Overwatch Hero Roles - Definitive Guide to Roles and Essentials of Team Composition

#Introduction

As we all know the Hero roles in the game can be wrong and misleading. And the game gives no good information or advice on how to actually build a good team composition. The suggestions it gives can largely be ignored and often go ignored.

Shoutout
I want to give a shoutout to u/sommervt for inspiring me to create this thread and brief guide.

Why create this thread?
I felt I had to create this thread because I find that many Players, New or Experienced, have largely misunderstood the roles of the some of the less popular, less played heroes. Since I have spent hundreds of hours playing these heroes myself, and have spent hundreds of hours watching these heroes being played by their mains in Grandmaster and Top 500, I believe I have a small hint as to what role they play in the game.

Who is this thread for?
New Players can look at this and get an idea of the basics on how to build a decent Team Composition.

Experienced Players can look at this and get an idea on how to build around less popular heroes whom they don’t see in their games a whole lot or Off-Meta Heroes in unusual settings. It no longer has to be a “meme team”. It can be something more than that, it can be a strategy you play into.

Developers can look at this and use this information to correct the layout of the Heroes in their Hero Select Screen. I've given some ideas on what Symbols can be used for each role. I’ve also included some other basic information that can be provided alongside each hero, using such Symbols.

#Actual Hero Roles

Primary Role/ Secondary Role (Range) [Positioning] {Ultimate} Sustain - Hero

Healer/ Support (Mid) [Mover] {Reactive+} SS - Mercy
Healer/ Support (Long) [Camper] {Proactive} SS - Ana

Support/ Peeler (Mid) [Mover] {Reactive+} SS - Lucio
Support/ Spammer (Long) [Camper] {Reactive+} SS - Zen
Support/ Spammer (Close) [Camper] {Reactive+} SS - Symmetra
Support/ Spammer (Long) [Camper] {Reactive} NS - Torbjorn

Flanker/ Support (Close) [Mover] {Proactive} SS - Sombra
Flanker/ Damage (Close) [Mover] {Reactive} SS - Tracer
Flanker/ Damage (Close) [Mover] {Proactive} SS - Reaper
Flanker/ Spammer (Mid) [Mover] {Proactive} NS - Genji
Flanker/ Peeler (Close) [Camper] {Proactive} NS - Doomfist

Spammer/ Flanker (Long) [Mover] {Proactive} NS - Pharah
Spammer/ Support (Mid) [Camper] {Proactive} NS - Hanzo
Spammer/ Peeler (Long) [Camper] {Proactive} NS - Junkrat

Damage/ Spammer (Mid) [Camper] {Proactive} SS - Bastion
Damage/ Support (Mid) [Mover] {Proactive} SS - Soldier
Damage/ Support (Long) [Camper] {Proactive} NS - Widowmaker
Damage/ Peeler (Mid) [Camper] {Reactive} NS - McCree

Tank/ Initiator (Close) [Camper] {Proactive} NS - Reinhardt
Tank/ Initiator (Mid) [Camper] {Proactive} NS - Orissa

Initiator/ Tank (Close) [Mover] {Proactive} NS - Winston
Initiator/ Tank (Close) [Mover] {Proactive} NS - DVa
Initiator/ Support (Mid) [Camper] {Proactive} SS - Zarya

Peeler/ Initiator (Mid) [Camper] {Reactive} SS - Roadhog
Peeler/ Tank (Mid) [Camper] {Reactive} SS - Mei

#Hero Role Definitions

Damage (Arrowhead/Crosshair) - character who excels at outputting Consistent Damage and Securing Kills, also known as DPS or Hitscan Hero.

Flanker (Chess Knight) - character who excels at dealing Damage From an Off-Angle, is a major Distractor, also known as Ganker, Jungler or Mobile Hero.

Spammer (Three Bullets) - character who excels at outputting a lot of Spam Damage, often Projectiles, sometimes to Deny Entry into Chokepoints or to Burst Barriers and Bubbles, also known as Zoner or Projectile Hero.

Tank (Kite Shield) - character with Tons of Health and the ability to Shield Many Teammates from damage using Barriers and Walls, also known as Anchor Tank or Hard Tank.

Initiator (Raised Fist) - character who excels in chaotic environments and creates chaos by Starting Fights, often through jumping into the fray, also known as Bruises or Off-Tank.

Peeler (Raised Hook) - a character who excels at Crowd Control, either using it to set up kills on enemies or using it to save teammates from enemies. Crowd Control can be in the form of pull, stun, freeze, slow, or creating obstacles such as walls, and can be great for initiating. Peelers are also known as Cannon Fodder or Satan Incarnate.

Healer (Red Cross) - character who excels at Burst Healing damaged allies and are able to keep allies alive when under heavy damage, also known as Main Healer or Fresh Meat.

Support (Wrench & Screwdriver) - character who excels at supporting their team with Mild Healing and/or shielding their hit points through Armour, Shields and Barriers. Support also includes utility such as providing suppressing fire through Turrets, Anti-Healing enemies, Damage Boosting allies, increasing ally Movespeed, Scouting enemies and ultimates, and providing Vision of enemy positioning. Supports are also known as Utility Heroes or Generalists.

#Other Hero Qualities

Range
Close - excels at close range
Mid - excels at medium range
Long - excels at long range

Positioning
Mover - character who like to take the fight to the enemy. Movers change positions in order to be more effective. Movers are proactors.

Camper - character who like the enemy to bring the the fight to them. Campers like to maintain their position in order to more effective. Campers are reactors.

All Heroes do both moving and camping and so you should never flame "defense" heroes on attack and "attack" heroes on defense. Mover and Camper has nothing to do with game modes.

Ultimates
Proactive Ultimates - create chaos - they launch an attack on enemies. Proactive Ultimates set up kills or do the killing themselves.

Reactive Ultimates - receive chaos - they receive an attack from enemies. Reactive Ultimates protect allies or counter initiations and other ultimates.

Reactive+ Ultimates - this + indicates that this ultimate is very good at responding to chaos. Every team composition should consider having at least 1 of these.

Ults are used both Proactively (to create chaos) and Reactively (to respond to chaos), however the primary way they are used is listed.

Many Ults especially those with Crowd Control capabilities can be both. However the primary function is listed.

Sustain
Self Sustain (Up Green Arrow) - the character has a means to regenerate hitpoints through Self Healing, Life Leech, Regenerating Shields, going Back in Time or through excessive use of Armour and Health packs.

No Sustain (Down Red Arrow) - the character cannot regenerate hitpoints by themselves in any way.

#Essentials of Building a Team Composition

Primary Necessities
Damage
Healer
Tank
Reactive Ultimates

These are absolutely essential to any hero composition. Any composition without these is gimping themselves.

Secondary Considerations
Support
Initiator
Peeler
Flanker
Spammer
Ultimate Combos
Counter Ultimates

General Rules
Damage should never be compromised. There is no way to compensate for having less damage. So damage is a big priority.

The Less Healing you have in your Team, the more Self Sustain Heroes you need in your team. The More Healing you have, the more No-Sustain Heroes you can have afford to have in your team.

The Less Tanking ability you have in your Team the more Flankers you need in your team to distract the enemy, and the more Support you need to support the backline. The more Tanks you have the less Flankers and Support you need.

If you go with a composition that has fewer Tanks and Healers then it is crucial to make good use of the Cover around you to avoid enemy fire.

Have a good Mix of Campers and Movers - Dive Comp will lean towards Movers and Deathball towards Campers

Have a good Mix of Close, Mid and Long range - Dive Comp will lean towards more Close range and Deathball towards more Long range.