Overwatch: 10 Tips to Get Started | Reinhardt Hero Guide

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Shield your friends and smash your foes in Overwatch as the gigantic Germanic knight Reinhardt. Here you’ll find our top ten tips, tempered through experience and distilled for you. A big guy like Reinhardt is all about tanking — that means he soaks up damage for the rest of the team while leading his pals through chokepoints, protecting everyone with his forward-facing shield. He’s an intimidating hero, and we want to help you hold the reigns to help round out a well-balanced team.

With so much HP and such a deadly hammer, it seems like Reinhardt should be a cinch to play. His slow-speed and huge frame actually makes him more of a liability without the support of healers like Mercy or bubblers like Zarya. He won’t be able to reach snipers or climb ledges, and his charge ability can leave him incredibly vulnerable if you whiff. There’s plenty of strategy to Reinhardt, and this strong tank can help carry any team to victory if you play your rocket-assisted cards right.

Be the center of attention while playing as Reinhardt with these ten quick tips to get you started.

10 Tips to Get Started | Reinhardt Hero Guide

Covered in massive armor and equipped with Overwatch’s only melee primary weapon, Reinhardt is the truest definition of a tank — huge armor and rockets to charge into the fray.

Knight in Shining Armor – Reinhardt is a tank, pure and simple, and should have his front-facing Barrier Field active at all times. While the knight is incredibly tough, and comes with one of the most powerful primary attacks in Overwatch, he’s still a massive target and a high priority for the opposing team. With that in mind…
Tanks For The Help – Giant bullet-sponges need help too. Reinhardt’s primary function is to take attention and soak damage for the squishier heroes on your team. That also means you’ll want to stay at the front-lines, ahead of the support. Keep your support heroes alive, because they’re going to keep you alive!
Melee Mastery – Reinhardt’s melee attack can be devastating at close-range, and the wide-arc can send multiple opponents flying back. But, be sparring with how you use it — you’ll have to drop your Barrier Shield to use any attacks, leaving you more vulnerable. There is one other way to get into melee range…
Charge! – Reinhardt’s Charge ability is how he quickly closes the distance, but can easily leave him dangerously over-extended and out-of-reach of his support teammates. A successful Charge will instantly kill most heroes, not counting other tanks. Try saving your Ultimate before attempting a Charge so you can knock everything in the vicinity down before retreating.
Defense is the Best Offense – One powerful strategy is to use Reinhardt’s Barrier to protect Torbjorn turrets or a stationary Bastion. This works for clusters of teammates too, and allies will naturally use your shield as a piece of moving cover. Move toward the objective and don’t hang back — the tank needs to be at the front of the fight at all times.
Shield With Benefits – The Barrier doesn’t just stop projectiles, it also stops status effects or other annoying abilities: Symmetra turrets will not slow, Roadhog’s Chain Hook will not pull, Mei’s ice beam will not freeze, and McCree’s Deadeye is practically useless against a fully-charged shield.
Problems From Above – Reinhardt cannot jump or climb high ledges, and his melee attacks are worthless against flying enemies or snipers on perches. Reinhardt’s Fire Strike is best used against Pharah or opponents trying to strike from up high. Don’t forget, Mei’s Ice Wall can lift Reinhardt up to help him access new areas, as well. If Pharah is present, save Fire Strike to counter her Ultimate Rocket Barrage.
Stunning Display – Reinhardt’s Ultimate is an extremely effective cone-based attack that stuns anyone caught in range for 2.5~ seconds, giving your team plenty of time to clean-up or severely weaken the opposition. Save it for situations where lots of enemies are clustered in one place — don’t pop Earthshatter until it can deal max damage to the enemy team.
Payload Protection – When escorting the Payload, Reinhardt should be the opposite of creative — don’t lower that shield for anyone and keep pushing forward to keep the objective safe. Reinhardt is one of the toughest nuts to crack with Payload, because he is mobile (if slow) and can follow the objective as required.
Shield Weaknesses – That shield is amazing, but certain weapons can bust right through it. Melee attacks deal full damage, and certain beam weapons damage Reinhardt through his shields. Close-range guns like Winston’s Telsa Cannon and Symmetra’s beam gun / Photon Orbs. Be wary of enemy Reinhardts, too — they can block the Earthshatter Ultimate with their shield.

Reinhardt is all about knowing when to push forward and when to hang back and keep your pals safe. If you’ve uncovered some new tanking tips and want us to know, leave your strategies in the comments!

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