Doomfist in Overwatch: Full back story, skill list, class role, and beginner's tips guide

Doomfist Story: Only through conflict do we evolve

Akande Ogundimu (Ah-kahn-dey Oh-gun-dee-moo) better known as the man currently undertaking the title of Doomfist, was born into a wealthy Nigerian family that owned a world-class prosthetics development company. As he grew older, Akande grew into a charismatic and intelligent young man, and he contributed these attributes to his family's company to help its business grow and improve. In his free time, he grew to love participating in competitive martial arts. He grew first to master several African fighting styles, then he slowly trained in techniques from all over the globe, incorporating a combination of them all into his form. As a result, Akande had a tremendous amount of depth and diversity in his fighting style, and he quickly rose to dominance in the African fighting scene. He continued to consistently defeat his opponents, and it looked like Akande would have a serious career in the martial arts business.

Unfortunately, Akande was gravely wounded during the Omnic Crisis, losing his right arm completely. His family's company was able to replace his arm with a highly-advanced prosthetic, but the unfair advantages it gave Akande in competition led to him being disqualified from all of his martial arts programs and tournaments. With nowhere else to turn, Akande returned to his job within the family business. However, Akande's true passion was combat, and his position within the company only gave him a fraction of the satisfaction he felt while defeating opponents in the ring. Seeing the man's yearning for combat, Akinjide Adeyemi — better known then as the current Doomfist, the Scourge of Numbani — offered Akande a position within his forces as a mercenary.

True to his name as the Scourge of Numbani, Akinjide led Akande and other mercenaries in large raids against Numbani, frequently causing chaos in the usually peaceful African metropolis. Akande was finally able to participate in combat once more, and he did so with an unparalleled ferocity — none of Numbani's defenses were a match for him. As he sharpened his already impressive skills while working for Akinjide, Akande developed a belief that the way forward for humanity was conflict. Humanity could only improve through weeding out the weaklings in society. Seeing his potential as an idealist and a leader, Akinjide introduced Akande to the international terrorist organization Talon, a group that held beliefs very similar to Akande's. There, his combat prowess, as well as his intellect, impressed the other members of Talon's inner circle. Eventually, Talon's council members felt that Akande had grown both more powerful and more idealistic than Akinjide himself. Akande saw the difference of competency between himself and Akinjide as well. Choosing to attack, Akande struck Akinjide down, taking the gauntlet and claiming the title of Doomfist. He planned to plunge the globe into conflict, aiming to eliminate the weak members of society.

Before Akande (who I am now referring to as "Doomfist") could set plans into motion with Talon, however, he was attacked by the international peacekeeping force Overwatch, who had taken notice of his absorption into Talon and his sinister plans to start another World War. A strike team that consisted of Winston, Tracer, and Genji assaulted Doomfist in the streets of Numbani, and a horrifically violent battle ensued, in which Doomfist injured Tracer and Genji heavily. Luckily, Winston, in a primal rage, was able to overpower the deadly Talon leader and put him behind bars, where he would stay for several years under maximum security.

This was thought to be the end of Doomfist. Recently, however, the Talon mercenary and council member Gabriel Reyes (better known as Reaper) broke Doomfist out of prison. Freed of his chains, Doomfist quickly found and recovered his powerful gauntlet, using it to pulverize several of Numbani's OR-15 defense omnics before escaping the city with Reaper. Doomfist has returned — and it's only a matter of time before he attempts to spark a devastating war between all of humanity.

Doomfist weapons and abilities: skill list

Doomfist is built to be a mobile, durable in-your-face hero that focuses on close range abilities and combos. Possessing 250 hitpoints, he can take a bit of a beating, similar to Reaper and Mei. Doomfist has an array of gear and utility at his disposal. First up in his lineup is his Hand Cannon.

Hand Cannon

The Hand Cannon is a knuckle-mounted shotgun that deals roughly 60 damage per shot in close proximity. Like most ranged weapons, the damage on the bullets falls off over distance. Unlike most ranged weapons, however, it does not have to reload. Instead, ammo regenerates back into Doomfist's knuckles after one second. It can be fired rapidly to empty the clip, but it will take several seconds to have full ammo again.

Rocket Punch

Perhaps the most defining aspect of Doomfist is his alternate fire ability, Rocket Punch. This ability does 50 damage to enemies, stuns them, and knocks them backward. The distance players are knocked back depends on how long the Rocket Punch is charged. If you knock an enemy player into the wall, the enemy will take additional damage, ranging from an extra 50 damage from a low-charged punch to 200 from a fully charged one. This means that Doomfist's Rocket Punch can be used near walls in order to do anywhere between 100 to 250 damage. To fully charge the punch, you need three full seconds of charging time. In addition, after using it, Rocket Punch has a cooldown of four seconds.

Rising Uppercut

Next, Doomfist has an ability straight out of Street Fighter: Rising Uppercut. This ability does 50 damage to enemies and propels both them and Doomfist into the air. Both characters will hang in the air for two seconds before rapidly falling back to the ground.

