D.Va Abilities and Strategy

• Boosters can be used to both engage on enemy Heroes or peel them away from allied Heroes.
• While using Defense Matrix, you can press [W] to redirect it or [D] to cancel it.
• You can use Self-Destruct during Boosters to launch the exploding Mech and eventually press [Q] again to stop it whenever you want.
• Try to hit at least one enemy Hero with each cast of Big Shot in order to reduce the cooldown of Call Mech as quickly as possible, but do not go out of position to hit multiple Heroes at once.
• Use Bunny Hop to engage on enemy Heroes as the small Stun provided will help your team to follow up.
• Prefer using Micro Missiles as a follow-up to allied crowd control because moving targets will not be that easy to hit.
• Her high damage per second while in Pilot Mode can be used to quickly clear Bosses or big Monsters (such as Immortals on Battlefield of Eternity) when enemy Heroes are not nearby.
• Basic Attacks while in Mech Mode can hit multiple enemies and deal bonus damage to nearby enemies.

Boosters is a Basic Ability available only in Mech Mode that provides mobility that can be used to travel across the Map—compensating for the lack of Mount while in Mech Mode—and crowd control that can be used on enemy Heroes to knock them towards your team when you want to engage or away from them when you want to peel.

Thanks to its daze component, Boosters can be used to interrupt stationary-channeled Abilities (for example Holy Word: Salvation by Anduin) but it cannot be used to interrupt mobile-channeled Abilities (such as Carrion Swarm by Mal'Ganis).

Even if D.Va should not be afraid to use Boosters to engage, sometimes it may be worth saving it to reposition while fighting or to disengage when things start to go poorly. Always keep in mind that D.Va's Mech has no other mobility tools other than this one, so use it wisely.

You can cancel Boosters after 0.5 seconds by pressing the same key again or without any delay by casting another Ability, except for Self-Destruct that works differently.

D.Va can use Self-Destruct during Boosters to launch the exploding Mech in the desired direction. While the Mech is going, you can press [Q] again to immediately stop the Mech in its current position.

D.Va's Mech is not affected by Slows during Boosters, but it does not remove them, so you will still be Slowed after the Movement Speed bonus expires or when you cancel it.

Remember that each enemy can be hit only once per cast of Boosters, so you cannot damage and knock them multiple times in a row.

Defense Matrix is a Basic Ability available only in Mech Mode that allows D.Va to reduce the damage done by enemy Heroes within its area. The debuff is immediately removed as the enemies leave the area or D.Va stops channeling it.

Other than moving while channeling it, D.Va can also redirect Defense Matrix by casting it again, something that is useful to keep the enemies affected by its debuff as much as possible and/or to switch targets when needed.

While laning, use Defense Matrix to reduce the waveclear of the enemy Offlaner when they use Abilities on your Minions.

You can cancel Defense Matrix by pressing [D]. If you want to cast another Ability immediately after canceling it, you do not have to press [D] to cancel Defense Matrix, as casting another Ability will automatically cancel it.

D.Va's Mech has its Movement Speed quickly reduced by a quarter while using Defense Matrix, Bunny Hop, and Fusion Cannons—her Basic Attacks in Mech Mode.

Self-Destruct is a Basic Ability available only in Mech Mode that offers the value of a Heroic Ability as it makes D.Va eject from her Mech—switching from Mech Mode to Pilot Mode—and detonate the Mech after 4 seconds.

The explosion deals damage based on the distance from its center. In particular, enemies in the inner area take almost three times the damage of enemies in the outer area. Any enemy that survives to the explosion is pushed away by a small knockback effect. Structures take half the damage, so it is not that good for sieging.

On its own, the threat of Self-Destruct acts as a zoning tool that also helps D.Va refresh the Health of her Mech. An experienced D.Va will:

• kite enemy Heroes around the exploding Mech in order to increase her chance to survive enough time as Call Mech cannot be used for 4 seconds after Self-Destruct has been cast;
• place the exploding Mech between her team and the enemy team as a form of disengage;
• throw the exploding Mech behind the enemy team as a form of engage.

To throw the Mech, you have to use Boosters first and Self-Destruct immediately after, then you can press [Q] again to instantly stop the exploding Mech in its current position or just let it go until it explodes.

As it helps you quickly get back in your Mech, always try to have Self-Destruct ready before joining a team fight, such as when joining your team for an Objective. You can charge it by using Fusion Cannons—her Basic Attacks in Mech Mode—or by taking damage. Keep in mind that using Defense Matrix on enemy Heroes who are damaging you reduces the damage taken but not the amount of Charge you get.

With the help of your team, Self-Destruct can become a scary source of burst damage as they will help you keep enemy Heroes within its explosion area with their crowd control.

Call Mech is a Basic Ability available only in Pilot Mode that allows D.Va to summon a new Mech after a short channel.

The cooldown of Call Mech can vary as follows:

• if your old Mech has been destroyed by lethal damage, then Call Mech will have 45 seconds of cooldown and you will be able to reduce it by 5 seconds for each enemy Hero hit with Big Shot and by 0.5 seconds for each Basic Attack used on any enemy.
• if your new Mech has been denied by a well-timed interrupt when you were trying to summon it, then Call Mech will have 5 seconds of soft-cooldown.
• if your old Mech has been detonated by casting Self-Destruct, then it will have no cooldown but you will not be able to cast Call Mech until the explosion happens 4 seconds after—time that the enemies can increase by hitting the Mech with Time Stop (for example Containment Disc by Maiev).

