A D.Va’s Guide to Ultimates

There are many aspects of a hero that makes them a viable pick in Overwatch. It ranges from their separate abilities and how they combine with those of their teammates to the actual skill of the player on that character. One key factor that will make or break the comp is the collection of ultimates (or ults), special abilities that are acquired about twice a round, after a specific amount of damage has been dealt by the hero, which is measured on a meter. This ability has both defensive and offensive qualities, both initiating pushes and holding points. One ultimate that is best for both of these objectives, in my opinion, is the D.Va Self Destruct (more commonly known as the “D.Va Bomb”). Again this is a biased opinion coming from a hardcore D.Va main. And after some hard research with many, many  hours on this bubbly gamer girl, here are some ways you can utilize her ultimate.

 The Combo Ult

The first type of D.Va bomb requires coordination between you and your teammates. For instance, working closely with a Zarya is mutually beneficial. Help her build her ult by taking damage while she bubbles you and she will show you the same kindness by throwing in her Graviton Surge as you throw your D.Va Bomb in to take home a quad with a winky face!

This can also be achieved with Mei’s Blizzard or Reinhardt’s Earth Shatter or Sombra’s EMP.  The key is coordination , which will be the hardest part. There will be times you both will have your ults but one of you will get picked off at the most inopportune time or the baddies will have you staggered towards the end of the round so you two are never on the point at the same time. However, if the stars align and you can pull it off by some miracle, it’s GG EZ from there.

The Cheeky Ult

The next type of ult is the cheeky ult. What is that, you might ask? Well, this is when you literally walk up to a group of baddies, explode and just walk away. Nothing is more aggravating than watching it all fall apart in front of you, going so blank that finding cover is the farthest corner of your mind. As the death cam replays this humiliating death for you one more time, you see the enemy Baby D.Va just wander away without any fear before getting into mech with her enemies at her back.

At that point you just know she did it for the lulz.

Another example of a mean cheeky ult? After your team has wiped the baddies, wait ten seconds and just toss it in the general area of their spawn. A lot of the times, you’ll get no one, but the times you do manage to snag a kill or two, it’ll tickle you pink!

The Push from Above

Aaahhh, one of my favorites. A little finicky to pull off, but once you get the mechanics down pat, it will take the baddies by surprise. Here’s what you do. First build up your ult and fly to any ledge that would put you above the baddies, preferably without them knowing. Tip toe your way to the edge and stand so that you are just on the brink of falling. And then you vacate your mech and as fast as you can, start PUSHING!!! Now there are many ways this can literally blow up in your face. Like if the mech isn’t on the edge enough or if you fall of the bridge when you vacate the mech and leave your mech to destroy nothing.  If it works well, however, the exploding mech will fall on the heads of the unsuspecting baddies.

Don’t forget to wave goodbye to your mech!!

 

The Clutch

The overtime fire is burning fierce as you dash back from the spawn room, your fully charged ultimate in tow. You see your teammates dying one by one, staggered like nobody’s business. One chance is all you got, to be a hero or to be scorned by your team. Adrenaline pumping through the veins, you boost through Reinhardt’s shield, shooting down anyone in your path. Once surrounded, the only thing you can do is explode, blasting away at least three baddies, while chasing off whoever is left.

And the time runs out … in your favor and the point is yours!!

The Utter Confusion

Then there is just the utilization of complete and utter confusion. For instance, you see a Bastion, Reinhardt, Mercy and Zenyatta, all gathered in the corner, a little out of sorts as their second tank and DPS have already taken a beating. Shooting at the choke at whomever you can land damage on to ready your ult. As you shoot, boost through to freak them out a little, zooming around in a little circle in front of them. Always keep them guessing as to where you land. I mean you know where you’re gonna land, which will be in front of the Bastion, so make sure you have your ult by the time your boost ends. And right as you come to a halt and are about to lose your mech to that rapid firing turret, explode your mech and watch as the baddies run here and there, trying to look for refuge from the detonation.

Granted, you yourself won’t survive it either but four for one? Always worth it! Just hope the rest of your team is quick on the uptake and takes the point!

The Straight-Forward Ult

Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to be fancy with your ults. Like when you know you’re approaching the baddies spawn and you had just sent them packing about ten seconds ago( that’s how long it takes to re-spawn, by the way) and know that they will be coming out soon. At that juncture, just let it fly. Trust me, it will get you at least two picks. Two annoying picks that you wont have to deal with as you approach point.

Or when there is an all out team fight going on, it makes no sense to hold your ult then. Just let it rip, it’ll help the fight, trust me.

The Zoning Ult

And my all-time favorite, the Zoning Ult!! Basically when you need to clear a point or get baddies off of the payload, just go to the center and BOOM! It’ll send the baddies scrambling for cover and, if you’re lucky, get a few in the process.  Granted, it is one of the most obvious way to initiate the ult, and many of the baddies will see it coming, but the main point of this ult is not to get as many kills as possible, but to gain five seconds to either push or capture.

See? Just that simple.

 

These were some of my favorite ways to use the D.Va ult to benefit the team. There are many, many more creative ways to do so that I haven’t mentioned above, but are just as or even more effective. Getting creative with D.Va Bomb is one of the more fun things about playing her, trying to figure out new ways to surprise the baddies. You may want to throw it through a window when they are least expecting it or calculate it so that Orisa has just put down her shield, throwing it behind it, leaving them with no refuge. This creativity is what’s gonna turn any game around in your favor. Let me know which type of ult you liked from above or leave your very own ult in the comments below.