As a gunrunning criminal, Jesse McCree and the Deadlock Gang gained infamy throughout the American Southwest for their high stakes heists. Once captured by Overwatch, his wild west days were over. Or so he thought. Overwatch’s black ops team, Blackwatch, saw potential in McCree’s crackshot aim and offered him a choice. Between rotting in a maximum security prison for the rest of his life or answering to Gabriel Reyes as a member of Blackwatch, McCree saw no option but to choice the latter. When Overwatch fell apart, he went underground, becoming a gun for hire and regretting letting his chance for redemption slip away from him.
In-game, McCree is a powerful counter-flanker whose single shots pack a wallop. When a McCree is on the field, you are always in danger.
Abilities
There is no better on-on-one duelist in Overwatch than McCree. He can stun, dodge, and let loose a lethal barrage at will, rendering any single target helpless and hopeless when in front of his iron.
McCree’s Peacekeeper is his primary justice dispenser. Each hitscan shot does a maximum of 70 damage, falling off to 20 at long range. It’s quick, firing two of its six maximum rounds a second and reloading in one and a half seconds. A well placed Peacekeeper shot (namely a head shot) is a deathnail, as it is deadly accurate and incredibly good at putting soft targets down without much effort.
When cornered, McCree can Fan the Hammer as an alternate fire, launching all the remaining ammo from the Peacekeeper in the blink of an eye. The damage per bullet is lower than the single shot damage (40 compared to 70), but it also can head shot. Hit an enemy with a couple strays to the face and they will still regret perusing the outlaw.
McCree’s Combat Roll serves two purposes. Firstly, he rolls in the direction he is moving, which essentially means you get to where you’re going faster. Secondly, he’s a smaller target for about half a second. During the Combat Roll, McCree also reloads Peacekeeper, because he’s incredibly badass. Keep in mind, though, you are not invulnerable when dodge rolling.
Flashbangs are McCree’s anti-flanker tool. When thrown, the flash does light damage and stuns a target for .7 seconds. It doesn’t seem like a long time, but it’s just enough time to put a shot (or all of your shots) into the encroaching player. A Flashbang doesn’t have to hit directly, but it has to be pretty close.
The endlessly memeable ultimate, Deadeye, is McCree’s greatest asset when the enemy is swirling around in the same area. After a short channel time, McCree begins to lock on to every enemy in sight. Once a red skull appears above the head of a hero, they will die when McCree pulls the trigger. These shots will auto-hit their targets, but can be mitigated by shields, barriers, and moving out of McCree’s line of sight. McCree can shoot at anytime between starting the channel and marking red skulls on players, and he will do a reduced amount of damage in comparison. He can also cancel the mode by using the alternate fire, as it slows you and blocks your other abilities. If it’s cancelled this way, or if the channel time just runs out, he will be refunded half of his ultimate charge meter.
Tips
- McCree’s overall killing power makes him a tempting pick when attacking, but with his lack of mobility and relatively short range, he is a much better defender. Let the enemy come to you and fall into your traps.
- The McCree Combo involves using Flashbang and then immediately Fanning the Hammer. It’s important to not wait for the Flashbang to go off, because the stun duration isn’t long enough to hold the target for all six rounds. That said, you won’t need all six against the game’s squishiest targets.
- If a target you’ve Fanned isn’t dead, quickly Combat Roll to reposition and reload without having to wait for the animation. It will save you time and give you a chance to pick up the spare with an additional Fan the Hammer opportunity.
- McCree works best as an anti-flanker. Instead of running out on your own, lurk around your supports or tag along with other flankers to surprise would-be gankers.
- Deadeye is best used from the flank or with a height advantage. The whole field will scurry after hearing “It’s HIGH NOON!!!” – so it’ll be harder for them to evade you if they don’t actually know where you are. Coming from an elevated point maximizes your line of sight.
- Remember, you are incredibly vulnerable during Deadeye, and anyone that can stun you or kill you quickly will do so effortlessly should they find you before you pull the trigger.
- Big bulky heroes like Roadhog make good targets for McCree – simply because a pair of Fan the Hammer barrages is lethal to pretty much everyone, and the bigger the target, the more shots that are likely to hit.
- Flashbangs can be deflected back at you by Genji, stunning you instead. Be very aware of how your approaching that techno ninja.
If these tips helped you lay down the law with McCree, let us know on Twitter and Facebook. Also: come to our Overwatch Wiki, where you can learn even more tricks, or provide your own!