What Is Poking? - How To Be A Better DPS | Overwatch Essentials

There's more than meets the eye when it comes to dealing damage in Overwatch.
Considering how poking at an enemy's health bars also speeds up the rate at which certain ultimates are generated, identifying optimal situations to deal damage is something that sets aside the good DPS players from the greats.
In this video, we explore the concept of poke damage and take a look at a few examples from the Overwatch League.
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[@Kyotosomo]

Ah "poking" also known as one or two of my teammates running in and dying on their own over and over so that we have zero chance of winning because we're never able to group everybody up for a team fight.

[@seannymeggs8909]

I was getting poke damage bro!! Leave me alone

[@xythiera7255]

That more a problem of not knowing the rang of enemy heros.Sounds like silver elo.

[@crispybacon4240]

@@xythiera7255 It happens in all Elo's to varying degrees.

[@squalooceano2291]

oof this is too real man. this kinda shit is why I'm stuck in plat...

[@wizzzer1337]

"why am I not getting healed?" said the Genji/McCree that went head on for the sixth 1v6 and die immediately you can't heal stupid- that's why!

[@something3746]

"Hopefully next time you think twice" pretty mature of you akshon to tell me to think

[@thadex454]

DPS players: We ape strong

[@someguynamedsomething9612]

Ape together stronk

[@faizanahmad7730]

pretty bold of you to assume I thought the first time

[@eeveewithcoffee9554]

It would have been cool if y’all showed off that clip of Violet’s Moria getting ult super fast because his team didn’t use their shields to take poke damage that he healed up

[@SkeletonGuyVT]

The overwatch equivalent of building uber in tf2

[@3liteGamer4Life]

@House Mouse Main Pretty sure they meant ult charge from *healing* tanks, not damaging them

[@jweeeb5707]

guys its a repost because in the last one, he mistook Striker for Ans

[@abhinavbanerjee8797]

Nice catch but is it really relevant anymore?

[@jahagkagau6061]

I noticed that

[@Broockle]

And Ants was Dreamworks's first movie! Coincidence?! HA!

[@TypicalBLKW]

@@Broockle THE ANTS FROM ANTZ?

[@OmicronGaming]

5:20 to be fair to Doha, Jjanu is kind of a beast

[@l0l0_ow87]

5:55 U can see that jjanu tried to hook tracer and accidentaly caught genji

[@Anima_Kesil]

@@l0l0_ow87 Nah I think he was originally aiming at Tracer yes, but saw the blink and did the reflex adjustment to Genji instead. So I don't think it was an accident per say.

[@BonesEsquire]

Yo holy shit you need to join the discord bro, it’s a good time

[@aalfonso4622]

@@Anima_Kesil pretty sure you can't redirect hook after casting no matter how hard you flick

[@Ruthgar99]

@@Anima_Kesil While I think it is theoretically possible, I think you are giving him a little too much credit here.

[@cabig9838]

Poking: the act of clicking the shoot button and getting ult charge while potentially giving your team an opening by getting a lucky pick.

[@Kuchen.]

And denieing space

[@nugget2927]

This video is nugget approved

[@jonathan-6958]

Poggy woggy

[@tuvnight2201]

Good.

[@ilytwo_]

thanks nugget

[@plazmagaming5144]

Oh thank god

[@angelnivar3323]

preciat it

[@ten7554]

"Overwatch essentials" *immediately goes into Overwatch League professional analysis for what makes my brain feel like thirty minutes*

[@dickurkel6910]

Not like it's difficult to understand though, and it is pretty essential for improving

[@cecilia7932]

You should have also covered the careless poking that takes place in chokes before a push while everyone is regrouping. It's so common for people to poke and lose their lives cause they overestimate the danger they are in

[@deezboyeed6764]

Underestimate*

[@lyntanyh]

thisss. the amount of times that, as mercy, i've told my dps to fall back and group up with the rest of the team (respawning) but they just say "i'm just getting ult charge" and then they get headshotted by a rogue hanzo arrow or hooked in by roadhog and die, leaving me completely alone

[@Dino_5500]

Only real ones remember adding this to their watch later, and then never getting to watch it later.

