Wrecking Ball, otherwise known as Hammond, is the most recent addition to the Overwatch hero lineup. This little guy is adorable yet incredibly destructive.
With every new hero added to Overwatch comes an adjustment period for strategizing and team composition. Hammond will be no exception, especially with his very unique abilities. In this guide, we’ll be looking at team compositions, combos, and counters for the hamster.
Before we dive in, check out our guide on Hammond’s abilities here: Overwatch Guide: How to Play as Wrecking Ball the Wrecking Ball
In this list, each healer will be examined as a counter and as a teammate. Each hero is ranked weak, neutral, or strong. Here’s a quick rundown before we get started:
- “Weak” heroes are easily defeated or not great teammates to Hammond
- “Neutral” have equal chances of beating each other or equal chances of helping each other
- “Strong” heroes may act as challenging counters or effective combos for Hammond
Note that skill level with characters will affect your strength as an opponent to these characters, but these ratings are based on observations from in-game combat with players of similar skill sets.
Healers
Ana (Opponent: Neutral)
Ana’s strength against Hammond is her long range damage and sleep dart, but she is not without weaknesses. Her sleep dart is a fantastic tool to disrupt Hammond’s abilities and movement, which he relies on.
Hammond is a large target and easy for her to hit with her primary fire and biotic grenades, so make yourself more challenging to hit with your high mobility and speed.
Though she has some strengths, Hammond can defeat her easily at close range. Hammond can deal 50 damage when accelerated by his grappling hook and can close the distance with the sniper.
Ana is a squishy target at 200 health, so Hammond can steamroll through her or use piledriver. His primary fire, while not incredibly high in damage, has low recoil, making challenging headshots on Ana a bit easier.
Overall, the success of these two as opponents depends on the skill of the player.
Ana (Teammate: Neutral/Strong)
If you’re playing as the Wrecking Ball, there are advantages and disadvantages to being a teammate with Ana.
She can provide healing from a safe distance while you dive into the enemy frontlines. If you are swinging or moving unpredictably, it will make her job harder, so keep that in mind as you fight.
You are also a good choice for her ultimate. Receiving a nano boost will allow you to rush toward the enemy with increased damage.
Brigitte (Opponent: Strong)
If you’re going up against Brigitte as Hammond, you’re going to have a hard time. She is the strongest healer opponent to Hammond since her abilities completely disrupt and counter Hammond’s.
Her shield bash will stun Hammond making him vulnerable to opponent fire. Her most effective tool against him is her whip shot, which completely stops Hammond in his tracks, even at top speeds while using grappling hook.
She is also more of a challenge because she can block your primary fire, push you away if you try approaching, and stun you completely.
Brigitte (Teammate: Weak)
Though she’s effective against Hammond, as your teammate, she won’t provide the best healing or defense.
Her shield is no use to your massive frame, although she can help disrupt enemies with her stuns. Healing can be provided at a distance, but it takes a while to recharge.
Lucio (Opponent: Neutral)
Though he can sometimes evade you, Lucio is typically an easy target. His speed may allow him to dodge your attacks.
His primary fire doesn’t affect you much. Though his boop might slightly disrupt you, it won’t take you long to recover. In fact, his boop can sometimes speed you up or push you into the air, giving you a stronger chance of damaging enemies.
Since Lucio must always be close to his team to heal, this also allows you to piledrive into him and nearby enemies he is healing.
Lucio (Teammate: Neutral)
Lucio can be a useful teammate, but isn’t the most effective healer for Wrecking Ball. Although he’s your average healer, there is one thing that sets him apart, his boop.
If there is a Lucio on your team, ask him or her to boop other players into your minefield. This is one of the best uses of a Lucio/Wrecking Ball duo. If enemy players escaped your minefield, send Lucio over to force them into the explosives.
Mercy (Opponent: Weak)
In a one-on-one match, Mercy will be quickly defeated by Hammond. She is vulnerable while healing teammates, since she cannot use her gun — and she’s easy to take down, even with your primary fire.
Her survival depends on her team protecting her and her attempts to stay in the air. Otherwise, she’s easy pickings.
