Disclaimer: This article contains curated tips, guides, other useful information posted on Inven KR by the users. Please note that such guides and information are not objective truths and may not reflect the latest patch or meta changes.

Original guide from Overwatch Inven KR 도은하[Do-Eunha]

Recommended Team Compositions

Main Group of 4 with 2 DPS characters:
[Ana] [Lucio] [Genji] [Soldier: 76] [D.va] [Zarya]

The Thug-Rein Comp:
[Ana] [Reinhardt] [Lucio] [Zarya] [Genji] [Soldier: 76]

The Pikachu Comp:
[Ana] [Winston] [Zarya] [Soldier: 76] [Genji] [Lucio]

The Season 3 Comp:
[Ana] [Reinhardt] [Roadhog] [Zarya] [Soldier: 76] [Lucio]

I think Ana is best with the team compositions above. Ana and Lucio have no choice but to be besties. Zarya can protect Ana and draw in the enemies with her Graviton Surge for her so that she can land her Biotic Grenade on all the enemies. With her Nano Boost, D.Va or Rein can be more aggressive, too.

It seems that from Season 3 the hottest meta at the moment is with three tanks with one Soldier. Roadhog and the buffed Soldier can compensate for the seemingly insufficient damage output, and Soldier turns into a killing machine when Nano Boosted.

You can replace Soldier with Pharah or McCree. You can also replace Genji with other DPS characters such as Sombra or Tracer.

Match-ups

How to counter Genji coming near me

The chance of winning against Genji with his Dragonblade out is extremely low, unless you can land your Sleep Dart on him. But never let him pick you off so easily. Ana can endure three to four slashes with her Biotic Grenade. Get his aggro, and make him slash his Dragonblade at you as much as you can.

When he’s not using his ult, you can utilize Biotic Grenade to beat him while being mindful of his Deflect.

How to counter Tracer near me

After her damage got nerfed, it is very hard for Ana to counter most of the DPSs when they are closing in. When you are not sure if you can land a Sleep Dart successfully, avoid one-on-one and ask for help through voice chat.

But as for Tracer, you can still kill her by shoot-sleep dart-grenade-shoot since her HP is 150.

How to counter D.Va near me

It is best to Sleep Dart her and escape. But if you are not allowed to escape and have to fight, try to destroy her mech by without scoping shots and grenade while jumping and moving around her.

How to counter Winston near me

It is very difficult to beat Winston unless you can hit him with Sleep Dart. Ask your team for help.

How to counter Reaper near me

Reaper’s footsteps are very loud. You can tell it’s Reaper just with the noise. When you find out that Reaper is approaching to you, let your team know it and deal with him while keeping distance.

How to counter McCree near me

Do not let him use Flashbang on you. But before that, you should not let him move freely towards you in the first place. When McCree can easily come to you, that is a sign that your team is losing. When he is far away from you, McCree will not be as threatening because his damage will decrease.

How to counter Soldier:76 near me

Soldier:76 being around you means the same thing as McCree being around you. Soldier’s primary role is to shoot enemies from distance and to deal massive damage activating his Tactical Visor with Ana’s Nano Boost. So, if he can get around to pick off someone, wouldn’t that mean your team is falling behind?

How to counter Roadhog near me

Even after you are pulled towards Roadhog, you are less likely to be killed immediately because Ana's hit box is relatively small. But as you’re pulled by enemy Roadhog, other enemies may fire at you as well, making it even more likely that you will be killed. 

Roadhog is a huge target for Ana, so it is much easier for Ana to shoot Sleep Darts on him. So, put him to sleep and leave the area quickly. But if the Sleep Dart is on cooldown, fight back as much as you can with un-scoped shots and grenades until your allies arrive.

How to counter a Pharah hovering in the air

It is not simple at all. Ana marking Pharah on her own after the damage was nerfed? That will lead your team to be defeated. If an ally bugs you to mark Pharah, you will probably want to bite back, but politely ask one of your teammates to switch to McCree or Soldier.

Strategies

Quick Guide: Ana’s Basic Positioning

1. Position yourself in where your allies can protect you or near a health pack.

2. Pull aggro while being hard for the enemy to reach

3. When you’re on offense, your positioning is more flexible. You can be on the payload or move around while taking cover with it. When a team fight takes place around the payload, hitting multiple enemies with her Biotic Grenade and heal-blocking them can lead to victory. You can also get POTG with it. Depending on the situation, there will be moments when you should be healing off the payload. While on Offense, your positioning is flexible. In Assault maps, it’s good to fight with your team’s frontline when capturing point A. For capturing point B, it’s good to position yourself a bit far from your team where an enemy will come to pick you off. When healing from a distance, you can scope or quickscope. When healing a tank close to you or a friendly hero in short-range or mid-range, you can heal unscoped them.