[@xxcloakedbanexx4529]

Ahh yes finally I was waiting for this to be reposted

[@shreyanshsingh379]

Ah, you're a man of reddit as well

[@Arcullius]

Same here

[@xxcloakedbanexx4529]

@@shreyanshsingh379 I see you are also very cultured yourself

[@Gavrilooo]

Yea

[@Korkyy]

Tiktok bad reddit gud

[@Lukas-jq4vw]

Poking - how to be a better dps me a doomfist main * *weeps* *

[@mahks-pectith3179]

You must poke them HARDER

[@moveorjump]

poke? just fist them

[@gr1ffs385]

We don't poke my friend. We punch

[@thenozar7603]

Fist them then...wait...no

[@alejandroromero6794]

Me missing all my shots: Ah yes, poking.

[@TooEpik]

You forgot one of the most important ones which is poking to force resources. Especially on enemy comps like dive where they have to burn resources to get to you, if you force their resources before they can get to you then it helps your team immensely. For example lets say they run winston and genji to dive somebody. A genji and winston inside a bubble won't be killed so easily, so then if you poke them enough to force monkey bubble before the engage, it is very good because the monkey will die when he dives and the genji will be more vulnerable.

[@Reficulx]

This video kinda missed a lot of the point of what poking is. Feels really out-of-touch and pretencious tbh. Thought I'd learn something but feels like those Tiktoks that silvers make.

[@chairuptop]

at 1:30 seeing super saunter off to who knows where and instantly seeing the widow die in the killfeed is amazing

[@seannymeggs8909]

When shock are just known as “the orange team” feelsbadman

[@snewp_e2139]

@bill dipperly who the hell is gonna get confused by something as small as a team name?

[@fluffyeevee383]

@bill dipperly a team name in the top right and easy to see, just as easy as the color orange? *Especially* when he refers to the Dynasty by their name, isn't that also "overwhelming?"

[@dotanklein2307]

5:09 1. he can climb up to the high ground, 2. he has dash, 3. he has deflect

[@lillian7525]

That was my immediate reaction. "No escape options"? He's playing Genji against a comp that only has one player who can maneuver to high ground fast enough to chase if he decides to climb a wall.

[@clayy5095]

@@lillian7525 it’s funny too because the hook looks almost accidental lol

[@QuestionableLogic_]

When you're so early there isn't a comment explaining why the original upload was taken down yet

[@Akshonesports]

Who is your favourite DPS player and are they still playing in OWL?

[@flight9094]

Definitely Surefour

[@wattledgem3091]

Profit

[@isaacthefifth8183]

It was ans but now probably striker I also like the shock. Or glister

[@Aurora-xg1lj]

Carpe!

[@elgabelou531]

SoOn

[@rhithym]

Its very subtle mechanics like this that really testify why overwatch is a lot deeper than naysayers give it credit for.

[@mahks-pectith3179]

And then you enter qp classic and reevaluate your whole life

[@KTSamurai1]

there's a lot of nuance to this i didnt appreciate before. if i understand this video correctly: - poke the build charge when you dont have it - building charge effectively varies from character to character; ashe can hang back and take pot shots, genji should be trying to split the difference between hitting at an off-angle while also getting support from healers - poking tanks also feeds enemy supports so prioritize targets you can actually 1 or 2 shot - once you have ult charge you should only be looking for one-taps or easy kills, otherwise do not feed enemy supports

[@sEaNoYeAh]

Yes, that would be a good summary. It is a horrific mistake low level players make all the time to poke unnecessarily when they already have ult, thereby charging the enemy support ults the opposition needs to repel them, or worst case putting themselves at risk and getting picked for no reason. Everyone understands more ults = more win, but for some reason most players fail to consider where ults come from, and where enemy ult charge comes from. Too often you'll see something like a Genji with blade poking at tanks that have a Zen orb on them. The Genji has no real possibility of killing a tank at range, but charging transcendence for the enemy Zen could end giving the enemy team the exact resource they need to nullify Genji's blade. Genji and Sombra are too particular examples of heroes who suffer badly for poking at the wrong time, because much of their power is in their ultimates, and these ultimates are much more powerful when there aren't support ults available to counter them. Good poke is about tipping the scales in your favour. The reverse scenario is when you categorically know the enemy has both support ults, and then poking for sheer pressure can be good, you might wear down a shield or force an important cooldown like immortality field. For some heroes with enough burst threat at range risking being picked but getting out such a cooldown ahead of a fight starting is a worthwhile trade off much of the time.

