What's a Mediocre Guide?

A Mediocre Guide is for players who haven't yet developed the skill sets needed to play at higher levels. Down in the lower leagues, we play a very different game. Mediocre guides help those players to learn a Hero. It acts as an intermediary step to learning a Hero. This guide focuses on maximizing your survivability, skill shot accuracy, and overall effectiveness. Once the basics are learned, a player can then move to a more advanced guide and higher skill cap builds.

The Junkrat Mediocre Build

Mediocre Junkrat basics... if you're looking to just get out there and have a whole lot of fun!

1. Use your auto attacks when clearing waves. Try to save your Q to hit heroes for your stacking quests. One the flip side, feel free to launch all 4 of your Q Grenades when heroes are around. That being said, you can use your Q to clear a wave faster than most heroes in the game.

2. If you need to zone, just adjust your angle on each grenade launch to keep them spread. Most people will try to dodge them and you'll be able to force their movement path.

3. Your auto attacks hurt. Getting them on heroes will make them suddenly realize Junkrat is an assassin and not a specialist. You have to be constantly moving forwards to auto and moving backwards for safety. When feeling threatened, just back off and use your range.

4. Don't squander your W Concussion Mine. Since Junkrat has very low health, the fastest way to safety is using your mine to launch yourself over a wall. (Wall jumping is not just for Genji and Hanzo!) When you do use your mine for offensive damage, displacement, or as a set-up, your cool down is 16 seconds to your next mine. You have to be sure that you have the time to wait it out. Also, don't be overzealous with your W-Concussion Mine if your teammates need the enemies to be where they are. Butcher, Jaina, Mosh Pit ETC or a Tank keeping the enemy in front of them do not want enemies to go flying everywhere no matter how much fun it is.

5. Traps are both the most useless things and the most amazing tool. It's so easy to walk by them and never have them trigger. Well placed Traps can save lives or secure a kill. You won't experience either if you don't remember to keep putting them out there. If you're sure you're going to die, try to dance around a trap. You drop bombs when you die, so you want to try and get some value for your death.

6. Rip-Tire is the better Heroic. Remember that you can use Q to jump walls and other obstructions. It can be killed, so make sure to use it quickly if you're jumping the tire into the enemy towers and forts. The duration is long, so you can use it from quite a distance for safety. You can dance around an ice block or wait out a Protection. Rocket Ride can be great as a secondary escape, but it's easily dodged. Rocket Ride is an incredible amount of fun though, so I won't blame you for taking it.

7. You don't have mana. That means your staying power is only limited by your health pool. If there's no threats around, just let your hit points regen over time. Because of a lack of HP, you do need to play carefully as it's easy to die.

8. You can siege so quickly. If anyone just lets you lane without pressure, you can have towers, forts, and keeps down in very little time. You can be just as, if not more effective, a specialist than the actual specialists in the game.

9. Have fun. Junkrat is funny, silly, and exciting to play.

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Author's Note: Once I hit Level 100 on Junkrat with over 500 games played, I really felt like I needed to make a guide with all the insights I've learned. I hope you all enjoy playing him as much as I do.

Junkrat carries a Frag Launcher as his weapon. All of his main attack damage come from the grenades. Learn to love the explosions!

Junkrat's Auto Attacks:

1. AOE Damage. Since Junkrat's auto attacks hit multiple enemies, you want to be targeting middle minions, clumped up heroes, and towers. You can tell a good Junkrat when he's getting a lot of auto attacks.

2. Short Range. With a 5.5 range, Junkrat has to put himself in a dangerous range to keep the auto attack damage going. You'll be stutter stepping and weaving in and out of range. Just remember that Junkrat has a peg leg, so always be aware of where you are moving.

3. They hurt! At the start of the game, you're doing as much, if not more damage then most melee assassins. With the 1 second firing rate, it gives you a lot of mobility and damage. Honestly, with some mobile heroes, it's sometimes best to just stop moving, and let your auto attacks smack them into running away.

