D.Va brings her God-tier skills to ‘Heroes of the Storm’

D.Va’s got game, and she’s bringing her God-tier skills to “Heroes of the Storm.”

The South Korean professional gamer/Mech pilot boasts two distinct play styles. While piloting her Mech, she’s a tanky combatant with moves designed to disrupt enemy formation and strategy. Stripped of her ride, she’s far more fragile, but gains a sizeable damage boost. Her ability to switch between these styles is key to her survivability.

In “Heroes of the Storm,” D.Va is a medium-difficulty Ranged Warrior boasting high utility and survivability.

Mech Mode / Pilot Mode (Trait):

“When D.Va’s Mech dies, she is ejected out after 0.75 seconds and can continue to fight. D.Va’s Mech only awards 50% of a normal Hero's experience upon dying.”

When in Mech Mode, D.Va has more health than most non-Warriors. Bear in mind, however, that she’s not as robust as the likes of Muradin, Stitches, or Diablo.

Mech Mode allows her to shoot and move simultaneously like most “Overwatch” heroes. This is a huge advantage, as she can hurt enemies while chasing them down or fleeing from them. Her Basic Attack also sprays penetrating bullets in a small area in front of her, allowing her to damage several enemies at once. Her attack range and damage aren’t the greatest, though.

D.Va can’t mount in Mech Mode. Her movement speed is also 15% slower than average, although the Level 1 Talent Pro Moves grants her a temporary speed boost every time she receives damage.

While the destruction of her Mech counts as half a death, the ability to escape and continue in Pilot Mode prevents D.Va from being completely taken out of combat for extended stretches of time.

Her movement speed, attack range, and attack damage also significantly improve in Pilot Mode, not to mention she can summon a mount. There are high-level Talents that enhance her Pilot Mode lethality.

On the downside, D.Va becomes considerably squishier (she has even less health than Tracer) in Pilot Mode. She can no longer move and attack simultaneously, and she loses access to her Mech’s Primary Abilities.


Boosters (Q):

“Increase D.Va’s Movement Speed by 125% for 2 seconds. Enemies that are hit take 135 damage and are knocked away. D.Va cannot be Slowed while Boosters are active.”

Because of its speed and instantaneous effect, Boosters is an excellent mobility and escape tool. With it, you can chase down fleeing enemies, or escape a gauntlet of foes by knocking them aside.

Boosters also helps you close the gap between D.Va and your target location. However, its short duration, coupled with its 10-second cooldown, makes it a poor substitute for a mount.

You can control D.Va’s direction while Boosters is active, which is especially useful when you want to hit specific enemies during the charge. Its knockback effect makes it great at disrupting enemy positioning. It also cancels channeling, making her a pain in the neck for spellcasters.


Defense Matrix (W):

“Channel a defensive field in the target direction for 3 seconds, reducing the damage dealt by enemy Heroes inside it by 75%. The Mech can move while channeling, but cannot turn. Damage dealt to the Mech from enemies within Defense Matrix still grants the same amount of Self-Destruct Charge.”

Defense Matrix has the potential to break enemy formations, as foes caught in its area of influence will be forced to spread out and flee. As it’s best to have teammates around to take advantage of such a situation, Defense Matrix is ideally used as part of team strategy.

You can also harass enemies by following them while they’re attempting to flee Defense Matrix.

You can’t attack while Defense Matrix is active, so it has little use outside of team clashes.


Self-Destruct / Call Mech (E):

“Eject from the Mech, setting it to self-destruct after 4 seconds. Deals medium to massive damage in a large area, depending on distance from the center of the blast. Only deals 50% damage against Structures. Gain 1% Charge for every 2 seconds spent using Basic Attacks, and 30% Charge per 100% of Mech Health lost.

Self-Destruct requires D.Va to be in Mech Mode.

Self-Destruct’s enormous damage and area of effect make it an amazing offensive Ability. Keep in mind, however, that the 4 seconds it takes the Mech to explode is enough time for most enemies to escape. For this reason, Self-Destruct is best used when enemies are immobilized, slowed, or trapped.

Even if foes manage to escape Self-Destruct’s circle of destruction, the fact that it forces them to scamper away like rats makes it superbly useful. Your enemies’ carefully planned strategies and positioning will go down the proverbial drain the moment that countdown starts.

One clever trick is to trigger Self-Destruct while Boosters is engaged. As D.Va ejects, the Mech is turned into a speeding missile that hurtles in a straight path towards a point in the distance. If timed correctly, enemies will have fewer seconds to escape the blast.

To prevent the spamming of Self-Destruct, the Ability has to be charged before it can be cast. Attacking enemies charges it slowly; receiving damage charges it more quickly.

One has to remember the distinction between Self-Destruct and the destruction of your Mech by enemies. While both take away your Mech and force you into Pilot Mode, they have different effects on the Pilot Mode Ability, Call Mech.

Self-Destruct doesn’t count as a death, so enemies don’t get any XP from it. More importantly, it removes Call Mech’s cooldown, allowing you to summon a replacement Mech immediately after its predecessor blows up.

If enemies destroy your Mech instead, Call Mech is given a long cooldown. While said cooldown is reduced with each Basic Attack, every second in Pilot Mode still increases your risk of getting killed.

Therefore, if your Mech is about to be destroyed, it is sometimes a good idea to activate Self-Destruct. This way, your enemies don’t get the XP, you don’t waste the move, and Call Mech becomes available to you much, much sooner.


Bunny Hop (R1):

“D.Va’s Mech becomes Unstoppable and stomps every 0.5 seconds, dealing 60 damage and Slowing enemies by 40%. Lasts 4 seconds. Requires Mech Mode.”

During Bunny Hop, D.Va is immune to crowd control skills such as stuns and silences, but she can still take damage. Therefore, before activating it, make sure there’s at least one teammate nearby who can heal or shield you. This is not a Heroic that should be used solo.

If properly executed as part of your team’s strategy, Bunny Hop can be devastating, especially due to its ability to compromise enemy mobility.


Big Shot (R2):

“Deal 250 damage to all enemies in a line. The cooldown of Call Mech is reduced by 8 seconds for each enemy Hero hit. Requires Pilot Mode.”

This is a powerful, long-range, penetrating skill shot that has the potential to kill several low-health enemy Heroes in a single hit. What makes it even more dangerous is that it has a ridiculously short cooldown (4 seconds!) for a Heroic.

Most enemies will underestimate D.Va in Pilot Mode, so Big Shot should prove a nasty surprise to them.



Nerf this!

“Overwatch” characters always deliver something fresh to the “Heroes of the Storm” experience. D.Va is no different.

With two disparate modes of play and a unique skillset, D.Va is exciting and surprisingly effective. Her skills have the capacity to upset enemy plans and, under the right conditions, cause massive damage. As long as she’s got the assistance of her allies, D.Va is a beast on the battlefield. — TJD, GMA News