[@caeser_beatz8973]

Great video guys! Glad you covered such an important topic for DPS in OW in an engaging way. Keep it up! :)

[@jackwadsworth5986]

Can I say that it videos are just amazing. Thank you for bringing me a lot of entertainment over the last year.

[@LesbianPretzel]

Wasn't this uploaded like a week ago? Or does this fix the problem of calling Striker Ans?

[@gildas7200]

This was very enlightening for me thank you.

[@zat1429]

I don't see what Doha did wrong tbh. His monkey was dead and he wanted blade for next fight. And saying he had no escape options is just wrong, he had dash AND deflect and even if he died (which he died to a hook that was meant for tracer) the fight was lost so it wasn't that big of a deal

[@nafra4494]

Plus there were two high grounds close to him that he could just climb to if he get pushed. He was in a good off angle with plenty of escape routes he just got unlucky and died to a rook he couldn't block because it wasn't meant for him

[@JessieJussMessy]

His position was bad Middle of road on low ground as genji? Why even have a wallclimb ability?

[@doug2555]

Terrible positioning

[@DMT4Dinner]

I just started thinking about poke in ow yesterday. Very well said

[@ravensoott]

says a lot when that analogy at the start didn't work because the word "poke" activated my Overwatch brain

[@uknowwho5846]

This is super useful thanks so much!

[@____huh____]

I never knew shooting at the enemy was that complicated

[@annapoaska3202]

Great video as always

[@beanmariocow8601]

I love these so much, thanks!

[@aboyaser5608]

Rewatching the reupload for the algorithm. The well made video deserves it

[@gstotty]

Great episode! thank you!

[@stickyfox]

I appreciate you taking the time to show an example of bad poking but really all anyone needs to do to see it is queue in support.

[@masonhughes_big]

didn't know what to expect from the classic educational overwatch video but this was thoroughly enjoyed

[@furtivescars]

i love these 'wasted' camera angles on those who just died of some mistake

[@user-vr4gs3uz2w]

Really nice video. Maybe you can make a video about regrouping

[@chrisfreds6797]

Repost to correct the error nice :)

[@PhilipChou]

Great stuff. Thank you

[@Flameky]

This was actually really helpful 🙂

[@jeffreyboucher344]

I actually never knew this tactic was referred to as "poking" I have instinctively done this before without even realizing...when the enemy team would advance a little too hard, I would switch to Ash and basically hide in the far back and either pick people off, or just help put dps on players going toe-to-toe so they wouldn't die.

[@Orikkon]

this was so helpful

[@gabenixon6141]

Yes we want more Overwatch!

[@luqman215]

nerf the ball!!!!

[@popebw7587]

Do one on peel or the importance of high ground if you havent already

[@short-eu7bs]

i think they've done peel, not sure about high ground though

[@igortoniato]

that video again? edit: oh i get it know, on the other video you were always calling striker as ans and you recorded it again. good job!

[@vladimirlazo0209]

This is the video I didn't know I needed

[@tatekim4661]

I mean tbh Jjanu was aiming to hook onigod but accidentally hit doha so i wouldn't say that was doha's fault because he did also know he had dash to get up to high ground in the case people went to shoot at him.

[@ckcircus5012]

I think he was actually aiming for Doha because Doha would be expecting him to try to hook the tracer. Cyx briefly talks about this while educating on hog

[@witgiz2868]

a video about rush/brawl would be cool :)

[@moonwalk4082]

fantastic video.

[@nicholaschan4987]

most useful overwatch video ive seen

[@DoubleL11862]

I will say it again, these videos should be run in between maps during OWL broadcast. it would help those who may not play the game understand the community made terminology.