4. Max the DPS The highest damage from your grenades and auto attacks is to perform the following pattern: Auto Attack - Q-Frag Grenade - Auto Attack - Q-Frag Grenade - Auto Attack - Q-Frag Grenade - Auto Attack - Q-Frag Grenade. It clears waves fast, keeps damage high as you do not interrupt the auto attack. In most cases with stutter stepping and dodging, this may not always be viable.

Q-Frag Launcher

1. AOE Damage. Like his auto attacks, Junkrat's grenades explode in an area. Look for clustered enemies and stuctures.

2. Weak against Structures. Junkrat's Q-Grenades do 50% damage on structures. Your auto attacks do more damage. This doesn't mean you shouldn't use them on structures. It just means that if there's an enemy minion wave coming, hold your Q-Grenades for the minions. That way you'll get the full damage on the minions and the 50% damage on the structures.

3. Lobbed. Part One. The physics are a bit weird, as the grenades get lobbed. They arc up and fall down. For small hit boxes at closer range, it's possible to lob a grenade over their head. If you've watched basketball, think about "bounce passing." Launch a grenade slightly in front of them, and let it bounce into the enemy. Nothing is more embarrassing than shooting a grenade through a gigantic Boss Monster. It actually happens a lot.

4. Lobbed. Part Duex. Because Grenades are lobbed, you can lob them over terrain! Abathur's behind the tower and your minions are soaking the shots? Lob grenades at him! Murky's Egg is behind the tower? Lob grenades at them! A fleeing hero retreated behind his tower? Lob grenades at him!

5. 4 Charges. Junkrat is interesting in that your Q has 4 charges with a 12 second cooldown. You can lob all of them in 4 seconds, and then wait 8 seconds for the charges to come back. Or you can lob them every 3 seconds. Generally, when you get the shot, you're taking them all. The most common reason for staggering the shots is preventing an enemy hero from channeling an objective.

6. They bounce! Junkrat gets to see all the wall outlines so he can maximize his ability to bounce his grenades. Honestly, most people don't try to get the maximum skill through bouncing. You can just hit directly for reliability. But this can come in handy in choke points, tight spaces like the Tower of Doom left and right channeling altars. Sometimes, when you miss, it bounces into something useful. When that happens, pretend that's what you meant to do!

7. They don't always bounce! If your Q-Grenade lands in unpassable terrain, it just explodes. This is why Junkrat can damage Structures directly by lobbing grenades onto them. But it's also why a rolling grenade will bounce off a structure. Keep in mind the bounce pass theory so you don't waste a grenade. Or make sure that you are lobbing a grenade all the way over terrain.

8. They Explode! Once the grenade stop rolling, it explodes. This will deal damage to anyone in the area.

D-Total Mayhem

Use D when Junkrat has a mine out in order to detonate it!

When Junkrat dies, he drops 5 grenades where he was killed. These grenades do 75% less damage to structures, so there's no reason to keep doing suicide runs on structures. It does make it an interesting decision point if Junkrat is low on health. If Junkrat can't escape, get somewhere where he can do the most damage. If Junkrat messes up while solo laning, try to die in the minion wave to clear it. The team will get the xp!

Honestly, try not to die. But if it's happening, die in a blaze of glory!

Junkrat's W-Concussion Mine is a powerful tool for Junkrat. While doing some damage, it will knock anyone in the circle backwards from the center. This is the key to using the mine effectively. The mine has a long cool down at 16 seconds, so Junkrat loses the ability to escape again once it's been used.

Concussion Mine Notes:

1. Use W to put it on the ground.
2. It takes a second for the mine to be primed and ready.
3. Use D (Junkrat's trait ability) to make it explode.
4. Junkrat can only have one out, but it lasts forever, even through death.
5. Junkrat doesn't need to be anywhere near the mine to detonate it.
6. Junkrat and the Enemy can be displaced over walls and terrain.
7. If Junkrat has one mine out, 16 seconds later the Mine becomes available again. Junkrat can detonate the one, and quickly get out a second and detonate that too for MORE EXPLOSIONS!!

Defensive Mines:

Always think about using Concussion Mine defensively first.

