Venture is the newest addition to the Overwatch 2 hero roster. Venture is an adventuring archaeologist with a large drill. This drill serves as the center of their kit as each and every one of their abilities makes use of it in some way. If we learned anything from the last hero release, Mauga, it’s important to learn new heroes as they can dominate lobbies early in their lives while people still figure them out. In this guide, I’ll give you the basic do’s and don’ts of Venture’s abilities.
Smart Excavator
The smart excavator is Venture’s primary fire. The best comparison for it is Sigma’s primary. It’s a projectile attack that moves fairly quickly for about 16 meters and then detonates. The projectile has AOE damage but it’s better to hit directly as, like with Sigma, direct hits do more damage. The important difference between Sigma’s and Venture’s projectiles is that Venture’s don’t bounce.
In playing Venture I found the best way to utilize the smart excavator is to hang back around that 16-meter mark. The excavator is great for poke damage or as a follow-up, but you never want to rush in with just this. The reason you wanna hang around its max range is even if you’re off the mark just a little, you can still catch some damage with the AOE.
The approximate sweet spot distance
Explorer’s Resolve
Explorer’s Resolve is one of Venture’s two unique passives. Upon usage of any one of the activated abilities, burrow, drill dash, or the ultimate tectonic shock, Venture generates shield health. This means you wanna be cycling through Venture’s abilities regularly in whichever way best suits the situation. The more you use them, the more you’ll be able to keep up your health.
Venture’s passive shield health
Burrow
Burrow is quite a powerful ability as it makes you invulnerable. Because of burrow, Venture is the first hero in Overwatch 2 to go underground. Upon use, Venture burrows into the ground for up to eight seconds cleansing themselves and becoming invulnerable.
However, you can emerge at any time, and depending on how much you charge the emergence, it deals more damage in a wider range. Burrow is good for both engaging and escaping. Both have drawbacks though.
Venture actively burrowed
Escaping With Burrow
As for escaping with burrow, I noticed quickly that you have to play predictively. When I’d try to burrow while in danger, I’d usually die before fully burrowing into the ground and becoming invulnerable. The best way to use burrow as an escape is to use it conservatively. Instead of waiting for the last moment before death, I use it when things start going sideways as a way to regroup with the team.
Engaging With Burrow
If you use burrow to engage, it can be easy to find yourself in too deep. It took me a minute to figure out the best way to make sure I’m not emerging into a firing squad. The best way I found to ensure I wouldn’t die when using burrow is to do so after or at the same time as the rest of my team was engaging. It also helped a lot to have drill dash available for a quick getaway.
There is one exception which is if you can pull the one-shot combo of a full charge burrow followed by drill dash and either melee or primary fire shot. While not likely in an actual game, it is possible and could turn a fight.
Drill Dash
Drill dash is my favorite and, in my opinion, the best ability Venture has. It is a quick dash in any direction you’re facing, even up. The mobility it gives Venture is insane and its damage is nothing to scoff at. It does initial damage and then even more damage over its duration. It can even be used while burrowed, although personally, I wouldn’t recommend that unless you’re catching someone off guard to boop off a ledge.
Drill dash is great for finishing kills or moving in any way, whether to engage or escape. Like burrow, it is easy to find yourself too deep in the enemy’s back line but unlike burrow, drill dash is great for separating enemies from each other as you can boop whichever one you’re targeting away.
The best way I found to use the drill dash though is to confirm kills. When I see an enemy support or dps hero low enough (around half health), I drill dash them. If that isn’t enough to finish the kill, a follow-up primary fire shot will almost always do the trick.
Clobber
Clobber is Venture’s other passive. It is also a modified quick melee which makes Venture one of three heroes in Overwatch 2 to have such an ability. The other two are Zenyatta and Junker Queen. However, unlike the other two, Venture’s modified quick melee is mediocre.
It gives extra damage but it also takes longer which means if you don’t have an ability or your ult available and use it you’re locked in. I recommend only using this as an absolute last resort as it leaves you quite vulnerable.
Tectonic Shock
This ability is Venture’s ultimate and it is very strong but very counterable. It’s an AOE attack like Reinhardt’s earthshatter. The difference is that it deals more damage but doesn’t stun and it has 4 charges. This is certainly the type of ult you can team-wipe with when used properly.
There are two very important things to remember when using Tectonic Shock. The first is that if there are steps or platforms or any other type of raised ground in the path of your attack, your enemies will be safe there. Elevation changes are the enemy of this ult so try to use it in flat areas.
The other important thing is that the closer enemies are to you, the more precise you have to be. The AOE is a cone, so if an enemy is directly in front of you, you need a direct hit to hit them, but if they’re away from you there’s a lot more leeway. I like to keep enemies around the same sweet spot for the primary fire.
Overall, Venture feels like a strong addition to the Overwatch 2 roster as long as you play carefully. Once I learned to be careful with how deep I go in using drill dash and burrow I was able to perform well in games. The best way to describe Venture’s playstyle is opportunistic. I look for the weak links and pounce on them to find the most value. Between dives, I try to stay with my team and that seems to be the best way to survive and thrive as Venture.
