OverwatchOverwatch Reinhardt Guide and Overview

Reinhardt may very well be the sole universally loved hero in OW. Whenever there is a meta where Rein is strong, the community generally feels pleased with the state of balance. One of the original heroes who helped define the franchise as a shield and melee hero in a first-person shooter. Everything about his game plan revolves around his shield and hammer, with the rest of his kit supplementing these two.

Having just a single tank per team in OW has greatly altered the playstyle for Reinhardt. A common term thrown around in very early days was “main tank” and “off tank.” Basically, Tank heroes with shields were considered “main tanks” and those like Roadhog who didn't have a shield were considered “off tanks.” These days it is no longer Reinhardt's job to just stand at the frontline and shield damage. Now he functions as front line, point presence, rush down enemy back line, and often leads his team in damage.

TLDR

Playing As

• Barrier Shield and Charge as repositioning tools. Use both to take space and get yourself close to melee range.
• Start Fire Strike behind cover and peek the moment it fires to minimize damage taken.
• Check your Fire Strike charges and ally positions before using Earthshatter so you don't end up knocking down the enemy team but having no follow up to actually eliminate any of them.

Playing Against

• Use stuns and knock back to shut down his approach. If he can't get into Rocket Hammer range, he's very underwhelming.
• Burn his barrier from off-angles rather than stacking in front of it where his team can safely attack you.
• When you see the Enemy walking suspiciously far up, expectEarthshatter. The moment you see him drop the shield and wind up, use your barrier or escape ability.

Strengths

Taking space

Taking and controlling space is one of the primary jobs for tanks and this is exactly where Reinhardt excels. A giant hammer swinging force walking with his team behind his huge shield can be extremely difficult to stand in the way of. The enemy team doesn’t want Rein to be close to them so as he walks forward, they walk back. When he is on defense, any enemy hero who wants to advance forward has to willingly put themselves into Rein’s optimal range where he is able to land Rocket Hammer swings.

AoE damage

Against enemy teams that like to position multiple people grouped closely together, the huge AoE hitbox of his hammer deals massive cleave damage. Hitting three enemies per swing is not uncommon and results in dealing approximately 300 dmg per second! Additionally, the Fire Strike projectile has a long hitbox and penetrates through enemies, further increasing Rein’s power against grouped enemies.

Damage mitigation

Damage mitigation is so important in Overwatch that it has its own designated column on the in-game scoreboard. No other tank can keep up with the sheer amount of damage mitigation Reinhardt offers. Having a shield with no cooldown enables reactive blocking against core enemy cooldown abilities and ultimates. Barrier Field trades in Rein’s favor in every interaction. All he has to give up is a bit of shield health, and Rein can completely cancel out enemy abilities with 10+ second cooldown timers.

His shield also has by far the largest health pool of any shield and regenerates its own hp after not being deployed for a couple seconds. Reinhardt's large shield health allows him to activate the passive during fights when his hp is low by simply not putting down his shield.

Weaknesses

Has to choose between dealing or mitigating damage

The biggest weakness of having a shield in one hand and a hammer in the other is the inability to use both simultaneously. Reinhardt is actually the only shield tank that cannot mitigate and deal damage at the same time. Consequently, when facing off against a tank like Sigma or Orisa, they will have the advantage in being able to damage Reinhardt while not taking any damage themselves. Even D.Va can use Defense Matrix and Micro Missiles at the same time, and Mauga's Cardiac Overdrive and Ult both allow him simultaneous damage output and mitigation. Reinhardt has to constantly choose between 100% defense or 100% offense.

Poor ranged damage

Two final and most severe weaknesses are being a melee hero and not having any vertical movement. While Fire Strike does count as a ranged ability, the long cool down and slow speed make it unreliable when actually using it at range. On map areas with long lines of sights, Rein often has to burn up all his shield health while slowly trying to get into melee range, leaving him with little to no shield for aggressive plays, or to save himself if he gets low health. Most heroes in OW can rotate outside of his melee range and continuously fire damage without threat of retaliation.

No vertical mobility

On maps or objectives with a lot of high ground, Rein can feel pretty useless as he has no way of contesting or moving vertically. In these scenarios, the best move is often to simply shield teammates and hope they can get some picks. The only other options are to take long paths that allow access to high ground areas, or use a teammate's ability like Lifeweaver Petal Platform to move him. Either way, Rein has no means of moving back and forth between high ground and low ground areas which allows enemies with mobility to easily avoid him.

Secondary FIre: Barrier Field

Reinhardt holds a large rectangular shield in front of himself which absorbs all projectiles and explosions.

