Wrecking Ball Playstyle

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Wrecking Ball (Hammond) Overview
  • 2. Wrecking Ball's Strengths
  • 3. Wrecking Ball's Weaknesses
  • 4. Wrecking Ball Synergies
  • 5. Wrecking Ball Counters
  • 6. Wrecking Ball Is Strong Against
  • 7. Wrecking Ball TL;DR Tips
  • 8. Reading Further for Wrecking Ball
  • 9. Changelog
• +Abilities and Strategy
  • 1. Wrecking Ball TL;DR Tips
  • 2. Wrecking Ball Abilities
    • 2.1. Quad Cannons
    • 2.2. Grappling Claw
    • 2.3. Roll
    • 2.4. Piledriver
    • 2.5. Adaptive Shield
    • 2.6. Minefield
• ×Playstyle
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Wrecking Ball's Offensive Combo
  • 3. Drawing Attention & Stalling as Wrecking Ball
  • 4. Using Wrecking Ball's Minefield
• +Synergies and Matchups
  • 1. Wrecking Ball's Synergies
    • 1.1. Sombra & Wrecking Ball
    • 1.2. Reinhardt & Wrecking Ball
    • 1.3. Lucio & Wrecking Ball
  • 2. Wrecking Ball Counters
    • 2.1. Sombra & Wrecking Ball
    • 2.2. D.Va & Wrecking Ball
    • 2.3. Mei & Wrecking Ball
    • 2.4. Brigitte & Wrecking Ball
  • 3. Wrecking Ball Is Strong Against
    • 3.1. Widowmaker & Wrecking Ball
    • 3.2. Zenyatta & Wrecking Ball
  • 4. Changelog
• +Maps
  • 1. Best Maps for Wrecking Ball
    • 1.1. Wrecking Ball on Watchpoint: Gibraltar
    • 1.2. Wrecking Ball on Temple of Anubis
  • 2. Worst Map for Wrecking Ball
    • 2.1. Wrecking Ball on Kings Row

On this page, you will find out how to properly play Wrecking Ball. From general playstyle advice, to more specific advice like ultimate usage or combos, we tell you everything we think matters to master your hero.

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

Getting the most out of Wrecking Ball means taking calculated risks to disrupt and pick enemy heroes. Although Wrecking Ball is technically an off tank, his playstyle is more in line with that of a flanker. His high mobility, devastating close-range DPS, and lack of defensive abilities all prove that Wrecking Ball is truly a hero focused on wrecking the enemy team.

We are going to give you the combo first, then we will break down the reasoning behind the combo and when to utilize the combo situationally.

1. Roll or use Grappling Claw to get in position.
2. Attempt to land Piledriver if attacking from above.
3. Aim for the face of your target while using Quad Cannons.
4. Use Adaptive Shield whenever you will get the most amount of shields.
5. If you need to reload, make sure you Roll to cut animation and protect from headshots.
6. Use Roll or Grappling Hook to retreat once you secure the kill or are overwhelmed by enemies.

This bread-and-butter combo is practically how all offensive engagements are with Wrecking Ball. The idea of this combo is to find a weak or vulnerable enemy who is split from the team, and to finish them off before the enemy team can react.

Essentially, Wrecking Ball's offensive targets should always be in the damage or support category. While Wrecking Ball can help take down an enemy tank, focusing on tanks with the rest of your team is a waste of Hammond's potential (unless your are purposefully staying with the team to secure an objective or defend a choke point.

Typically speaking, your approach should be inspired. While you could just Roll past enemy troops to get to the backline, you are going to face unnecessary damage. The only time you should roll through the enemy to get to another enemy is if you are purposefully distracting the enemy team, or if you are attempting to gain Adaptive Shield charge on the way over to your target. While Adaptive Shield charge can be beneficial, it is ill advisable to attempt such a maneuver is the enemy team has a lot of crowd control. Rolling through a McCree to get to a Zenyatta is a poor choice because McCree can easily Flashbang you. Therefore, you should look for ways to sneak past the enemy frontline rather than Roll through them.

If you hold on to Adaptive Shield until you engage your target, it is important that you gauge your attack to determine when you should use your shield. If another enemy is close-by when you make your move, using Adaptive Shield right off the bat may be the best option. However, if only your target is in the proximity when you engage, it may be best to wait out Adaptive Shield's utilization for an escape. In short, Adaptive Shield should not be the first part of your combo unless you know that it is going to be a close fight.

When Wrecking Ball is not hunting down enemy supports, he is probably using Roll to cruise around the map, looking for an opportunity to strike. As Wrecking Ball, it may be beneficial to toy with the enemy team to distract them from the objective or from the rest of your team charging through their ranks. When players see an enemy Wrecking Ball zip past their screen, it is hard for them to not make it a personal goal to turn around and end his fun. What we are trying to say is that Wrecking Ball (like Tracer) is a nuisance, and you should use this to frustrate enemy players.

When your team needs to stall a point, you can use Wrecking Ball's Grappling Claw to spin around an objective, making yourself an extremely difficult target to hit. When it comes to stalling a point, remember this point, "the higher you can get, the better." While it is difficult to time a crowd control ability on Wrecking Ball while he is using Grappling Claw, the added frustration of trying to land one on a Wrecking Ball in midair makes it seemingly impossible. There is nothing more frustrating than Hammond flying around a pillar on point, and it is only worse when he is 10 feet off the ground.

Take a look at this quick video for one of the best tips for maintaining full speed with Grappling Claw.

Minefield is an extremely useful tool when used with purpose, but unfortunately, many players use Minefield incorrectly. The main rule with Minefield is that you do not use it to kill enemies, you use it to defend areas/allies. When you use Minefield to defend critical areas of the map, you will end up killing more enemies than if you are trying to just kill enemies. This is because Minefield is an ultimate that requires anticipating enemy movements to work, rather than relying on sheer brute force.

For example, suppose an enemy Brigitte just used her Rally. You know that her and the rest of her team are going to attempt to engage your team while the ultimate is ongoing. Therefore, you have identified the goal of the enemy team's movements. Now that you identified this, you can use Minefield to head-off the enemy at the main entrance of your objective, leading your opponents to be caught inside your field of mines. So while you were only attempting to defend your team, you ended up dealing more damage because of it.

Minefield is best used to block and defend

• Choke points entrances;
• Objective entrances;
• Objectives when an enemy team is close to a checkpoint;
• Team members from dangerous but close-range ultimates (Genji's Dragonblade, Winston's Primal Rage);
• Team members when enemies are advancing with a defensive ultimate enabled (Moira's Coalescence, Lúcio's Sound Barrier, Brigitte's Rally);
• Typically, do not use it during an enemy Zenyatta's Transcendence (he can set off your mines while taking no damage).

It should be noted that, as stated on the abilities page, Minefield's mine placement will be more spread out if Wrecking Ball is high above the ground when used. Therefore, players should keep this in mind when attempting to defend different areas. For example, if a player is using Minefield to cover an entire capture point, then he or she will want to use Grappling Claw to gain altitude before using the ability. However, if a player is attempting to trap a small area of the map (like an entrance to an objective or a choke point), then he or she will probably want to use Minefield while close to the ground to keep the mines in close proximity to one another.

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.