Mercy (Teammate: Neutral)
Mercy’s effectiveness as a healer for Hammond will depend on you and your teammates.
Hammond is a dive character. He pushes into the frontlines to do damage. If you force Mercy to come to you in the thick of battle, she will be an easy target.
Keep her safe and retreat to her for healing.
Moira (Opponent: Neutral)
If faced alone with Wrecking Ball, Moira will likely lose, but in a normal match surrounded by teammates, she can be a little more challenging to target.
Her biotic orb and grasp deals a bit of damage. However, she does not have any abilities that could force you out of your ball form or halt your speed.
She can easily dodge piledriver and charges from your grappling hook with her fade ability. She can be challenging to hit, but she doesn’t pose a large threat with her attack abilities.
Moira (Teammate: Strong)
Moira can be a good choice for healing Hammond because of her long and short range abilities.
Since Hammond jumps into enemy fire, she can either heal from a distance or join him in combat. She can also easily defend herself or escape the fight with her fade ability.
Zenyatta (Opponent: Strong)
Surprisingly, Zenyatta is pretty effective against Hammond.
Though he can’t dodge attacks well and his health can be depleted fairly fast, the monk can fight back. From a safe, long-range distance, he can fire orbs at you that deal 46 damage, while his Volley can also reach Hammond for up to 230 damage.
His discord is most lethal to Hammond though. It allows enemies to take 30% more damage, and without a barrier, you will experience an onslaught of fire. Therefore, if Zenyatta fights you from long range and you try to defeat him by closing the distance, he can still easily defend himself.
Zenyatta (Teammate: Strong)
Zenyatta is one of the best healers for Hammond. His orbs can heal you at almost any range while you roll into enemy lines.
He can also discord enemies you are targeting to make them even more susceptible to your destructive abilities.
Tanks
D.Va (Opponent: Neutral)
D.Va is a character Hammond has often been compared to due to their use of mobile mech suits. Their abilities make them both pretty equally matched. I will say D.Va has a couple of minor advantages, but not enough to consider her a counter to Hammond.
Her micro missiles can deal some damage, but her primary fire is weaker than his. She can block his canon fire and he can use a personal shield to her fire as well.
They can both charge at each other with their abilities. The difference is that if D.Va uses her boosters while Hammond swings with his Wrecking Ball, Hammond’s momentum and movement will be disrupted, while D.Va’s flight isn’t affected. Both will still take damage from the collision though.
D.Va (Teammate: Neutral/Weak)
D.Va can be a great attacking buddy if your team decides to go with a dive composition. She can help push into an attacking or defending team while you to take down targets.
However, if your team is not a dive composition and you only use two tanks, then your team will be left exposed and vulnerable. You may want to use a hero with a shield instead of D.Va to protect your team, depending on the composition.
Her ultimate will not necessarily compliment Hammond’s, so time the two ultimates separately. If D.Va’s ultimate wipes out the enemy team, yours will be useless if used at the same exact time.
Orisa (Opponent: Strong)
Orisa is the one shield-wielding tank that can disrupt Hammond’s abilities and is a good choice for a tank if you are facing a skilled Wrecking Ball.
Her fortify ability allows her to resist piledriver and the swing of your grappling hook.
Graviton can also disrupt Wrecking Ball’s movement. There are ways to defeat her with a skilled dive comp, but she will counter Wrecking Ball well if she is not under pressure from your teammates.
Orisa (Teammate: Neutral/Strong)
Orisa has a few abilities that make her a good choice to pair with Hammond.
For one, she can protect her team with shields while Hammond cannot.
Her graviton ability can also be used strategically with Hammond. Ask Orisa to pull enemies into your rolls and swings, but, more importantly, into your ultimate ability. Once players are pulled in by Orisa, you can trap them in your minefield.
Reinhardt (Opponent: Weak)
Reinhardt mains will be disappointed to find that they are very weak to Hammond’s onslaught.
Reinhardt’s shield doesn’t block Wrecking Ball’s rolling attack or piledriver.
His charge is also ineffective if Hammond is swinging fast. The metal ball will knock Reinhardt mid-charge, pushing him in different directions. He cannot get a pin on him in this state.
