Orisa Synergies and Matchups

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Role in the Current Meta
  • 2. Orisa Synergies
  • 3. Orisa Counters
  • 4. Orisa Is Strong Against
  • 5. Orisa TL;DR Tips
  • 6. Reading Further for Orisa
  • 7. Changelog
• +Abilities and Strategy
  • 1. Orisa TL;DR Tips
  • 2. General Playstyle
  • 3. Fusion Driver
  • 4. Halt!
  • 5. Fortify
  • 6. Protective Barrier
  • 7. Supercharger
• ×Synergies and Matchups
  • 1. Synergies
    • 1.1. Reinhardt
    • 1.2. McCree
    • 1.3. Tracer
  • 2. Counters
    • 2.1. Pharah
    • 2.2. Reaper
    • 2.3. Widowmaker
  • 3. Strong Against
    • 3.1. Doomfist
    • 3.2. Reinhardt
    • 3.3. Torbjörn
    • 3.4. Roadhog

On this page, we list the good and bad matchups for Orisa. More specifically, we list the heroes that Orisa synergizes well with, the heroes that counter Orisa, and those that Orisa is strong against.

The other pages of our Orisa guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

Orisa and Reinhardt form a very strong tanking team in any form of choke-defence scenario; when playing alongside a Reinhardt, you should always make sure to place your Protective Barrier on the choke point, thereby allowing him to recharge his Barrier Field. If, due to low damage from the enemy team, you have your barrier back before Reinhardt's is broken, you should place it behind him so that it is not being damaged. This will allow the cooldown to start early, while making sure the barrier is still ready for when it is needed.

Not only is there an excellent barrier combo, but Orisa interrupts one of the worst scenarios for a Reinhardt — facing another Reinhardt that is faster with their ult. Generally, a fight can be decided in the seconds leading up to a Reinhardt using their ultimate, since it allows you to engage the whole team that was hiding behind the Reinhardt. By using Halt!, Orisa can lift the enemy Reinhardt into the air and allow their friendly Reinhardt to simply use their ultimate, regardless of whether the enemy barrier is broken or not. Since the Reinhardt is technically not on the ground, it will stun him and everyone behind him, as well as the enemies that Halt! dragged in.

One of the biggest issues with McCree is his inability to ult efficiently without being targeted instantly with some form of interrupt; you needed a Reinhardt or D.Va to stand in front of him to ensure he could fire, but there was an issue with both. Orisa fills the spot perfectly by having the best of both heroes. She can put her shield in front of McCree, thereby stopping all shots and hooks, something that D.Va could not do. The additional bonus is that not having Orisa close to the main fight is nowhere near as detrimental as it is for Reinhardt. She still has a huge amount of damage potential due to no distance drop-off, while not being the main anchor tank.

As soon as your McCree is ready to ult, position yourself with him so that you can efficiently take out the enemy team with it. Taking high ground on maps like Hanamura can be the difference between winning or losing a game with this combination. You should also try to use Halt! prior to McCree using his ultimate so that the enemy team are slowed.

The synergy between Tracer and Orisa is extremely simple, but can end up being incredibly powerful. Make sure that you and your Tracer are communicating about exactly when she is going to use her Pulse Bomb. If you can time your Halt! perfectly, you will end up performing what could be a devastating combo on the enemy team.

This synergy can technically be applied to any hero that has a high-damage ultimate, but it works especially well for Tracer since it is a huge burst of instant damage. Other heroes that it can work with include Pharah, Hanzo, and D.Va.

It should come as no surprise that Pharah is featured here; she is incredibly difficult to deal with for Orisa, just as she is for Reinhardt. Due to Orisa's complete lack of movement and escape abilities, Pharah can stick to her for constant damage perfectly, while also easily killing her ultimate from above.

In order to efficiently deal with her, you need to ensure that you position yourself well. Try to keep some form of cover close by so that you can hide when necessary. While your projectiles can be somewhat annoying for Pharah, killing her should not be your main focus. Setup your shield in front of your hitscan damage dealer, such as McCree or Soldier: 76, preferably with some kind of wall behind them. Due to the curved nature of the shield, you can actually cover them completely and therefore give them the perfect ability to kill Pharah. Make sure that there is no gap between the shield and the wall, or you will end up giving Pharah an easy target due to the splash damage from hitting the wall. You can also hide your ultimate in the same place to try and keep it safe from Pharah.

With a huge model and hitbox, Orisa is incredibly susceptible to Reaper's shotguns. If he manages to get up close to her, it is nearly impossible for her to win the fight, even with her Fortify ability available.

