Overwatch Hero Guide – How to Play McCree

If you have excellent aim and want a purely offensive character, our McCree hero guide for Overwatch will give you the tips you need to make it high noon at all times. McCree is a fast-paced character that has the tools to take down a single enemy extremely fast, or make a formidable push toward a group of enemies, especially when his ultimate ability is available. He has a slightly higher learning curve compared to some of the other offensive heroes, but once mastered he can be extremely difficult for the opposing team to deal with.

Peacekeeper

You can fire off the Peacekeeper in two different ways. The standard shot fires a high-damage single shot at an enemy, while the alternate fire mode shoots all remaining rounds but lacks the accuracy of the single shot. Use the single shot most of them time, only switching over to the burst shot when an opponent is very close to McCree, or you need to take down a Reinhardt shield or similar obstacle. Don’t rely on the limited accuracy of the burst shot to help you out if your targets are even a slight distance from McCree.

Flashbang

The Flashbang by itself will stun your target and any enemies in very close proximity to your target. It doesn’t have a lot of range, but if you’re being chased or trying to gun down someone at close range, it works very well to stop them in their tracks. However, stunning an opponent is only the first step in McCree’s deadly combo. Once you land a Flashbang you can unleash a burst from your Peacekeeper to finish off almost any hero in the game. It’s a deadly combo that’s virtually inescapable for most of the heroes in Overwatch.

Combat Roll

McCree’s Combat Roll gives him a bit of extra mobility so he can close in on an opponent for a Flashbang combo, or try to escape if he’s being chased. While it works well strictly for the mobility benefits, it also reload’s your weapon and does so faster than a normal reload. Once you’ve fired off all of your rounds, or used the burst fire of the Peacekeeper ability you can Combat Roll to replenish your ammo and continue your offensive assault.

Deadeye

We’ve all heard, “It’s high noon” when playing against a McCree. His ultimate ability will kill any opponents in range and line of sight in a single attack. McCree takes a moment to target all enemies within range, then quickly fires off shots into each to take them down. This ultimate can be avoided by getting out of McCree’s line of sight, which means you should use it when you’re fighting over an objective, or if you come in from behind to flank the opposing team.

While you want to take down as many enemy heroes as possible with Deadeye, it can be beneficial to use it to take down only two or three enemies. If you keep waiting for the perfect moment to kill five or six enemies, you will end up wasting your ultimate. It doesn’t take all that long to recharge, so you’ll get multiple opportunities to use it throughout a match if you aren’t sitting on the ability waiting for a perfect six-enemy kill.

Head over to our tips on playing Genji, Soldier 76, Tracer and other offensive heroes if McCree isn’t your style. You can also check out support, tank and defensive heroes in our Overwatch Hero Guide.