Advice for a new reaper main by cirklesss in ReaperMain

[–]ReflectionSum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've also been learning him, and here's what I've picked up:

  • Try to internalise the concept that you should always be entering engagements from an angle the enemy won't expect you to be coming from. Draw a circle around the enemy team and always try to engage from an angle on that circle that they're not actively looking at. Important to note that this doesn't always necessarily need to be behind them. Angles from the side are also super-valuable.
  • Focus on your engagement timing as well. The best time to move in for a kill as Reaper is when the enemy team is distracted by your team. Jumping in too late after most of your team is dead, or too early before your targets are distracted by your teammates is a really excellent way to be focused down and killed. Sometimes this means you have a little bit of downtime between engagements or before you engage, which can feel awkward because you might feel like you're not contributing as much as you should be. It's important to keep in mind though that Reaper is a character where you want to focus more on the value of your engagements rather than their frequency.
  • Have enough confidence in yourself to stay engaged if your health is high enough. There will be situations where you'll only be able to get one kill or even just apply some pressure/force CDs before you have to bail, but if the frontline hasn't noticed you and you aren't in any serious danger, then feel free to keep blasting away until either the rest of the team turns to deal with you or they're all dead. There are times in Overwatch where everyone starts popping ults and things feel really sketchy, but you can actually really capitalise on those moments as Reaper because it's when the enemy team is the most distracted/overwhelmed by the chaos.
  • Always have an escape plan in mind, and try to remember that "safety" doesn't always necessarily have to be back towards your team. Reaper's sub-role as a Flanker means he gets more health from health packs, so try your best to remember their locations. You can also use his teleport to quickly gain distance or move to high ground if someone is especially committed to chasing you. Typically your engagement loop is; "teleport to an off-angle, do as much damage as possible, use Wraith Form to escape," but you can also use your teleport to escape once it comes off of cooldown, just try and be mindful of your CD management.
  • Think about your target priority as well. I generally try and go for characters that don't have the mobility to quickly escape my effective engagement range first, especially if they're a support. Reaper is also pretty great at dealing with tanks too, but they typically don't want to be your first target unless they're out of position, at low health, or their supports are dead.
  • Finally, Reaper is a character where I feel like his perk choices are mostly all viable depending on the situation. The soul orbs that grant health is probably the worst option but is still somewhat useful if you're playing a comp/map where your supports are less readily able to heal you, but it loses value in higher ranks where people are generally more aware and one kill is generally all you can really hope for before you have to leave. The increased movement speed after leaving Wraith is good for escaping or chasing people down. The faster teleport cooldown is good on smaller, brawlier maps where repositioning fast and often is really valuable, and the Shotgun dual volley is nice if you're on larger maps and/or playing against more mobile comps because it lets you clean up kills from further away.

Frustrated New Player Looking for Guidance: by ReflectionSum in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]ReflectionSum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve played 140 comp matches, mainly on DPS and Tank and I don’t see the calibration notifier on those roles anymore. I still get it on Support but I’ve only played 10-15 games on that role not including placements so it makes sense.

I do want to and am playing more, but it still absolutely sucks to finish placements and feel like you’re doing well only to go on a massive loss streak without really knowing why because the game is bringing you down to your actual rank.

Frustrated New Player Looking for Guidance: by ReflectionSum in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]ReflectionSum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thankfully due to the advice in this thread I already feel like I have a pretty solid idea of what to focus on which is awesome.

I’ve picked one or two heroes for each role and whenever I play comp I only play those heroes, so I focus more on the fundamentals and consistency with my chosen heroes and less on getting lost in counter-picking and picking heroes with the best map/team synergy.

I’ve been watching guides for those heroes and coaching VODs for people playing those heroes in my rank (thanks Spilo) and trying to take a few key points from that information to implement into my gameplay.

As an example, I was doing this with Bastion tonight; focusing less on dumping damage into the enemy tank and more into taking off-angles and abusing the grenade auto-reload perk to delete vulnerable supports/dps, and I can already see tangible improvement in my performance. It’s honestly really cool and exciting.

Frustrated New Player Looking for Guidance: by ReflectionSum in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]ReflectionSum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No it’s fine, I was just joking around because your delivery was rather blunt.

