If you want to play as a hero with high defensive and area denial potential that can still hold their own in combat, look no further than Torbjorn.
Although he may not be the most popular damage hero by any measure, Torbjorn can easily overpower enemy teams with the right teammates backing him up.
In this Overwatch Torbjorn guide, we’ll be highlighting the best tips, tricks, and strategies for playing as the engineering genius.
If you would like more tips and tricks, check out our Overwatch Beginner’s Guide, where we dive into hero roles, team composition, and best practices for winning.
Table of ContentsShow
Torbjorn Abilities and Role Explained
Torbjorn has been modified and reworked over the years to make his kit more offensively viable than ever before.
With that said, he still has plenty of weaknesses that can be easily exploited by coordinated teams and even solo heroes that counter his playstyle.
Torbjorn is most effective when defending on maps with challenging chokepoints and teammates that can keep the enemy team distracted, allowing him to clean-up with his turret and Rivet Gun.
His defensively-inclined abilities make him naturally skilled at area denial, and below we’ll show you how you can combine them all to win matches.
How To Use Deploy Turret
The most unique part of Torb’s kit is his ability to deploy a turret on any surface where the player can normally stand and use it to apply pressure on the enemy team.
Knowing where to drop your turret will take some practice, but generally, you want to place it off the ground in a clear view of the objective while still hidden from the enemy’s line of sight.
Learning the best spots to drop your turret will require in-depth knowledge of the map you’re on, the heroes you’re facing, and where your teammates have set-up shop.
Make sure to move your turret to a new position after every successful enemy team wipe to prevent them from seeking it out; this also has the benefit of catching them off-guard every new push.
How To Use Forge Hammer
The Forge Hammer is used to repair Torb’s turret and can also deal close-range melee damage at a rate of 55 damage per second.
It’s the weakest tool in Torb’s kit following his rework since it requires you to disengage from battle to handle repairs when you’re probably better off just letting it get destroyed and placing a new one.
However, when combined with Overload, the Forge Hammer can make repairs surprisingly fast, often quicker than enemies can damage the turret.
If your team is doing an excellent job at holding the enemy off, it may be worth it to keep your turret alive for as long as possible for some additional pressure.
How To Use Overload
Overload is a buffing ability that grants Torbjorn +100 armor, increases his movement speed by +30%, and raises his weapon rate of fire by 43% for five seconds in total.
While there are some obvious offensive benefits to such buffs, Overload is most effective at helping Torb survive otherwise deadly abilities (i.e., Roadhog’s Hook, Doomfist’s Rocket Punch, etc.).
It’s definitely the kind of ability you want to avoid spamming should you need it in a pinch, so keep that in mind during matches.
Lastly, if you find yourself in a situation where you have to retreat, Overload is your best bet for surviving long enough to get away from the enemy team.
How To Use Molten Core (Ultimate)
The biggest difference to Torb’s kit following his rework is his Molten Core ability, which sees him shooting fiery projectiles from his arm in the direction he’s facing.
You can fire a total of 10 molten slags that will bounce off walls and enemy shields until landing on the ground, where they’ll begin to pool for 10 seconds, dealing 160 dps and +90 dps against armor.
It’s most effective when used to deny enemies’ access to the main point, wipe them out at a choke point, or simply buy your team some time to respawn and come back to the fight.
The best way to use Torb’s Ultimate is to activate it from higher ground and shoot downwards directly on or near the objective or along the enemy’s path.
Torbjorn Strengths
You’ll find Torbjorn is a very situational damage hero varying effectiveness depending on the map, mode, and team composition.
While he’s capable of dealing close, mid, and long-range damage, it’s that mid-range sweet spot that allows both Torb and his turret to truly shine.
He combos best with high mobility heroes and snipers who can help keep the enemy distracted and pick off any of Torb’s biggest threats; below, we’ve provided a list of the most notable ones.
Which Heroes Combo Best With Torbjorn?
- Widowmaker – Can highlight enemies and eliminate targets before they reach Torb’s turret.
- Hanzo – Same as above with the added benefit of area denial with Dragonstrike.
- Winston – High mobility allows him to draw attention away from Torb’s turret.
- Symmetra – Can combine turret damage with Torb for superb area denial.
- Mei – Can prevent enemies from reaching Torb’s turret by freezing them and placing ice walls.
- Genji – Extremely high mobility and damage output takes the focus off Torb and his turret.
- Lucio – Can speed boost Torb for better mobility and boop enemies away from his turret.
Torbjorn Weaknesses
Unfortunately, Torbjorn has many weaknesses that are easily exploited, especially when he’s separated from the rest of his team.
The main problems with Torb stem from his terrible mobility, relatively small health pool (Overload notwithstanding), and inconsistent damage.
Below, we’ve provided a detailed list of heroes that have an advantage over Torbjorn in most situations and can quickly send him back to spawn if you’re not careful.
Which Heroes Does Torbjorn Struggle Against?
- Pharah – Torb struggles in one-on-one battles against Pharah without his turret.
- Hanzo – Can snipe Torb from long-range and destroy his turret as well.
- Reaper – Shreds through Torb’s health and can escape turret damage using Wraith Form.
- Junkrat – Can deal AoE damage that affects both Torb and his turret at the same time.
- Zarya – Can shield herself from turret attacks using Particle Barrier.
- Widowmaker – Can snipe Torb from long-range and reveal his location to the enemy team.
- Soldier: 76 – Can focus Torb and his turret from long-range if left unchecked.
General Tips For Playing Torbjorn
By this point, you should have a better idea of when to pick Torb and how to set up his turret in order to maximize its damage-dealing potential.
There are a lot of factors to consider when playing Torb, so take the time to learn some great turret spots on each map, and switch off to another hero if you keep getting shutdown.
Below, we’ve highlighted some bonus tips that build off of the previous categories; commit them to memory, and you’ll soon become a top-tier Torbjorn.
- Try to limit your Torb usage to matches where you’re on the defending team and have ally heroes who complement your playstyle.
- You can deploy your turret on the Payload during Escort missions to effectively create a mobile turret.
- Torb’s Rivet Gun has an alternate firing mode that uses a shotgun-like spread to deal increased damage at close-range.
- Use Overload after respawning to get back to point much faster than you usually would.
- Avoid babysitting your turret for too long; be an active participant in team fights.