Seismic Slam

Doomfist's last normal ability is Seismic Slam. This attack causes Doomfist to leap forward, smashing the ground with his gauntlet and causing a small tremor in the ground similar to Reinhardt's Earthshatter. Heroes caught in this tremor will be pulled closer to Doomfist and take anywhere from 50 to 100 damage, depending on how high Doomfist (either airborne or on high ground) is above the enemy when he slams them. Higher altitude will net you higher damage.

Ultimate: Meteor Strike

Doomfist's Ultimate ability is Meteor Strike. When Doomfist activates it, he flies high into the sky and becomes both invisible and invincible while he chooses an area to strike. Once Doomfist presses primary fire, he flies back down, slamming into the ground and causing 300 damage to any hero in his immediate vicinity, and 150 damage to anyone near the main blast. This ability also stuns enemy heroes briefly.

Finally, Doomfist has a passive ability, called The Best Defense... — this ability grants Doomfist 30 shields whenever he lands hits on enemies with any of his abilities (except Hand Cannon) and grants him 75 shields for each enemy hit with his Ultimate. These shields will max out at 400 health, meaning that Doomfist can turn into somewhat of a small tank if his abilities are used effectively. These shields slowly diminish at a rate of 2/sec, so they won't last forever!

Role: When and how should you play Doomfist?

After playing him myself and analyzing pro players like Seagull trying him out, I've come to the conclusion that Doomfist is a very powerful hero, and his passive ability gives him a high amount of sustainability in fights. I believe that you can fit him into most team compositions, as he can be an effective offensive choice against both front-line heroes (D.Va, Soldier: 76, Reinhardt) and back-line supports (Zenyatta, Mercy) alike. However, while Doomfist is versatile, his best strength lies in his ability insta-kill flankers and defend his own supports. Your Rocket Punch has the ability to slam the squishier flanker heroes like Genji and Tracer into walls and kill them instantly, and it moves so quickly that they will have almost no time to react and use their dodging abilities like Tracer's blinks or Genji's double jump passive. If any enemies get close to your supports or fellow, squishier damage heroes, you can use Seismic Slam and Rising Uppercut to crowd control them (either pulling them into you or launching them into the air) and make it harder for them to target your allies, all while using your Hand Cannon and Rocket Punch to damage and stun them up close, with your passive shields helping to give you that extra smidge of survivability. Make sure that you "aggressively defend" your lower HP allies by attacking anyone who dares approach them!

There are some heroes you'll want to be wary of, however. Tank busters like Reaper and Bastion are extremely dangerous for Doomfist, as all of them can melt through his health up close before Doomfist can effectively combo abilities and build up protective shields. Snipers like Widowmaker and Hanzo can also pose a problem for Doomfist, as their strong long ranged damage potential can severely hurt or even kill Doomfist before he can close the distance. Pharah also makes life for Doomfist difficult, as she can stay airborne and avoid Doomfist entirely. Another counter to Doomfist is Sombra; he is very ability reliant, and if Sombra manages to hack Doomfist, he is left only with his Hand Cannon. Lastly, Orisa fares well against Doomfist, due to the fact she was built to counter him. Her Fortify ability prevents Doomfist from being able to knock her back or into the air, and her alternate fire crowd control ability can force him into positions that he doesn't want to be in. Against the rest of the cast, the match-ups are more evenly matched.

Tips: Tactics and information that will give you an edge

After spending a few days playing him, I've learned some interesting strategies and tricks you can pull off with our new favorite Talon operative.

• Rocket Punch has a low cooldown. With this in mind, it can be safely used to close the distance between your spawn and the front lines, and by the time you're there, Rocket Punch will be available again.
• Rocket Punch and Rising Uppercut both can hit enemies through barriers. This means that a Reinhardt shield, Winston bubble, or Symmetra barrier will do nothing to stop your abilities from hitting enemy heroes — and you can use this advantage to knock away enemy tanks that utilize barriers to protect their team. Be wary, however, that Zarya's shields will still absorb the damage done by your attacks.
• Your Hand Cannon is a strong weapon up close. If your Rocket Punch-into-a-wall combo doesn't kill an enemy, your Hand Cannon will be useful in finishing them off.
• Rising Uppercut and Seismic Slam form a very effective combination. You can launch yourself and your enemy into the air with your uppercut, and then slam into them after they fall to the ground. This combination will net you 150 damage and 60 shields, giving you an opportunity to finish the enemy off with your Rocket Punch or Hand Cannon.
• In a pinch, Rocket Punch can be used to quickly escape a bad situation. Meteor Strike can be used for this too, although it may not be worth it as it's an Ultimate.
• Ultimates that can be interfered with (such as Reaper's Death Blossom or Roadhog's Whole Hog) are stopped by Rocket Punch's stun. You don't need to fully charge the punch, either; the basic punch will apply the stun required.
• In general, try and use your abilities at every good opportunity, as having as many shields as possible will give you high survivability and make life easier for your healers.
• When playing aggressively, make sure you know when it's time to disengage with enemies. If you overstay your welcome after getting a kill or two, the rest of the enemy team can focus you down.

What's your opinion of Doomfist? Do you agree with what I think his strengths and weaknesses are? Make sure to let me know in the comments. personally, I'm super excited to see Doomfist come to the live game, and I think he'll be a great counter to the current flanker meta-game in competitive. If you haven't picked up Overwatch yet, consider picking it up — everyone deserves the chance to be the Doomfist.

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