Overwatch Tips: How to Play Reinhardt

Reinhardt in Overwatch

If you’ve been looking for the perfect tank/support character in Overwatch, you’ve come to the right place. Reinhardt is packed with great defensive abilities, as well as high HP to let him absorb damage and protect his team while moving forward. He’s equipped with a Rocket Hammer, which happens to be one of the strongest melee weapons in the game. Even though it’s a little slow, the Rocket Hammer swings in a wide arc in front of him, damaging anyone foolish enough to stand near you. You can also move while swinging the hammer, allowing you to change the direction and focus of your swing.

Reinhardt also has a very useful Barrier Field, perfect for protecting allies and pushing ahead to the objective. When activated, you’ll enter third-person mode and will be unable to deal any damage. With the Barrier Field active, you’ll have to rely on the rest of your teammates to deal damage while you absorb enemy fire as the tank. The shield will absorb up to 2000 points of damage, and serves as a great counter to Bastion’s and Torbjorn’s turrets. Your allies will be able to fire through your shield as well, making your team a literal walking tank. However, do note that the shield will not block Symmetra’s Photon orb projectiles.

If you want to be more offensive, Reinhardt has a Charge ability which allows him to fly into enemies and pin them against walls. If you manage to pin an enemy to the wall, this will deal a massive amount of damage to them. When outside of combat, you can also use Charge to get back to the battle quickly. A good strategy to consider is swinging your Rocket Hammer once the Charge is over so that you can deal some good damage before your enemies recover from the assault.

Reinhardt also has a Fire Strike ability, which is his only ranged attack. This allows him to shoot fire projectiles from his Rocket Hammer, and even pierce shields. This means that you can attack enemy Reinhardts even if they have their Barrier Field up. It can also come in handy against enemies on high ground, including Pharah and Widowmaker. Reinhardt doesn’t have great mobility, so Fire Strike is really useful for getting to enemies that you can’t physically reach. Fire Strike has a pretty short cooldown period, so be sure to use it whenever you can.

Lastly, Reinhardt’s ultimate ability Earthshatter is perfect for stunning enemies right in front of you. This ability can’t pierce shields, but it will damage and stun enemies in front of you for a couple of seconds, allowing your team to steal a few easy kills. It works really well with other AoE ultimate abilities like D.Va’s self-destruct and Pharah’s Barrage.

Reinhardt’s Abilities

Rocket Hammer

This is a really big hammer that does good damage to anyone standing in front of you. Reinhardt can swing it in a wide arc, clearing a path for your team.

Barrier Field

Your mobility will be seriously compromised when you have this shield active, but it will allow you to assist your team in pushing forward to your objective.

Charge

You can direct your charge very slightly, allowing you some degree of control over the direction you’re charging in. Try to use this ability to pin enemies to the wall.

Fire Strike

This is Reinhardt’s only ranged ability, so be sure to use them against enemies that are physically out of your reach.

Earthshatter

You might not be able to kill a lot of people with this ultimate ability, but it will give your team a lot of opportunities to wipe out the enemies

Backstory in Overwatch

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

• Real Name: Reinhardt Wilhelm, Age: 61
• Occupation: Adventurer
• Base of Operations: Stuttgart, Germany
• Affiliation: Overwatch (formerly)

Reinhardt Wilhelm styles himself as a champion of a bygone age, who lives by the knightly codes of valor, justice, and courage.

Over thirty years ago, Overwatch was founded to counter the threat of the robot uprisings around the world. Reinhardt, a highly decorated German soldier, was inducted as part of the original Overwatch strike team that put an end to the Omnic Crisis. After the conflict’s resolution, Overwatch grew into a global institution, keeping the peace in a war-torn world. Reinhardt proved himself to be one of its most stalwart champions.

Reinhardt’s unique ethics and larger-than-life persona earned the admiration of his peers and superiors alike. Never afraid to speak his mind, he was Overwatch’s most vocal supporter and, when necessary, its harshest critic, providing a constant reminder that Overwatch was meant to be a force for good.

Having served into his late fifties, Reinhardt was faced with mandatory retirement from combat operations. Despondent about being removed from active duty, Reinhardt feared that his days of purpose and glory had ended. As times grew darker and Overwatch came under suspicion of corruption and sedition, Reinhardt could only watch as the cause he had dedicated his life to defending surrendered in disgrace.

Though Overwatch was eventually disbanded, Reinhardt was not content to sit idly by while the world fell to disorder. Once again donning his Crusader armor, he has vowed to fight for justice across Europe like a knight of old, defending the innocent and winning hearts and minds with the promise of better days to come.