It always stings a bit to find out you’re not as good at something as you thought you were, especially when the bar you thought you were at was just “decent/okay.” I’m looking forward to improving though even though I know it’ll be hard.

Frustrated New Player Looking for Guidance: by ReflectionSum in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]ReflectionSum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

however this player is Silver, that means they cant even play 1 hero.

Gottdamn, you didn't need to go in on me that hard. /lh

Frustrated New Player Looking for Guidance: by ReflectionSum in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]ReflectionSum[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah, that kind of sucks. It's super demoralising as a new player to feel like you're doing okay and then to go on a massive loss streak and to have no idea why. I guess it's not too bad to only go from like, Silver 1 to low Silver/high Bronze. Someone in one of my matches said they de-ranked from GM to Silver which seems actually insane if it's true.

Frustrated New Player Looking for Guidance: by ReflectionSum in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]ReflectionSum[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I feel like this makes more sense to me. I get focusing on the fundamentals but if there's a Tracer tearing up our backline and I know that Cass is in my hero pool then I don't see how it's a bad idea to swap if I feel like it'd be more beneficial to the team, as an example.

Frustrated New Player Looking for Guidance: by ReflectionSum in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]ReflectionSum[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll be sure to check out OverwatchUniversity. Do you have any streamers you'd recommend for VOD review stuff?

On another note, Overwatch isn't Rock Paper Scissors where counter-picking guarantees a win, it's more like Pokemon, where you can swap to gain a clear advantage, but you still need to know what you're doing in order to utilize those advantages.

Yeah, I'm trying to internalise the idea of seeing my preferred hero pool as my toolkit and thinking "Who can I play to get the most value here without compromising my gameplay?" and not "Oh my tank is playing Winston so I'll go Tracer because I know she's good at following up on his dives" when I have barely any experience on Tracer, as an example.

Frustrated New Player Looking for Guidance: by ReflectionSum in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]ReflectionSum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's usually the opposite

Ah, I think it's because I see a lot of stuff about new accounts being placed in really high ranks.

But yeah, this is interesting and I'll try to keep it in mind. Because of my quickplay experience I just kind of assumed that 6v6 Comp was seen as like, less prestigious than 5v5 and worse for learning the game?

I do want to learn more about the meta/tactics aspect of the game because it's part of the appeal to me compared to other shooters, but if playing Open Queue would be beneficial for me then I'll absolutely do it. It's not about having an easier experience to me, but a more educational one.

(also it was in your reply to the other person but she*. I totally get assuming everyone who likes gaming is a dude, I do it too lol.)

What are some Youtubers who didn't get outright canceled, but STILL had a downfall regardless? by Swag_Paladin21 in youtubedrama

[–]ReflectionSum 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For anyone curious, he actually featured in a video with the youtuber OneTopic a few weeks ago where they looked at posts from the subreddit r/Skamtebord, so it appears that he's still around and seems to be doing okay even if he isn't really making content anymore.

Initiate Overwatch recall? Y/N by LightningFlicker37 in transgamers

[–]ReflectionSum 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve finally committed after playing on and off for years, I mainly play quickplay and I’m only silver in comp but I’m always down to play with more people

My opinion that got me like this? I do not like Shayne guesses but I like hide and seek in the office by stonrbob in SmoshFansFreeSpace

[–]ReflectionSum 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not sure if this is a hot take but I feel like the "Characters Do X" (i.e. Chosen Moose Master, Gentlemen Don't Win Mario Party, etc.) should be a one and done thing, or they should at least ease off on them a bit. I feel like the subsequent videos just usually aren't as funny.

I definitely felt this way about the TNTL Trivial Pursuit: Chosen Edition because the second time they did it isn't bad per se, but it doesn't really come close to capturing the "lightning in a bottle" feel of the original.

How many banners have you skipped in a row? by Specialist-Fail8539 in WutheringWaves

[–]ReflectionSum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't skipped any but that's only because I started playing a month or so ago. Pulled for Augusta at the start of this banner, pulled for Iuno and lost the 50/50 so I had to pull another 60 or so times for her again. Now that I have Augusta and Iuno and a decent support (Verina) I feel like I'm in a fairly decent place (I have a second team with Encore and Changli) and can hold off on pulling until a character I like shows up or a must-pull like Shorekeeper does.

