Key Takeaways
- Lacking long-range engagement options, Reinhardt is best on maps where he can easily close space between himself and enemies, such as Nepal: Village.
- On maps with long sightlines, such as Junkertown Point A, Reinhardt struggles because he cannot deal consistent damage to enemies, and his shield has more opportunity to get bursted down, removing his ability to create space for his team.
- Assuming a map has short sightlines, Reinhardt counters ranged heroes by closing the gap with his shield and using his powerful Rocket Hammer primary fire. Reinhardt can also frequently overwhelm even short-ranged heroes, assuming he has support once he closes the gap.
- Reinhardt is countered by heroes and team compositions that either deal damage from a distance on maps with long sightlines, or have the ability to stay out of Reinhardt’s range through movement abilities. For example, Reinhardt struggles against competent players on dive heroes such as Winston, Tracer, and Genji.
Table of Contents
Reinhardt Quick Tips
- Reinhardt has 625 total health, with 300 armor, making him one of the tankiest heroes in the game.
- Though he has a strong shield, Reinhardt relies on aggressive gameplay—an overly passive Reinhardt leads to a quickly-broken shield and frustrated teammates.
- To find quality teammates who will support your aggressiveness, download the Z League app for free.
- By rotating the camera with his shield active, Reinhardt is one of the only heroes who can check for enemies around corners without exposing himself to damage directly.
Reinhardt Abilities
Img via Blizzard Entertainment
Rocket Hammer (Primary Fire)
Reinhardt’s Rocket Hammer does a whopping 85 damage per hit, and each swing takes almost exactly one second, allowing him to dish out a large amount of damage, assuming he can get into the ability’s short five-meter range without too much pressure from short-range heroes like Roadhog.
The duration of hurtbox is about .2 seconds, which means that by rotating your reticle in any direction, you can increase the side of the ability’s hurtbox significantly. With high sensitivity, Reinhardt players can potentially damage two enemies at once that may not be standing particularly close to one another.
Barrier Field (Shield)
Reinhardt’s Barrier Field activates directly in front of him and has 1,200 health. When inactive, the shield’s health regenerates at a rate of 144 health per second. The shield needs to be inactive for two full seconds before regeneration begins, similar to heroes with shields in their total health pools. If the shield is destroyed entirely, there is a five second cooldown before it begins recharging. Thus, when possible, it makes sense to deactivate the ability when the shield is low health, instead of letting it break entirely.
When enabled, Barrier Field significantly slows Reinhardt’s movement speed. To increase movement speed while still using the shield, players can jump forward with the shield inactive, then activate it while in the air. This movement maintains Reinhardt’s maximum forward momentum while in the air, even though his shield is up.
Charge
Charge causes Reinhardt to charge forward quickly. If enemies are in his direct path, they get pinned. If Reinhardt then hits the wall with them pinned, they are dealt 225 damage. If an enemy is within Charge’s range but outside of Reinhardt’s direct path, they are dealt 50 damage. The cooldown for Charge is seven seconds.
Charge is Reinhardt’s only movement ability. In the transition from Overwatch 1 to Overwatch 2, he gained the ability to cancel Charge by activating the ability again, enabling him to use it much more freely. If you get the sense letting Charge run its course will result in bad positioning and/or your death, simply cancel it and put your shield up or start swinging.
Fire Strike
Fire Strike is a projectile weapon with a large hurtbox that deals 100 damage to every enemy it hits. It passes through enemies, making multihits possible. Though it is a ranged ability, the ability is highly telegraphed, and the relatively slow movement speed of the projectile allows enemies to sometimes dodge it with ease. But assuming an enemy damage (DPS) or support hero isn’t actively receiving healing, two well-placed Fire Strikes can result in their death. Enemy tanks like Zarya and Doomfist can easily charge up their abilities on Fire Strikes due to their slower projectile speed.
Earthshatter (Ultimate)
Earthshatter creates a 20 meter cone in front of Reinhardt. Enemies within the cone are knocked down for 2.75 seconds, allowing Reinhardt and his allies to follow up and secure kills. The ability also deals 50 damage to all enemies it hits—120 if those enemies are within 1.75 meters (in other words, right next to Reinhardt).
Earthshatter is particularly effective if the enemy team is clumped together, especially without a shield. Due to the inability of most heroes to easily avoid Earthshatter, it doesn’t always have to be used with the intention of a team wipe—one or two mispositioned heroes is often a good enough target to make a play.
Recommended Overwatch 2 Streamers
- Eskay – She is top 500 in every role and member of Dart Monkeys. Often plays tournaments on stream. May be seen streaming Tuesday – Thursday and on the weekend. She is often live by 5 PM ET.
- mL7support – High level support player who streams usually starts before 9 AM ET and often runs for 8-10 hours each day.