4. Quickscope is a very good technique. You can get more clear sight and turn projectiles into hitscans. Such minor differences will lead your team to victory.

5. When you block an enemy from healing, let your team know about it.

6. Check whose ults are ready before you Nano Boost an ally. Inform your teammates who you will Nano Boost.

7. Your team’s sustainability will drop seriously when Ana is dead. When you’re dead, let your team know you’re dead.

8. When you’re being attacked, tell your team “someone is attacking me! I need help.”

9. When a teammate is out of your healing range, call him or her back: “Get back here. I can’t heal you if you’re too far away.”

10. Inform your team about the things going on: “That guy's ult is ready” or “Our (character name)'s down. Let’s move back.”

11. In your spare time, deal some damage to enemy DPSs. (Although the damage has been reduced to 60, it can still do some damage)

Ana’s Characteristics and Strengths

Ana is a top-tier support hero. Since Season 2, and even in the current season, the team compositions without Ana has gone through a lot of risks. Ana is a must-pick hero.

But to play Ana well, you must deeply understand about her positioning. If you’re not a skilled support player, I think it’s better to start with other supports and get used to the role. I recommend you starting with Lucio to learn the basics of support.

Ana has 4 major strengths.
 
(1) Can boost up your team’s survivavility by healing distant allies from a safe spot.
This is her best strength. Although she’s a sniper, she can heal an ally with her fast fire-rate. Also, when you use Biotic Grenade to allies, it significantly increases the amount of healing they get. It’s not hard to turn a tank into a zombie. Armed with the Biotic Grenade which deals damage to enemies and heals herself at the same time, she herself has high survivability as well.
 
(2) Can mark the primary targets of your team.
Her rifle deals a decent amount of damage. She can poke a support hero in the blink of an eye, and you can make it hard for an enemy tank to advance by heal-blocking.
But if you keep your eye on the enemies too much, you’re putting your allies at a great risk. Your allies should always be your primary concern.

(3) Can boost up your team’s damage output with Nano Boost
Ana is one of the heroes who can get their ults ready very quickly, even after the ult got nerfed. With her quickly-built ult, you can lead the enemy team to defeat and still get an upper hand in the next team fight. Ana’s Nano Boost significantly increases the damage output especially when used within the triple tanks team composition.

(4) Pulls a lot of aggro.
In a well-organized team game, Ana pulls a lot of aggro. When she’s healing from distance, it pressures the enemies and makes them think they can’t push through the frontline with her being there. So she becomes the priority target. But her Biotic Grenade and Sleep Dart makes the DPSs such as Genji or Tracer hesitant to kill her by themselves. This is a huge advantage in team-level games. After all, as she pulls aggro of some enemies and makes them use one or two abilities on her, the frontline will become safer.

How has Ana Changed in Season 4?
 
Ana’s basics never need to change. Heal your tanks primarily, and heal your DPSs when necessary. A new play style for Ana has started since late Season 2: the In-fighter Ana.

Requirements to play her as an in-fighter Ana are: 
1. Good judgment skills on whether you will use Biotic Grenade to your allies or enemies
2. Good aims that allow you to heal and deal un-scoped with a decent accuracy
3. Good Quick-scoping skills (Quick-scoping : When you’re watching the APEX or videos from good

You’ll see many Ana players unscoping right after they shoot scoped shots. Quick-scoping is zooming out, predicting where the target will be when you zoom in, You do this because you can change the projectiles to hitscans when you scope in.)

You usually play in this style in Controls.

How to make the most of Nano Boost
 
(1) On Genji
For Genji, never ever Nano Boost him first in my opinion. When his ult is ready, Genji will Swift Strike towards the enemy first and draws out his Dragonblade. I think this is the best time to Nano Boost him. That’s because Genji pulls a lot of aggro as he uses his ult. The enemies will use their ults to counter it. But if he deals 50 damage to an enemy and gets Nano Boosted while has his blade out, you will see him eliminating the enemy like a magic with the damage increase, even before the enemies try to counter his ult.

(2) On Reaper
After the Season 3 Patch, the combination of Reaper and Ana is not as good as before.
Still, you can Nano Boost him when he’s gaining bonus movement speed with Lucio’s [Amp It Up]

(3) On McCree
You can Nano Boost him when he’s activating his ult. When he’s not using his ult, it depends on McCree’s aim.

(4) On Reinhardt (Season 3 / 4 main hero )
You can make a Boss out of Rein when you Nano Boost him after he taps down enemies with Earthshatter or when he is Charging towards an enemy. 

