OverwatchOverwatch Hanzo Guide and Overview

Hanzo is a high-skill sniper DPS built around patience and precision. Guided by his belief, “with every death comes honor,” Hanzo sneakily takes out his target with his Storm Bow. Every arrow is a test of discipline, rewarding players who value timing and predicting enemy movement—or getting a random lucky headshot while spamming down hallways.  

In a team comp, Hanzo’s purpose is pressure and picks. He excels at controlling sightlines, punishing predictable movement, and opening fights with an early elimination. Optimal Hanzo play revolves around off-angles and high ground, where he can catch a target off guard. 

Even though he excels at range, rapid-fire arrows, and a dash make him capable in a close-range scramble as well. Unlike other snipers, you can’t simply dive Hanzo for an easy counter. 

He also has the unique power to reveal enemies' positions to his team with Sonic Arrow. When played correctly, Hanzo forces enemy teams to slow down, respect space, and play around the ever-present threat of instant death.

TLDR

Play As

• Spam fully charged shots down long-sight lines. Even when not getting kills, his arrows pose a huge threat and force the enemy team to play cautiously. 
• Wall Climb to control position on high ground where it’s difficult for the enemy to contest Hanzo.
• Use Sonic Arrow before the fight starts to gain information about enemy positions before they can see you.

Play Against

• Respect his sightlines. If he’s already aiming down the main choke point, stay behind a barrier or take a different path. 
• Vary your left/right strafing movement to make it more difficult for him to predict your direction.
• If you are playing a flank or dive hero, keep pressuring him so he can’t freely shoot the rest of your team.

Strengths

Pick Potential and Threat

Hanzo’s ability to one-shot squishy heroes makes him a constant threat in fights. A single well-placed arrow can instantly swing the match's momentum. Just the threat of being instantly killed puts immense pressure on the enemy team and makes them cautious to push up.

Information Gathering

Sonic Arrow gives Hanzo great scouting capabilities. Knowing enemy positions and pathing gives his team extra time to adapt their position and strategy.

Versatile

Wall Climb and Lunge let Hanzo access high ground, safely shoot over walls, and play off-angles. When pressured, he can either escape or pop Storm Arrow to battle it out.

Weaknesses

Inconsistent

Hanzo’s effectiveness is heavily aim-dependent. Missed shots provide little value, and even the best Hanzo players have times when they can’t land a headshot. Compared to many DPS, Hanzo struggles to bring consistent value to his team.

Vulnerable to Dive and Rush

Although Hanzo has the threat of Storm and Frost Arrow, he struggles against high mobility dive heroes, who are especially difficult to land shots on. These heroes also tend not to stand in straight lines or on the objective, so they naturally counter Hanzo’s main game plan.

Low Team Utility

Beyond Sonic Arrow, Hanzo doesn’t bring any benefit to his team outside of getting solo kills. He doesn’t directly enable team play, and he’s not particularly good at peeling for his backline.

Primary Fire: Storm Bow

Tips For Storm Bow

• Spam chokes early for pressure and possible picks. Then slow down and aim carefully once enemy positions are revealed.
• Pay close attention to enemy movement patterns and use that information to make educated guesses on how they will move so you can get more consistent headshots.
• If you normally use a custom reticle, consider going into Hero settings and setting Hanzo’s to default. His reticle can help you adjust your aim vertically based on distance to account for arrow drop. 
• When battling an enemy at closer range, or when they are already at low HP, use partially charged arrows to get the kill faster.

[SHIFT]: Sonic Arrow

Tips For Sonic Arrow

• Use Sonic Arrow before fights to scout rotations
• Don’t waste Sonic Arrow by shooting it at enemies out in the open.
• Shooting walls will reveal enemies directly behind that wall.
• Mid-fight, use Sonic Arrow to help your team chase down enemies attempting to retreat to safety.

[E]: Storm Arrows

Tips For Sonic Arrow

• Storm Arrows excel at burst damage on tanks, barriers, and targets with limited movement, like a turret form Bastion.
• Don’t panic activate Storm Arrows. Good players will try to bait you into using Storm Arrows, then disengage. After a few seconds, they will full commit to a real attack then you will be left defenseless.
• Activate when you’re confident shots will land.
• You can shoot Storm Arrows into small rooms to attempt to finish off damaged enemies.

(In Air) [SPACE]: Lunge

Tips For Lunge

• Prioritize saving Lunge to defend yourself by creating space when the enemy team has flankers and dive heroes.
• Avoid predictable Lunge patterns; smart opponents will pre-aim it and punish you for being locked into the movement.

[SPACE]: Wall Climb

Tips For Wall Climb

• Wall Climb lets you take angles most heroes can’t contest. Always abuse vertical positions.
• Pair Lunge with Wall Climb to access unexpected angles, like jumping over a wall or around a corner.
• Use Wall Climb to briefly peek over walls for information without fully exposing yourself. Then climb back up to shoot at your designated target.

Ultimate: Dragonstrike

Tips For Dragonstrike

• Dragonstrike can also get a ton of value when used for zoning; it’s not just for kills. 
• • You can split the enemy team in half by shooting Dragonstrike in the middle of the team. Those in front won’t be able to retreat, and the rest of your team will have an opportunity to eliminate them.
• First shoot Sonic Arrow to see enemy positions, then fire Dragonstrike through the walls to make it harder for the enemy to avoid.
• • Especially effective in narrow chokes or on objectives.
• Combo with crowd control like Graviton Surge for the most lethal and consistent ult usage.

Minor Perks

Sonic Disruption

• Useful for inconveniencing enemy flankers who rely on health packs to get back into the fight. 
• If there is a flanker like Tracer, or a Tank like Wrecking Ball harassing your team, grabbing health packs and attacking you again, Sonic Disruption can be used to hinder their gameplay loop,.

Dragon Fury

• Even if you only hit one out of every 3 shots, the increased draw speed is very strong for Hanzo.
• Take by default. Especially powerful when being pressured by Tanks.
• Recommended Minor Perk

Major Perks

Frost Arrows

• AoE effect, hitting a surface also triggers the explosion and will inflict slow on nearby enemies. 
• Can be used during Storm Arrow, but not with Sonic Arrow.
• Try aiming at your target's feet to either get an easy body shot or floor explosion. Then, go for a headshot while they are slowed
• • Especially effective in combination with Dragon Furty.

Scatter Arrows

• In theory, you can get some cheeky KOs against retreating enemies inside rooms or around corners, but it’s too niche to be worth taking in any scenario over Frost Arrow.

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