OverwatchOverwatch Soldier: 76 Guide and Overview

Soldier: 76 is the premier, beginner-friendly, all-rounder of Overwatch. Based on a first-person shooter kit, his abilities are easy for newcomers to understand. The unique ability to sprint facilitates an off-angle playstyle where he’s constantly repositioning. Armed with an assault rifle with zero bullet spread means Soldier: 76 can be a deadly marksman at all distances. Finish off his kit with an aimbot ultimate, and he’s easily one of the most reliable heroes to play.

TLDR

Playing As

• Use Sprint to run around the sides of maps and attack the enemy from a different angle than the rest of your team.
• Helix Rocket is your best burst of damage. Try not to shoot them into barriers and other damage-mitigating abilities.
• Combo Tactical Visor with a boost such as Nano Boost, Orbital Ray, or Mercy’s staff to make your Ult more lethal.

Playing Against

• Dive him. Every role has heroes who can go with another ally and dive Soldier. He doesn’t have any CC and can’t attack while using his mobility tool.
• Block his poke damage. If all Soldier is doing is shooting barriers, he’s not bringing a lot of value to his team. Either use your own shield or play in the protection of a teammate.
• If you don’t see Soldier in front of you for a while, assume he is about to attack you from your flank. Play near cover so you can escape his surprise attack.

Strengths

Consistent damage output

Due to his versatile kit, Soldier: 76 is always contributing to a fight. Unlike many other heroes whose value comes in short and infrequent bursts, he never has trouble finding someone to shoot or heal. Whether burning down a barrier, poking with primary fire, or trying to burst an enemy down with Helix Rocket, Soldier’s attacks never cease.

Self sufficient

Biotic Field enables Soldier to go on his own solo quests without needing to rely on his team’s resources. A standard gameplay loop looks like run to an off-angle or high ground, Helix and shoot, Biotic Field, shoot, run for health pack, and reposition. All this can be accomplished without ever demanding healing or damage mitigation.

Horizontal mobility

As the only hero in Overwatch 2 with infinite ground mobility resource, Soldier’s horizontal mobility is unmatched. He can be very difficult to eliminate because Sprint makes him so evasive. Most enemies have a single charge of their mobility abilities, so Soldier can easily run away.

Weaknesses

Very long defensive cooldown

At 15 seconds, very few Overwatch abilities have a longer cooldown than Biotic Field. Compared to other long cooldowns like Immortality Field and Life Grip, Biotic Field’s defensive capabilities pale in comparison.

Master of none

Although he has a well-rounded kit, Soldier: 76 isn’t the best hero at any particular function. The snipers out-range him, Sojourn has better burst damage and vertical mobility, Bastion is better at burning down barriers, Tracer is more self-sufficient, and the list goes on.

Weak against dive

Without any CC or massive burst damage, Soldier is always a dive target. Even though he can Sprint and heal himself, if he gets caught can’t escape, and the healing of Biotic Field is way too low to sustain through a direct attack.

Primary Fire: Heavy Pulse Rifle

Tips for Heavy Pulse Rifle

• Zero bullet spread
• • Heavy Pulse Rifle is great for poking and pressuring at long distances because it has zero bullet spread. The only thing you need to worry about is the straight vertical recoil. 
• Target prioritization
• • Since Soldier is almost always shooting, selecting who to target is extremely important. Your primary targets should be the backline since you have the range to pressure them. Taking down just half the health of a Support often causes them to retreat, and the other Support to help them. Their tank is then left without either Support’s resources, and you can switch your focus to bursting the Tank down.
• Aim for necks
• • Many players find it helpful to aim for the necks of their targets so they get in a mixture of headshots and bodyshots. The high rate of fire makes landing hits consistent, so going for headshots when possible is worth it.

Secondary Fire: Helix Rocket

Tips for Helix Rockets

• Helix first
• • When you catch an enemy who doesn’t see you, always Helix Rocket first since it is a travel projectile. Depending on the distance, waiting until just before the Helix lands, then shooting primary fire will deliver your biggest burst of damage and is often enough to instantly get the elim!
• AoE damage
• • The steady damage of Pulse Rifle often gives enemies time to fall back to cover. Using the splash damage of Helix Rocket to explode on the ground next to them can secure the kill on a target who was escaping with low HP.
• Rocket jump
• • Shoot Helix at your feet and jump to get extra height and distance in your jump. This can be useful for jumping from one high ground area to another, or getting onto a ledge just a bit too high for your normal jump to reach.

