Our guide to building a deadly starting team on Dorado, Route 66 and Watchpoint: Gibraltar.
There are many ways to build your starting team in Overwatch, but what’s the best sort of team composition to go for on Escort maps? Having already brought you guides to getting going on the Assault, Control and Hybrid maps of the game, next up we wanted to review the Escort roster of maps: Dorado, Route 66 and Watchpoint: Gibraltar. If you’re new to the the game and this category of map, one team attempts to ferry a Payload through a series of checkpoints against the clock, while the other attempts to prevent them from doing so. That’s in Quick Play, at least. In Competitive Play mode, each team takes a turn on both sides of the map.
When it comes to crafting the perfect starting team, we have – as always – avoided providing a precise breakdown of how to fill every slot for each map, as we feel it’s important to retain some kind of flexibility.
This also allows players to take on a hero they feel particularly adept at playing, which should always add considerably weighting to your decision. You’ll find that all of the Heroes featured here synergise well with one another, and have proved themselves to be top tier picks based on the early competitive Overwatch scene.
Use the following strong characters as a base for building your starting team, and we reckon you stand an excellent chance of coming out on top in any given map. Just be ready to switch out to deal with a specific enemy threat that’s holding back progress.
Editor’s note: December update – It’s been a little while since we updated our Escort builds guide, and the changes we’ve now made reflect the latest changes to the game. Do keep in mind that the Overwatch hero roster is becoming increasingly well-balanced over time, and so you shouldn’t feel to confined to our suggestions. Still, we think you’ll find our recommendations a great starting point for any team build.
On this page:
Overwatch: Best team comps and builds – Escort – December 2016
Other pages:
Overwatch: Best team comps and builds – Assault
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Escort map team comps and builds
Here’s our pick of the best characters you can use to cobble a solid team together at the start of Overwatch’s Escort maps. In these map modes, you’ll have to use your team’s proximity to the Payload in order to gradually get it shoved over the finishing lines. A series of checkpoints adds extra time to the ticking clock.
A few quick pointers before we start:
- While there are some highly creative pro comps, you will not go far wrong in random groups by packing two Tanks, two Supports and a pair of Defense or Offense characters.
- Taking that into consideration, heroes designated as Primary are the most important elements of your team, and you will always significantly increase your odds of success by including them.
- Choose one Secondary hero based on your personal play strengths and experience.
- There is a lot more flexibility in the Offense / Defense roles. Pick the hero you’re best at playing, and even then feel free to go outside of our recommendations if you’re much stronger at a hero we’ve not included!
Dorado team comps and builds – December 2016
Attacking
| Hero | Role | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Reinhardt (Primary) | Tank | Reinhardt guide |
| Roadhog (Secondary) | Tank | Roadhog guide |
| D.Va (Secondary) | Tank | D.Va guide |
| Lucio (Primary) | Support | Lucio guide |
| Ana (Secondary) | Support | Ana guide |
| Mercy (Secondary) | Support | Mercy guide |
| Zenyatta (Secondary) | Support | Zenyatta guide |
| Genji (Skill Level) | Offense | Genji guide |
| McCree (Skill Level) | Offense | McCree guide |
| Reaper (Skill Level) | Offense | Reaper guide |
| Soldier: 76 (Skill Level) | Offense | Soldier: 76 guide |
Defending
| Hero | Role | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Reinhardt (Primary) | Tank | Reinhardt guide |
| Roadhog (Secondary) | Tank | Roadhog guide |
| Zarya (Secondary) | Tank | Zarya guide |
| Lucio (Primary) | Support | Lucio guide |
| Ana (Secondary) | Support | Ana guide |
| Mercy (Secondary) | Support | Mercy guide |
| Zenyatta (Secondary) | Support | Zenyatta guide |
| Hanzo (Skill Level) | Defense | Hanzo guide |
| Junkrat (Skill Level) | Defense | Junkrat guide |
| Mei (Skill Level) | Defense | Mei guide |
| McCree (Skill Level) | Offense | McCree guide |
Route 66 team comps and builds – December 2016
Attacking
| Hero | Role | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Reinhardt (Primary) | Tank | Reinhardt guide |
| Roadhog (Secondary) | Tank | Roadhog guide |
| D.Va (Secondary) | Tank | D.Va guide |
| Lucio (Primary) | Support | Lucio guide |
| Ana (Secondary) | Support | Ana guide |
| Mercy (Secondary) | Support | Mercy guide |
| Zenyatta (Secondary) | Support | Zenyatta guide |
| Genji (Skill Level) | Offense | Genji guide |
| McCree (Skill Level) | Offense | McCree guide |
| Reaper (Skill Level) | Offense | Reaper guide |
| Soldier: 76 (Skill Level) | Offense | Soldier: 76 guide |
Defending
| Hero | Role | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Reinhardt (Primary) | Tank | Reinhardt guide |
| Roadhog (Secondary) | Tank | Roadhog guide |
| Zarya (Secondary) | Tank | Zarya guide |
| Lucio (Primary) | Support | Lucio guide |
| Ana (Secondary) | Support | Ana guide |
| Mercy (Secondary) | Support | Mercy guide |
| Zenyatta (Secondary) | Support | Zenyatta guide |
| Junkrat (Skill Level) | Defense | Junkrat guide |
| Mei (Skill Level) | Defense | Mei guide |
| McCree (Skill Level) | Offense | McCree guide |
| Pharah (Skill Level) | Offense | Pharah guide |
Watchpoint: Gibraltar team comps and builds – December 2016
Attacking
| Hero | Role | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Reinhardt (Primary) | Tank | Reinhardt guide |
| Roadhog (Secondary) | Tank | Roadhog guide |
| D.Va (Secondary) | Tank | D.Va guide |
| Lucio (Primary) | Support | Lucio guide |
| Ana (Secondary) | Support | Ana guide |
| Mercy (Secondary) | Support | Mercy guide |
| Zenyatta (Secondary) | Support | Zenyatta guide |
| Genji (Skill Level) | Offense | Genji guide |
| McCree (Skill Level) | Offense | McCree guide |
| Reaper (Skill Level) | Offense | Reaper guide |
| Soldier: 76 (Skill Level) | Offense | Soldier: 76 guide |
Defending
| Hero | Role | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Reinhardt (Primary) | Tank | Reinhardt guide |
| Roadhog (Secondary) | Tank | Roadhog guide |
| Zarya (Secondary) | Tank | Zarya guide |
| Lucio (Primary) | Support | Lucio guide |
| Ana (Secondary) | Support | Ana guide |
| Mercy (Secondary) | Support | Mercy guide |
| Zenyatta (Secondary) | Support | Zenyatta guide |
| Hanzo (Skill Level) | Defense | Hanzo guide |
| Junkrat (Skill Level) | Defense | Junkrat guide |
| Mei (Skill Level) | Defense | Mei guide |
| McCree (Skill Level) | Offense | McCree guide |
Got a clever strategy or two of your own for building a team on these maps? Let us know your own preferential picks in the comments section below!
