Overwatch McCree In-Depth Guide

Overwatch McCree In-Depth Guide by SHITBEARDTHEPIRATE

Hey all,

I decided to put together a detailed guide on playing my favorite offensive character in the game, McCree. McCree is currently viewed as one of the top damage-dealers in the meta, and is being used very frequently in tourneys.

Neutral Game

Primary Weapon -McCree’s gun is the Peacekeeper, a standard revolver which can fire off 6 shots before needing to be reloaded. You can fire off one shot at a time and deal up to a maximum of 70 damage to the body, and 140 damage to the head. The Peacekeeper has a falloff damage point which is right here. Hitting opponents at this range will still deal the maximum amount of damage, but the further you or your enemies move away, the less damage you’ll deal. You wanna keep your enemies at medium/close range, as that’s where McCree is deadliest.

The Peacekeeper can also be ‘fan fired’, meaning McCree will empty the entire magazine almost immediately at the cost of accuracy. This is devastating when used at close range, and can deal up to a maximum of 420 damage,making it capable of killing almost every hero in the game.. Even though fanning the hammer isn’t accurate, you shouldn’t worry too much because even landing just half the bullets in your chamber is still strong enough of killing over half the roster. Keep in mind that when using Fan Fire, the bonus to precision damage does not apply, even if you do actually hit your enemy in the head. No matter what, each bullet when fan firing will deal a maximum of 70 damage, so your goal when fan firing should just be to make sure you hit with as many bullets as possible, ideally aiming at the center of mass on your enemy.

Abilities

Starting off with the Flashbang. Let’s you throw a flashbang at your enemies which can deal up to 25 damage, as well as stun them for exactly 1 second. Stunned enemies get stopped dead in their tracks, and even though 1 second doesn’t sound very long, it’s just long enough to let you fan the hammer and get a quick kill. This is a crazy effective combo and should be your bread & butter when playing McCree: flashbang to stun, then fan the hammer. The range on flashbang is quite short, so get used to the range and use it in close quarters situations. The flashbang can hit/stun multiple enemies if they’re close. Cooldown time on the flashbang is 10 seconds.

Combat Roll: Lets you do a quick roll in any direction you choose. Great for closing the gap on enemies to put them in flashbang range, and to quickly get out of dangerous situations. Using the combat roll will also instantly reload your Peacekeeper, making it possible for McCree to fan the hammer, combat roll for a quick reload, and then fan the hammer again. This lets you put heavy damage on enemy tanks that get too close to you. Cooldown time on the combat roll is 8 seconds.

Using the Combat Roll and the Flashbang together is damned effective. If an enemy is relatively nearby, you can Combat Roll up to them, flashbang, and Fan Fire for the kill. If they’re already very close to you, you can lead off with the flashbang, fan fire for the kill, then combat roll right away for the instant reload, in case there are more enemies right nearby. This is what makes McCree so deadly in close quarters and 1v1 situations.

McCree’s Ultimate – Deadeye

Deadeye is kind of a high risk high reward Ultimate. Once activated, your HUD will slowly start targeting all enemies currently in your line of sight, represented by a small circle. You’ll be in this trance for a maximum of 6 seconds, or until you either cancel the ultimate, or pull the trigger to fire. If you wait long enough, you’ll see red skulls appear over your enemies, meaning that if you pull the trigger right then and there, you’ll shoot them for a guaranteed kill.

The time it takes for the red skull to appear on an enemy depends on how much health they have.

Enemies with more health take longer to target – Demonstration, 4 Roadhogs, full health

Enemies with low health are targeted very quickly – Demonstration, 4 Tracers, 10 health each

Deadeye technically does have a range limit, but the maps are designed in such a way that it’s probably something you’ll never have to worry about when playing McCree.

Pulling the trigger on Deadeye before your enemies are fully targeted means that you’ll still shoot them, but for a lot less damage, depending on how quickly you pulled the trigger. If you die while using Deadeye, or you decide to cancel it at any time, your Ultimate will be reset back to being 50% charged. Your best bet is to use Deadeye from locations where your enemy might not notice you right away, or in combination with other hero’s abilities (Reinhardt’s Barrier, Zarya’s Graviton Surge, Lucio’s Sound Barrier, etc). It’s also important to know that activating Deadeye will reload your peacekeeper.

Matchups

At the end of the day, McCree is a great offensive character who fights best in close quarters, and has the ability to challenge and beat other heroes who also fight up close. Reaper, Tracer, Winston, Mercy, Lucio, Reinhardt, and Roadhog can get quickly brought down by McCree in close quarters. You can also make short work of Genji, but be very careful because he can use his deflect to bounce back McCree’s flash bang and fan fire. Make sure to be careful of players who excel when fighting at long ranges, like Widowmaker, Hanzo, and Bastion. Pairing McCree with a tank like Winston is usually a good idea, as Winston can easily counter Widowmaker and Hanzo, helping to clear the way for everyone’s favorite cowboy. Genji is also capable of edging out Widowmaker, Bastion, and Hanzo, and makes a good pairing.