1. Junkrat's Escape. Place the mine on the ground, and walk to the very edge. Then detonate it. This will give Junkrat the maximum distance through the air. Eventually Junkrat will be tossing it slightly ahead of him and then walk into the detonation for maximum distance. Look to knock Junkrat over terrain or friendly walls to create a gap that can't be closed quickly. When the enemy starts to pile on Junkrat, drop the mine and launch him to safety!

2. Save friends. If Junkrat's in a team fight, it's possible one of his team mates gets caught or requires a peel. A Concussion Mine tossed strategically can knock back enemy opponents to create some safe space. Works great against Arthas who is killing Junkrat's friends with his aura. D.Va should never have an effective "NERF THIS!" explosion around you. ETC Mosh Pit? Make him Body Surf!

3. Steal that camp! Is the enemy taking the boss? Toss a grenade on the cap point. As soon as they are on it, detonate the mine. If Junkrat is by himrself, DO NOT WALK ON THE POINT BEFORE THE DETONATE! Junkrat doesn't want to be knocked off the point too. If Junkrat has friends with him, then they can stand on the point for the steal.

4. Prevent that Cap! If Junkrat is on a map like Braxis Holdout, Junkrat can place a mine on the capture point. It's almost hard to see. Junkrat can detonate the mine from a distance to keep that zerg pen filling up or prevent the cap slightly longer! Same with taking the Dragon Knight. Junkrat can punt people off the point from anywhere on the map.

5. Don't save the enemy. It's easy to see an enemy fleeing and think Junkrat can kill them off with a Concussion Mine. Be very careful, because the damage from the mine isn't that beefy. Junkrat may end up punting them to safety. Be very careful not to punt them out of the team's abilities. Don't be THAT Junkrat.

Offensive Mines:

1. Straight up Damage. Sometimes, it's just about the damage. Mines can be good finishers for people running away or something Junkrat can throw under an immortal to race it faster.

2. Punish Overextending Heroes. If a hero gets too close to Junkrat's towers, use it to punt an enemy over the wall. The fort will slow the offending hero, and the towers will chuck away the enemy's health. Pile on for glee!

3. Remove a key enemy hero. On some maps, Junkrat may be able to punt a healer over a wall. Junkrat might be able to open the back line by punting a tank where they can't recover quickly.

4. Fetchez la vache! DoTs (damage over time) can kill Junkrat. If Junkrat is going to die, Junkrat can always go in a Blaze of Glory by punting himself into the enemy team for some surprise damage by Total Mayhem dropping da bomb!

5. Prevent Escapes. If Junkrat's team has a good engage or a gank, throw the mine past the player where the enemy's path of escape will be. When they start to move to escape, Junkrat can punt them back into the team to prevent the escape. It also works well in the first crash. If Junkrat's team is pushing them back to their towers, toss the mine under their gates to toss them back to the team. This way nobody has to take tower shots.

6. Trap Glory. If Junkrat places one of his traps down, Junkrat can punt people into the Steel Trap and force the enemy to be rooted. It's not an easy skill, but it's not an impossible one either. It doesn't have to be the perfect distance, if they fly over the trap it will root them at the landing. Always pretend you meant to do it when it happens by accident. :)


Have fun with "boops" all over the place. The mine is an incredible amount of fun!

Junkrat's E-Steel Trap is simultaneously an amazing play making ability, and the most useless ability ever created. Junkrat says "A Hunter lays his trap!" It's very true. Traps require a lot of planning. Half the time people run into traps you've forgotten about. Always make sure you have a trap out there!

Steel Trap Mechanics:

1. Steel Traps won't be ready for 2 seconds. You have to get them out to be ready.
2. Steel Traps do Damage!
3. Enemies are rooted for 2 saeconds. You can use that time to hurt them.
4. You can only have 1 Trap out at a time. If you have one out, you can always place a new one. This will destroy the old one.

