Reinhardt is one of the staple tanks inOverwatch 2, and much like many of the other tanks has also been hit with majorquality of life changesas the game shifted over to 5v5. Increased health, more Fire Strikes, and a cancelable charge all make playing Reinhardt amuch smoother experiencethan in the originalOverwatch.
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His power lies in his simplicity as well as his ability to makegame-changing playswith his ultimate ability Earth Shatter and his ability toplay aggressivelywith his giant rocket hammer. He can keep the team alive with his barrier, or he can wipe out the enemy team with his high-damage swings and abilities. His hammer can hit multiple targets and is very new-player friendly – despite his high skill ceiling.
10A New Way To Charge
One change to Reinhardt in Overwatch 2 is that he cancancel his Chargenow by pressing the button again which makes it much more versatile and useful in more situations. One of those situations is that you can cancel the charge before an edge to send someone over without having to fall off with them, or you can Charge in and then cancel it to feint for an Earth Shatter to catch the opposing tank and everyone else off guard.
9Double Fire Strike
Another Reinhardt change is that he now hastwo charges of Fire Strikewhich is his only ranged ability. Each does 90 damage, and they canpass through barriers as well as enemies. Use these liberally to charge your ult or to finish off low-health targets that got away. Try to use them when enemies line up since the more people you hit, the more ult charge you get.
In close range, you can use Fire Strike after swinging your hammer to animation cancel and deal an additional 90 damage faster to finish off a target before they get healed.
8Rein Duels
Reinhardt duels actually change a lot about how a match plays out and adds a lot of complexity that does not exist in other tank matchups. Because Reinhardt can block the opposing Reinhardt’s Earth Shatter with his barrier, and both of them have to fight in melee range, there is a lot ofpositioning and barrier managementthat can swing the matchup in your favor. Melee attacks hit through the barrier, so by applying pressure and forcing the other Reinhardt to put their shield up, you can essentially charge your ult off them for free.
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It is not only a race to get ult first, but it is also a mind game to not get yours blocked and to keep your barrier healthier than the enemy’s for more pressure. The more aggressively you play, the more the opposing Reinhardt will think that you are trying to Earth Shatter, and vice versa. The ult is slow enough thatit can be shielded on reaction,so breaking their barrier or using other tactics to catch the opposing Reinhardt off guard to ensure your ult will hit is a good strategy, since the Reinhardt who hits more ults will most likely win.
7Barrier Health
Without any ranged options besides Fire Strike, your barrier is the only thing between you and all the hurt being thrown your way. Unable to defend yourself from a distance, the dance of gettingclose without it costing your entire barrier or health bar is crucial to playing Reinhardt. Use your barrier to help your DPS create space, but be ready to fall back if your barrier or health bar starts to rapidly go down.Avoid Bastion and Orissaas they can shred your barrier.
Balancing barrier health and your own healthneeds to be precise so that either never actually hit zero, but without bringing you so low that you get dove on. Your barrier has two phases of visual damage it goes through to alert your enemies of its approximate health. If your barrier is destroyed completely, Reinhardt will say that his barrier is destroyed, and that’s when the enemy team is going to push you. Compete barrier destruction puts your barrier on a 5-second cooldown before you can bring it up again, leaving you helpless during that time.
6Pocket Healer Check
Reinhardt is at his best when he can play aggressively to pressure the front line and charge up as many Earth Shatters as he can. The amount of aggression you can get away with is very dependent on your healer and how much they pocket you, as well as the opposing DPS and how much they can hurt you. While supports likeLucioandKirikocan give you lots of utility withKitsune RushandSpeed Boost,the healing might not be enough.
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AnaandMercyare very powerful pockets and can keep you alive through a lot of damage. Being pocketed by either allows you to make riskier plays, but watch your health and barrier when you get low to give them time to heal you up.Nano Boostis very potent on you, as it makes you even more deadly with some DR becoming harder to kill and boosting your damage.
5Wasted Effort
With aggression, Reinhardt can easily charge Earth Shatter, but with this ult, it can be easy to go to waste.Stunslike Doomfist’s punch, Orissa’s javelin, and Sigma’s boulder all stun just long enough to cancel the very short start-up animation for Earth Shatter. Additionally, even dying moments after pressing the button can eat your ult, forcing you to start all over. Take caution against characters that can stop your earth-shattering plays as well as using it while low in health since dying shortly after using it without teammates present to capitalize also wastes it.
4Earth Stopper
Be wary ofZarya bubbles,Fortified Orissa, orother barriersas Earth Shatter can becompletely blockedby these things if they absorb the shock wave up close by standing in front of it. Since lots of tanks have methods that can block your ult, it can be helpful to try and get past them or wait for an opening – or for them to die before devastating the backline.
Trybaiting out Zarya bubbleswith Fire Strikes shot wildly since Zarya will often attempt to walk in front of them with bubbles on for free charge. If she does it in reaction to your Fire Strike animation, just aim it up and out of the way. Orissa players will usually Fortify if you try charging them, so that can bait it out.
3Sweet Spot
Earth Shatter hits a cone 30ft out in front of Reinhardt that knocks enemies down.Enemies close enough to physically get hit by the hammer take an additional 200 damagefrom the original 50 which can allow you to instantly kill squishies who are in your face.
This can be helpful for assassinating high-priority targets like Mercy,who can shut down your aggression single-handedly with their powerful healing. Use your best judgment to determine when using your shatter to guarantee a pick is a good play rather than a waste.
2Chaaaarge!
Being able tocancel Chargemakes it less risky to go for pin kills that can easily tip the scales of fights by getting picks, giving your team momentum. It also allows for more precise gap closing to be able to stick to mobile targets without overshooting them if you miss the pin.
The Charge can also be used defensively tofall back in a pinchor reposition yourself to block oncoming damage faster than walking. It is also possible to seamlessly put up your barrier after canceling a charge to be more mobile than Reinhardt ever was in Overwatch 1.
1Earth Shatter Synergy
Earth Shatter is a huge play-making ultimate that can allow Reinhardt to secure kills on squishy targets by knocking them down for a few seconds. However, there are many ultimates that work very well when combo’d with other ultimates likeJunkrat’s RIP-Tire,Sombra EMP,Bastion Artillery, orReaper Death Blossom. These ults are strong on their own but can leave the user vulnerable which can stop their play from working. Earth Shatter keeps enemies stunned while those other powerful ults clean up the rest.
