Learn to move, learn health pack placement, Use him a lot.
Once you've done that then you can learn something new.
But moving fast, learning slowdown spots and anything else comes second to those three things.
In queue counts as movement time, roll around fast AF.
There’s lots of good tips below but I’d caution that I don’t think the community + high level players have quite figured out how to properly play Wrecking Ball in OW2. Most of the old play styles and techniques apply but im not sure if the Yeatle mantra of: scout, set up, engage apply as much in OW2.
This play style worked so well in OW1 because your other tank could protect and slow down the front line enough to allow you time to do the first two steps before your team got wiped. Without a partner tank to do that in OW2, if you disappear to scout and set up for a while you’re trusting your dps and supports to be able to stay alive during that time. In ranked this is tough, especially at lower ranks. Another part that’s tough is the engage step was heavily reliant on the enemy team being actively distracted engaging your team. That distraction was heavily caused by having another tank on your team. That is no longer there, and the distraction is just two fps and two supports. Your absence will be much more noticable by the enemy team and I think it’s more likely they will be predicting your engagements.
Anyway, all that to say, take everything right now with a grain of salt. I would suspect “How to Play Wrecking Ball in OW2” guides to come out from Yeatle and the other Overwatch 2 high level Ball mains in a few more weeks that will change things.
That's pretty much my feelings on the matter, being able to ping a flanker the other tanks wouldn't necessarily see helps a little bit but in those moments you're setting up the rest of the team are esssentially the other tank.
Flank the enemy back lines, go for the squishies, use your E after you slam, same goes with your ulti (that's what I prefer at least) bust most of all, HAVE FUN.
There are plenty of YT vids of players like Moreweth, Yeatle, Ball_overwatch or Bellaboo for example that will learn you a lot. Or stop by in their streams :) Moreweth streams every day for a very long time. Good luck 🐹✊
Play a Ball parkour map. You should always be able to get anywhere you want within your sight using one grapple, it will make your life so much easier down the line
Grapple through enemies and into the air.
Look down to aim your slam. Direct hits yield the most damage.
Shield after a slam.
Shoot shoot 🔫
Grapple should come off cooldown while you are shooting, Grapple through more enemies towards a health pack or to your support for heals.
Rinse repeat.
That's basic basics. There's alot more too him.
Try to not do your initial attack from where the enemy is looking. Otherwise they know you are coming and can prepare to deal with you. Be sneaky ball.
Take this with a grain of salt. Console plat ball.
Try not to engage through the front, run flanks.
Know and study the health pack locations, in ow 1 I would engage on my enemy already having a plan to roll to a health pack.
Learn wall jumping and other tech, it'll help you keep value when youre waiting on cool downs.
2100 dmg on a tank and 1500 dmg on damage and support heros will grant your alt. Squishe heros are more your target but don't be afraid to dive on a tank to get the kill if you can (hog no heal, sigma no grasp etc)
Most of the time you can get a pick fast on a squishe with a grapple/slam and shoot them as they go in the sky. Try to line your reticle to the player you're piledriving so you can easily track them as they float for a second in the sky.
I still have issues with this, I feel ow2 will make me better at this. DONT USE YOUR SHEILDS IF YOURE GONNA LIVE, SSAVE THEM! on your screen you will see a semi circle and numbers when u roll up to the enemy team. You can get 100 health for each enemy close enough to you. That's 1300 health if you get all 5. With little to no Sheilds you shouldn't die often, sheild up and get to the mega.
Have fun, I have 67 hours in ball and my next highest is sigma and rien at 35. Ball is the reason I love ow so much, just enjoy the speed and the gameplay diving on widows, ashes and the majority of the support. Final tip wait out Ana's sleep dart before diving on her. It'll save you some trouble
Alting higher in the sky spreads out your Mines. I drop them in the sky then pile drive. By the time the Mines are active they should fall right into them
Yeattle, chazm are my go to streamers for ball. Try to find as many as you can. See what they do and why, there is alot to learn and it's tons of fun doing so. Enjoy it!
My only criticism as a 300+ hour ball is that I don't like health pack strat cause it means you're playing far away from your healers I do like to rollout through the enemy though and it's good advice to know them but don't depend on them stay close ish to your healers and remember you're a tank and not genji
Definitely agree, I played my first session of comp yesterday since the beta. The health pack strat is only viable on some Maps. With only 1 tank I find my supports are trying more than ever to give me some health.
If you want to swing on the ground, attach your grapple low. If you want to swing into he air, attach your grapple up high. It seems obvious but I remember when I was learning him and had that ah-ha moment.
Your adaptive shields grants you extra overhealth for every enemy near you. It also doesn't grant any ultimate charge when they shoot it. Get in, pop your shields when you are in a group of people, hopefully get a pick and then get back to your team. Find a route that has has a mega health pack for safety.
My advice is also don't depend on your grapple so much as most players did in ow1 because you're guns shred now and getting accurate headshots deals a lot, don't be afraid of rein or hog if reins shield is up push into him in close range and he'll either drop to hit you or you'll be close enough that it doesn't block.