Tips for Barrier Field

• Shield regenerates its hp after not being used for 2 seconds
• • When shield health is low, utilize cover, or team healing to allow shield time to regen. 
• While Barrier Field is deployed, Rein walks 30% Slower.
• • “Shield Hopping” means you jump while at full speed, shield in the air, then release shield on ground to be able to move at 100% speed while weaving in chunks of damage mitigation.  
• In general it is unsafe to make aggressive plays when the shield is cracked (Lower than 700hp).
• Obvious use is shielding random damage and poke. 
• Best use is flashing shield to directly block high value cool downs from enemy team
• • Ex: Bait out Roadhog hooks through movement, positioning and timing, then block just as enemy Hook comes out. Rein can attack much more safely for 6 seconds. 
• Bottom of Shield needs to be in contact with ground to block abilities like Earthshatter.
• Hold both Barrier Field and Rocket Hammer to 3rd-person free look while shielding. 
• • Good to see where teammates are positioned behind.
  • Peek around corners.

Primary Fire: Rocket Hammer

Swing a massive hammer in a horizontal arc.

Tips for Rocket Hammer

• Damage and penetrates shield abilities. 
• First swing is always right-to-left, then swings back and forth until releasing down primary fire. 
• Hitbox is rectangular. Longest range is at both 45 degree angle corners. 
• • Swing crooked or quickly whip aim left and right to extend the Rocket Hammer hurt box forward.
• Always try to cleave multiple enemies in single swings when possible.
• Begin Swing animation while partially behind cover and step into open when hitbox can make contact with the enemy to minimize damage taken while attacking.

[E]: Fire Strike

Wind up, then swing hammer to shoot a fiery projectile that permeates enemies and shields.

Tips for Fire Strike

• Can animation cancel a hammer swing into Fire Strike, for burst damage.
• Slow startup and recovery animation leaves Reinhardt vulnerable to damage and crowd control abilities. 
• • Best started behind cover, then step out at the moment of shooting Fire Strike, and back into cover during recovery animation. 
• Always try hitting multiple targets with a single use.
• Great for finishing off enemies attempting to run away or retreat behind cover.

[SHIFT]: Charge

Charge straight forward for 3 seconds on the ground at high speed.

Tips for Charge

• Can minimally control left and right movement. 
• Cancel at anytime by pressing SHIFT
• Cancel and hold jump to carry momentum through the air.
• Jump cancel plus hold Swing to quickly attack out of charge.
• More often used for mobility or to close distance on enemies than actually pinning a target.

Minor Perks

Crusader's Fire

• Best Minor Perk because it guarantees you have a Fire Strike to follow up on Earthshatter.

Crusader’s Resolve

• Good in matchups where you are forced to play more passive such as when facing Orisa or Mauga.

Major Perks

Shield Slam

• Lose the ability to hold secondary fire down and look around without rotating.
• The slam itself is ok, but generally not worth taking over the increased attack speed.

Ignited Fury

• Save at least one Fire Strike for when you get into melee range. The increased attack speed is very strong in brawls and will help you win the Tank fight.

Best Maps

Kings Row

• The first fight on King’s row almost always occurs at the choke point directly between the capture point and the attacking team's spawn. A shield tank is typically chosen to defend this area. Shields block almost every type of damage in OW but Rocket Hammer and Fire Strike let Rein damage through the shields. Team fights get forced on the payload where Rein can use it for cover throughout the map and even safely Earthshatter through it from behind.

Eichenwald

• Rein is crazy strong on the first and third point of Eichenwald, and can find creative ways to be useful on the second. On defense, hammer, Fire Strike and Barrier Field completely dominate the choke points and dictate what the attacking team is allowed to do. Basically, don’t die on first point, and the enemy team won’t be able to win the fight even if they pick off other teammates.

Lijiang Tower

• Horizontal movement and flat ground control are two of Reinhardt's greatest strengths. All three points of Lijiang Tower are almost completely flat. Rein can walk everywhere or use Charge to quickly traverse the Control areas. At least one hero has to be on point from the enemy team which means there will always be at least one target for the hammer!

Worst Maps

Dorado

• Rein can’t really do anything other than sit on the payload when playing on Dorado. The defending team will gladly let him sit there as they rain down damage on his entire team, eventually winning the fight and watching the payload slowly move back where it started. On defense, either you shield bot on high ground with your team, or you put yourself in a very dangerous position and try to force a head on fight.

Circuit Royal

• Sigma. The main reason Rein struggles on Circuit Royal is due to how perfect Sigma's kit fits this map. You are pretty much guaranteed to have a broken shield before you get into swinging range. If you make it to the final point, everyone is so spread out that Rein gets blasted from every direction any time he attempts to make a play.

Ilios Well

• Placing a giant hole in the center of the map, separating the two sides is the Achilles heel of the armor-clad knight. The well serves as the perfect ring around the rosie tool for enemies to permanently stay outside of melee range. Additionally, Rein is vulnerable to boop abilities that knock him into the hole.

