Ana Guide “Experience always wins in the end.”

Table of Contents

• ×Introduction
  • 1. Overview of Ana (Ana Amari)
  • 2. Ana's Strengths
  • 3. Ana's Weaknesses
  • 4. Ana Synergies
  • 5. Ana Counters
  • 6. Ana Is Strong Against
  • 7. Ana TL;DR Tips
  • 8. Reading Further for Ana
  • 9. Changelog
• +Abilities and Strategy
  • 1. Ana TL;DR Tips
  • 2. Ana's Abilities
    • 2.1. Biotic Rifle
    • 2.2. Sleep Dart
    • 2.3. Biotic Grenade
    • 2.4. Nano Boost
• +Playstyle
  • 1. Introduction to Ana
  • 2. Who to Heal as Ana
  • 3. Ana's Positioning
  • 4. Biotic Grenade Uses
  • 5. Nano Boost Uses
• +Synergies and Matchups
  • 1. Synergies for Ana
    • 1.1. Reinhardt & Ana
    • 1.2. Bastion & Ana
    • 1.3. Brigitte & Ana
  • 2. Ana Counters
    • 2.1. Genji & Ana
    • 2.2. D.Va & Ana
    • 2.3. Lucio & Ana
  • 3. Ana Is Strong Against
    • 3.1. Roadhog & Ana
    • 3.2. Zenyatta & Ana
• +Maps
  • 1. Best Maps for Ana
    • 1.1. Ana on Watchpoint:Gibraltar
    • 1.2. Ana on Blizzard World
  • 2. Worst Map for Ana
    • 2.1. Ana on Defensive Capture Points

Ana is an off support who uses her various utility abilities to heal and boost her allies while shutting down hostile efforts from afar.

Ana is a "sniper" in her own right, as her Biotic Rifle has a scope that lets Ana take shots at range (similar to Widowmaker. However, her sniper rifle can heal allies or damage enemies depending on who she shoots. Therefore, Biotic Rifle is a versatile weapon that lets Ana accomplish her goals no matter the situation.

If an enemy attempts to take on Ana up close, a skilled Sleep Dart shot will incapacitate her foe for a prolonged duration. Sleep Dart is arguably one of the hardest abilities to hit, but when it does find its mark, it can be devastating to enemy flankers and off tanks.

Similar to Ana's Biotic Rifle, Biotic Grenade is a weapon that can heal allies and harm enemies, sometimes doing both with one toss! The grenade is an area of effect projectile that saturates the ground, healing allies and giving them a healing buff while harming enemies and giving them a healing debuff. Therefore, just like Biotic Rifle, Biotic Grenade (when accurately thrown) can be used to help Ana's team no matter the situation.

Ana's last utility ability is her ultimate, Nano Boost. Nano Boost is an ally single target ability that instantly heals her target, grants him or her a damage boost, and gives him or her a massive damage reduction buff. All that to say, Nano Boost is the holy grail of utility abilities thanks to its various properties.

• High single-target healing from a distance
• One of the few characters who can zoom into their weapon
• Straightforward and simple mechanics
• Viability that scales with skill level
• Nano Boost is a great tool for maximizing an ally who is carrying

• Total lack of mobility
• Multi-target healing is practically non-existent
• Highly susceptible to flankers
• Healing output is contingent on player's aim

Ana is best paired with allies who have high health and can perform their functions better when receiving consistent heals. Reinhardt falls into both of these categories, as his ability to soak damage greatly increases when Ana is healing him with Biotic Grenade and Biotic Rifle. Bastion can focus less on repairing himself and more on killing the enemy team when Ana is on his side giving him aid. Lastly, Brigitte is free to swing her Rocket Flail like mad when Ana is keeping her topped off. Anyone who has high mobility and can stop Ana's healing in one way or another is a good counter. Genji is a strong pick against Ana thanks to his Cyber-Agility, Swift Strike, and Deflect. D.Va is an effective counter as she can use her Boosters and Micro Missiles to harass Ana and can use her Defense Matrix to erase a number of Ana's abilities. Lastly, Lúcio can use his Crossfade to help his team overrun Ana's position, or he can confront Ana on high ground thanks to Wall Ride. Ana is strong against slow heroes who rely on massive healing abilities to perform their functions. Roadhog is primary suspect one in this category, as he is an easy target for Sleep Dart and loses his self sustain thanks to Biotic Grenade. The second hero that falls in this category his Zenyatta, as his mobility is low, opening him up to an easy sleep dart, and the effectiveness of Transcendence relies on its ability to heal allies, something Ana can negate with Biotic Grenade.

• If you have to decide between attacking enemies or healing allies with Biotic Rifle, you should always heal.
• While Biotic Grenade can be used to deny enemy healing, it can also be used to secure a kill if an enemy is low.
• Nano Boost should be used in conjunction with ally ultimates for best results.
• Sleep Dart can be used to shut down an enemy ultimate or channel ability like Pharah's Barrage or McCree's Deadeye.
• Nano Boost should rarely be used with coordinated ultimates like Zarya's Graviton Surge as it is typically overkill; however, a good Biotic Grenade is most effective with such ultimates.

See our Abilities page for further information

About our Author

Mournflakes is a flex Grandmaster Overwatch player who boasts a career high SR rating of 4433. His favorite heroes are Roadhog, Soldier: 76, and Ana. He has played Overwatch since its initial release, and has put over 700 hours into competitive play. When not writing guides, you can catch Mournflakes streaming on his Twitch channel.

To take things further, we have 4 more pages that you can read:

• Abilities and Strategy: an overview of your hero's abilities and how to use them;
• Playstyle: a detailed explanation on how to play your hero;
• Maps: how to make the best use of your hero on each map;
• Synergies and Matchups: where we detail your synergies, your counters, and the heroes you work well against.

• 29 Jul. 2018 (this page): Guide added

+ show all entries - show only first 2 entries