I wanna start playing Overwatch Again. The last time I played was year 1. The games meta has changed so much since then and I need to catch up. Is there a comprehensive guide somewhere with the basics of the new meta or guides on the new characters?

The meta has been changing so fast lately. Honestly, the only character that is considered a troll pick at this point is Torbjorn. Season 10 saw the resurgence of the death ball kings Rein and Zarya. Mercy and Zen have been top of the support meta for a very long time now although Ana is getting buffs that may see her get some more playtime. Widow and especially Hanzo since his rework have been top of the dps tree. After dive meta dominating for so long is been fun and refreshing to see the constant changes in meta. Although in my opinion true dive played by top players is still the optimal playstyle.

Meta is sort of in flux right now. Hammond is set to release in competitive in 2 weeks which some people think might be the start of triple tank dive, but then you also have the upcoming Torb rework and changes to hitscan characters and Ana which could make a Symmetra + Bastion teleporter comp very popular. Right this second the meta is Rein + Zarya + double snipers but this will almost certainly drop off due to grav nerfs and the fact you can no longer damage boost dragon strike.

Brigitte is a fantastic dive counter as well and can dominate twitchy characters like Tracer or Genji trying to penetrate the back lines.

Year one is only one year ago, though...

The fact that everything changes so quickly and so greatly is part of what’s prevented me from getting back into the game. Not knowing who’s good in what situations without a bunch of research is a big bummer.

As for dive comps, I really hope they’ve gone by the wayside because that’s a big reason I got out of the game a ways back. I was just no good at any of those characters.

@haneybd87: Dive comp died a pretty public death over the weekend. The Overwatch League favorite New York Excelsior got beat in the semi finals largely because they never adapted to the new meta and kept playing dive comp.

Some random things I would add:

• The biggest heroes that changed are probably Mercy, Symmetra, D.Va, and Hanzo. Even if you knew how they played, chances are they changed.
• The new heroes added since launch (in order) are: Ana, Sombra, Orisa, Doomfist, Moira, and Brigitte. Some of these like Doomfist and Sombra play completely differently than other characters. Some like Orisa, Brigitte, and Moira have new abilities, but also have a mix of stuff from other characters. Brigitte and Reinhardt have shields for example.
• In terms of learning what is different, these first two are probably the biggest. There are plenty of minor things--Junkrat got improved / Ripetire moves faster, Roadhog's gun shoots faster and his hook was reworked, Zenyatta's shield is bigger since launch, etc.--however, most you can get a feel for. The new characters are, well, new, while Mercy, Sym, Hanzo, and D.Va have some significant differences. There are patch notes galore out there detailing how each character has changed over time, but over the past two years it is too much or largely something you can pick up. These changes both addressed problems Blizzard saw with the game or to make some characters more viable. Like Soldier 76 still plays like Soldier 76, even though his damage might have been knocked down by 1.

In terms of the meta, one of the biggest things in the pro scene was dive lineups. One example is, Winston, D.Va, Widowmaker, Tracer, Zenyatta, and Mercy. Basically jump in with characters like Winston, D.Va, Tracer, pick off some characters with snipers like Widow and Hanzo, have a main healer, and Zen to discord people. I've seen the tank heavy lineups here and there. The Pharrah-Mercy thing still happens. I don't really know what most people play though. I play basically around before and after seasonal events and only play solo Quickplay; I never do competitive, I don't roll with a posse. Some of the old metas I think are still around, but some things come in and out of favor. Like dive was really popular, but I think people can use Brigitte and Junkrat to help counter that.

I can't think of one singular guide that goes over the current meta or anything like that. As people have mentioned, Blizzard has been patching things pretty rapidly so the meta seems to fluctuate. Plus, it really depends on your skill level and whether you're playing alone or with a team.

To learn about the heroes, google is a good place to start on reading about heroes. But honestly, just playing the game is probably the best thing you can do. There will definitely be stuff to get used to especially if you expect to see certain abilities from launch OW, but you'll catch on pretty quick.

If you're interested in getting better with particular heroes or meta-discussions, there are a number of good streamers and youtube channels that discuss meta. I particularly enjoy the youtube channel Your Overwatch. They do a good job talking about all the patches that are released and their potential meta implications. I also watch the streamer Jayne (he has a youtube channel as well). He's the coach for the Canadian World Cup team and has hour+ long videos reviewing/analyzing videos of particular heroes or matches. Really informative but definitely not necessary to enjoy the game.

To briefly summarize the meta though, as people have mentioned it was recently dominated by dive comp (high mobility heroes - Winston/DVa/Tracer/Genji). Dive comp focused on jumping a singular target that had a Zen discord orb, killing the target and getting out. However, with the release of Brigette and the new Hanzo changes, now the main meta is Rein/Zarya and double sniper (Hanzo/Widow). Brigette's passive heal, stun, and armor ult really countered dive hard especially tracer and genji. Plus, with how overpowered Hanzo's burst damage potential, he's a must pick dps now. Pharah also has seen lots of play now since she can counter Brigette.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the meta now. Dive was super dominate before, but really only in high level play because it requires a significant amount of coordination. The Brig-centered comp on the other hand is easier to play because the synergy is obvious/trivial. But countering it requires way more coordination unless you just mirror the comp.

Anyways, tangent aside - my advice is to not worry about meta because it doesn't really matter unless you play competitive and are really good, in which case you probably already know the meta. Just hop in and play.

Triple tank dive meta inbound. Wrecking Balls skill ceiling looks through the roof.

@frodobaggins: That sounds terrible.

@haneybd87: it sounds great **manic laughter**

@haneybd87

This. I had the game on lock down and spent so much time with the game for the first 6 months. First game for years where I was spending 10+ hours at least every week playing.

The playerbase was so comfy and open back then. The past year has felt like the hardcore fanbase has stuck with it and it's really toxic, to the point where I was spending more time babysitting and keeping people civil by playing diplomat than enjoying the game, at which point I realised I'm 26 and the little time I get for games these days means OW isn't worth my effort.

All I ever play is the occasional qp match once a fortnight or total mayhem (whenever it's on the arcade rotation).

Personally I found the addition of deathmatch game modes a waste of resources as the game isn't set up for them.