After struggling for the last few months, season 9 gave the DPS role a considerable buff with the new passive, but it’s more beneficial for some than others. Which heroes were the biggest winners this patch?

10) Mei

• Endothermic Blaster: Left click is a short-range spray that slows enemies. Right click is a long-range icicle launcher (100 DPS on left click, 93.75 DPS on right click).
• Cryo-freeze: Become invulnerable and heal yourself (50 HPS).
• Ice Wall: Create a wall in front of you.
• Blizzard: Launch a weather control drone that freezes enemies in a wide area.

Hero score: 68.5/100

Mei is a good DPS to pick against Mauga, being able to wall him off from his supports and deny him the constant healing he needs. He's also unlikely to be able to get away, since his mobility has a start up animation and it might be on cooldown when he's stuck.. 

She’s also one of the best picks for a brawl comp, so if your team has characters like Reinhardt, Ramattra or Lùcio (speed boost helps make up for Mei’s low range), she can wall the enemy tank off from their team and try to kill them before the supports can use abilities like Suzu or Immortality Field. 

On shorter maps, it’s not as easy to avoid Mei and her left click can spray multiple people at once, so she can consistently apply the 20% healing debuff against grouped up team comps. 

Blizzard is good for punishing an overextended tank or getting a quick kill on a squishier enemy, but you should probably avoid going for a hero with a cleanse ability unless you know they’ve already used it. 

9) Genji

• Shuriken: Left click throws an accurate burst of three projectiles. Right click throws a fan of 3 projectiles in an arc (92 DPS on left click, 119.11 DPS on right click).
• Deflect: Deflect incoming projectiles towards the direction you are facing and block melee attacks.
• Swift Strike: Rapidly dash forward and inflict damage on enemies. Eliminations reset the cooldown (50 damage).
• Dragonblade: Unsheathe a deadly melee weapon (110 damage per swing).
• Cyber-Agility: Climb on walls and double jump.

Hero score: 72/100

Genji is easy to punish if he mistimes his flanks or picks the wrong target, since he relies on his dash reset to stay alive, but if he pokes to charge Dragonblade and takes 1 v 1s properly he can be a good distraction for his team.

It’s hard to hit him up close considering how slippery he is with a double jump, dash and wall climb, so Genji can consistently annoy heroes like Widowmaker or Hanzo, even if he doesn’t get the kill. 

He also plays well into DPS or supports with bigger hitboxes like Zenyatta, since his right click is more likely to headshot them, so they should be the first characters he goes for if they’re not being protected.

His ultimate takes 3 swings to kill people after the HP buffs, so it’s best to either use it for a quick pick on an enemy squishy or combo it with ultimates like Nano Boost, especially if the enemy team has a defensive ult like Transcendence or Sound Barrier.

8) Widowmaker

• Widow’s Kiss: Left click is an automatic assault weapon. Hold right click for long-ranged sniper weapon (130 DPS on left click, 80 when scoped).
• Grappling Hook: Launch a hook that pulls you toward a ledge.
• Venom Mine: Launch a poison trap (75 DOT).
• Infra-sight: Provide your team with a view of the enemy’s location.

Hero score: 74/100

Widowmaker is the only hero left in the game with a proper one shot, since Hanzo’s and Junkrat’s were both removed this patch, so she’s the best DPS to play on long range maps with good sniper spots like Ilios Ruins, Havana or Circuit Royal.

The HP buff and passive self healing also benefit Widowmaker a lot, letting her hide behind cover and wait to heal if she takes too much poke damage instead of needing to wait for her supports like she did before. She still needs help if the enemy team has flankers, but it’s safer to play more aggressively now if she wants to.

It’s generally not a good idea to play her outside of situations she works in, because it’s easier to reach her on short range maps and there’s not much she can do against dive tanks like Winston or D.Va. The best she can do is grapple away and hope her team notices.

7) Soldier: 76

• Heavy Pulse Rifle: Automatic assault weapon (171 DPS).
• Sprint: Run faster while moving forward.
• Biotic Field: Deploy a field that heals you and your allies (40 HPS).
• Helix Rockets: Launch a volley of explosive rockets (120 damage total, 40 to 80 on splash).
• Tactical Visor: Automatically aims your weapons at targets in view (also makes reload speed faster).

