Ana’s guide, the most comforting support

Photo via Activision Blizzard

Ana hasn’t made it to Overwatch since her debut in the first saga, but when she did, she stayed in the metagame forever. Amari is one of the main players in the competitive OW scene due to the high utility levels she has of her and how versatile her playstyle is. In addition, the sniper is very rewarding for mastering her, since her learning curve is higher compared to other characters, but all the benefits that she brings within a composition can be much greater.

With Ana, it must be clear that her style of play is by no means flat. On the one hand, she can be extremely conservative with Amari and use her exclusively on the defensive end. However, she can also be played offensively and her tools are more focused on nullifying the opponent’s abilities through, for example, a heal cutter. In any case, regardless of the context of the game, Amari suffers in direct skirmishes and therefore it is necessary to learn how to manage her to get the most out of her.

Skills

If normally the use of abilities is important in Overwatch, with Ana it becomes even more important. The Sleep Dart is a tool that puts the opponent to sleep, so Amari has two options: use it as a protection tool or try to generate advantages offensively. Although the first option is always recommended in only queue, the second option may be viable in cases where the situation is clear. It is also extremely useful when making disengage like, for example, when enemies like Reinhardt are charging into someone.

In the case of using a Sedative Dart as a disengageaccompanying him with the Biotic Grenade (E) is ideal to finish off the enemy. By disabling heals, the entire team has room to finish off the enemy. If the enemy has shields, slamming the Grenade into a nearby wall is a good solution. However, these Grenades are more effective when it comes to healing allies. When these are in a critical state of health, a Grenade on time avoids bad things that a main shot might not save for speed. You can also extend the healing time by typing E at the moment Ana reloads to cancel her animation and gain even more time.

Nano Boosts (Q) are also extremely useful for saving low health allies. An ultimate used defensively can turn a skirmish that seemed lost at first. However, in attack is when the ultimate it becomes really exhilarating. Using it opens a window push which, in combination with ultimate abilities like those of Genji or Ramattra, can mean the death of the entire opposing team.

Playing style

Being a sniper, Ana is a hero that should not be played under any circumstances using medium or short ranges. With Amari, you must exploit your range advantage from correct positions, which are those in which:

• They are in height
• They have angles
• They have closed covers

These three factors combined make Ana difficult to reach for dps. In addition, in the case of taking damage, he can take shelter to heal again with his passive ability. When it comes to healing teammates the best players prefer to use quickscopes to aim accurately and at the same time not lose information about what is happening around you. Aiming too long can suffer the flanks of the dps rivals. However, it should be noted that with the scope you can easily kill flying targets like Pharah or Echo.

compositions and counters

Like D.Va, Ana is one of the most versatile heroes within her position. However, unlike Hana Song, has serious difficulties on maps push due to their reduced mobility. In these cases it is better to switch to characters with greater mobility such as Lúcio or Moira to avoid being attacked by the dps rivals. Or in the case of playing with known people, it is always advisable to ask for greater protection against enemies. Where Amari stands out especially is in the compositions where there are characters that can be directly benefited by his ultimate ability such as Winston, Ramattra, Pharah, Soldier 76, Genji, etc.

Ana’s marked style of play implies practically by obligation that she has counters who you should be aware of. Characters that can get to her easily like Genji -who also bounces all her tools- or Winston are always a problem for the sniper. In addition, this group can also include Reaper, who can dodge her Sleep Dart, access her positions from afar, and finish her off quickly with near-explosive damage. However, it should also be noted that Amari shines against characters that offer area heals to the rest like Zenyatta or Soldier 76 thanks to her Biotic Grenade. As in many competitive video games, the rank advantage is also a virtue to be exploited.

You can learn how to play characters from multiple video games in our Guides section.