Overwatch Tips: How to Play Torbjorn

TORBJORN IN OVERWATCH

Torbjorn is a defensive hero in every sense of the word, and he’s most useful fighting from a distance and stopping enemies. Torbjorn sports a Rivet Gun as his main weapon that fires a single far-reaching shot of molten metal, or in a short close-range burst of fire. He’s a very slow moving character, but his biggest asset is the turret he’s able to deploy anywhere on the battleground.

Torbjorn’s main ability is setting down an automatic turret, and then improving that turret’s firepower. The turret automatically tracks enemies and fires on them, so you need to be mindful of where you set it. You’ll want to do your best to put the turret in defensible positions or chokepoints where it’s going to be able to take out enemies. Doorways are one option as they have a little bit of cover, and will stop enemies from proceeding through them without destroying the turret. It might be a good idea to put the turret on elevated areas as well, so strong tank units like Reinhardt can’t just rush in and destroy it easily. You’ll want to try and have the support of your team at all times though, as Torbjorn and his turret will have a hard time putting up a fight against multiple enemy heroes on their own.

The Rivet Gun can be switched out for a Forge Hammer that Torbjorn uses to fix and upgrade his turret, or deal light damage to enemies at close range. By whacking the turret with the hammer you can repair it from damage, and if it’s at full health hitting it five times will upgrade it to level two. The basic turret can be used in a pinch, but you’ll want to upgrade it as soon as possible as it receives a boost in firepower at level two. Both the Rivet Gun and the Forge Hammer don’t do a ton of damage, so the primary focus of getting kills will be with turret placement.

When Torbjorn or his turret kills an enemy they drop scrap, which is essential for him to use his other ability. Every kill drops 25 scrap that you can pick up, and Torbjorn can hold up to 200 scrap. The ability Armor Pack costs 50 scrap and makes Torbjorn drop an armor upgrade that he or his allies can pick up, granting them a bit of damage absorption. Multiple packs can be dropped on the ground at once, although each hero can only pick up one at a time.

Lastly, Torbjorn’s Ultimate called Molten Core can provide him a quick boost to bolster defenses. The Ultimate provides him with a significant amount of both armor and scrap, as well as boosting his movement, attack, and repair speed. At this point, the turret will also upgrade to level 3 providing it’s at level two already and at full health. At level three the turret gains a rocket launcher and its firing speed increases slightly. Once Molten Core ends, the turret will revert back to level two. Torbjorn’s Ultimate can be useful if a base is under fire and suddenly gets overwhelmed, or if you want to surprise an enemy team as they come around the corner escorting a payload.

ABILITIES

Rivet Gun

Torbjorn’s basic weapon is a slow firing, medium power rivet gun. It fires a single molten bullet in an arc that can hit enemies at long range or medium range fairly well. You will need to work on accuracy though, as it can be hard to hit faster, smaller heroes.

Forge Hammer

The hammer’s main use will be repairing and upgrading turrets. It can be used to attack enemies at close range in a pinch, but does minimal damage.

Build Turret

Turrets will be your big focus with Torbjorn, but it’s still important to try and place them in places that are going to support your allies. Torbjorn has a hard time on his own, but can be of great assistance when working with the team. Only one turret can be placed at a time, but there isn’t any kind of restriction or resource for how many turrets you have in a match other than the ability cooldown.

Armor Pack

As you accumulate kills in a match, it’s fairly easy to build up scrap. You do have a cap of 200 scrap though, so make sure you’re using Armor Packs to boost yourself and allies when you can. You’ll want to be on the move keeping tabs on your turret, firing at enemies and dropping packs for your allies to pick up.

Molten Core

Torbjorn’s ultimate is great in a pinch, but easy to waste if there aren’t many enemies around when you use it. The important thing to keep in mind with the ability is the fact that it’ll upgrade your turret at the same time, letting you blast enemies from two different sides or dig your heels in for defense.

BACKSTORY

Here’s Torbjorn’s official backstory in Overwatch, straight from Blizzard:

• Real Name: Torbjörn Lindholm, Age: 57
• Occupation: Weapons Designer
• Base of Operations: Gothenburg, Sweden
• Affiliation: Overwatch (formerly)

At its height, Overwatch possessed one of the most advanced armaments on the planet, which could be traced to the workshop of an ingenious engineer named Torbjörn Lindholm.

Before the Omnic Crisis, Torbjörn had gained notoriety for designing weapons systems used by countries around the world. However, his belief that technology must serve a better vision for humanity put him at odds with his employers, who desired to control his weapons using networked computer intelligence.

Torbjörn had a deep mistrust of sentient robotic intelligence, and while many of his peers wrote this off as paranoia, his worst fears were realized when the robot populations of the world turned against their human creators during the Omnic Crisis. Because of his engineering genius, he was recruited to join the original Overwatch strike team, and his many inventions proved integral to ending the crisis. In the years that followed, Overwatch became an international peacekeeping force, and Torbjörn remained a critical resource for all of its technological needs and signature weapons systems.

But in the aftermath of Overwatch’s fall, many of Torbjörn’s weapons were stolen or stashed away around the world. Feeling responsible for his creations, Torbjörn is determined to stop them from falling into the wrong hands and wreaking havoc on the innocent.