Overwatch 2 Season 10 has introduced Venture, the first new damage hero since launch. They have a ton of high-damage options available to them, all of which work best at close range. Mastering Venture requires you to get good at not only fighting in the thick of battle, but using their movement abilities to get in and out of danger.
You can see how all heroes, including this one, stack up in our Overwatch 2 tank tier list, DPS tier list, and support tier list. Where did your favorite land?
Venture overview
Venture uses a drill as their primary weapon, which fires short-range explosives that explode after a certain distance traveled, or when they come into contact with an enemy or object. The drill gives Venture a slightly stronger melee attack than other characters, at the cost of a slightly longer animation. They can burrow into the ground, where they are invulnerable, and deal damage upon exit. Venture can also do a drill dash, both above and below ground. Lastly, their Tectonic Shock ultimate fires projectiles underground, which go outward in a cone shape, dealing damage to enemies in its path.
Venture abilities
- Smart Excavator: Launch a seismic charge that bursts after a short distance.
- Burrow: Move underground and become invulnerable. Deals damage when you emerge.
- Drill Dash: Dash forward, pushing enemies back. Can be used underground with reduced cooldown.
- Clobber passive: Quick melee deals more damage.
- Explorer’s Resolve: Using abilities grants temporary shields.
- Tectonic Shock ultimate: Send out damaging shockwaves.
Dive in, dive out
Venture is similar to Reaper, with all of their abilities and attacks being close-range. That means if you want to really succeed at Venture, you need to constantly push into the enemy team, but you also need to have an exit plan for getting out if things aren’t going your way. Luckily, Venture has two movement abilities, Drill Dash and Burrow. Drill Dash launches Venture forward, dealing damage if you hit an enemy. Burrow has them go underground, where you cannot take damage and you deal damage upon exit. Depending on how long you are fighting and if these abilities come off cooldowns during that time, you will typically want to save one for going in and one for exiting.
Burrow is definitely better for exiting, since you are invulnerable while underground. The most important thing to know about it is that there is a short animation while Venture burrows down. During the roughly one-second animation after activating the ability, you can still take damage, so it’s important to not wait too long to try and leave. Also, Venture’s passive gives them temporary shields after using an ability, so you can do a little extra damage.
Aim at their feet
Venture’s primary fire on their Smart Excavator shoots a short distance explosive, which goes off after traveling far enough or when it hits something. While you can maximize your damage by landing direct impacts, since the projectile has some travel time, it can be difficult to consistently land them. A way to avoid this and to guarantee the explosion hits is to shoot at their feet or a nearby object, like a payload. The explosion has a small radius, so you still need to get pretty close with your shots, but you don’t need to be perfect.
Tectonic Shock
Venture’s ultimate ability, Tectonic Shock, is a very strong ultimate attack that deals damage in a wide area. You get four shots, which go underground, moving outward in a cone shape, dealing damage to enemies it reaches. Since it goes underground, you can use this under shields and objects in the environment, like a payload. Most damage and support heroes can be killed in two to three shots if they are at full health, with high-health heroes like Bastion taking all four shots. The best time to use Tectonic Shock is when enemies are grouped up and have taken a bit of damage, so you likely won’t want to open a team fight with it, but hold it until you have them on the ropes.
Other Venture tips
- Venture’s melee attack does slightly more damage, but also has a slightly longer animation than other heroes, so make sure you aren’t locking yourself into the animation in a precarious situation.
- Venture gets temporary shields when using their abilities, but it doesn’t kick in for Burrow until they are underground, leaving you vulnerable.
- Drill Dash can be used while Burrowed, but it does significantly less damage.
- When you exit Burrow, you can hold the button to charge up the exit. It deals more damage, but gives enemies a second to move out of the way.