Hero score: 75.5/100

While Soldier isn’t as survivable as Tracer, his mobility is more consistent, he’s good at taking off angles on high ground by himself (or with a pocket) and he has an easy time spreading the DPS passive like she does. 

His self healing lets him stay in aggressive angles more often or take 1 v 1s with other DPS heroes, then he can use his helix rockets to scare them off by either aiming them at the ground for splash damage or shooting directly at them if you’re confident you can hit it for more burst.

He’s a safe pick that you can use in most situations, so it’s unlikely you’ll ever struggle to get value on Soldier, unless the enemy team is running a dedicated dive and targeting you first or has a Widowmaker on a longer range map. 

6) Ashe

• The Viper: Left click is a semi-automatic rifle. Hold right click to zoom in, increasing damage and accuracy but slowing rate of fire (150 DPS on left click, 115 when scoped).
• Coach Gun: Blast enemies in front of you and knock yourself backwards.
• Dynamite: Throw an explosive that detonates after a short delay or immediately when shot (20 to 50 damage explosion, 100 damage burn).
• B.O.B.: Deploy Bob. He charges forward and knocks enemies into the air, then attacks with his arm cannons (136 DPS, auto aim and shoots same target as Ashe).

Hero score: 77/100

Ashe doesn’t have as much burst potential as the other snipers, but she’s far better at spreading anti-healing with dynamite, especially if she manages to hit more than one enemy with it.

The entire duration, including the burn, applies it so whoever she tags gets 20% less healing for 5 seconds and has to take up to 150 damage from the explosion and DOT. The only counter to it is abilities that cleanse, so most heroes will have to play passively until they’re done burning.

Bob can apply the debuff too, as well as acting like a better Törbjorn turret, so Ashe has multiple ways to spread it and her poke is really good. She also has better mobility than Widowmaker, so she has an easier time dealing with flankers and plays better on short range maps.

5) Cassidy

• Peacekeeper: Left click is a powerful, accurate revolver. Right click wildly fires remaining rounds (140 DPS).
• Combat Roll: Roll in the direction you’re moving to take reduced damage and reload (75% damage reduction).
• Magnetic Grenade: Throw a homing grenade that sticks to enemies, slowing them and preventing them from using movement abilities.
• Deadeye: Face off against your enemies. Press Q to lock on, Then Q or ability 3 to fire.

Hero score: 79/100

Cassidy can’t exactly keep up with high mobility heroes, so he’s best as a counter pick or with slower tanks he can play near, since he can be vulnerable by himself and doesn’t have consistent access to high ground.

He’s good against heroes like Tracer, Echo and Sombra, since his grenade can cancel their movement abilities and give him time to kill them or scare them off, especially if they’re already distracted by his supports.

It’s a little harder to apply the 15% healing debuff on Cassidy, but the hitbox on his left click is relatively generous and he can use his roll or Deadeye for free reloads, so he works well against dive on maps that aren’t too long range for him. 

4) Echo

• Tri-shot: Fire 3 shots at once, in a triangle pattern (153 DPS).
• Sticky Bombs: Fire a volley of sticky bombs that detonate after a delay (180 damage if all bombs are stuck).
• Flight: Fly forward quickly and then free-fly briefly.
• Focusing Beam: Channel a beam for a few seconds. Deal very high damage to enemies under half health (50 DPS when enemy is above 50% health, 175 under).
• Duplicate: Become a copy of the targeted enemy hero. They cannot swap heroes for the duration.
• Glide: Hold jump to glide while falling.

Hero score: 82/100

Echo is a relatively flexible hero, since she can fit in with poke or dive, and her high burst damage combined with her flight gives her a lot of freedom. She can play more aggressively with consistent healing, but she can still work well without it if you use healthpacks properly. 

She’s a little easier to kill this season than she has been the last few, with most of the good DPS heroes being hitscan and Mercy’s ability to pocket her being nerfed slightly with the projectile buffs, but she still has the best airtime in the game.

Since Echo hovers, she doesn't make any noise when she's moving either unless she uses her flight or glide, which makes it easier for her to take flanks without getting caught early.