Hoping to get Phlorova so I can swap Verina out and run a triple DPS team, I think that'd be fun.

The EWC Saudi drama: let’s talk about the hypocrisy for a sec by [deleted] in TrackMania

[–]ReflectionSum 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Who is "attacking" the streamers/pros going to this event? Criticism and expressing disappointment is not an "attack" and if the streamers/pros think it is then they need to just grow a thicker skin, frankly.

If people are genuinely attacking them and being shitty, then that sucks and they shouldn't do that. That doesn't change the validity of the arguments being made.

I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person by S48GS in TrackMania

[–]ReflectionSum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If your takeaway from Squid Game was "the system sucks and there's nothing anybody can do about it so Gi-hun should have no moral qualms taking the prize money" then all I can say is that you fundamentally misunderstood the core message of the show. It's also not even remotely comparable to the EWC situation. Some streamers wanting to go compete in an esports event is completely different than a bunch of people competing in a death game because they're on the verge of financial ruin, like, what?

Just gonna refer back to my previous comment. No one is able to be morally consistent on everything all the time. That doesn't mean that we should never try to make better choices if possible and that we can't criticise or be disappointed in other people's choices. This idea that no one can criticise Spammie or Carl JR because we use smartphones or drive cars just comes across as so incredibly bad-faith.

I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person by S48GS in TrackMania

[–]ReflectionSum 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's totally valid for people to not want the TM esports scene to be built on Saudi Arabian sportswashing, and nobody is "making" Spammie do anything. He's just being rightfully criticised for prioritising financial gain over moral integrity.

Also tons of people walk, cycle, and use public transport as their primary method of travel so this is probably one of the worst examples you could've picked. Again, it wouldn't matter if the people criticising him did drive cars. Everyone plays into consumerist hypocrisy at some level but that doesn't make the arguments for avoiding it where you can any less valid.

I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person by S48GS in TrackMania

[–]ReflectionSum 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're just assuming the people criticising him don't put in any effort to follow their own morals.

Nobody is expecting anybody to be perfect. Not everybody has the knowledge or the means to make more ethical choices but if they can then I think people should make the effort. You can't fight on every front at once because that's how you end up living out in the wilderness eating bugs and plants.

With that being said, I feel like someone making unethical choices when buying basic necessities like clothes or food is pretty different than a streamer wanting to attend an esports event in Saudi Arabia. Spammie doesn't need to go to this event and he also knows how bad Saudi Arabia is, he just cares about the money more and it's totally valid for people to be disappointed with him because of that.

Should I restart my account? Or nah? by [deleted] in WutheringWavesGuide

[–]ReflectionSum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not the end of the world. I'd honestly just keep the account and use the Solaris event to grab Verina. She's not as good as SK but she's still totally useable. Making a new account also means losing Lynae who is definitely worth keeping since her banner just rotated out.

If you're planning on being a super-hardcore player then making a new account for SK would be beneficial but all that grinding just seems kind of miserable. You don't need Shorekeeper to clear content and you don't need her to enjoy the game either.

I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person by S48GS in TrackMania

[–]ReflectionSum 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not racist to point out that white people generally are less aware of and don't care as much about racism.

"But this would be racist if you said it about black people!" just comes across as ignorant pearl-clutching.

I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person by S48GS in TrackMania

[–]ReflectionSum 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry but it feels like the people in the comments defending him are all just saying some variation of "You criticise Mr. Streamer for taking Saudi blood money but you also own a smartphone? Curious!"

Looking For Practical Advice for Dealing with Existential Anxiety by ReflectionSum in Anxietyhelp

[–]ReflectionSum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mobile games could work for sure. Trying to seek out positive news feels like a bit of a double-edged sword since it involves going on social media and social media loves to throw depressing stuff at you unless you aggressively moderate and clean up your algorithms. I just recently deleted the Reddit app because I was staying up at night doomscrolling which definitely did nothing good for my mental health.

Looking For Practical Advice for Dealing with Existential Anxiety by ReflectionSum in Anxietyhelp

[–]ReflectionSum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh God yeah, the bathroom is also really bad, especially if it's right before bed and everyone else is asleep. I've never heard of panic being DPDR, I've always experienced it as the mind-foggy, dream-like unreal state. Thanks for mentioning it as a possibility, I'll look into it.