Hammond players can annoy Reinhardts with their speed and constant swinging.
Reinhardt (Teammate: Neutral/Strong)
There are a couple of advantages to pairing with Reinhardt, but not all of his abilities will be useful to you.
He can protect your team with his shield and melee hammer, while you attack. The best ways to combo with him will be to have him charge enemies into your minefield or to time your ultimates together.
Roadhog (Opponent: Strong)
Roadhog is one of the best tanks to face Wrecking Ball.
Roadhog’s hook is incredibly useful against Hammond, so be wary. His hook can stop your grapple speed, pull you in close, and force you out of ball form.
All that’s left for Roadhog to do is land some well-timed headshots with his scrap gun. Oh, and he can also heal up any damage you try to deal.
Roadhog (Teammate: Neutral)
Choosing Roadhog and Hammond as the only tanks won’t leave your team with much protection, but Roadhog can be quite useful with your ultimate.
Have him hook enemies into your minefield, or use his whole hog ultimate ability to push players into your explosives.
Winston (Opponent: Weak)
Similar to Reinhardt, Winston has a hard time against Hammond.
While effective against Hammond’s cannons, his shield is useless against his piledrive and grappling hook. It also cannot block Hammond’s minefield.
Winston can escape by leaping away, but that doesn’t make him very useful in countering Hammond’s abilities, dealing damage, or protecting his team.
Winston (Teammate: Neutral)
Winston would be best used in Dive compositions and provides some usefulness to your team. Winston can provide shields for your team while diving in and out of combat with you.
His ultimate can also be used to try and knock players into your minefield, but it is not as easy to control as say Roadhog’s hook, Orisa’s mini graviton, or Zarya’s graviton surge.
Zarya (Opponent: Strong/Neutral)
Zarya gravitates between being a neutral and strong opponent. She can be defeated with a few consistent and well-aimed canon fires along with destructive rolls if her bubbles are on a cooldown.
But long-range blasts from her particle cannon can disrupt your movement.
The greatest trump card she has against you is her ultimate, which will completely disable all of Hammond’s abilities except for shields.
Zarya (Teammate: Strong)
Zarya is a great teammate to use with Hammond. She can bubble and protect him along with herself and other teammates
And her ultimate is the best to combo with Hammond’s. Once she pulls all surrounding hero’s together with a graviton surge, drop your minefield to unleash massive damage.
DPS
Bastion (Opponent: Strong)
He will melt your cute furry face.
Though Bastion is fairly immobile, this also means he can’t be moved by Hammond’s piledriver or rolls.
He remains in place, releasing an onslaught of damage, and healing himself from your attacks. An orisa/bastion combo may be extra tricky to defeat.
Bastion (Teammate: Neutral)
You can’t really do much for Bastion as a Hammond teammate, but he may not need you to.
Unlike other tanks, you can’t station a shield around Bastion’s reconfigured mode. That does not mean he can’t still succeed at defending a point or moving a payload. He just doesn’t offer many combo opportunities with you.
Doomfist (Opponent: Strong)
Doomfist is a formidable DPS for Hammond. Doomfist can dodge Hammond’s attacks, and his rocket punch can completely stop a grapple swing in its tracks while he experiences no damage.
Doomfist (Teammate: Strong)
Doomfist can help or hurt your gameplay as Hammond, but overall, he’s pretty useful in a fight.
If you need a DPS hero to dive into battle with, Doomfist can be a good choice. Your abilities are similar in that you can knock players into the air or slam into them. As you can imagine, this can be quite frustrating to opponents.
You can also try to direct a Doomfist teammate to rocket punch enemies into your minefield ultimate. Be careful with this hero,though: he can sometimes knock players out the way of your swing and roll.
Genji (Opponent: Weak)
Genji is one of the weakest DPS characters against Hammond.
His deflect cannot block Hammond’s ultimate, grapple swing, or pile driver.
If he uses swist strike at a charging Hammond, he will still be inflicted with damage. His best skill against Hammond is his mobility and ultimate, but even then, he is at a disadvantage to the strength of the hamster’s mech.
