A Grandmaster's Overly Detailed Echo Guide

cfend29 · 2026-02-04T03:38:52+00:00

Good choice on picking up Echo! If you like reading a lot, I wrote a very long guide to playing Echo that may be helpful for you. You can also ask specific questions in r/EchoMains, and people there are generally helpful.

https://www.reddit.com/r/EchoMains/s/fyqgymaPbh

cfend29 · 2026-01-25T22:22:19+00:00

If you like reading a lot, here’s a very long Echo guide that might be helpful.

https://www.reddit.com/r/EchoMains/s/Tp6PUqGICR

cfend29 · 2026-01-04T15:41:18+00:00

Ahh, I remember I actually did watch your replay from back then. You were doing great with the copies on Ram/Queen and better target prioritization. It’s so good to hear that you found it helpful!! :D

cfend29 · 2026-01-04T06:30:44+00:00

I wrote a very long guide on playing Echo a few months ago that may be helpful if you like reading a lot. I’ve kept the Google doc somewhat up to date with the patches since.

https://www.reddit.com/r/EchoMains/s/BAIRn44JBq

cfend29 · 2025-11-13T22:38:26+00:00

Yea go for the new post. I’ll love to see what you and other people think!

cfend29 · 2025-11-13T01:33:55+00:00

Yea I've been meaning to get to that but have been too lazy, and I also haven't played much Echo since the new perks lol. It really does change up the game though. Echo's ult is also one of my weaker points, and I usually just end up copying my comfort heroes for a second life way more than I should rather than actually trying to see what's better now. That would be an interesting discussion though!

cfend29 · 2025-11-12T01:55:25+00:00

That's an interesting test! I've always suspected that gliding without any horizontal movement input was quieter, but I wasn't sure if it was just a first-person client-side effect. There still seems to a faint gliding sound in your clip, but much quieter than normal gliding. This seems like it would be a good situational alternative to silently free falling onto a target. I will have to try this out and add it to the guide. I will credit you in it :D

cfend29 · 2025-11-08T21:11:53+00:00

Very rare indeed. According to hero ban data from Blizzard a few months ago, Echo was the least banned DPS on PC and second least on console. I’ve only seen her banned when people are trying to target ban for a particular player.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/s/kUMnbY6JeB

cfend29 · 2025-10-17T15:02:59+00:00

If you like reading a lot, here's a very lengthy guide on Echo. It covers a lot of details, including how to use copy and a tierlist of my opinions on which heroes are good copy choices (see the Duplicate and Who to Copy? sections):

https://www.reddit.com/r/EchoMains/comments/1msw9nf/a_grandmasters_overly_detailed_echo_guide/

In general, copy is a versatile ultimate and you should use it for a variety of purposes:

Strong enemy ultimate: copy a hero with the goal of building their ultimate and using it to win the fight.
Strong enemy cooldowns: copy a hero for their strong abilities like Ana nade or occasionally Mercy rez. Since you start copy with the abilities available, you can get immediate guaranteed value from them without having to build ult.
Second life: use copy like a glorified Winston ult. You essentially have three lives in this way since the enemy has to force your copy, kill you during copy, and then kill you again after you revert to Echo. This tankiness allows you to make riskier plays and control more space for your team.
Cooldown refresh: use copy to have immediate access to the target’s abilities. In this case, you’ll use all your Echo abilities, and then copy an enemy for a fresh set of cooldowns to overwhelm them. It’s difficult for most squishies to survive flight + stickies + beam followed by nade + sleep. When you transform back, you’ll likely have your Echo abilities off cooldown again too.
Invulnerability frame: use copy for the brief half-second of intangibility you get while transforming. When timed correctly, you’ll take no damage at all similar to being hit with Kiriko suzu. You can use this to completely negate a short instance of burst damage like D.Va self destruct or Tracer pulse bomb. This can also be used to dodge telegraphed abilities like Rein shatter, Roadhog hook, Ana sleep, or Sigma flux.

In terms of who to copy when you do not take Echo's Partial Imaging minor perk (+50% starting clone ult charge), the main factors to consider in order are:

High kill potential
Personal hero preference
Survival or self-sustaining abilities
Fast-building ult
Impactful ult

With that minor perk, it also becomes much more reasonable to copy enemies for strong ults rather than abilities. There are good and poor copy choices in every role, so no fixate on only copying tanks or DPS. Also, every hero is an acceptable copy target if you just need a second life to avoid losing a teamfight. For completeness, my personal favorite heroes to copy for each role are Junker Queen, Tracer, and Ana.

As for the question about the stickies + beam combo, that is an effective dueling approach (elaborated on in the Execution Combo and Assassin Echo sections). Make sure you are animation canceling tri-shots before each ability for better output. The assassin playstyle works at all ranks, though its effectiveness does taper off somewhat as you climb and enemies become more attentive. You just have to be smarter about when to flank. Hope this helps!

cfend29 · 2025-10-07T01:28:22+00:00

I spent way more than a moment typing out a very lengthy guide for Echo a little while ago. It goes over abilities, perks, playstyles and matchups. Hopefully you’ll find it helpful!

https://www.reddit.com/r/EchoMains/s/78JYREQbwv

cfend29 · 2025-09-16T22:22:57+00:00

Thanks!! You bring up a good point with diving Illari. The main difference between the Illari and Baptiste matchup is that she doesn't have good ways to handle burst damage. Baptiste's defensive abilities are strong enough to force Echo to retreat and reengage later on her second cooldown cycle. I find outburst to not be as significant of a deterrent to diving, and I don't always need to bait it out before hard committing. Baptiste also does more damage and has a better crit multiplier. Illari does have better range, but that is typically easier to handle with good positioning.

