OverwatchOverwatch Reaper Guide and Overview

The dual shotgun-wielding and ruthless killer who haunts the nightmares of tank mains. Reaper has the very specific role of the point-blank combatant. At medium to long ranges, he provides almost zero value to his team. If he manages to get right in the enemy's face, he’ll instantly have the upper hand.

His must be disciplined to have the patience required to set up sneaky flanks and avoid damage on their way to their target. He’s equally effective at quickly eliminating isolated enemies and going toe-to-toe with tanks. Depending on the map and match-ups, he can adapt his target prioritization and take out the most vulnerable enemy.

TLDR

Play As

• Look for isolated enemies in the backlines. They’ll be the easiest to eliminate and can quickly give your team the advantage.
• Save Wraith Form to survive. Try to sneak in and attack, then only use Wraith once at low HP and needing to escape.
• Help your Tank win the Tank duel. Especially in Tank Mirrors, the extra damage from Reaper gives your Tank an easy win when fighting the enemy Tank.

Play Against

• Focus him after Wraith. Even if you have to chase after him, a Reaper without Wraith is an easy kill.
• Listen for Shadow Step sound cue. Whichever direction you hear it from tells you he’s about to appear and attack you.
• Counter Death Blossom with CC, damage mitigation, or focus fire. He’s moving slowly and can’t cancel Blossom, so he’s easy to target.

Strengths

Tank buster

The wide bullet spread of Reaper’s Shotguns is perfect for shooting the large bodies of Tanks. They also serve as a large source of lifesteal health for himself. Between the high damage and lifesteal, most Tanks try to avoid Reaper at all costs.

Backline assassin

Shadow Step and Wraith Form are great flanking tools. Reaper can TP behind the enemy, surprise attack, secure an elim, then turn invincible and escape.

Self-reliant

Having life steal, mobility, and invincibility means Reaper doesn’t have to rely on his team’s resources. He’s a great hero to pick when you feel your team isn’t providing enough support. Between health packs and lifesteal, Reaper can keep his HP full all on his own.

Weaknesses

Poor range

His only attack, being the Hellfire Shotguns with short falloff and wide bulletspread, doesn’t permit Reaper to find value outside of very close range. During poke phases, Reaper doesn’t do anything. Getting in close also puts himself in greater danger.

Easily countered ult

In Overwatch 2, ults are seen as game-changing abilities. Sadly for Reaper, however, his ult is difficult to get consistent value out of. The timing of the ult tends to be telegraphed, and there are endless ways to counter it, from damage mitigation and invincibility to stuns and burst damage.

Armor

Armor reduces Reaper's shotgun damage by half. So if he’s shooting a Tank with high amounts of armor like Orisa, he’s dealing very low damage until he and his team chip away down to her base health.

Primary Fire: Hellfire Shotguns

Tips for Hellfire Shotguns

• Up close and personal
• • Hellfire Shotguns’ damage scales way up when at extreme close ranges. At just 10 meters away, the falloff damage kicks in, and the bullet spread causes a lot of pellets to miss.
  • Barrel stuffing enemies ensures the maximum amount of Shotgun pellets hit, which leads to more damage and more lifesteal.
  • Reaper has the advantage in virtually every duel when at 5m or closer.
• Critical hits
• • One headshot plus one body shot instantly eliminates all DPS and Supports. (assuming close range and all pellets hit). Going for headshots with Reaper is extremely important, as he relies on the burst damage to quickly kill and escape before he dies. The close-range engagements also make headshotting more reliable compared to heroes who play at longer ranges.
• Trigger discipline 
• • One shot every half second sounds pretty fast, but when targeting fast and small enemies like Juno, try to individually trigger each shot. You’ll save ammo and improve accuracy. 
  • Additionally, wait to fire until you are at very close range when sneaking up on an enemy who doesn’t see you. Don’t shoot the moment you see someone if they don’t see you. That way you maximize your advantage in the fight. 

[SHIFT]: Wraith Form

Tips for Wraith Form

• Use for invincibility
• • The primary use for Wraith Form should be survival. In an ideal world, Reaper players would always engage without needing to use Wraith Form, and then be able to use it to safely escape when at low health. 
  • If you use Wraith Form to get close to your target, Reaper becomes a sitting duck if the enemy team turns to focus him.
• Use for reloading
• • Activating and instantly cancelling Wraith Form will quickly reload a full clip and help Reaper to confirm elims on targets with low HP. Oftentimes, you will find yourself in a scenario where you’re out of ammo and your target just barely lives. Wraith Form reload cancel will help you get those elims.
  • Important to remember. On the occasions where you don’t save Wraith Form, be sure to plan out how you will survive. Is there cover nearby? Health packs? Healing or damage mitigation resources? Knowing the answers to these will enable you to play more aggressively.

