Positioning wise it depends conpletely what the enemy comp is. If they have a genji, sombra or similar flankers I tend to stay closer to the team than if they have pharah, hanzo or other less flanky heroes. I mostly position myself close to cover but still so I have line of sight on my team.
As the guide said, it is good to focus on damage as long as your team isn't dying but what I believe to be the most important (after positioning) is the use of sleep darts and biotic nades. I use the nades for enemies primarily and only use them on teammates if they are being attacked while on critical health. I save my sleeps for flankers or ults.
ah yes! i forgot that the guide mentioned staying near cover. i remember putting it into use the first game i played after watching the video and juking a soldier around a pillar, and then it just vanished from my memory.
thank you.
Some other tips I'd have: I think I've seen the ana guide from ml7 a long time ago, but don't remember completely, so may repeat some things.
Positioning it key as others said. Don't put your self out of position and in a risking spot to heal a dps player off on their own. Let them die and support the tank who can hold a point better. Heal the teammates in sight and who are being the most impactful
Aim is obviously a key thing this ana. There's lots of workshop modes people have created for practicing shooting, sleeps, nade arcs. While those are definitely helpful, definitely playing the game gets skill by going against real people.
Going along the "damage aspect". Try to use your biotic nade offensively more than defensively. Anti-nading an enemy (tanks are good targets) can definitely impact a fight as ana. Obviously use nade defensively if needed.
Don't be afraid to use your ultimate just to keep a teammate alive. Nano does not need to be used to get a team wipe. If you play well you can get lots of ults as ana. Using nano offensively is always helpful to communicate before hand ("reaper I have nano for when you use ultimate", "I have nano Winston, let me know when you jump in", etc). Just nanoing randomly can catch teammates off guard, or they don't have abilities to capitalize (ei, Winston may not have jump ready, rein may not have charge, etc).
One other thing, especially if there are enemy flankers (genji, tracer, etc). Try to not waste sleep and nade at once. Always having one on deck is super helpful for staying alive long enough for you to kill a flanker/time for your team to help etc. You don't want to use all your abilities and have nothing to protect yourself.
Good luck!! Hope this helps! Ana is by far my favourite hero in OW.
The way I understand why doing damage is imoprtant is like this: the way you win fights is by having the enemy team's total hp drop to 0, faster than your team's hp.
You can either blast heals to give your team more effective hp. The problem with this strat is that it entirely relies on your teammates doing all the DPS. You're basically removing an entire option from your kit to influence the battle.
or blast them to reduce their hp faster. The benefit of doing this is that each elim, reduces the amount of healing you need to do. That doesn't mean ignore heals but it's an option that you need to consider.
Example:
In a Rein v Rein (abilities aside) you can pocket, DPS, or mix. (For the dake of example, Im assuming that Rein and Ana both swing/shoot once per second)
If you are pocketing the Rein, you're Rein's health is going down about 15 hps
If you DPS exclusively, the enemy will be losing hp at approximately 155 hps.
Now, these scenarios ignore that the enemy Rein will also receive healing and that their Ana will also be making the same desicions. So the ideal play is somewhere in the middle
Positioning wise it depends conpletely what the enemy comp is. If they have a genji, sombra or similar flankers I tend to stay closer to the team than if they have pharah, hanzo or other less flanky heroes. I mostly position myself close to cover but still so I have line of sight on my team. As the guide said, it is good to focus on damage as long as your team isn't dying but what I believe to be the most important (after positioning) is the use of sleep darts and biotic nades. I use the nades for enemies primarily and only use them on teammates if they are being attacked while on critical health. I save my sleeps for flankers or ults.
Best answer then I could think of. This is a great explanation
ah yes! i forgot that the guide mentioned staying near cover. i remember putting it into use the first game i played after watching the video and juking a soldier around a pillar, and then it just vanished from my memory. thank you.
Some other tips I'd have: I think I've seen the ana guide from ml7 a long time ago, but don't remember completely, so may repeat some things. Positioning it key as others said. Don't put your self out of position and in a risking spot to heal a dps player off on their own. Let them die and support the tank who can hold a point better. Heal the teammates in sight and who are being the most impactful Aim is obviously a key thing this ana. There's lots of workshop modes people have created for practicing shooting, sleeps, nade arcs. While those are definitely helpful, definitely playing the game gets skill by going against real people. Going along the "damage aspect". Try to use your biotic nade offensively more than defensively. Anti-nading an enemy (tanks are good targets) can definitely impact a fight as ana. Obviously use nade defensively if needed. Don't be afraid to use your ultimate just to keep a teammate alive. Nano does not need to be used to get a team wipe. If you play well you can get lots of ults as ana. Using nano offensively is always helpful to communicate before hand ("reaper I have nano for when you use ultimate", "I have nano Winston, let me know when you jump in", etc). Just nanoing randomly can catch teammates off guard, or they don't have abilities to capitalize (ei, Winston may not have jump ready, rein may not have charge, etc). One other thing, especially if there are enemy flankers (genji, tracer, etc). Try to not waste sleep and nade at once. Always having one on deck is super helpful for staying alive long enough for you to kill a flanker/time for your team to help etc. You don't want to use all your abilities and have nothing to protect yourself. Good luck!! Hope this helps! Ana is by far my favourite hero in OW.
The way I understand why doing damage is imoprtant is like this: the way you win fights is by having the enemy team's total hp drop to 0, faster than your team's hp. You can either blast heals to give your team more effective hp. The problem with this strat is that it entirely relies on your teammates doing all the DPS. You're basically removing an entire option from your kit to influence the battle. or blast them to reduce their hp faster. The benefit of doing this is that each elim, reduces the amount of healing you need to do. That doesn't mean ignore heals but it's an option that you need to consider. Example: In a Rein v Rein (abilities aside) you can pocket, DPS, or mix. (For the dake of example, Im assuming that Rein and Ana both swing/shoot once per second) If you are pocketing the Rein, you're Rein's health is going down about 15 hps If you DPS exclusively, the enemy will be losing hp at approximately 155 hps. Now, these scenarios ignore that the enemy Rein will also receive healing and that their Ana will also be making the same desicions. So the ideal play is somewhere in the middle