Steel Trap Notes:

1. Steel Traps have vision! Junkrat can place one near a boss or camp. Junkrat can put one in a bush.
2. Steel Traps are very visible. They can be avoided.
3. However, Steel Traps in bushes can't be seen unless someone walks into the bush.
4. Steel Traps persist through Junkrat's deaths.
5. They don't have a good "hit box" - people can stand amazingly close and not trigger them.
6. It's IMMEDIATE. If Junkrat wants to place in a bush that Junkrat has to walk to, Junkrat can't target the spot in the bush and expect to walk there to drop the trap. The trap will be immediately tossed in that direction and lands where it lands.

Effective Steel Trap Placement:

1. Bushes. Place Steel Traps in bushes. Try to place it where enemies will enter it. Typically on their side of the map, or more centered.

2. Rotation paths. Because Steel Traps have a small vision radius, Junkrat can place it somewhere in a rotation path. Even seeing a hero on the mini map for a second is enough time for an escape. A good example is the bottom lane of Booty's Bay. If Junkrat places it in the bush from the top towards the chest spawn, Junkrat can spot a rotating hero coming for the gank!

3. Center of a Lane. Placing a mine in a lane will slow down the minion wave. It will allow the towers to get a few shots off on the melee minion before it can do any damage. It can also deter any heroes chasing Junkrat into friendly towers.

4. Capture Points. Placing a mine on a capture point, like the center Dragon Knight point, Junkrat can get vision on anyone trying to take it.

5. Last Stand, Last Hope. If Junkrat is at the point where he's caught and going to die, drop a trap and dance around it. Try to die as the enemy gets rooted to get the best value out of Junkrat's Total Mayhem trait.

6. Haunted Mines. Junkrat can place it in front of mine entrances. They'll trigger as soon as the enemy uses one. Gives the team an early warning that the enemy team is coming!


Steel Traps have a number of talents associated with them to make it better. Unless Junkrat is going for a specific build, there are usually better talents to take.

Junkrat has three very unique and different Level 1 talents, all of which modify the Grenades launched with his Q-Frag Launder.

Put Some English on it

Put Some English on it allows Junkrat's grenades to travel very far. It's a popular talent choice because it allows Junkrat to keep a very healthy distance. It's great for long range poke. It also means Junkrat's grenades are likely to bounce more if they don't hit anything. The grenades don't travel faster either, giving someone ample time to dodge. It feels like a safe choice. (Points for the pool reference!)

Extra-Wound Timers

Extra-Wound Timers prevent the Grenades launched with the Q-Frag Launcher from exploding when they stop rolling. They'll last another 2 seconds. This is good for zoning, because it's two seconds they have to wait, and two seconds longer that an enemy may walk into them. Great in lanes too, because they'll usually last long enough for minions to mindlessly run into them.

Bouncy Bouncy

Bouncy Bouncy is extra damage! If... If Junkrat decides not to hit someone directly and try to do some amazing skill shots of walls. Even the top players don't add that kind of challenge to their game. The only reason to take this talent is if Junkrat plans on being the player taking the mercenary camps. All the mercenaries are against walls, so Junkrat can lob grenades at the wall and have them bounce into the mercenaries. The other reason to take this is the situational map with lots of choke points.

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Author's Note: Personally, I prefer Extra-Wound Timers because they offer the most zoning, and longest potential for someone to walk into them if I, ahem, miss.

Once Junkrat gets to Level 4, the opening crash is over. Junkrat will be in a lane, and now will be working on fulfilling this quests. Save Junkrat's Q-Frag Launcher Grenades for hits on heroes, Use Junkrat's W-Concussion Mines on heroes and hug the towers for safety, or try and get Junkrat's traps in places where heroes will walk. While Junkrat can't finish the Q quest very quickly, the W and E quests can be completed fairly quickly with a little focus.

Taste for Explosions

Taste for Explosions is currently the best talent on this tier. Much of Junkrat's Damage is his Q, so adding damage to it is never a bad idea. The quest can be quite challenging to complete. Most players can expect to get to 100 out of the 200 needed by the end of the game. This is why you save your Q when laning and use your auto attacks on minions. You don't want to miss any opportunity to launch a Q for stacks. Look for slow moving or rooted heroes. And if you hit a hero with the AoE explosion... it counts!