Genji (Teammate: Neutral)
Genji is niether strong or weak as a teammate, and his ultimate depends on player skill. If you both time your stuns and assault, you can constantly disrupt opponents.
Hanzo (Opponent: Neutral/Strong)
Hanzo is another hero who fluctuates between a neutral and strong opponent.
Hammond can close the gap of this long-ranged sniper to pressure him. At 200 health, he is also not too difficult to kill with the Wrecking Ball
But Hanzo’s Storm Arrows will bring Hammond’s health down to half and as a large target, those shots are more likely to land.
His ultimate is easily avoided, but his range and storm arrows make him a formidable opponent.
Hanzo (Teammate: Neutral)
Hanzo doesn’t necessarily help or hurt you as a teammate. He can deal finishing blows to enemies you damage, but there aren’t a lot of combo opportunities with your ultimates or abilities.
Junkrat (Opponent: Weak)
Some might think Junkrat is effective against Hammond, and they would be right if we’re talking about the pure amount of damage Junkrat can deal, but in actual combat, Junkrat’s a bit weak.
His fire is slow compared to Hammond’s movement. Junkrat is also more effective on enemies who are grounded, rather than heroes like Hammond or Pharah who can gain high ground.
His traps can catch the hamster while rolling, but Junkrat’s concussion mine could actually help an enemy like Hammond become airborne or gain speed.
Junkrat (Teammate: Strong)
Junkrat’s abilities can be useful to Hammond. In particular, his steal trap can anchor opponents to one spot for you to piledrive or roll through.
His primary fire can weaken the enemy team for you to finish off or vice versa.
McCree (Opponent: Strong)
If you have noticed the theme that long-range characters have an advantage on Hammond, you won’t be surprised that Mcree does, too.
He can do high damage from a distance, and his stun is effective at halting Hammond’s fast movements and damage. Mcree’s stun won’t force Hammond out of ball form, but it does give team’s a chance to deal damage.
McCree (Teammate: Neutral)
He is neither a hindrance nor a huge benefit to Wrecking Ball as a teammate.
Mcree’s stun can come in handy when attacking as Hammond, but note that their ultimates aren’t the best to use together. Mcree can unleash some damage for your team, but it depends on the make up.
Mei (Opponent: Strong)
Mei’s pretty useful at countering Hammond’s abilities. Her ice wall is effective at blocking Hammond from swinging into enemies. While his movement in ball form is challenging to freeze, it can be done.
Once frozen, it can be easy for her to deal merciless damage. She can also use her cyro-freeze to heal herself or avoid your attacks.
Mei (Teammate: Weak)
Though some of her abilities can be useful to Hammond, she could prove more of a hindrance.
Freezing enemies in place for damage is a benefit to Hammond, and using ultimates together can also be useful.
The biggest problem to their success as a team comes with the ice wall. Hammond relies on swinging across the map and rushing into battle. Mei’s wall could counteract this ability or trap Hammond in difficult situations.
Pharah (Opponent: Strong)
Pharah is a challenging opponent for Hammond. She is not bound by the ground and can hold the high ground, despite his ability to swing into the air.
Her rockets deal hefty amounts of damage while her concussive blast will interrupt Hammond’s speed and trajectory when using grappling hook.
The only way you’re going to knock her out of the sky is with Hammond’s cannons.
Pharah (Teammate: Strong)
Pharah can be a strong ally because of her concussive blast. Direct your teammate to use this blast to push enemies into your ultimate.
Because you can both deal plenty of damage from different positions, the opposite team will have a difficult time defeating you.
Reaper (Opponent: Neutral)
Reaper is sometimes lethal depending on the team composition, but most of the time, he’s a neutral threat to Hammond.
Reaper can definitely deal tons of damage with his shotguns, and if Hammond isn’t in ball form, those can be headshots.
His wraith form can also evade your rolls and swings, but he can be defeated if you are strategic. Using your piledriver and grappling hook when he’s not in wraith form will be effective since he has to get in close to you to deal any damage.
Your cannons can also be useful from a medium distance. Come out of your ball when too close to him, and he will take advantage of you.
Reaper (Teammate: Neutral)
Reaper doesn’t help any of your abilities as Hammond, but he certainly doesn’t hurt them either.
