Tracer Build Guide “The cavalry's here!”

Tracer is an extremely mobile Ranged Assassin. Due to her fragility, she relies on her Abilities to constantly reposition and outmaneuver enemy forces. With her high burst damage and many escapes, she can be a nuisance to the enemy backline.

Strengths

• Can move while Basic Attacking
• High Basic Attack speed
• Excellent mobility
• Can remove debuffs with Recall
• Has sustained and burst damage
• Can safely overextend with Recall
• Has a decent self-sustain from Basic Attacks and Talents

Weaknesses

• Extremely poor waveclear
• Very fragile
• Requires Level 7 to deal decent damage
• Can be difficult to master
• Easy to kill if controlled
• Is easily countered by Heroes with good ranged damage, such as Raynor or Sgt. Hammer

Burst Build

Recommended

Level 1 ?

Level 4

Level 7 ?

Level 10 ? ?

Level 13

Level 16 ?

Level 20

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Tracer's Burst Build is a good template to use while approaching each game. Because Tracer must typically deal sustain damage until she can go in for a kill, her effectiveness scales with the amount of time that she can safely remain within Basic Attack range. While Talents like Jumper and Pulse Generator facilitate her playstyle around that, your Level 1 and Level 16 Talents are great for having more burst damage to execute the target.

One-Two Punch greatly increases Tracer's damage outside of team fights, but you will not be able to use melee that often during a team fight for an Objective. However, Parting Gift is a good choice at that Level, as it adds a more consistent burst damage on an immobilized target, because you do not need to wait for the cooldowns between Melee charges.

Basic Attacks Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7 ?

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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Differently from Burst Build, this build is focused on constantly attacking the opposing frontline, while dealing the maximum possible damage without risking yourself. This Build is recommended if the opposing team has many stuns or polymorphs that can shut you down during your dive.

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Tracer synergizes with

Tracer does well with Heroes who have strong waveclear, who can also deal area damage over time. Malfurion is a good pick for Tracer. He can heal her from a long distance due to how Regrowth works. Anduin is also good with her, because with her high mobility, Tracer can easily make Lightbomb hit the opposing backline.

Tracer is countered by

Tracer is threatened by Heroes who have Abilities that can target her directly, such as Poly Bomb or Taunt. Her survival depends on mobility; she dies very quickly when she cannot avoid damage. This makes her vulnerable against Heroes with powerful ranged Basic Attacks, and Heroes who can disable her with single target crowdcontrol that prevents Recall from being cast.

Tracer's stronger maps

Tracer's average maps

Tracer's weaker maps

Tracer is generally strong on maps that encourage enemies to split up, where she can punish Heroes caught away from the safety of structures or allies. She can struggle against PvE map objectives, especially if the design promotes teams to group up.

• Use Blink to close distance on enemies, dodge Abilities, or escape danger.
• If you have not already, set Blink's Quick Cast to "On" (under Settings > Hotkeys > Quick Cast Setting). This will make the Ability much more responsive, which will help you to avoid skillshots with it.
• Use Melee to deal burst damage to enemy Heroes and quickly charge Pulse Bomb. Melee can also be used to assist with waveclear as needed.
• Tracer can safely overextend thanks to Recall. Use this to kill low Health enemies, who may be too dangerous to reach for your allies.
• Activate Recall to remove negative effects before other enemy Heroes are able to follow-up with Silences or Stuns.
• Use Tracer's extremely high Attack Speed from Reload to quickly clear units that do not have Health, but take a certain number of Basic Attacks. Examples include Doubloon Chests or Cocoon.
• Use Tracer's life steal to sustain yourself. Even if you cannot hit Heroes, it is good to retreat and attack Minions or Structures to get your Health back.
• Even thought Tracer's Basic Abilities cannot reveal targets, Pulse Bomb can be used on Heroes in Stealth to finish them off or reveal them with damage.

Tracer works best on a team that can reliably waveclear, so that she can focus on killing Heroes. She can be the hyper-carry of a team, but can also fit into team compositions as a finisher, much like Nova or Zeratul. Tracer can run down most enemy Heroes who try to flee from team fights. She is very good against fragile Heroes who lack mobility.

Tracer's ability to reposition constantly can make her hard to deal with for some Heroes, especially those who lack a way to target her directly. While she can be a terror to Heroes who lack answers, she can be stopped in a variety of ways. Because she can self-cleanse soft crowd-control with Recall, silences, stuns, and displacements are the most effective tools against her. Abilities like Polymorph, and Hammer of Justice cannot be dodged, making her extremely vulnerable to follow-up when these affect her. Knockback from Abilities like Face Melt and Concussive Blast can disrupt her combo, since she will often use up Blink charges to get in range for Melee. Being aware of (and playing around) Abilities that can hinder your mobility is key to getting the most out of Tracer.