Bonzer Hits

Bonzer Hits is a talent that makes your damage on your Concussion Mine better. The good thing is that it's very quick to complete. Just put yourself into some crazy situations where you need to use it to create a gap between you and your enemy patsy. Taking this talent commits your mine as an offensive displacement and damage dealing tool. (I highly recommend taking Rocket Ride as your escape tool!)

Gotta Trap 'Em All!

Gotta Trap 'Em All isn't a hard quest to complete. But Junkrat definitely need to do his best to get them into the traps to complete it.

Some important things to note:

1. Steel Trap's Cool down is now 9 seconds.
2. Junkrat gets three Steel Trap charges, and can have 3 Steep Traps out at the same time!
3. Junkrat cannot rapid fire three traps out. Junkrat places one, waits 9 seconds, places the 2nd trap, waits 9 seconds, places the 3rd trap. What's the key to Steel Traps? PLANNING.
4. There's new indicators for the extra two traps above Junkrat's hero portrait on the bottom left. If all three traps aren't out, make sure to get them out there!

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Author's Note: Bonzer Hits rarely get any value. This is largely due to the fact that the Concussion Mine has a 16 second cool down. At level 20 you can get it down to 6 seconds at best. While the increased damage is sweet, you lose too much damage where it really counts. You're better off focusing on siege damage if you take Bonzer Hits.

Gotta Trap 'Em All is pretty situational. If you've got a Mage or teammates that can quickly blow up a stationary target, it's awesome with a Trap Build. It can get a lot of value on Dragon Shire and Haunted Mines, as there are very obvious paths to walk. Both these maps have a lot of Mercenary camp values, so having vision around can help you invade a camp.

Junkrat's Level 7 Talents are all about speed. At this point in the game, players are deep in the race to get Level 10. Junkrat can either keep pushing a lane, sneak off to do some camps you can avoid damage on (Giants and Sappers), or just keep on working on the quests to get them completed.

Tricky Shuffles

Tricky Shuffles is the go to choice on this talent tier. Anytime the Q-Frag Launcher is on cool down, Junkrat gains a 15% move speed bonus. If Junkrat launches all the grenades in 4 seconds, this is 8 seconds of increased speed to weave forward and backwards to get auto attacks in. If Junkrat is running away and his mine is down, lob grenades and watch Junkrat hobble quickly away!

Big As

Junkrat's Trap becomes Huge! Amazingly, it will still be hidden in a bush. If Junkrat can't get people in his trap, or Junkrat is going for a trap build, this is a great talent. It really isn't about the damage, it's just making sure people are slowed down. Big As is usually paired with Chattering Teeth to help with zoning objective points.

Sticky Widget

Sticky Widget is a bit of an undervalued, underappreciated talent. Having 3.5 seconds of CC is pretty powerful. Junkrat doesn't take this talent to make himself more effective, he takes it to make everyone else able to secure the kill. This makes Sticky Widget a very situationally niche talent. The one really nice thing about it, though, is maps where Junkrat can punt someone over a wall. If a tank runs into it, and then use a mine to punt them over a wall. There's 3.5 seconds of movie quality slow mo action run from the victim, "NOOOOOOO MY TEEAMM....." as Junkrat's team goes in for their back line with no tank soaking damage.

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Author's Note: Tricky Shuffles is so good. It allows you to be very bold in getting auto attacks into the enemy. Once you get used to this, it's hard to go back to other talents.

If you are going for a trap build, Big As with Chattering Teeth can really cause an enemy team to suddenly lose focus as the BIG *** MUTHERF'ING TRAP is chattering at them. Sadly, it's fun to watch people dealing with it, so you have to train yourself to stop laughing and capitalize on it.

Hurrah! Junkrat's first power spike! Both Heroics are good for different reasons. Both Heroics are bad for different reasons. But both Heroics have EXPLOSIONS! They are very fun to use. Don't use them, abuse them!

FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!

