Overwatch Beta - Junkrat Tips & Tricks

Good evening fellas! Today our Overwatch boosting team started a series of detailed hero previews: since Blizzard decided not to release any Overwatch Beta Keys, it’s hard for many of you to have detailed information about the heroes and the general Overwatch gameplay.

That’s why we are providing these articles about our favourite heroes while we wait for the official Overwatch release date: today we start with Junkrat. Be sure to check our incoming Overwatch tier lists to see how your favorite heroes are placed during the Overwatch Beta!

Who Is Junkrat?

Name: Jamison Fawkes AKA Junkrat
Age: 25
Location: Junkertown, Australia
Occupation: Anarchist / Thief / Demolitionist / Mercenary / Scavenger
Affiliation: Junkers
Role: Defence
Health: 200
Catch Phrase: "It's a perfect day for some MAYHEM!"

Backstory

As one of the survivors of the Australian Liberation attack on the omnium core, Junkrat became one of the Junkers, scavenging the wasteland of Australia's Outback. Like everyone else in the area, Junkrat was subject to side effects from the radiation caused by the explosion, making him less and less sane, but his mind was perfect for handling the explosives he became obsessed with.

During his scavenging of the Omnium wreckage, he made a discovery, not many know what he found, but countless bounty hunters, gangs, and other dregs of society eagerly hunted him down for this secret. This lead to Junkrat forming an alliance with Roadhog, the fellow Junker became his bodyguard, splitting any bounty they got on the road 50-50.

Abilities

Frag Launcher
Frag Launcher is Junkrat’s basic attack. It has a long range and fires grenades that can bounce and explode as soon as they touch an enemy. Even the basic attack is pretty hard to land and offers opportunities for a lot of cool plays if you can master the bounces.

Concussion Mine
125 damage, 8 seconds cool down. According to me, this is Junkrat’s coolest ability. He can place a mine on the battleground and detonate them: pretty standard stuff, right? However, enemies caught will jump in the air, and if Junkrat himself is in the explosion range he will fly! Again, it seems that Blizzard was inspired by Team Fortress 2 for this mechanic

Steel Trap
Junkrat sends out a big metal trap. If an enemy gets caught by his deadly trap, it will close snaring him and dealing damage. The damage itself isn’t high, but enemies immobilized should be more worried about the follow-up!

Total Mayhem
Junkrat is a persistent fella, and he somehow manages to send a gift to his enemies upon dying: after being killed he launches many grenades at his location.

RIP-Tire
RIP-Tire is a hell of ability. Just like his other abilities, it involves an explosive, precisely a freaking tire bomb launched across the map. This tire will fly around, over obstacles and walls and can be detonated by Junkrat to deal an incredible area of effect damage, or explode on its own.

Pros

• Great burst and sustained damage
• One of the best ultimate in the game for AoE damage
• Causes disruption in the enemy team

Cons

• Very squishy
• Low mobility except for his mine
• Has a hard time dealing with heroes with vertical mobility
• He can be punished during his ultimate’s cast time

Synergies

Mercy is probably the best hero to support Junkrat. With her buff, his RIP-tire damage will skyrocket (no pun intended), and can probably one shot most of the enemies. His passive ability has incredible synergy with Mercy’s ultimate because he will spawn grenades, come back to life and then re spawning them as soon as he dies again for increased damage. On top of this, her healings can really increase his survivability, especially if he is punished for firing his ultimate.

Another great support is Zarya: she can protect him during his ultimate, like Mercy, but she is also a great tool via her ultimate: Junkrat can set up many explosives and mines where Zarya uses her ultimate, dealing a massive amount of damage.

Counters

In general, heroes with vertical mobility are a hard matchup for Junkrat, but especially Pharah. It’s hard for his basic attack to hit her, as they are designed to explode on the ground after bouncing; and it’s even harder to hit the other abilities, as the mines and explosive are supposed to be cast on the ground!

Even the RIP-Tire is pretty hard to direct in the air and can be easily dodged. Just like Pharah, Tracer can dodge most of Junkrat’s abilities thanks to her high mobility. However Junkrat can really destroy Tracer in a matter of seconds if she gets caught in his Steel Traps, that effectively neutralize her escapes.

Map Synergy

Junkrat is really strong in the Jackpot map: in the Overwatch tier list for that specific map, Junkrat gets extra points because he can set up his explosives and mines around the Payload, setting up many ambush opportunities for players who try to secure it. We are waiting for more maps to be released during the Overwatch beta, so we may see more favorable battlegrounds for our destroyer.

General tips

• Junkrat is designed to be a backline hero: stay away from the center of the battle and shoot from safety. Remember to place your traps in a strategic spot to maximize their zoning potential Steel Traps are really effective vs heroes like McCree or Tracer: if they get caught, be sure to nuke them down when they are vulnerable



• Try to understand the spots on the map where Junkrat may place his traps: soon or later you will learn to anticipate them Understand the trap placing behavior of the Junkrat player you are facing: if he has success placing explosive in a certain spot, he probably will place them again in the same place Junkrat is really squishy and has low mobility: if you manage to catch him out of position, he is a good target for nuke abilities.

Closing Words

Let us know feedback about this Junkrat’s overview! Our OW Boost team reminds you that Blizzard decided not to release any Overwatch beta keys, so don’t get scammed!

To get a sample of the Overwatch gameplay, check our guides, watch the stream on Twitch or wait for an official Overwatch beta invite from Blizzard. Remember to check our site in the next days for more hero reviews!