(5) On D.Va
You can Nano Boost D.Va at any time. She will happily Boost towards an enemy. But if she activates Self-Destruct while Nano Boosted, then it’s a failure. D.Va can get her ult ready much faster while Nano Boosted. Please note that when you Nano Boost her while she’s calling a new mech, the new mech won’t be buffed.

(6) On Winston
Nano Boosting him boosts up his confidence to engage in team fights. You will see him happily scorching multiple enemies. Don’t Nano Boost him when he’s on his ult since there's no much synergetic effects.

(7) On Lucio
You can Nano Boost him when you’re on defense and stoping the enemy team fron capturing the point. Increasing the survivability of a support does help your team.

(8) On Soldier
You will also see him happily running here and there to kill people. Nano Boost him while Tactical Visor is activated. (Season 3/4 main hero)

(9) Roadhog ( Season 3 / 4 main hero )
Nano Boost him when he’s using Whole Hog, and Nano Boost an ally who’s Chain Hooked by the enemy Roadhog. Don’t hesitate to Nano Boost the ally, especially when he or she has an ult that can turn around the team fight!

Things you should know when playing Ana
 
(1) Always keep in mind that an ally can get in your way right before you use Nano Boost.
(2) She can deal much damage. Her damage dealing is powerful, but her healing is much more powerful. So always prioritize healing.
(3) When things are not working out, switch to an easier support and let your teammate play Ana.
(4) In team fights, leave the healing for DPSs to Lucio and focus on saving the tanks. But this doesn’t mean you must “ignore” the DPSs.
(5) If you tranquilized an enemy, inform your team about it and eliminate him or her with your team’s support. You can’t get a kill by yourself, now that she can’t use her v right after she fires. Or just leave the sleeping enemy there, and join your team to fight the enemy’s main group. It will be huge disadvantage to your team if you get killed waking him or her up.
(6) If you feel the enemy Zenyatta has his Transcendence ready, make sure you are not wasting your Biotic Grenade. It may not be ready when you need it most.

Sleep Darts

Sleep Dart is an OP crowd control ability, but it’s hard to shoot straight.

You should always let your team know by priority, when you tranquilized an enemy getting to you with his or her ult activated or an enemy who just activated the ult.
If it seems a team fight won’t take place soon, shoot it towards the enemy team or a DPS.
If you can put one to sleep, inform about it right away and engage without using ults. If your team wins the fight, the chance of your team winning the game will increase, too!

(1) Shoot Sleep Darts to enemy Reinhardt charging towards your team.

(2) You MUST put enemy McCree to sleep when he’s using his ult [Deadeye]

(3) When enemy Genji is coming to kill you:
▷ Very very hard to hit him. Take your aim slightly higher than his direction. Genji jumps a lot, so you’re more likely to hit him if you put your aim higher. It’s very hard to beat Genji who’s using his Dragonblade, unless you put him to sleep.

(4) Winston
▷ When Winston’s used his ult, fire when he just jumped.
▷ Winston usually jumps towards you with his barrier ready, so don’t hesitate to shoot before it’s activated. If he lays his barrier, get into the barrier boldly and tranquilize him. Don’t be afraid, because it takes some time for him to kill you. He may have his friendly Zarya’s shield on, but still wait for it to end. You’ve got Lucio on your team, so don’t worry and take your time.

(5) Reaper using his ult [Death Blossom]
If it’s too late, you’ll see your character already lying on the ground!

(6) D.Va 
She’s not a difficult target. But it’s a mind game. Her Defense Matrix can be annoying to deal with.
 
(7) Roadhog
Fire Sleep Dart at him when he hits an ally with Chain Hook or when he's using his ult. 

(8) Pharah
If you’re not sure if you can kill her while she’s using her ult [Barrage], stop her ult with Sleep Dart.  You should take action promptly, though, as she can kill you or even the entire team with her ult.

Biotic Grenade tips

Ana’s Biotic Grenade can be thrown fairly far. But you should always keep in mind of this: The grenade will explode while it hits an enemy or an ally in midair. If you don’t take this into account, you can unintendedly damage an enemy when you were intending to heal an ally, or the other way around. Without considering the fact, you may also fail to counter Zenyatta’s Transcendence by landing it on a nearby ally.
 
How to counter Transcendence:

Tell your teammates to not block its trajectory. Of course, it’ll be hard for them to care about its trajectory in a team fight. But it’s better than not saying anything at all.
If the enemies are pulled in by Zarya’s ult, don’t throw it from distance. Move closer to the point and throw it to the ground. You can avoid throwing it to your allies and take full advantage from it.

