Overwatch's Shion is way too hard for me to play right now — and I couldn't be happier

Overwatch's kickass gangster robot Shion is kicking my ass. Hard. I knew what to expect from the newest flanker's kit after seeing game producer Kenny Hudson demo her at a press event. I've been maining flankers all year, I thought to myself. She's kinda like squishier Vendetta. I got this!

Reader: I don't got this. My weapon accuracy has never been so low. I'm dying twice, sometimes three times as often as usual.

Shion is my weak point. I can do movement just fine. I know how to engage and disengage effectively as Vendetta, and, though it's boastful to say, I've yet to have another Sierra player outmaneuver me. I can do sharpshooting too! Sometimes. Ashe was my main before Freja came along. Plus, I'm not a bad shot with Cassidy and even get good results with Sojourn. (Okay, in fairness, Sojourn's a bit like firing grapeshot out of a cannon. There's so much stuff flying around that something's bound to hit.)

But both? At the same time? That's what playing Shion well requires, and my brain is, apparently, just not wired for that at the moment.

Her kit consists of:

• Primary fire: close- to mid-range with big fall-off the further away you get
• Secondary fire: Execution, fires a spread of bullets in an X-shape that gets tighter the longer you charge it
• Mobility: Dashes sideways and gains overhealth that quickly decays
• Motorcycle: Rides one of her (many) bikes, then blows it up after a few seconds
• Ultimate: Dashes and performs strikes or burst attacks

The first time I used Shion's ultimate outside the practice range, I dashed into a wall without damaging anyone and got run over by the opposing team's D.Va.

Shion's not like other flankers — or any other character in the game, for that matter. With the exception of her exploding motorcycle, her attacks require much tighter accuracy. Her aim and proximity requirements make her more like a specialist in the vein of Emre and Soldier 76, but without their survivability or alternate attacks that can cover a wider area. So while the broad idea is the same as it is for most flankers — get in fast, do as much damage as possible, and get out — there's much less room for error and poor aiming. Such an unforgiving style is very fitting for Shion's background, even if it is hard for me to pick up.

It's a style I'm determined to improve with, though. Learning a character and seeing that progress is one of my favorite things about playing Overwatch, so even if I'm embarrassing myself in every match, I'm having a blast anyway. And I can already see where to start. I can use Execution, Shion's alt-fire skill, more liberally and without charging it, for one thing. I keep forgetting it has such a short cooldown timer, and even though charging it fully is more lethal, the spread is wider if you just press without holding — good for wounding, if not eliminating. And it's probably a smart idea to save the bike for escapes, rather than launching it into a foe before rushing in.

And, of course, just learning to aim and adapt better will be key to mastering Shion. That'll take time, which has been hard to get in the wake of season 3's launch. Damage queue times are exponentially longer than normal, and naturally, everyone wants to try playing Shion. I'm hoping to get more chances on the new Neon Junction map in arcade mode, an absolutely fabulous area full of nooks and ambush points that feel almost tailored to Shion's playstyle.

Overwatch season 3 is live now, with a bunch of new skins and a Shion lore event with a ton of loot boxes up for grabs.

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