Overwatch's latest seasonal event, Uprising, is underway. Alongside a pile of new skins and other hero cosmetics, the event has introduced a new PvE mode, also titled Uprising, where a four-player team must take on waves of AI-controlled enemies. This is the second PvE mode Overwatch has seen, the first being Junkenstein's Revenge from the Halloween Terror event last year.
Uprising has four difficulty modes. The first two, Normal and Hard mode, don't offer too much in the way of a challenge, but Expert and Legendary are another story entirely. On those higher difficulties, taking the streets back from from the omnic insurgency requires some serious coordination and game skill. Perhaps more than anything, it requires a good team composition.
In a change from Junkenstein's Revenge, Overwatch Uprising has two modes: default, where players take control of Reinhardt, Torbjörn, Tracer, and Mercy, and All Heroes, which lets you defend King's Row as any four heroes of your choice.
On All Heroes mode, not all characters are created equally. Some heroes are uniquely suited for tearing apart the omnic masses, while others are less-than-ideal picks for dealing with the uprising. We spent the last week reading strategies, watching pro streamers, and fighting through King's Row ourselves to determine the best heroes for beating Uprising on legendary mode.
Top Tier
Bastion
The best way to fight omnics, as it turns out, is with other omnics. Bastion is a beast in Uprising. Because most of the enemies come to you, mobility doesn't matter as much as it does in other areas of Overwatch. Bastion's Sentry Configuration tears through the tough, shielded Eradicators and high-damage Detonator omnics. We found almost all successful legendary teams to have brought a Bastion along.
Sombra
Sombra might seem like a bit of a mixed bag in Uprising. There aren't any healthpacks for her to hack, meaning the usual strategy of stealthing in, taking out a high-value target, and translocating back to a health pack can't really be done. On top of that, her high-spread machine pistol doesn't offer the raw damage output of DPS heroes like Reaper or Tracer. But Sombra still shines in Uprising as hacking higher-tier omnics renders them completely useless for a few seconds. Hacking takes out Eradicators' shield, stops Detonators in their tracks, and most importantly, shuts down the super-dangerous enemy Bastion units, giving your team a chance to take them out without dying. Huge.
Reinhardt and Orisa
The classic team's frontman and regular game main tank, Reinhardt makes an excellent case for himself in Uprising legendary. His shield is essential to keeping your team—and the payload—alive, blocking Slicer lasers and even Detonator explosions.
Orisa is an excellent main tank pick as well, as her shield can guard the payload while throwing out more damage than Reinhardt to clear out mobs of omnics. Also unlike Reinhardt, she can throw her shield down to protect herself while reviving a teammate. Her Halt! ability is good for messing with enemy Bastions and Detonators, pulling them out of position or away from the payload, buying your team more time to pour on the damage.
Successful teams should almost definitely have one of these two tanks, and it's not a bad idea to consider bringing both—especially paired with a Bastion. Having two shields to cover your team and the payload gives your teammates (read: Bastion) plenty of time to clean up enemies.
Zenyatta
Healing tends to not be a huge issue for a large part of Uprising, especially if your team is coordinated enough to take out enemies before they can do too much damage—and stay behind shields once they do. That is, you generally want to avoid damage altogether rather than trying to heal through it. To that end, Zen's Discord Orb (again, paired with Bastion) helps drop enemies super quick. And for the times when things get really hairy, Transcendence offers the best burst healing in the game—useful for the final battle.
Worth Considering
Tracer, Torbjörn, and Mercy
These three made the cut of the original Uprising strike team for a reason, and are useful in all-heroes mode just as well. Tracer pumps out major DPS. Torb provides armor (super-useful, I might add) and his turret really helps cleaning up stragglers, while Molten Core is excellent for Bastion fights. And Mercy is generally an all-around good healer pick (especially if you have a Bastion to damage-boost). They don't necessarily need to be played together (we have default mode for that), but they're worth considering to fill out a final slot in your roster.
D.Va
While not a good choice for a main tank, as she doesn't offer a large shield to protect the payload, D.Va does function well as a high-health DPS, with utility abilities that can help out the team. Defense Matrix is particularly useful in nullifying enemy Bastion units while your team Hacks or takes them out. Self-Destruct isn't too great offensively, but it can give your team a quick respite to pull off a rez in a pinch.
Ana
As with regular Overwatch matches, Ana's usefulness hinges hugely on player skill. Her kit can be effective in Uprising: she can deal decent damage, helping take out heavy hitters when the team doesn't need heals, her Grenade offers great burst damage and healing, and most importantly, she can sleep high-damage targets, letting her team clean up elsewhere or line up an attack. But Ana's not without drawbacks: enemy shields (such as on Eradicators and the final boss OR-14s) nullify her damage and sleep potentials, and the lack of self-healing outside her Grenade can be a significant liability.
Avoid
McCree, Genji, Hanzo, Widowmaker
These single-target, burst-type DPS heroes can be great in the context of regular Overwatch matches, but aren't super effective at taking down the hordes of oncoming omnics. You generally want sustained DPS that doesn't have to reload so often.
Mei
Mei's crowd control kit might seem useful for slowing down and disrupting the Null Sector forces, but her low, slow DPS makes her a bad choice for Uprising. Ice Wall can block your teammates from inflicting damage, too.
General Uprising Legendary tips
Protect the payload
Slicers and Detonators do tons of damage to the payload, but significantly less to shields. Reinhardt and Orisa should use their shields to block Slicer lasers. And if any Detonators make it far enough to explode, the blast can be fully blocked by a shield.
Mind the Bastions
One of the hardest portions of Uprising is the final section, when your team must destroy four OR-14 (Orisa) units in order to win. The main problem comes from the four Bastion units set up in Sentry mode that can play havoc with your day. An effective strategy is to focus on the Bastion units first, only turning your attention to the OR-14s once the high-damage turrets have been taken care of.
When you enter the final area, the first Bastion is positioned on the right-hand upper platform. Deal with this one first, moving your team to its position once you've taken it out. This gives you high-ground advantage and solid environmental cover to address the next enemies. A similar strategy should be taken with the next Bastion turret. Take it out and move to its position, using the cover and high ground to your advantage.
Another tip is to leave the OR-14 units alive until the Bastions have been destroyed. The subsequent OR-14s (as well as waves of Tank-mode Bastions) don't spawn until the first OR-14 has been eliminated, so leave it alive while you clear out the four Bastion turret encampments. Doing so means you'll be taking significantly less fire once you actually do turn your attention to the OR-14s.
