage while still playing the objective.
  
  Deaths - The amount of times you have died, nothing too complicated with this one. However, no medals are awarded for most deaths.
  
  Special Stats - With different heroes comes different stats. To the right of your general in-game stats, there are other ones which are exclusive to your hero. These stats are commonly awarded to players in the MVP voting as I like to call it.
  

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Helpful Links

/r/OverwatchUniversity - Great theory crafting subreddit. You can also find guides and such here.
MasterOverwatch - Good website for viewing your progression and statistics with certain characters.
Watcher.gg - Great site for viewing ranks and progression throughout the game, it's similar to MasterOverwatch. Watcher displays your ranks in certain fields as well.

If you guys have some more I will definitely take them here :)


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FAQ and Edit Log

FAQ

• Ask questions in the replies or PM me if you have any :)
  

Edit Log

• 6/3/2016 - Thread created
  6/6/2016 - Added a Leveling section
  7/6/2016 - Removed the section regarding how to download the game under "What is Overwatch".
  7/6/2016 - Added a section on how to install and purchase the game.
  7/6/2016 - Added a Competitive Play section.
  7/6/2016 - Added a Competitive Game Modes section.
  

[JavaDriveBy]

Thanks for the share, very nice overwatch guide.

[Limit.]

Thanks for the share, very nice overwatch guide.

Thank you very much :)

[Raz Riverblade]

dunno man

really great guide but i'm more baffled to see a thread with the red lions Logo

It must've been years since i last saw one

[Charles Carmichael]

Very nice starter guide, I liked the explanations of the hero's the most, hope you keep this up to date if they update anything add new maps heroes etc, would defiantly be neat, at least until the game die's down if it does.

[Limit.]

dunno man

really great guide but i'm more baffled to see a thread with the red lions Logo

It must've been years since i last saw one

Thanks, and we're still alive, don't worry :)

Very nice starter guide, I liked the explanations of the hero's the most, hope you keep this up to date if they update anything add new maps heroes etc, would defiantly be neat, at least until the game die's down if it does.

I'll more than likely keep this up to date, thanks for your kind words too.

[Raz Riverblade]

Thanks, and we're still alive, don't worry :)

How did that even happen? Never knew RL still invited people

must indeed be more active than i thought

[Limit.]

How did that even happen? Never knew RL still invited people

must indeed be more active than i thought

We are more active than some people say we are.

[Raz Riverblade]

Well i believe you might prepare yourself for a stickyman award if Omni were ever to decent upon this humble subforum.

[Squabblingly100]

Very good guide. Appreciate the time you've spent creating this.

[FinestCoding]

Thanks for this guide helped me with my start of Overwatch

[Limit.]

No problem guys, glad I could help.

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Updating some things grammar wise and adding more information on the leveling system.