[@Ellipsis115]

3:14 I like how they showed how costly this can be. While the first example was also a tank, subtely but critically they were out of position.

[@MellowsPlay]

Ult economy please! And also a Zarya energy guide

[@RavenHeartless]

Tbh for most players on most parts of the ladder (honestly anything below GM) players should take this advice with a grain of salt. On ladder, the team applying the least amount of pressure is usually the team that gets rolled, unless the team getting pressured constantly has really good ultimate usage, but even then that is a single won fight vs the team applying a ton of pressure having more of an ability to get into the positions they want. Keeping the enemy team retreating to cover, or pressing the 'S' key the entire match is really strong on ladder. So for 90% of you watching this video, just keeping pumping damage from smart positions.

[@HenriqueAFPT]

I started playing a couple months ago and I use to run around with Wrecking Ball and just crushing my enemies and shooting them right after that. My friend who plays Overwatch for years now, said it’s a good strategy, since the opponents focus on me, because I’m closer to them and dealt damage to them, and that makes my team to push more or defende even more up.

[@fujita9475]

Can you explain where t-bag (im not sure its how you write it) come from. I know what it is and why you do it but where does it comes from ?

[@YodaWasSith]

Ah this makes sense. Somebody linked me this video after he asked me to stop feeding but all I'd done was lay some damage into Dva and didn't take any in return. Looking back they almost certainly sent the Dva out to feed support ult charge. I'll have to let my friends know.

[@martin6043]

I disagree with the doha one. If he would have dodged/deflected or dashed away from jjanus hook it would have been a good poke aswell as an offangle

[@speedwaifuthetrueandonlybe2744]

he could've just climbed to the HG and then he was safe, that was a positionning missplay

[@short-eu7bs]

@@speedwaifuthetrueandonlybe2744 yea i was thinking the same thing, he should have been on highground and he would have been more effective, either way, I would say that it was also just a mechanics issue with him not deflecting the hook when he easily could have

[@Andrewjj124]

the hook was meant for the tracer, not for him. that's why he didn't expect it. and yeah there's nothing wrong with shooting tanks to get blade as Genji.

[@Andrewjj124]

5:10 doha literally had both his deflect and dash. Saying he has "no defensive or escape options" is just plain wrong. Also, what's wrong with poking tanks for ult charge? He only died because the hook was unexpected. It was meant for the tracer, not him.

[@kosmosfan01]

Hog is basically a huge ult battery for many people since he's huge and slow. The only real good defense he has is his cheesy hook combo since his slow fire rate makes it hard to deal with certain threats.

[@GaussianEntity]

Using those early pretty much guarantees that Blade isn't coming down for 8 seconds

[@w1nther930]

i like the concept of poking but sometimes poking is kinda good for the enemies in certain situations especially in lower ranks. say we are in gold or plat like i am, and say we have a tracer who is already at the point or payload whatever and she goes in for poke dmg but is forced out and that poking just gets healed. that gave the supports more ult charge like an ana who or moira who builds ult very easy so next big team fight nano is faster available thanks to that poke dmg. its good in fights but if its just poke dmg before the fight the supports just get their ults faster

[@TwinBladeFury]

Literally only watching this so I can get it off my recommended. It's been popping up so much that I feel like it's been months, even though it's only been a day. X_X

[@Aloislol]

the concept of soft retreating needs to be known by everyone. Maybe u could make a video about that one

[@HaiNguyen-sn7wb]

so how to good poke and is it better to poke or kill squishie enemies?

[@shelleyjackson9443]

Lets all be honest, no one ever crunches the numbers or big brains this hard in a game, we all just go “I DONT KNOW WHATS HAPPENING BUT IM GOING TO SHOOT ANYWAY” and then get annihilated by a god

[@carrot7868]

Thank you! I'm a support player, but on of the reasons I became one is because I'm a horrible DPS. At least now I can kind of understand what I am doing wrong.

[@sealedtugboat9965]

Dang I hadn’t realized how much goes through the dps heads when I press the heal button.