Rip-Tire

Because it's got 15 seconds to drive around, it's a safe go to talent. Especially on a map like Volskaya or Cursed Hollow where the teams tend to fight in a concentrated area. It's easy to jump into a back line. It's a great burst talent and can chase heroes running away.

There's 3 possible amounts of Damage, based on how close they are to the enter of the EXPLOSION!!

The good:

1. It does a lot of damage! Especially if you can get them in the center of the blast.
2. It's AoE damage. You can hurt a lot of people with it.
3. It displaces players. Junkrat can give them a push in the wrong direction.
4. In a pinch, it can hurt a lot of zerg on Braxis, or a large wave pushing in. Good panic button to clear a merc camp.
5. It travels so far! You can be very far away, and then use a Ripper-Air mine to get back into the fray!
6. IT JUMPS TERRAIN WITH Q! Hanzo can't escape that easily, you can chase him down.
7. SQUISHIES BEWARE! Tracer jumping into you? RIP TIRE is the answer! BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE! Kelly I don't think you can handle that, Junkrat's body is bootylicious baby!

The Bad:

1. It's channeled. People can silence you, displace you, stun you... and you'll drop the remote control. The tire will fall over. RIP tire.
2. The Tire has a health bar. If the enemy team focuses it, they can kill it quickly. You have to dodge damage to keep it alive! When you jump into towers to secure a kill, you can only take 1 round of shots before you need to detonate it.
3. Know the enemy defenses! Tracer will try and blink, Maiev will try to jump, Genji Varian Medivh Protections, a bunch of characters have ice block... don't explode it when they aren't vulnerable.

Rocket Ride

Let's be honest. Rocket Ride is so much fun we always want to take it, just so we can take the level 20 and do this over and over and over again! Junkrat basically hops on a rocket, and is now safe from any harm that is about to happen. A targeting circle appears on the ground, and you want to smash your rocket into their body. Junkrat drops 5 Total Mayhem bombs in hopes of doing even more damage. (Remember, those bombs do 75% less damage on structures, but if that's the only thing to hit, hit it!)

It takes 1.5 seconds to activate.
You crash after 3.5 seconds in the air.
After the crash landing and explosion, Junkrat appears safely back at the Nexus on a 150% speed mount.

The Good:

1. This can be used as an escape.
2. This cancels any effect currently on Junkrat, like DoTs, Chromie's Time Loop, Malthael's Last Rites, et al.
3. If a target hits a trap, Junkrat is very likely to get a good landing on them.
4. The 150% speed mount is amazing. On Dragon Shire, you can speed to the top cap shrine, take it, and then speed down to the bottom lane and cap that too. Then speed to the center shrine. As long as you don't get hit, you stay on this crazy fast mount!
5. With the mount on Small Maps, Junkrat can get quickly back into the battle.
6. With the mount on Large Maps, Junkrat can quickly get somewhere else to deal with any lanes, objectives, or issues.

The Bad:

1. It takes 1.25 seconds before you're safe. You can die in that time. If you're interrupted, then you've lost your major "get out of jail free" card. Then Junkrat starts looking at how to maximize a Total Mayhem real death.
2. People can dodge the hit. And they will do their best to weave to avoid as much damage as possible.
3. If an enemy has any movement speed, teleport, protection, ice block, or damage reduction, they're going to survive. It's very predictable.
4. It takes Junkrat out of a fight for 5 seconds + travel time. If the team can't keep the engage up, they may lose an objective.
5. If it's a map like Braxis or Dragon Shire, Junkrat can't cap the point if he EXPLODED'D!

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Author's Note:

Have fun with the Heroics. Both are great, but Rip Tire has the biggest impact on a team fight. Just use a mine to knock yourself backwards before activating it. This will give you the safety you need and can wait out the 16 second cool down. You'll have to wait out certain Heroic Abilities like Diablo's Apocalypse, Sylvanas Wailing Arrow, and Hanzo's Dragon Arrow.

Rocket Ride has to be the most fun thing ever created. It's just so satisfying to deny people kills, and just play the "I'm gonna get you suckah!" game as they dodge and weave.