[E]: Shadow Step

Tips for Shadow Step

• Loud sound cue
• • First and foremost, you need to know that when Reaper arrives at his selected teleport location, he makes a loud sound that nearby enemies can hear. Be prepared for their reaction when Shadow Stepping close to enemies, even if it's behind a wall.
• Use to set up flanks
• • Shadow Step is good for getting behind or above the enemy. Then, crouch walk right up to them without them noticing Reaper. Doing this will teach enemy backlines to fear the Reaper
• Never TP in enemy LoS
• • Reaper is a motionless target when activating Shadow Step and when arriving at the selected point. If he’s in enemy LoS for either of these, they get free headshots and often have enough time to kill him before he can move or use Wraith Form.

Ultimate: Death Blossom

Tips for Death Blossom

• Be sneaky 
• • To increase your elims and success with Death Blossom, focus on catching the enemy off guard. If they don’t see Reaper, then are suddenly being attacked by Death Blossom from behind, they have much less time to react.
• Don’t Wraith Form into Blossom
• • Reapers everywhere love to do it. So much so that enemies are trained to expect Death Blossom any time they see Reaper Wraith Form into their team. Doing so will likely get you hacked, stunned, or have the ult blocked, ultimately ending in the death of Reaper.
• Finish off targets
• • Death Blossom auto locks onto all enemies and deployables within its AoE. This is useful for finishing off targets if you run out of ammo, or are having difficulty landing the final blow. 

(Passive) The Reaping

Tips for The Reaping

• 30% Lifesteal
• • All damage Reaper deals with his Shotguns, including during Death Blossom, heals Reaper. 
  • When at low HP with no escape, focus on shooting Tanks or low mobility enemies who you are more likely to quickly deal damage to. In doing so, you’ll generate self-healing more quickly.
• Pay close attention to your health
• • During fights, Reaper’s health constantly goes up and down from healing and damage. Be sure to watch your HP bar to know when you need to Wraith Form to survive.

Minor Perks

Death’s Shadow

“Shadow Step reloads hellfire shotguns and has 25% increased range.”

• Increased range
• • The extra range for TP is useful for setting up flanks, escaping, and  helps get back from spawn a bit faster.
• Reload Perk
• • With an additional quick reload, Reaper can use Shadow Step as an offensive tool. Unloading a clip into a target, then TP in place or where they are trying to retreat, is a good way to keep the pressure on the enemy.

Soul Reaving

“Collect Soul Globes from dead enemies to restore 50 health.”

• Extra tanky
• • Soul Globes are useful for making Reaper even more tanky with the added self-sustain. Allow him to stay in the fight a bit longer.
  • Especially good in brawly fights on the objectives where enemies are dying in close range.
• Don’t try to pick up every Globe
• • Just because you see a Globe doesn’t mean you should pick it up. They can be bait and waste time for very little healing in return. Only pick them up when at critical health or when they are on the path to your targeted enemy.

Major Perks

Dire Triggers

“Use (Secondary fire) to fire a volley with long range accuracy from both Hellfire shotguns.”

• Poke weapon
• • Greatly increased range damage and tightened bullet spread empower Reaper to finally be able to contribute to ranged fights.
  • Before getting in close, start building ult charge, or pressuring the enemy team.
• Help with fliers
• • In matches with fliers like Pharah or Echo, Dire Triggers' longer range helps to pressure or even finish them off.
• Don’t give away your position on flanks
• • The damage from Dire Triggers isn’t worth beginning your flank attacks with. It’s still much better to get as close as possible, then attack with Hellfire Shotguns.

Ravenous Wraith

“Leaving Wraith Form grants 40% additional lifesteal for 3 seconds.”

• Stacks with Death Blossom
• • You should break the “don’t Blossom after Wraith” rule if you’re using this Major Perk. Stacking up to 70% lifesteal during Blossom means you probably won’t die unless they have the capability to one-shot you.
• Dangerous Perk
• • The extra lifesteal encourages using Wraith Form to engage. But then you never have it to escape. Three seconds of extra lifesteal leaves Reaper with a whole five seconds before another Wraith!

Reaper thrives on maps with tight spaces and lots of small rooms. He struggles most on maps with long sightlines, narrow hallways, and wide open spaces. Finding areas with cover and flank routes should be the primary focus of your pathing on Reaper. If one side of the objective has health packs or covered paths, spend most of your time on that side and avoid the other. Maps with high ground areas give him the extra option to TP up, then drop down for a lethal surprise attack.

Best Maps

• Samoa
• Throne of Anubis
• Runasapi

Worst Maps

• Circuit Royal
• New Queen Street
• Midtown

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!