If you can heal-block multiple targets, your team will have the upper hand. (One of the main reasons Ana is currently a top-tier support.)

Don’t waste your Biotic Grenade if you hastily throw the Biotic Grenade for heal-blocking, you may not be able to use it when an ally gets in danger. The heal-boost of the grenade can even determine whether an ally is killed or survives. With the heal-boost, you can save an ally who’s dying from a concentrated fire. When exchanging fire (before getting into the brawl), heal with your primary weapon.

How to use Biotic Grenade against an enemy coming towards me:

Make it your top priority to tranquilize the enemy. Once the enemy is put to sleep, it’s Ana’s win. But the enemy won’t let you easily do so knowing this.

Or you can save the Sleep Dart for a mind game. (It will limit the enemy’s movement)

When an enemy approaches you, do not just try to run away. Check your allies’ positions, and brief them on the flanking.

After checking their positions, if you find you can get back up, confront the enemy.

Throw the grenade to the ground. Heal yourself and deal damage at the same time. (first step to win the dual)

When it hits the enemy, they will have to play more passively while being affected by the grenade. They can even run away from you because of the grenade’s high damage.

Get to a nearby ally that can help you, threatening the enemy with unscope shots.

I highly recommend using a headset. It’s quick to hear footsteps and counter the enemy coming to you! 

In-depth Map Guides

This is an analysis of spots that work for Ana very well in each maps. (Playing on defense)

1. Best Ana spots in Watchpoint: Gibralter

When fighting against the attacking side coming out of their spawn room. The red dots are the best spot for Ana. Standing on the box container right on the entrance to the radar fence, you can heal your allies while firing at the enemies at the same time. But it’s better to swiftly move to another spot once the enemies pass through.

The next spot is the entrance to the first checkpoint. This place is in the defending team’s advantage if their positioning is good.

When Ana is positioned at the red dot, it will make it much harder for the attackers to pick her off as there is just one route. If someone approaches you through the server room on the second floor, you can fight back with the grenade, or just simply fall to the first floor and fight with your allies.

Now let’s move on to the second checkpoint. You can stay on the box around the entrance to the second point. If the payload hasn’t come this far yet, you can position yourself at the red spot on the bridge with your allies.

The last checkpoint of the map. In fact, there are few spots for Ana to heal with stability. I personally prefer healing at the red spot.

2. Best Ana spots in Route 66

The first spot is, of course, the rooftop of the gas station. When your team is densely positioned, it makes it tricky for the attackers to break the chokepoint. It really works out if Ana, Lucio and McCree are together there. If the enemies’ infiltration is great, swiftly leave the spot and fall to the ground.

The second checkpoint. If Ana is standing at the red dot on the cliff, it will limit the routes for the attackers to approach Ana. Even these routes will be occupied by her allies, so it will be very hard for the attackers to catch Ana, unless their McCree is super duper good or they can constantly damage her from distance.

This is the huge container that’s on the left side of the spawn room. To be honest, it’s even difficult for me to find a good position in the last checkpoint. This means there are many routes the attackers can take to get here as well.

3. Best Ana spots in Numbani

This is Point A in Numbani. If Ana is positioned at the red dot with McCree at the blue spot, Ana’s stability will dramatically increase, and she can heal her allies anywhere in the point (except the ones fighting inside or behind the buildings). It’s very hard for the attackers to approach Ana as well, unless they are high mobility heroes like Genji, D.Va, or Winston. Even if they come, you can fight back with McCree.

4. Best Ana spots in Dorado

The rooftop. Tanks on the ground, and McCree and supports on the second floor. As Genji messes up with the enemies’ second and third line, Ana will get less aggro. Even if their flankers come to pick Ana off, she can be protected well by the nearby allies. Ana can easily charge her ult healing the tanks on the ground.  

If the attackers break through the first rooftop defense, I recommend this place for the next spot. You can heal through the open window on the left side. It kind of limits your sight, but you can notice the enemy’s approach if you’re wearing a headset. If it blocks your sight too much, it’s okay to fall to the ground and join the main group.

In the second checkpoint, I think the red dot works best for Ana. But make sure you are not zooming in too much. Zoom out sometimes and check around if there is an enemy coming to flank you.

The above spot makes it hard for the attackers to get to Ana unless they can move horizontally. Ana can also have a view of every hero engaging.

5. Best Ana spots in Eichenwalde

I think the best spot in Eichenwalde is here. You may wonder why it’s not on the bridge. The attackers must pass through the bridge to capture the point, so Ana doesn’t have to put herself at risk being there. In contrast, the red spot makes it much easier to heal your team, and it’s much safer from the enemies as well.