Junkrat's Level 13 talents are an extension of his Level 7 talents. Junkrat can focus on his own movement through Ripper Air or concentrate on preventing Enemy Movements.

Ripper Air

WHO NEEDS A MOUNT? MUAHAHAHAHAHA! Seriously, Junkrat will only mount when his mine is on a 16 second cool down. Try it. Race a character on a mount. Junkrat will beat them. Drop a mine, punt yourself, drop a mine ahead of you, walk into the detonation to punt yourself farther.

And travelling farther is a huge benefit to Junkrat. You can hop from the top Treasure Chest in Booty Bay to the turn in point in one explosion. Junkrat is more likely to escape over terrain.

This talent is the key to Junkrat's hyper mobile play style.

Bogged Down

Bogged Down is not a very high selected choice. It again, commits Junkrat to using his mine more offensively than defensively. The goal is to displace the enemy into harms way, offering them little ways to escape. The slow lasts two seconds, and how long is Junkrat's Steel Trap arming time? 2 seconds. Not a coincidence.

When you're building Junkrat for Zone Control or to set up Junkrat's team, this talent can be surprisingly good. It just lowers Junkrat's individual potential.

Chattering Teeth

Chattering Teeth can make the Steel Traps more effective. As people walk through a bush, they may just be so close and not trigger the trap. Chattering Teeth will make sure that doesn't happen ever again! With Big As, it's very distracting to have a gigantic trap coming at you.

The two biggest drawback to Chattering Teeth is that it can move the trap away from where Junkrat wants it.
First, it lowers the Steel Trap value on capture point. An enemy can lead it off the point. Second, a hero trying to take merc camps can lead the trap into the mercenaries for extra damage. Or they can move it far enough away that Junkrat's team loses vision on it.


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Author's Note:

There aren't very many reasons to give up Ripper Air. If they don't have any kill potential on you, then it feels safe enough to go a build that doesn't require the safety Concussion Mine offers. Then you can explore Bogged Down and Chattering Teeth.

Chattering Teeth is great when combined with a Steel Trap build because of the amount of time people waste managing Traps. With Big As causing more Steel Trap damage, the root and damage can give your team a lot of time to get guaranteed damage into the trapped hero.

Junkrat's Level 16 is a huge power spike. It upgrades his Q-Frag Launcher in some great and interesting ways. Junkrat will really make his grenades effective!

Burst Fire

Junkrat will be hitting Q less, because it will launch 3 Grenades in rapid fire. The cool down for Junkrat's Q is reduced to 6 seconds. This allows you to launch a lot more grenades. It works best with slow and rooted enemies. Or against heroes with a lack of mobility like Arthas. The big problem with this talent is when an Enemy dodges Junkrat's grenades. It's lost damage.

Endless Nades

Nades. That's short for greNADES. Anytime your grenades hit an enemy, the cool down is reduced by 1.5 seconds. So if you hit with 4 grenades, that's 6 seconds off an 8 seconds cool down period. It combines well with Extra Wound Timers, because "Nades" that are still on the battlefield can still reduce Junkrat's Q-Frag Launcher in addition to the Grenades he's currently launching. To do this, Launch one mine to start the cool down. When there's 4 or 5 seconds cool down left, launch the other 3 grenades. They'll still be on the battlefield as Junkrat launches the next 4.

Spread Volley

Nothing is more special than this 30 second cool down. By just rotating like a water sprinkler, Junkrat can litter a battle field with grenades. GRENADES EVERYWHERE! This can really zone out a team, hit enemies that are trying not to clump, and force enemy movement into a direction of your choosing.

The other benefit is that Junkrat can now take out mercenary camps extremely quickly. Combined with Bouncy Bouncy at Level 1, you can launch three mines against the wall and have them bounce into the mercs for crazy amounts of damage.

Try not to fire the mines all in the same direction. Really try to angle them slightly so as enemies move to avoid them they just run into more mines!

Last point: Spreading grenades is a good way to flush out or keep stealthies at bay.