Her ultimate also lets her take risky flanks because she can use it to save herself if the enemy team notices her early, or she can duplicate an enemy with a fast charging ult to get quick value when she’s with her team. While the best enemy to choose is situational, it’s better to pick heroes you’re more familiar with so you’re less likely to waste your dupe.

3) Sombra

• Machine Pistol: Short-range automatic weapon (160 DPS).
• Hack: Hold to hack. Hacked enemies cannot use abilities (for 1.5 seconds) and can be seen through walls. Hacked health packs spawn faster and can’t be used by enemies. Taking damage interrupts the hack attempt.
• Stealth: When out of combat, become invisible and move faster.
• Translocator: Throw a beacon and teleport to it. Stealth cooldown is reduced after teleporting.
• Virus: Infect enemies with a projectile that deals damage over time. Virus damages hacked enemies at a faster rate (25 impact damage on unhacked enemies, 50 on hacked ones + 100 DOT).
• EMP: Deal damage to all nearby enemies equal to a percentage of their current health, hacking them and destroying barriers near you (Damage is 25% of enemy’s health).

Hero score: 84/100

Despite Sombra being a hero that struggles in lower ranks, she’s great when the right person is playing her, but she needs to be picked in specific situations to get consistent value. It’s hard to do much if your team isn’t communicating with you or there aren’t any other dive heroes to follow up on your flanks.

When run with heroes like Tracer or D.Va, Sombra becomes a lot harder to counter because they can work together to make it difficult for snipers or supports to get value. If they don’t heroes, the enemy team might not be able to play together properly.

She can shut down a lot of the better tank heroes too, since she can cancel ultimates like Cage Fight or Gravitic Flux and most tanks struggle to damage her when she's hacking them, so any abilities they're using will be stopped.

EMP can also be a good set up ultimate for other ones, like D.Va’s Self Destruct or Reinhardt’s Earthshatter, but it’s relatively flexible. Using it to cancel enemy ultimates or important abilities also works really well.

2) Sojourn

• Railgun: Left click rapid fires projectiles that generate energy on hit. Right click is a high impact shot that consumes stored energy (126 DPS, 190 damage on max charge railgun headshot).
• Power Slide: Ground slide that can cancel into a high jump.
• Disruptor Shot: Launch an energy burst that deals damage to enemies within it (60 DPS).
• Overclock: Railgun energy auto-charges for a short duration and charged shots pierce enemies.

Hero score: 88/100

Sojourn is best for flanking and taking off angles, although she can’t hold them for quite as long as Soldier can because she doesn’t have any self healing and her mobility has a cooldown. Her burst is better than his in comparison, so it’s better to pick her if you can hit consistent headshots.

If the enemy team is running a low mobility tank like Reinhardt, Orisa or Ramattra, you can farm them for charge and then use it to headshot one of their supports or DPS after a few left clicks. When she has a tank like Sigma, she can poke and pressure the enemy team from safer angles if she plays with him.

She’s also a good pick with dive, since she can slide in after the other DPS and help kill whatever squishy they’re going for, especially if you have a Zenyatta to discord high priority targets or Mercy to damage boost her.

1) Tracer

• Pulse Pistols: Short-range automatic weapons (220 DPS).
• Blink: Teleport in the direction you are moving.
• Recall: Travel back in time to your previous location and health.
• Pulse Bomb: Throw out a powerful sticky explosive (350 damage).

Hero score: 90/100

With tanks like D.Va or Mauga being the go to choices because they have the easiest time dealing with the new changes and high mobility supports like Kiriko, Moira and Lúcio being some of the best picks, Tracer is great this season.

She’s extremely mobile, has high survivability and benefits from the new self healing more than some of the other DPS. It’s also easy for her to spread the new passive anti-healing, since she can poke people from range with her pistols, even if she doesn’t do much damage.

Low mobility supports have a hard time playing in to Tracer, especially with the buffed projectile sizes, so she has an easier time killing vulnerable heroes like Zenyatta, Mercy or Ana. If she can’t get the kill because their teammates protect them, she can always recall or blink to get out of trouble.

Pulse Bomb is also a quick way to kill most DPS or supports, as long as they don’t have an ability that can make them invulnerable or cleanse the stick. It’s less useful to go for higher HP characters like Bastion or tanks, but it might be a good idea if they’re close to lower HP teammates.

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