Winston
A super-intelligent, genetically engineered gorilla, Winston is a brilliant scientist and a champion for humanity’s potential.
Location
Horizon Lunar Colony (formerly), Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Age
31
Birthday
Jun 6
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Tesla Cannon
Electric frontal-cone weapon. Hold to charge, release to fire focused electricity.
Minor Perk — Choose 1
Electric Charge
Winston gains 10% movement speed for each enemy he is damaging with Tesla Cannon's primary fire, up to 30%.
Heavy Landing
During Primal Rage, Jump Pack's damage and area increase by up to 75% while airborne.
Major Perk — Choose 1
Chain Lightning
Fully charged Secondary Fire hits bounce to up to 2 additional targets.
Revitalizing Barrier
Barrier Projector heals allies within it for 35 health per second.
Circuit Breaker
Gain 10% of Electric damage as Overhealth, up to 100.
Electro Cluster
+15% Tesla Cannon Primary Fire Max Range. Tesla Cannon's Primary Fire deals 2% increased damage per enemy being hit.
Lightning Rod
Hits with Tesla Cannon's fully charged secondary fire bounce to all other enemies within 8m for 75% damage.
Volatile Volt
Tesla Cannon's Secondary Fire can critically hit for 250% damage.
Primal Punch
Melee or Jump Pack or Tesla Cannon Secondary Fire eliminations reset Jump Pack cooldown. For every 25 Armor you have, gain 3% Melee damage.
Moon Landing
Heal for 7% of Max Life per enemy damaged by Jump Pack's landing.
Lunar Leap
Gain 3% bonus Ultimate Charge per enemy damaged by Jump Pack's landing. While using Jump Pack, gain 5% of Max Life as Overhealth every 1s, up to 100.
Pocket Projector
Activating Barrier Projector attaches an additional, smaller Barrier Projector to Winston with 10% health.
Tesla Field
Enemies within Barrier Projector take 40 Electric damage every 1s.
Surge Protector
Allies within Barrier Projector are healed for 30 every 1s.
Primal Slam
While using Jump Pack, press Jump to quickly slam toward your crosshair. During Primal Rage, slam speed is increased by 50%.
Lucheng Launchers
Jump Pack's damage becomes Electric and increases by up to 75% while airborne. During Primal Rage, this is doubled.
A super-intelligent, genetically engineered gorilla, mild-mannered Winston is a brilliant scientist and mighty champion. Fleeing the Horizon Lunar Colony, Winston found a home with Overwatch and became the hero he’d always dreamed of being... until Overwatch fell. Now, with the world facing a rising threat from Null Sector, Winston has recalled some of his friends and former allies. A new Overwatch has been born.
Horizon lunar colony
Lucheng Interstellar established the Horizon Lunar Colony as a first step for humanity’s renewed exploration of space. Among its residents was a group of genetically enhanced animals that were intended to test the effects of prolonged habitation in space. One gorilla displayed such rapid brain development from the gene therapy that he was taken under the wing of Dr. Harold Winston, who taught him science and inspired him with tales of human ingenuity. The young gorilla passed his days assisting with the scientists’ experiments, watching the distant blue world outside his habitat window, and dreaming of the endless possibilities that awaited him there.
Overwatch
But his life was thrown into chaos when the other gorillas led an uprising, killed the mission scientists, and claimed the colony for their own. Taking on the name of his beloved human caretaker, Winston built a makeshift rocket and escaped the base. Unbeknownst to him, Specimen 8—a hamster Winston had befriended named Hammond—had hitched a ride to Earth with him. While Hammond landed in Australia and settled among the Junkers, Winston found a new home with Overwatch, an organization that represented everything he had come to admire about humanity. Winston was finally able to live up to the heroic ideal that had been instilled in him. At Overwatch, Winston developed the chronal accelerator technology that anchored Tracer to the present. He, Tracer, and Genji graduated from agent training together and, together, assisted in apprehending first Maximilien and then the leader of Talon himself, Doomfist. When Overwatch fell, Winston was distraught and went into seclusion, longing for the golden days of heroism to return.
Recall
He would soon transform this longing into action. After the Reaper infiltrated Watchpoint: Gibraltar seeking the roster of former Overwatch agents, Winston repelled the Talon operative and sent out a global recall order for the agents of Overwatch to return to duty. Tracer was the first to respond, and he joined her in King’s Row, where the two successfully took out a suspected Null Sector agent and repaired the Grid, critical infrastructure to the omnics there. Inspired by their success in London, Winston remained hopeful that other ex-Overwatch agents would respond to his recall. He and Tracer embarked on a series of missions while they awaited their former comrades, even thwarting Widowmaker and Reaper in a high-profile attack on the Overwatch Museum in New York. But over a year from the recall, only Mei had joined them at Watchpoint: Gibraltar. When Winston intercepted news of the Null Sector attack in Paris, he realized it was likely to be Overwatch’s final battle. But Winston’s patience and faith were not in vain, as Genji, Mercy, Echo, Brigitte, and Reinhardt joined the fight. As more former Overwatch agents (and new blood) step forward to answer the call, Winston remains the steadfast beacon of a future worth fighting for.
Winston Tips
- 1Always call out your Jump Pack target before diving — a coordinated dive with your damage heroes is devastating; a solo dive into a full team is a feeding opportunity for the enemy.
- 2Barrier Projector traps both Winston and his target inside; use it specifically to cut supports off from their peel opportunity and force a 1v1 against an isolated enemy.
- 3Primal Rage is best used for environmental kills and securing wounded targets — don't expect to full-combo-kill healthy tanks or high-HP heroes with it.
- 4Tesla Cannon arcs through barriers and hits multiple targets simultaneously; use it to chip enemies hiding behind Reinhardt shields rather than attacking from the front.
Tank Overview
Tanks lead by contesting space the rest of the team can't take alone — not by standing still and soaking damage as a wall for allies to hide behind. Pressuring a dangerous angle forces the enemy to respect the threat you represent, which is what actually lets your damage and support operate safely. Tanks generally have large health pools and strong defensive tools, but those exist to let you take space, not to make you a stationary shield. Reading which angle you can hold — and when to pull out — matters far more than constant voice comms with your supports, most of whom are busy triaging the fight rather than actively topping you up.
Positioning
Where you position depends heavily on the tank and the matchup, not a fixed front-to-back rule. Brawl tanks like Reinhardt want to hold a specific angle and pressure it — not simply stand between the enemy and your team. Against dive- or poke-heavy compositions (Orisa, Ramattra, mobile flankers), playing straight front-to-back plays into their strengths and loses on most maps. Track your team's position and disengage before you're isolated, but don't expect your supports to keep you topped up mid-fight — with healing output reduced across the board, most tanks are meant to spend their HP and cooldowns on a trade and recover between fights, not during them.
Strengths
- +Large health pools and defensive cooldowns that let you contest space other roles can't survive in
- +Creates space and draws focus fire away from squishier teammates
- +Ultimate abilities can decisively swing team fights
- +Presence alone forces the enemy team to play around you, buying space and time for your team
Weaknesses
- −Healing is mostly meant to top you up between fights, not during them — expecting emergency heals mid-fight wastes your supports' resources
- −Overextending solo leads to quick elimination
- −Committing to the wrong angle can cost your HP and cooldowns and swing the fight against your team
- −High-mobility damage heroes can outmaneuver slow tanks
vs Dmon
vs Domina
vs Doomfist
vs D.Va
vs Hazard
vs Junker Queen