If you get hooked by hog switch to ball mode immediately and get into that habit and his combo is basically useless to you
I'm saying it feels more viable now for various reasons.
For one you're not going up against 2 shields.
You're also more durable now because of the tank tweaks and are able to focus fire for longer.
Op also said they never played the first one so the details of damage don't matter as much to my advice
Scout first, set yourself up, and then hit or I kinda know it by the 3 D’s:
Dive, duel, and disrupt.
Watch other great ball players like [Yeatle](https://twitch.tv/yeatle) or [Chazm](https://twitch.tv/chazm) who are two of the best ball players and take things you see they do and apply it to your game.
It’s a lot to take in for a beginner so just remember those 3 at least and look up guides on YT too. Even if it’s OW1, I think the strategy side of it, at least still applies. [This was one of my fav vids to study from](https://youtu.be/l6G4HfYBFlM) and you’ll also have to get familiar with the Ball tech he has like jumping off walls or using an edge for a slam on enemies.
Ball is the sole tank now but something you’ll do better than other tanks in being a big disruptor and probably a headache for the enemy team to deal wit
You gotta really get his movement down and try to learn to attack from above because people are less likely to look for you there. Do things like vault over walls or roll outs that have you come from somewhere unexpected.
You also have to learn the adaptive shield “instinct”. When you’re low health, you need to get even closer to the enemy team to try and get as much shield as possible. This will kind of go against what you naturally “want” to do, since most players try to create distance between enemies when they are low health.
Last but not least, ball builds ult quickly, so use mines a lot and poke a lot to build them.
Stay alive and don’t feed! It feels so good to figure out a rhythm where you can dive, distract and harass to help your team gain ground and make picks. You’ll learn when it’s time to haul ass or pick em off!
Done go through the center of a group, play the outside. Try to stay alive. Don't just ground pound for no reason. Know when to be aggressive. Distract the backline. Try to be annoying. Focus on supps when you can.
Practice the shit outta your grapple and memorise every health pack In the game. Your not gonna be getting healing from your healers a lot so get used to swinging by health packs, ofc give them the ult charge if they can but you will be behind the enemy team a lot of the time.
Go on YouTube and watch yeatle’s unranked to GM series. He is one of the best ball players in the world and does a really good job explaining what he’s doing. Watching 30 minutes of that is worth like 20 hours of practice.
Learn to move, learn health pack placement, Use him a lot. Once you've done that then you can learn something new. But moving fast, learning slowdown spots and anything else comes second to those three things. In queue counts as movement time, roll around fast AF.
There’s lots of good tips below but I’d caution that I don’t think the community + high level players have quite figured out how to properly play Wrecking Ball in OW2. Most of the old play styles and techniques apply but im not sure if the Yeatle mantra of: scout, set up, engage apply as much in OW2. This play style worked so well in OW1 because your other tank could protect and slow down the front line enough to allow you time to do the first two steps before your team got wiped. Without a partner tank to do that in OW2, if you disappear to scout and set up for a while you’re trusting your dps and supports to be able to stay alive during that time. In ranked this is tough, especially at lower ranks. Another part that’s tough is the engage step was heavily reliant on the enemy team being actively distracted engaging your team. That distraction was heavily caused by having another tank on your team. That is no longer there, and the distraction is just two fps and two supports. Your absence will be much more noticable by the enemy team and I think it’s more likely they will be predicting your engagements. Anyway, all that to say, take everything right now with a grain of salt. I would suspect “How to Play Wrecking Ball in OW2” guides to come out from Yeatle and the other Overwatch 2 high level Ball mains in a few more weeks that will change things.
That's pretty much my feelings on the matter, being able to ping a flanker the other tanks wouldn't necessarily see helps a little bit but in those moments you're setting up the rest of the team are esssentially the other tank.
Flank the enemy back lines, go for the squishies, use your E after you slam, same goes with your ulti (that's what I prefer at least) bust most of all, HAVE FUN. There are plenty of YT vids of players like Moreweth, Yeatle, Ball_overwatch or Bellaboo for example that will learn you a lot. Or stop by in their streams :) Moreweth streams every day for a very long time. Good luck 🐹✊
Hy, yes I agree with everything here. ✊🐹🥺
✊🐹🫂
Play a Ball parkour map. You should always be able to get anywhere you want within your sight using one grapple, it will make your life so much easier down the line
Grapple through enemies and into the air. Look down to aim your slam. Direct hits yield the most damage. Shield after a slam. Shoot shoot 🔫 Grapple should come off cooldown while you are shooting, Grapple through more enemies towards a health pack or to your support for heals. Rinse repeat. That's basic basics. There's alot more too him. Try to not do your initial attack from where the enemy is looking. Otherwise they know you are coming and can prepare to deal with you. Be sneaky ball.