[@charliebartlett5768]

What's the music playing at 0:40?

[@VonTachyon]

I'm glad you finally realized Striker is Striker and not Ans

[@mudshrooze]

San Francisco Shock and Philadelphia Fusion had my favorite colors. But the new Shock I really dont like and I'm just sad I never got to pick up an old Shock skin

[@winah]

i dont even play overwatch but this videos are hella interesting

[@istaysolo4462]

This is so sick.👍 I actually just uploaded my own overwatch video for the first time I tried my best

[@drk1983]

So much thoughts into something so mundane why I still suck upvote (but even pros make mistake on this I can’t believe it ...)

[@sonictrain1]

The genji couldve had it! I can't believe he didn't deflect

[@Kaiten92]

As good as the video is, I wish you also took the bad examples of poking and provided a better gameplan of what they should have done. For example, I believe you do agree that Shax needed to poke and get ult charge in that fight but ultimately did not provide any help to his team based off his play correct? Im assuming the better play may have been to somehow get behind the enemy team (maybe teleport to window and drop down behind?) then shoot from that angle. By getting behind them in this specific situation, D. Va has to allow you to poke from the backline or solo DM you while not providing her team assistance in the front. The enemy team has no CC and even if they did, you should have wraith form to get back to your team. That's my thoughts on it but I'd like to hear yours tbh

[@bgreen1007]

Very good video 👍 from a healer main I've been wondering what I've been doing wrong. Watched your video a couple hours ago and I've won every dps game since. Small changes can make a big difference

[@edgarsvartsjo]

Ok im always trying to not feed the enemy supports

[@montaviews644]

good video.

[@lennosan2552]

but if you dont poke the dva wouldnt that mean youd be giving her free reign over the frontline? By poking the dva he could also be stopping her from playing more agressively which then translates to preventing her from getting ult charge, Ana would get her ult anyways, if not through Dva, through any one of her teammates, i don't think that should be considered bad poking at all

[@sordonic9195]

Yes

[@Fantilow]

Continue please

[@xxcloakedbanexx4529]

The only mistake birdring made was deciding to "poke" the sleeping bear that is kariv's ana

[@torch6366]

Wait the video was already was posted

[@TomAndDan]

The first fucking dentance had me crying that's so funny

[@macapacca]

How do I send this to my teammates?

[@zakaryrichmond396]

I genuinely never thought of there being a time when it's bad that you damage

[@jirayakubo6511]

Why does the game show where the enemy location?

[@Bruce991]

that greedy reaper is my pet peeve. People need to learn to do damage then get out. Doesn't matter if that healer is down to one life when they are in the middle of the whole team.

[@evanchamberlin4697]

As an ana player in the current meta. Even in mid-high diamond people do not understand poking at all. They will consistently shoot it my team’s Winston with no chance on killing him when they already have their ults and they are just feeding me nano.

[@tristena2432]

Can you maybe do positioning

[@vidarengstrom6724]

What does snowballing mean? I have been wondering for a while now

[@nafra4494]

When a team captures a point and just keepes rolling the enemy team by getting picks so they cant group up and ult advantage

[@SammyOdds]

Never thought I'd say this but, I miss GOATS

[@lars2675]

This should be a necessary watch for new ow2 players especially with the new scoreboard. Tons of damage but low elims/assists is usually a really bad thing. You’re just charging enemy ults.

[@Zical100]

well, this change with ow2, because you get less ult charge if you hit or heal the tanks

[@xxiety8945]

do a video on the rise of overwatch (and i guess fall)

[@PurpleFreezerPage]

When my team's regrouping in a gold match, poking for ult charge is the only thing keeping me sane (cause otherwise I'd spend 70% of the match waiting for my team to respawn).

[@Fantilow]

Whats the goal of a poke comp ?

[@dhoovu]

Striker goes back to his spot and continues being a nuisance Sounds like my parents talking to me

[@Devs999]

Me whos never heard of what poking is: Ah yes. Very educational

[@adcrengar9877]

This kind of felt like a video that could have been very um lewd based on the title