What a lot of players will see upon first encountering D.Va is a cute girl. What they'll realize after squaring off with her is that you don't want to cross her, especially when she's in the hands of a capable Overwatch player.
Her Story
D.Va is 19-year-old Hana Song from Busan, South Korea. She was previously a professional gamer but is now a mech pilot for the Mobile Exo-Force of the Korean Army.
South Korea took a massive hit 20 years ago from a colossal omnic creature that arose from the East China Sea. The threat was driven back to the depths of the sea but not before causing catastrophic damage to the country. In anticipation of future attacks, the South Korean government came up with mechanized armored drone units known as MEKA to protect urban areas.
True enough, the monstrosity emerged every few years, eventually disrupting MEKA drone control networks, prompting the military to look for pilots for the units. Given their instincts and reflexes, professional gamers were the top choice for MEKA pilots, one of them Hana Song, the reigning world champion.
Also known as D.VA, Song saw the new mission as a game, using her fierce competitiveness and lack of mercy to achieve her goals. She has quite a following from before she became a MEKA pilot and her fans only grew in number as she became part of South Korea's national defense effort.
Her Abilities
Fusion Cannons - D.Va uses a mech unit fitted with two short-range rotating cannons. They can fire high-damage shots continuously but the mech suffers mobility loss in the process.
Light Gun - Just because she's out of a mech unit doesn't mean D.Va is no threat. While outside, she can continue to fight using a mid-range automatic blaster.
Boosters - Jump jets boost the mech unit into the air, propelling D.Va forward. She can change directions while using the ability to knock back enemies.
Defense Matrix - A forward-facing targeting array is activated to shoot down incoming projectiles.
Self-Destruct - D.Va jumps out of her mech unit, setting its reactor to explode and deal massive damage to all enemies within the blast's range.
Call Mech - After D.Va uses Self-Destruct, she can call on a new mech unit to continue fighting in.
Watch D.Va's abilities in action below!
Heroes She Is Weak Against
Mei - Hindered mobility is a problem for D.Va because it exposes a vulnerable weak spot in her mech unit: the cockpit. Mei can not only freeze her in place but also destroy the mech unit and chase down D.Va and take her out. Not to mention Mei's Ice can withstand damage from D.Va's Ultimate.
Zenyatta - D.Va's Defense Matrix can easily keep at bay numerous projectiles but not when Zenyatta uses his Orb of Discord. Additionally, his regular attacks can dole out a lot of damage to the mech unit itself.
Heroes She Is Strong Against
Bastion - She can get on top of Bastion easily and quickly, dealing burst damage effectively, especially when other threats surround the nature-loving robot.
Torbjörn - D.Va is particularly effective against turret users because she can activate her Defense Matrix to protect her as she makes her approach and then dish out heavy fire when she's close enough to deal damage. She can also use her Ultimate to blow those in entrenched positions into the open.
Widowmaker - D.Va can again use her Defense Matrix, getting close safely before letting lose at close range. She can also chase down Widowmaker with her boosters when the sniper tries to flee.
Tips
1. D.Va is a Tank character but she's mobile enough not to just sit back and draw fire.
2. Her Fusion Cannons never need reloading. Make that work for you by keeping the trigger pressed down when you have to defend an objective.
3. Use Self-Destruct to blast away members of the enemy team from an objective and then use the explosion as a screen to come in and capture the point yourself with your team.
4. Get D.Va on high ground using her Boosters and use the opportunity to get the drop on snipers from the enemy team.
5. Defense Matrix is effective at protecting D.Va against incoming projectiles, but watch out for baits from the enemy team. The objective is to lure you into using the ability so they can target the cooldown period later, delivering devastating follow-ups, especially from projectile-based Ultimates.