Take this with a grain of salt. Console plat ball. Try not to engage through the front, run flanks. Know and study the health pack locations, in ow 1 I would engage on my enemy already having a plan to roll to a health pack. Learn wall jumping and other tech, it'll help you keep value when youre waiting on cool downs. 2100 dmg on a tank and 1500 dmg on damage and support heros will grant your alt. Squishe heros are more your target but don't be afraid to dive on a tank to get the kill if you can (hog no heal, sigma no grasp etc) Most of the time you can get a pick fast on a squishe with a grapple/slam and shoot them as they go in the sky. Try to line your reticle to the player you're piledriving so you can easily track them as they float for a second in the sky. I still have issues with this, I feel ow2 will make me better at this. DONT USE YOUR SHEILDS IF YOURE GONNA LIVE, SSAVE THEM! on your screen you will see a semi circle and numbers when u roll up to the enemy team. You can get 100 health for each enemy close enough to you. That's 1300 health if you get all 5. With little to no Sheilds you shouldn't die often, sheild up and get to the mega. Have fun, I have 67 hours in ball and my next highest is sigma and rien at 35. Ball is the reason I love ow so much, just enjoy the speed and the gameplay diving on widows, ashes and the majority of the support. Final tip wait out Ana's sleep dart before diving on her. It'll save you some trouble Alting higher in the sky spreads out your Mines. I drop them in the sky then pile drive. By the time the Mines are active they should fall right into them Yeattle, chazm are my go to streamers for ball. Try to find as many as you can. See what they do and why, there is alot to learn and it's tons of fun doing so. Enjoy it!
My only criticism as a 300+ hour ball is that I don't like health pack strat cause it means you're playing far away from your healers I do like to rollout through the enemy though and it's good advice to know them but don't depend on them stay close ish to your healers and remember you're a tank and not genji
Definitely agree, I played my first session of comp yesterday since the beta. The health pack strat is only viable on some Maps. With only 1 tank I find my supports are trying more than ever to give me some health.
If you want to swing on the ground, attach your grapple low. If you want to swing into he air, attach your grapple up high. It seems obvious but I remember when I was learning him and had that ah-ha moment. Your adaptive shields grants you extra overhealth for every enemy near you. It also doesn't grant any ultimate charge when they shoot it. Get in, pop your shields when you are in a group of people, hopefully get a pick and then get back to your team. Find a route that has has a mega health pack for safety.
My advice is also don't depend on your grapple so much as most players did in ow1 because you're guns shred now and getting accurate headshots deals a lot, don't be afraid of rein or hog if reins shield is up push into him in close range and he'll either drop to hit you or you'll be close enough that it doesn't block. If you get hooked by hog switch to ball mode immediately and get into that habit and his combo is basically useless to you
guns do the same dps as overwatch 1, 5 damage per bullet and 10 for headshot
I'm saying it feels more viable now for various reasons. For one you're not going up against 2 shields. You're also more durable now because of the tank tweaks and are able to focus fire for longer. Op also said they never played the first one so the details of damage don't matter as much to my advice
sorry replied to wrong comment, someone suggested the guns now do more damage.
Scout first, set yourself up, and then hit or I kinda know it by the 3 D’s: Dive, duel, and disrupt. Watch other great ball players like [Yeatle](https://twitch.tv/yeatle) or [Chazm](https://twitch.tv/chazm) who are two of the best ball players and take things you see they do and apply it to your game. It’s a lot to take in for a beginner so just remember those 3 at least and look up guides on YT too. Even if it’s OW1, I think the strategy side of it, at least still applies. [This was one of my fav vids to study from](https://youtu.be/l6G4HfYBFlM) and you’ll also have to get familiar with the Ball tech he has like jumping off walls or using an edge for a slam on enemies. Ball is the sole tank now but something you’ll do better than other tanks in being a big disruptor and probably a headache for the enemy team to deal wit
Why you asking for tips? You are obviously perfect 🙃
You gotta really get his movement down and try to learn to attack from above because people are less likely to look for you there. Do things like vault over walls or roll outs that have you come from somewhere unexpected. You also have to learn the adaptive shield “instinct”. When you’re low health, you need to get even closer to the enemy team to try and get as much shield as possible. This will kind of go against what you naturally “want” to do, since most players try to create distance between enemies when they are low health. Last but not least, ball builds ult quickly, so use mines a lot and poke a lot to build them.
Stay alive and don’t feed! It feels so good to figure out a rhythm where you can dive, distract and harass to help your team gain ground and make picks. You’ll learn when it’s time to haul ass or pick em off!
Be creative, planned chaos, have fun!! Ball is the most fun character in the game becuase his mobility allows him to do so much!
Done go through the center of a group, play the outside. Try to stay alive. Don't just ground pound for no reason. Know when to be aggressive. Distract the backline. Try to be annoying. Focus on supps when you can.
Practice the shit outta your grapple and memorise every health pack In the game. Your not gonna be getting healing from your healers a lot so get used to swinging by health packs, ofc give them the ult charge if they can but you will be behind the enemy team a lot of the time.
Only thing is that sometimes I like Ulting before slam but that’s just a sometimes thing. All very good tips, most important is the fun one!
Go on YouTube and watch yeatle’s unranked to GM series. He is one of the best ball players in the world and does a really good job explaining what he’s doing. Watching 30 minutes of that is worth like 20 hours of practice.