To maximize the cooldown reduction gained by using Basic Attacks while in Pilot Mode, do not use Big Shot on Minions if you want to use them for getting more cooldown reduction via Basic Attacks, unless you really need to clear them before they take down your Structures.

Big Shot is a Basic Ability available only in Pilot Mode that deals damage and Slows enemies Heroes hit in a straight line.

The cooldown of Big Shot is short enough to allower D.Va to cast it often in an attempt to deal poke damage and, more importantly, to reduce the cooldown of Call Mech by 5 seconds for every enemy Hero hit.

While it is possible to multiply the cooldown reduction by hitting multiple enemy Heroes, you should play extremely safe when you are in Pilot Mode and still have Call Mech in cooldown, so you cannot really step forward for getting more cooldown reduction unless your team make it way less dangerous by using crowd control on enemy Heroes.

Don't hesitate to use Big Shot for clearing Minions when needed, unless you really want the cooldown reduction and there is an enemy Hero nearby. The same is true when clearing Mercenaries or Monsters.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Bunny Hop is a Heroic Ability only available while in Mech Mode that makes D.Va's Mech become Unstoppable, deal a fair amount of damage, and briefly Stun enemy Heroes.

In particular, D.Va will make her Mech jump and mark each enemy Hero hit. When the fourth mark will be applied, that Hero will be Stunned and take increased damage from that hop. At that point all the marks are removed and you can do the same thing again. You can Stun a Hero twice with a single cast of Bunny Hop only if they are hit by each and every hop because they are exactly 8 in total.

You can use Bunny Hop immediately after rushing into the enemy formation or even on top of a single enemy Hero by casting Boosters to force a powerful engage against low-mobility Heroes. Alternatively, you can use it as a form of peeling when necessary.

Due to being Unstoppable during Bunny Hop, the enemy team will not have many options to counter its effect and will be forced to either play around it with good positioning or focus D.Va instead.

D.Va should not hesitate to use Bunny Hop defensively to dodge incoming crowd-control, especially if you consider that the Unstoppable will allow her to use Self-Destruct at the last second without fear.

D.Va's Mech has its Movement Speed quickly reduced by a quarter while using Defense Matrix, Bunny Hop, and Fusion Cannons—her Basic Attacks in Mech Mode.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Micro Missiles is a Heroic Ability only available while in Mech Mode that, after a brief cast time, allows D.Va to unleash a missile barrage dealing a relatively good amount of burst damage to the first enemy in front of her Mech over 2 seconds.

D.Va's Mech cannot turn while casting and channeling Micro Missiles, therefore it is advised to use it on low-mobility Heroes or better yet, on enemy Heroes that are affected by crowd control.

Micro Missiles has 2 charges available. Keep in mind that enemies can interrupt both its cast and its channel, causing you to waste a charge of Micro Missiles.

Thanks to its low cooldown, do not hesitate to cast Micro Missiles when clearing Mercenaries, Monsters, or taking down enemy Structures. When you are laning, you should ideally never have all charges up—always use one of them before you reach the maximum amount, so that you can keep its cooldown going and maximize its usage during the game.

Mech Mode is a Trait that allows D.Va to exit from her Mech 0.75 seconds after it gets destroyed by damage and enter Pilot Mode instead.

While in Mech Mode, D.Va can be played like a Bruiser thanks to her bigger Health pool and survivability tools at her disposal. What it means is that you can position aggressively when needed, but you should still play carefully as the enemy team can lock you down with crowd control at any moment and suddenly burst you down before you can even react.

D.Va's Mech only gives half of the Experience when it gets destroyed and enemy Heroes are nearby, therefore losing your Mech to non-Heroes will increase your Deaths counter without giving Experience to the enemy team. As a consequence, if your Mech is low on Health and you need more damage per second to take down Mercenaries or Monsters, you can consider intentionally destroying your Mech; however, avoid doing so if you do not have Self-Destruct ready to use because it is better to stay in Mech Mode to charge it and/or if you expect the enemy team to come in the next 15 seconds because that is the amount of time you will need to Basic Attack for before getting your Mech back via Call Mech.

The only ways to go back in Mech Mode are either casting Call Mech or dying while in Pilot Mode and respawning after the Death Timer is over.

D.Va's Mech has its Movement Speed quickly reduced by a quarter while using Defense Matrix, Bunny Hop, and Fusion Cannons—her Basic Attacks in Mech Mode.

Pilot Mode is a Trait that helps D.Va to get back in her Mech as her Basic Attacks reduce the cooldown of Call Mech by 0.5 seconds. Considering that it has a cooldown of 45 seconds, you will need 15 seconds of constant Basic Attacking to get your Mech back as fast as possible.

While in Pilot Mode, D.Va should be played like a marksman due to her low Health pool and lack of survivability. What it means is that you must always position as safe as possible. You should apply this rule even when you are still in Mech Mode but your Mech is low on Health because you will end up being a Pilot when detonated or destroyed by damage as those are the only ways to go back in Pilot Mode.

After staying alive, your second priority is to reduce the cooldown of Call Mech as much as possible by using Big Shot on enemy Heroes and Basic Attack on any enemy.

Similarly to her Mech, D.Va's Pilot only gives half of the Experience when it gets killed and enemy Heroes are nearby. That said, dying as a Pilot should be avoided at all costs because it will completely remove you from the battlefield until you respawn.