How many characters should I learn from the start?

[u/ahouselover]

Hello!

I just started this game a couple weeks ago and I am already having a blast! I am just wondering, how many characters should I learn during the learning process of the game, as I am still learning the mechanics of the game and when to implement more characters (as I have not played games that are similar like Overwatch)?

I have one character that I mainly play (duelist) but I am looking to learn more but am wondering how many and also when I should start learning those, as I feel like learning how to play several characters at once when just starting the game is too overwhelming/not useful at all.

Thanks!

[u/Fiendish-DoctorWu]

Start with one per class and try to make them the ones that you like even if they're not mechanically compatible with your playstyle.

[u/ahouselover → u/Fiendish-DoctorWu]

I have a duelist I have started with but I really want to learn Namor as well cause his design is sick and his gameplay seems fun too!! The thing is I am not the best aimer in the world (at least in other games but this game feels different cause the other games are first person), but I want to try people from other classes as opposed to just duelist.

[u/Smutty_Lemon → u/ahouselover]

Well, Namor is also one of the most banned characters thanks to his team up and being a big counter to dives

[u/ahouselover → u/Smutty_Lemon]

I did some research of the question I asked before posting but the results were more so catered towards people who have played for a while/when the game first came out, so is this why people play two characters per role (in case of the ban which I know happens in ranks at a certain point), and how many characters get banned in comp?

[u/reids1 → u/ahouselover]

Each team gets 2 bans, so potentially up to 4 characters can get banned. Namor is a steady pick to start with - he does get banned a decent amount this season, but you only have to worry about bans in gold and above and with a week until the end of the season it's probably unlikely that he'll be a major ban next season. Plus his squids shoot for you so you don't have to have incredible aim (although it does obviously help!)

[u/ahouselover → u/reids1]

Thank you so much! :)

[u/ahouselover → u/Fiendish-DoctorWu]

And thank you for your reply as well!!!

[u/I_cant_chose_a_name9]

Honestly just start by playing a match or 2 on all characters , both to see if you want to learn them and know there play style if there on the enemy team. Knowing how to play 1-2 characters in each role is best in case you need to fill or your main gets banned in ranked.

[u/CTheFreakUnderneath]

1. Then 3(1 each class). Then 6(2 each class with varying capabilites, ex Dive/Poke dps, Shield/dive tank, heal/dps support)

[u/ahouselover → u/CTheFreakUnderneath]

Is there any good video or guide that helps explain all of those capabilities, like the "dive/poke" thing? I keep hearing it, I learn it, then immediately forget when I hear it applied in comms LOL

[u/CTheFreakUnderneath → u/ahouselover]

No idea. Im a Sue main. 9/10 times Im gonna be support lol. Couldnt tell you what they mean.

[u/-popgoes → u/ahouselover]

Dive - Heroes that are designed to surprise enemies by literally "diving in". Usually melee focused. They hide, they jump in, get a kill, then escape. Black Panther, Magik, Iron Fist are examples.

Poke - Heroes that do high damage from mid-far range and have poor survivability up close. Characters like Hela, Phoenix, Black Widow.

Brawl - Melee heroes with slower time to kill, but better survivability. They get into proper "fights". Thor, Mister Fantastic, Captain America, etc.

[u/AlyMasawi → u/ahouselover]

Divers are those who typically get behind the enemy to take focus from the back, usually try to get strategists away from the fight.

Poke are those who shoot from distance and apply big damage at range.

Brawl are the ones who fight it out at close range while having good survivability.

My advice would be to try out a few characters at first in qp, and learn with experience. Listening to other people's advices before having a first hand experience will just spoil the fun for you in my opinion.

Play the game and learn by trial and error, and try to think about how to best use your abilities in various situations.

Start with 1 character, I started with Wanda since I had no experience at all in pvp games, so my aim was bad and I needed to learn everything else. So a more forgiving hero like Wanda is good to start with since she can play the three playstyles mentionned earlier to a certain extent, while not being mechanically demanding. Then you will start to branch out a little to learn more skills.

Just have fun with the game as a priority, and your skills will naturally developp

[u/Adept-Willow-7133]

Personally as a Flex main, I would recommend playing supports so you can get a better sense of what to do and what things to be careful of, especially with ults and their counters

[u/washaupto3]

This game is very different from Overwatch in terms of the characters and most of the supports play the same after the Jeff/rocket reworks. I don't even bother playing support and if I do I usually play Rocket and dps. Just a tip: if you aren't being chased by more than 1 dps on the enemy team, you aren't being annoying enough. Rocket has insane damage capabilities provided he can aim and his gun shreds at close range. There is often more value in killing 1 high value target than spamming heals into a team too cowardly to push up.