Reaper can be useful for pushing forward into enemy territory since he deals a lot of heavy damage at close range. But success with reaper will ultimately depend on his skill level.
Soldier 76 (Opponent: Neutral)
Soldier’s strength as an opponent depends on the situation. If you can catch Soldier alone and close the distance to deal some fast-paced wrecking ball damage, then his health is pretty easy to deplete even with his healing.
Close-ranged combat is your friend. Hammond can also easily catch up to him if he flees for safety. However, when Soldier keeps distance from you, take takes high ground, or works effectively with his team, you will be any easy first target.
Soldier 76 (Teammate: Neutral/Strong)
Oftentimes, you can’t go wrong with a Soldier.
He can help dish damage and heal his teammates in a pinch. Together with Hammond, Soldier can offer healing and advance towards the opposing team.
Sombra (Opponent: Strong)
Sombra is one of the most useful tools against Hammond, similar to how she works well against Reinhardt.
She can easily sneak behind your team’s defenses, and her hack will completely halt all of your abilities, transforming you into your four legged mech.
Once your little hamster body is exposed, it’s all over.
Sombra (Teammate: Strong)
Sombra is also quite beneficial as a teammate. In situations where Wrecking Ball is facing opponents who counter him, Sombra momentarily erases those abilities leaving them helpless to your assault.
Symmetra (Opponent: Weak)
Symmetra is fairly weak as an enemy to Wrecking Ball. A fast roll (or swing) and primary fire can destroy her turrets easily.
She can be a hassle since she deals bits of damage over time, but her low health and attack are less effective on you.
Symmetra (Teammate: Strong)
Symmetra’s teleporter can help you become even more mobile and allow you to flank enemies. Using it, you can take the high ground to drop on top of opponents or rush in behind them.
Also try setting up a swing with your grappling hook while Symmetra places turrets behind you. If any slip through your attack, they will become trapped the notorious “car wash.”
Torbjorn (Opponent: Neutral)
Torbjorn can work well as a defense character for an attacking Hammond.
His turrets deal constant damage from a long distance that you can only block with a personal shield (a shield that depends on the number of enemies surrounding you).
However, if Torbjorn tries to engage in close-combat with Wrecking Ball, he will easily be crushed.
Torbjorn (Teammate: Neutral)
Similar to Bastion, Torbjorn doesn’t really help or hurt you. His armor can offer you a bit of extra protection. And his turret will help defend the point while you attack.
Tracer (Opponent: Neutral)
Tracer would be ranked strong in this list if she didn’t have 150 health.
A skilled Tracer can flank and deal tons of damage to Wrecking Ball, especially if Hammond is exposed from the mech. She can also easily dodge, retreat, and dance around him, before sticking a pulse bomb on the large target.
However, when her dash is on cooldown, Hammond can piledrive, roll, and fire to lower her already small health.
Tracer (Teammate: Neutral/Strong)
Tracer can be a pretty strong teammate in a dive composition. She can chase down any enemies that escape your piledrive, roll, or swing.
Widowmaker (Opponent: Neutral)
Where Hanzo is a slightly strong neutral opponent to Hammond, Widow is a slightly weak neutral enemy.
She’ll have no problem landing high damage shots on you from her sniping spot if you can’t close the gap
Her grappling hook can let her escape tight encounters with you.
But when you rush in on her and then fire your cannons, she will struggle to survive.
Widowmaker (Teammate: Neutral)
Widow can be useful depending on the team composition, but doesn’t offer Hammond a lot of combos.
She will provide long-range damage for your team, and can work well at picking off players.
Her ultimate can also help you see where to target your grappling hook and piledrives. But she won’t be successful if the team is going with a dive composition.
Hammond is a unique and challenging character — and it takes a lot to get accustomed to his playstyle. But with this guide, you can form the best team compositions to face the enemy head on.
Whether you are trying to become a Wrecking Ball main, defeat the little hamster, or just work well with your Hammond teammate, this comprehensive guide can be a great tool for you!
Check out more of our Overwatch Guides for helpful tips and tricks with other heroes.
Published: Jul 26, 2018 05:48 pm