Try to make sure that you keep any fights with Reaper at a mid-long range so that you minimise the effect his weapons will have. If you do notice him coming in for a more close range battle, pop Fortify and try to remove yourself from the fight. Communicate with your team and let them know you need help with Reaper, rather than simply trying to solo him. You can use your Halt! to try and increase the distance between you, as well as slowing him, but expect him to use Wraith Form shortly after.

This section can apply to any flanker, essentially, that normally has a large amount of spray such as Tracer or Sombra. You would deal with them in exactly the same way, but Reaper is the most problematic.

Due to her slow movement and a massive headshot hitbox, Orisa is an easy target for most Widowmakers. While your weapon can be used to harass Widowmaker, you will often be unable to actually do anything impactful in a 1v1 situation.

In a team environment, it is important to position your shield so that it cuts off as many possible shots from the Widowmaker. This does not only mean the shots that come straight at your from her position, but also shots that might come from her using her Grappling Hook. Due to your shield being stationary, it can be incredibly easy for Widowmaker to simply Grappling Hook above your shield and pick off a backline hero from your team. Try to make sure your team stand directly behind your shield so that the curved top can protect them from this.

Other than that, you should try to harass Widowmaker with your auto attack while trying to drag her out of her hiding spot with Halt!.

Given the prevelance of Doomfist being picked in the time since his release, it is only natural to seek a counter to him and Orisa is arguably one of the best. With her Fortify and Halt!, she can not only stop him from performing his damage combo, but she can keep him somewhat grounded for allies to kill.

When you fight a Doomfist, it is important to learn how to predict when he will use his abilities. You can do so by studying the combo that we have listed in our Doomfist guide. When either Rising Uppercut or Rocket Punch are about to be used, try to use Fortify to stop the knockback. If he does catch you, use Halt! to draw him away.

Doomfist has a large hitbox and should be very easy to hit with your primary fire, assuming that you do not get caught up in his damage combo. When he starts to move towards your backline, it is important to lay down as much suppressing fire as possible. If he is allowed to roam free, he can swiftly decimate your supports.

While the two can synergise well when on the same team, Orisa can be a big issue for an enemy Reinhardt. With a huge ammo clip, you can and should fire constantly into Reinhardt's shield, keeping pressure on him as the enemy try to trade with your team.

As soon as the enemy Reinhardt stops using his Fire Strike, it normally means he is very close to, or has already got his ultimate. Be prepared to Fortify before he uses it and with your abilities try to protect important allies, such as a Mercy, if they get caught in the ultimate.

It is worth noting that positioning is incredibly important for a Reinhardt, so being able to move him around using Halt! can be a real issue for many team pushes. Try to separate him for his team, or simply move him out of the way slightly so that your team's ultimates can target the enemies behind him.

If your Reinhardt is preparing to use his ultimate and the enemy team has their own Reinhardt, with his barrier still available, simply use Halt! to lift him off the ground and your Reinhardt's ultimate will stun him and his team.

Due to her complete lack of damage drop off due to distance, Orisa is an absolutely perfect candidate for dealing with a Torbjörn turret. This should be a high priority for you, alongside pulling Torbjörn away from his turret using Halt!, thereby stopping him from repairing it.

If you cannot kill a turret in time due to a shield in front of it, you can fire your barrier from a distance so that it lands in front of the turret. While this will not last for long, it can be enough to allow one of your lower-HP flankers, such as Genji or Pharah, to eliminate a few key targets.

The actual model of Torbjörn is ideal for Orisa, since he has a larger hitbox despite not being a tank. He should be very easy to hit, but it is worth noting that his alternate fire can very quickly decimate your health. Be very cautious when trying to solo Torbjörn and try to keep him at somewhat of a distance.

Roadhog is another example of a large hitbox hero that Orisa can just fire at constantly. With the amount of damage that her gun can do, Roadhog can find it extremely difficult to step out to hook when he is under pressure from an Orisa. He is an easy target to use Halt! on, mainly due to his need to step out from cover in order to land his hooks.

When a Roadhog is preparing to hook, you should move in front of key members of your team and have Fortify ready, both to soak the hook and the inevitable damage that will follow. You should also maintain your shield behind your Reinhardt so that, when he does inevitably drop his barrier, your allies will not be left to die to Roadhog's hook.

When Roadhog uses his ultimate, make sure that you pull him away from the team with Halt!, thereby reducing the damage taken and slowing him so that he cannot close the gap you have created.

About our Author

Blainie is a Grand Master Support and Tank player, with a focus on analysis of gameplay and the meta surrounding Overwatch. He regularly streams his ranked games on Twitch, where he can answer any questions you may have about the game or guides.