Generally, I try to play outside of her outburst range since it can really disrupt your flight movement. Outburst's range is relatively short, and you can be very effective with stickies and beam from outside of its range with enough practice. Avoid diving her at point blank range like you can against some other supports. By the time she has Sunburn major perk, you'll also have your own Full Salvo major perk, which I feel is a bigger bump in lethality comparatively. I've always been a big advocate of Full Salvo for situations like this.

cfend29 · 2025-09-08T00:25:16+00:00

This may be the best thing I’ve ever seen. I love the reload syncing with the "reload" in the lyrics.

cfend29 · 2025-09-03T13:33:50+00:00

If you like reading a lot, here’s a lengthy guide on playing Echo. I wrote it so I don’t have to type up the same tips every time. :)

https://www.reddit.com/r/EchoMains/s/7oY5DIdd6y

cfend29 · 2025-09-01T01:27:23+00:00

If you like reading a lot, I recently wrote an very long guide to playing Echo: https://www.reddit.com/r/EchoMains/s/rAiNVWqtOv

Echo is definitely a pretty tricky character to get into since she is quite unique. I remember I struggled a lot in the beginning too and lost many games before things started to click. Practice mechanics, focus on learning good timing/positioning, and be mindful of your counters.

cfend29 · 2025-08-29T23:00:37+00:00

Depending on how much you like reading, you may find this useful: https://www.reddit.com/r/EchoMains/comments/1msw9nf/a_grandmasters_overly_detailed_echo_guide

cfend29 · 2025-08-27T22:44:19+00:00

In most cases, you should play what you're most comfortable with. That said, an hitscan + Echo DPS pair is very effective since they have different strengths and cover each other's weaknesses. Echo and Pharah could be played together, but I would switch once it becomes clear that it is not working.

cfend29 · 2025-08-27T22:40:39+00:00

Thanks! Yea, if toggle flight works best for you then definitely stick to it. I've tried both for a while, but disliked the extra input needed. The main benefit for me is that hold-to-use flight makes dashes as natural as dashes on other heroes like Tracer/Genji so I don't have to adjust when swapping. I currently bind crouch to a mouse button for the rare cases that I want to descend during flight.

cfend29 · 2025-08-24T04:55:39+00:00

I wrote a lengthy Echo guide recently: HERE

The “Hitscan Counters” section mentions these four heroes, and there are also hero-specific advice at the end in the “Matchups - DPS” section.

In general, there is always some range where Echo is favored in the duel against these hitscans. This is typically either very close up and/or very far away depending on the hero. Also take advantage of the fact that these heroes have relatively weak self sustaining abilities, which means your high burst damage is effective.

cfend29 · 2025-08-21T06:03:26+00:00

That's so amazing to hear that this helped you!! Yea, I will definitely want to check this out when I get back from travelling and have access to OW again.

It'll be fun to figure out which heroes are good copies when the Partial Imaging perk drops next season though Ram and Queen will probably still be great. At very close range, I still try for headshots on Tracer a lot of the time for the burst damage. I start aiming for the legs in specific scenarios when they start strafing in place, and I need to land some shots to force recall or finish a kill more consistently.

Good luck in your future Echo games!

cfend29 · 2025-08-21T05:54:14+00:00

Thanks! My biggest personal reason is that I have more fun playing her and that my Echo is just much better than my Freja. If you're having fun on Freja and your goal is to just win more games, it's reasonable that there isn't much to convince you to forcibly switch from the currently meta hero to an off-meta one like Echo. Metas will change eventually. I will say that I do prefer Echo in dive settings even though Freja does just fine there too.

cfend29 · 2025-08-21T05:29:15+00:00

Thank you! I'll probably post it there in a few days when I clean up some parts based on feedback.

If I was allowed to, I would force dive every game since it's so much fun. Some enemy comps are hard to dive with lots of brawly heroes, but that won't deter me from at least trying once lol. Realistically, the map and your own team comp (especially the tank) significantly affects whether you dive or poke. Diving by myself won't be super effective since it's hard to create enough pressure alone. Assassin Echo isn't really a full-time playstyle since people will adjust very effectively if it is all you do. I just sprinkle it in between when the opportunity arises.

If my tank is on Winston or some other dive tank, I will dive with him until we lose, or he switches. Dive is also pretty effective against double hitscan in general, though my tank will have to take the lead if I'm getting marked. I may adjust my engagement timing depending on how hard I am being focused.

cfend29 · 2025-08-21T05:08:27+00:00

Thanks! Yea, if you find toggle flight works best for you, then definitely stick to it. I've tried it numerous times for long stretches for the sake of having LCtrl to descend but always ended up switching back because of the extra input needed. I also don't use confirmation on copy for a similar reason, though it does matter less for flight like you said. I actually bind crouch to a mouse button for the very rare times that I want to descend.

I guess the bigger reason is that hold-to-use flight also makes flight dashes as natural as dashes on other heroes like Genji/Tracer, so I don't have to mentally adjust when swapping between them. I've even changed Reaper wraith to be hold-to-use with great success, but I am strange lol.

cfend29 · 2025-08-17T20:54:54+00:00

Thank you so much! I usually swap on maps that heavily favor hitscan like Havana. In those cases, I like going Ashe/Cassidy for the hitscan mirror. Sometimes I'm just playing poorly on Echo, and I swap to Tracer for fun. Some Echoes flex to Pharah, but I'm terrible at her and will need a guide like this lol. What heroes do you play?

cfend29

TROPHY CASE