Rein plays best in Rush style team comps where the entire team moves together. Other brawl and close range damage heroes like Mei and Reaper pair strongly with Rein, though he can also benefit from having ranged heroes and flankers on his team to make up for his weaknesses.

Two types of Reinhardt based team comps:

1. Everyone plays hard grouped on him and runs over the enemy team.

Example: Reinhardt, Mei, Cassidy, Lúcio, Moira

2. Teammates play to make up for Rein’s weaknesses such as range and high ground pressure.

Example: Reinhardt, Ashe, Tracer, Ana, Kiriko

Individual synergies with other heroes

DPS

Mei

• Mei's and Rein’s kits are the perfect frontline pairing. Ice Wall can be used offensively to separate the enemy front line from their team and allow Rein to swing freely without threat of the enemy backline’s ranged abilities. Mei can also use Ice Wall defensively to save her Rein or allow for safe passage across an open area.

Symmetra

• Photon Projector needs time to charge up to full damage. The range is also fairly short. Both of these qualities massively benefit from having a Rein shield constantly near the enemy team. Sym and Rein attacking the same target together has immense damage potential. Moreover, teleporting a Reinhardt to high ground or behind enemy lines often leads to a super fast fight win.

Supports

Lucio

• Speed Boost, the #1 greatest ability Rein could ever be given. Lúcio speed basically makes up for every one of Reinhardt's weaknesses. Enemies without strong movement abilities get completely ran over by Lúcio + Rein if they don’t have a Lúcio of their own to speed away. Rein just needs to better manage his shield and hp to capitalize on opportunities to rush down vulnerable enemies.

Not Brigitte

• Pro Tip: Contrary to what a decent amount of the player base seems to believe, Brig is one of the worst supports to play with and against Reinhardt. She doesn’t provide enough healing for Rein to play aggressively, and Whip Shot boops people away from Rein which he does not want, and the OW iteration of Brig is not tanky enough to stay front line with her tank.
• Bonus tip: She also sucks against Rein because if she gets in range for her melee, she gets deleted.

The best way to disable a Reinhardt from destroying your team is to play outside of his melee range. Heroes like Lúcio provide extra movement speed to his entire team making it extremely difficult for an enemy Rein to stay in his optimal Range. A combination of mobility and long range damage make choices like Pharah and Sojourn impossible for Rein to deal with on his own. Orisa as a counterpick, somewhat depends on the current power level of the two heroes. In general, Orisa simply stop Rein from doing everything he wants to do. Javelin Spin block Hammer swings and Fire Strikes, Fortify makes all Reins damage negligible and is invincible to Earthshatter.

Mirror Matches

Most mirror matches become ego duels. The Rein who decides to play smarter wins

• Tracking enemy Earthshatter Ult charge is super important.
• When Earthshatter is ready, players often stop Fire Striking and position more forward. Use these cues to alert yourself to an incoming Shatter and block!
• More important than dealing more damage through swings, Fire Strike usage makes a huge difference in Ult charge built.
• Focus on using Shield to block high value enemy cooldowns from hitting team.
• If both teams have an Ana, the Rein who blocks Sleep Darts is gonna win the mirror..

Specific Hero Counters

Tank

Orisa

• Javelin Spin, Throw, and Fortify seem like they were specifically designed to counter Rein’s kit. Rein can’t ever walk past Orisa as she can freely move him around wherever she sees fit. He can’t front line battle her as Fortify mitigates too much damage while critical hitting Rein’s big head hitbox. If the Orisa is smart, she is almost never in range of Rocket Hammer anyway making it a one sided battle.

Roadhog

• The armor rework has made this match up more manageable for Reinhardt. Nevertheless, all Hog has to do to win the fight is land one hook on Rein and yank him around the corner into his trap. Rein has to block every single hook and hope he can slowly win the fight by taking advantage of the enemies lack of shield.

DPS

Pharah

• To put it simply, you can’t do a single thing to fight against Pharah's flight. Inconsistently, you’ll hit a cool firestrike on your airborne target but it doesn't matter since that’s less than half her health. Block as many rockets as you can, pray your teammates can shoot her down. The best thing Rein can do is apply enough pressure and damage on the rest of the team that the enemy supports won’t be able to give resources to Pharah, making it easier for your team to take her out.

Mei

• Just as Mei's Ice Wall is the perfect tool to help Rein, it’s also the perfect tool to make him completely useless. When walled off, Rein will rarely live even with a full HP shield. The play is to try and trick the Mei with your timing and approach, making her waste wall, then going aggro during its cooldown.

Supports

Lúcio

• No matter how hard Rein tries to chase people down, Lúcio can speed boost everyone out of his range. Lúcio's boop can also save teammates from your approach or throw off the trajectory of Charge. His ranged damage is also valuable to burn down Barrier Field.