The second checkpoint. Hell for the attackers. As you already know, you can position yourself on the castle. On the left side of the red dot, there is a projecting castle, too. You can be there as well. CASTLES ARE GREAT.

For the last checkpoint, I think it is best to stand on the red dot. I still need more research.

6. Best Ana spots in Hanamura

If Ana is positioned in the red dot, it will annoy your enemies much. If Winston or Genji comes at you, you can just simply move forward and join the group.

 
In Point B, form up on the second floor. The red dot near the spawn room is also good. But beware that you can’t heal your allies if they go too deep inside.

The second floor is great because the attackers often take this route to occupy the second floor. So if Ana is here, she can buy some time with her Sleep Dart. You can also maximize your Nano Boost as the enemies are close to each other.

7. Best Ana spots in Hollywood

In Hollywood, the spot in the screenshot is great. I tried the other second floor many times as well, but it didn’t work out well. Ana is more likely to be involved in unwanted brawls if she’s there. But if you’re in this spot on the screenshot, you can get aggro on an appropriate level while helping your team’s survival with more chances.

In the next checkpoint, you can make use of the rooftops in the picture. For an enemy to get there, he/she has to use the elevator at the flank of the building or the overpass from the other side. You can easily notice them approaching unless, you’re so caught up in healing with your scope on. And if you move to the edge, you can cover most of the area to Nano Boost an ally.

For the last checkpoint, the second floor right out of the spawn room is good. I tried other places like the second floor in the building, but being around the spawn room as close as you make it convenient to heal (as the brawls usually take place on the ground) and easy to survive.

Ana in Controls

If you try to heal at a fixed spot, it puts you at huge risk and makes it much harder to heal your allies in brawls. So play like an infighter in Controls. In the very first team fight, throw a grenade to allies. It will lead your team to win as the grenade increases your team’s survivability, and win the second fight as well with her fast ult charge rate. You can easily win the following fights, too, by distributing the ults, and win the round itself. Ana can be a key hero in team brawls even in Controls.

1. You must form up with your team in the first fight. Control maps are narrow, so you can’t position yourself at a fixed spot and heal your team from distance like in other modes, as it’s much easier for the enemies to come and harass her, disturbing her to heal. So to utilize her strengths, play like an infighter instead: Join your team, land Biotic Grenade on multiple targets in brawls, and heal your allies with unscoped shots.

2. Move to make it easier to shoot your Sleep Dart to an enemy, making use of the narrow geography. If you put a DPS to sleep, he/she will be awake right away because of the narrow battle ground. But your team can get a lot of advantage even with these 0.5 seconds. If a tank is put to sleep, your team can take him/her down in a second by focusing on him/her. If it’s an enemy support, inform your team about it, and you can get an easy kill if a DPS helps you. Of course, Ana can take him/her down on her own.

3. Before using your first Nano Boost, check your team’s ult status. Nano Boost Genji or Soldier. If their ults are not ready, it’s effective to boost a tank who’s covering the fire.

4. After the first team fight, you can position yourself at a spot somewhat distant from the main group to take some aggro. But make sure you’re not too far, as it’ll be difficult to survive.
But if you feel it’s getting dangerous with enemy flankers coming to you, join your team right away and get back to your infighter style.

In Nepal 

Since this spot is pretty open, the enemies will want to pick Ana off and take actions. Don’t let them pick you off and watch out for the enemies coming from the left and right.

If you’ve won the first fight or captured the point, you can position yourself next to the statue. You can get a clear view of the enemies approaching and take their aggro. You can also give a decent amount of healing fighting in the capture point, and when it gets dangerous, you can simply move to join your team. 

In Illios

If your team moves forward to defense, you will have to move along with them obviously. In this case, I recommend fighting in the infighter style with your team. But if there is high ground available, taking that place isn’t a bad idea, either.

If it looks like the team fight is going to take place on the control point, you must position yourself here. It’s a pretty narrow space, so you can land Biotic Grenade on multiple targets.
If the team fight takes place here, there are many covers you can take. The only threat to you here will be the flankers coming to you.

If you want to cover the entrance, you can heal there. Make sure you’re not too away from your team.

If you’re concerned about the enemies taking a detour through the building, positioning yourself there won’t be bad. It’s easy to use the Sleep Dart. You can also fire at the enemies, playing tricky by getting in and out of the building.

team fights usually take place on the point, and it will do if you fight there. Use both scoped and unscoped shots, watch out for Tracer, Genji, or Winston flanking. If your team decides to fight enemies at the entrance, join them and stay behind them.

Choose your spot depending on the routes your team takes for the first fight.