[E]: Biotic Field

Tips for Biotic Field

• Don’t waste it if your life isn’t in danger 
• • The long 15-second cooldown means Soldier players need to be picky about when to use and when to save Biotic Field. Don’t just throw it down when no one is attacking or just because you assume some will. 
• Play more passively after trading
• • If the enemy trades their cooldowns with yours, you’ll need to play more passively until Biotic Field is back up. For example, Enemy Winston Jump Packs you, so you have to run away and Biotic Field to live. Winston will have his leap back, and you’ll still have about 10 seconds before you can use Biotic Field again, so position yourself safely where your team can help you. 
• Heal your team
• • Giving your entire team up to 200HP each can turn a close fight, into a won fight. Typically, you’ll use Biotic Field just for yourself, if you see your team needs the healing, don’t hesitate to put it down and keep your allies alive.

[SHIFT]: Sprint

Tips for Sprint

• Constantly reposition
• • Soldier is strongest when he’s unpredictable. If you stand in the same spot or always fire around the same corner, his damage is easy to survive. Use Sprint and keep changing where you are attacking from. Change up which side, high ground, and flanks are all strong options for him.
• Strafe Sprint
• • When running away from an enemy, don’t just run in a straight line because you’ll be easy to hit. Strafe from side to side while running away, and you’ll be slipping and dodging those attacks.

Ultimate: Tactical Visor

Tips for Tactical Visor

• Know the enemy team's options
• • Does the enemy have a Reinhardt shield to protect them? Is there structures and covers they can quickly hide behind? Are there multiple enemies with the mobility to jump on you? You need to ask yourself these questions before deciding to use Tac Visor.
  • If they have a shield tank for example, either wait until the barrier is destroyed or run around the enemy to an angle where targets can’t be protected by the tank.
• Best when damage boosted.
• • Nano Visor is one of the most classic and strong Ult combos in Overwatch. Additionally, you could get boosted by Mercy, Orbital Ray, Kitsune Rush, or go for Discord Targets. Depending on your team comp, be sure to plan how to amplify your damage during Visor and you’ll have significantly more success with the ult.

Minor Perks

Recycled Pulse Munitions

• The best Minor Perk, you can effectively increase each ammo clip by 50% if you time one Helix Rocket per clip.
• Ammo doesn’t overfill
• • Make sure to wait until you have 15 bullets or fewer to use your Helix in order to maximize reload efficiency. 

Field Emergency

• Situational at best
• • Very few times per match will you find yourself measurably benefiting from being able to heal low HP allies quicker.
  • Soldier doesn't want to wait around near his allies for them to be at critical health. He’s typically not positioning right next to his allies and wants to use Biotic Field on himself.
• Extra ult charge
• • You can build Ult faster through healing stats if you keep using Biotic Field Perk to farm healing off your allies.

Major Perks

Agility Training

• When matched up against multiple dive enemies, Agility Training can be the better Major Perk to select. Escaping faster and not having to stop to reload increases uptime without sacrificing evasive maneuvers.
• If Biotic Field is deployed, Sprint around inside it while reloading to keep dodging and healing until reloading has finished.

Stim Pack

• Heal or boost
• • Since you don’t lose the option to use Biotic Field for healing if needed, Stim Pack allows for some versatility. Turn Soldier into a glass cannon as he gains attack speed at the cost of being anti-healed.
  • The short 4-second window means you’ll want to know and see your target before activating Stim Pack, or else you risk wasting the long CD.
• Cleanse effects
• • Abilities like Protection Suzu, Projected Barrier, and Life Grip will cleanse the anti-heal effect. This is especially good when using Stim Pack for Tac Visor, as the enemy team will likely all turn and focus you.

The best maps to play Soldier: 76 on are maps with lots of flank routes. Having excellent ground mobility, but not vertical mobility, means flat levels maximize his Sprint value and minimize his vertical weakness. If the high ground areas are easily accessible, however, he should certainly be looking to take them. You’ll also want to look for longer sight lines as his weapons are best suited for medium-range engagements. Maps that force close-quarters combat are difficult for Soldier as he gets outclassed by heroes like Tracer and Genji. Really long sight lines are also a problem for him if the enemy is running snipers like Widow Maker.

Best Maps

• Colosseo
• Mid Town
• Shambali Monastery

Worst Maps

• Suravasa
• Watchpoint: Gibraltar
• Antarctic Peninsula

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