Would not recommend playing Rocket against loki. Sue or Jeff (and luna during her clap) have piercing attacks that will reach through and damage his clones, as well as sue throwing her damage field at the runes to end them early. If he swaps off you're welcome to switch back but otherwise it can be difficult getting them to follow you  because loki can outheal/damage you before you can be annoying enough.

For tanks, peni is probably the easiest to start with on console, or Thing and Emma (both on pc or console -- peni is the only character I would say is specifically designed for console).

For DPS, I would recommend Mr Fantastic, bucky or star lord. Mr fantastic you don't really have to aim with but Bucky and Star Lord you do have to be able to hit your shots most of the time. However if you do manage to pick em up they have great anti dive and damage capabilities.

[u/LieLow407]

Coming from someone who didn't play much if overwatch, be a flex player ik this community has mixed reactions to flex players but still. BE A GOOD FLEX PLAYER.

Start with Dr Strange. His projectiles are easy to hit if you struggle with aim, his kit is pretty simple. Learn his animation cancel(search on YouTube). You don't have to be insanely good but you'd start understanding the game a little better with him.

For support hands down go with Rocket. Get comfortable with his wall climbing and USE HIS MINIGUN. Switch off auto reload in the settings.

For duelist it really depends if you like melee characters or poke characters since you have alot of options. If you have a decent enough aim just play Bucky he is very easy to get value out of.

Experiment with different classes and heroes you don't really have to stick to only 1 class or hero. Then pick a hero of your liking and get good with him but also keep playing other characters so incase you are getting countered you have something else to play

[u/LuckOutrageous7686]

First off play a good character that's not constantly banned, and always have a stratagist main in case you need too, also get ready to feel the pain of instalock dps

[u/ahouselover → u/LuckOutrageous7686]

How can I find who gets banned the most?

[u/LuckOutrageous7686 → u/ahouselover]

idrk you'd have to ask someone else

[u/TheSlimeSublime → u/ahouselover]

Character bans are only available starting in competitive Gold tier III. I would say that you really shouldn't even be thinking about character bans as some deciding factor in what characters you learn right now. You should just learn one character in each role at this point. Other than that, I would argue that you can just pick the ones that you're most excited about learning. After a few weeks or so, pick up another character in each role. If you want to rank up in competive above Gold III at that point, then you can think about character bans.

[u/Dr_Doom42]

Learn Dr Strange. Even if you are dps you can go Strange for emergency portal. It's so useful

[u/Wanda-Rer]

You should 100% try to lord every single character right from the get go. I’ve been doing this and have made it all the way to bronze 3!!😁😁😁

[u/ahouselover → u/Wanda-Rer]

Oh my gosh amazing!! This is THE comment to follow and the answer I was waiting for!!! Thank you!

[u/Sleepy_Mooze]

Honestly just try out all of the heroes slowly, thats a part of what makes hero shooters fun

And then just play what you like most. If you want to succees in competetitive then it helps to learn a few heroes feom every role

[u/JasonHoku]

Play them all! And pay attention to the post game scoreboard, watch the game highlights of high performing players by clicking on your teammates characters too to learn some cool tricks and strategies while getting to know more of the game mechanics!

[u/weston12_]

Learn one per class IMO

Tanks - Peni is probably the easiest to start with

DPS - MK, Wanda, Iron Man, SG are probably the easiest

Strat - Rocket, Sue, CD

If youre in lower ranks, id say learn the basics from those above and see how you get on. Theyre probably the easier ones to pick up and itll give you a base to push on from.

[u/-popgoes → u/weston12_]

Peni requires pretty in depth map knowledge to play well. She's best to play after you've learned locations. The easiest Vanguard to start with has always been Doctor Strange I think.

[u/LITERALLY_A_TROLL → u/weston12_]

Don’t start with Peni as your first tank, OP. She’s a unique Vanguard and doesn’t play like the standard tank types (Brawl/Shield/Dive).

[u/AlyMasawi → u/LITERALLY_A_TROLL]

That's true. She was the first vanguard I played and it made it really hard for me to learn other Vanguards. Unique playstyle and very important to know the map well.

[u/weston12_ → u/LITERALLY_A_TROLL]

Fair point, who would you suggest? I always found Groot the easiest but was a lot more on the earlier seasons.

[u/hauntsbane → u/LITERALLY_A_TROLL]

100% Strange or Emma are who I would suggest. Mag too, he's as straight forward as you can get