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Author's Note: Most of the time you will be taking the Taste for Explosions level 4 Quest Talents. All these Level 16 talents make you get more Q-Frag Launchers Grenades onto the battlefield, which, with any luck, you've been stacking as hard as you can. These talents will make Junkrat's Damage spike very fast. This is the goal, to get to 16 and start wrecking face. If you've been stacking, Junkrat's ability to take mercenary camps will increase as the damage on your Q-Grenades is increased.

With Burst Fire, I typically like to pair that with the Sticky Widget Steel Traps and the Bogged Down Mines. Junkrat can make his own slows, and that will help you burst out a bunch of damage. You don't always need to score a kill to gain the advantage, forcing healers to use mana or a forcing a hero to back can help win the fight.

Junkrat's Level 20 talents complete the incredible powerhouse he's now become. All of these just add to the fun you should be having.

Extra Oomph

Extra Oomph does two very awesome things to upgrade Junkrat's Rip-Tire.

First, the knockback distance is increased. Junkrat can use that to keep enemies from escaping, or putting them into positions they don't want to be.

Second, every hero hit reduces the cool down by 20 seconds. The cool down is 80 seconds. If you hit 4 heroes, then you can immediately do another Rip Tire! Yes Cho'Gall counts as 2 heroes, yes, all the Samuro Clones and Nova Clones count, yes, The Lost Vikings hate this!

At lower level games, Junkrat can use Rip-Tire to just decimate the enemy team!

Puckish Scamp

Junkrat's Rocket Ride becomes a 30 second cool down. W. T. F. This has to be the most fun thing... show up, get a little low, crash down on the enemy, fly back, do some damage, and then do it again. And Again. it's insanely fun!

At some point, you'll just think, hey, I need to be over there.... LET'S GO FOR A RIDE... wait 5 seconds, now I'm over there!

Cannonball!

Did you want Bigger Grenades? With larger EXPLOSIONS! ?

That's the reason why the Pros take this talent. It makes your grenades easier to hit, it allows Junkrat's auto attacks to explode in a larger radius. It upgrades his siege ability and cluster damage. When the launched Grenades explode, they explode bigger in hopes of hitting something.

There's just one thing that needs to be said:

THIS TALENT DOES NOT UPGRADE THE DAMAGE OF GRENADES.

The damage upgrade comes from Taste for Explosions at Level 4. If Junkrat didn't take that quest talent, Junkrat should not take this Level 20 talent. Junkrat's damage will come from the W-Concussion Mines, the E-Steel Traps, or Junkrat's chosen Heroic talent.

BOOM POW

The final Concussion Mine upgrade for Junkrat. BOOM POW lowers the cool down of Concussion Mine to 6 Seconds if it hits an enemy. If Junkrat has been using Concussion Mines offensively, then you can finally start making EXPLOSIONS! happen all over the place.

It's also good defensively if Junkrat faces an enemy dive comp. Junkrat can keep the mines ready for another escape.


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Author's Note:

There really aren't any bad talents on this tier, but BOOM POW is the rare choice. You really need a specific need or a specific build to make this your choice.

At low league levels, Extra Oomph can just destroy enemy teams.

Puckish Scamp just needs to be abused if you take it. At this point, you're going all in on the fun!

Cannonball! is the Pro-choice, but if you've stacked your Q enough, having a bigger explosion doesn't make a huge difference at lower league levels. If you're the designated pusher, it can really clear waves and walls quickly with your auto attacks. If you're lobbing from safe distances it can help your accuracy. I tend to land my Qs, so I don't really feel this is the best talent. But I am a mediocre player writing a mediocre guide, so I'm sure the pros are right on some level. I'm kinda stuck on the feeling that it's not that effective.

Author's Notes:

The Mediocre Build is my go to build. It offers great damage. The Tricky Shuffly movement boosts help to get your auto attacks in. Ripper Air can help you rotate fast, and safely. (Come Catch me Valeera... WHEE!!!) The Spread Volley help take mercs, stack your Q, and create grenades that just linger on the battlefield for a good 4 seconds (2 seconds of rolling plus 2 seconds of linger). That provides a lot of zoning as the team has to weave through them, run through them for damage, or just wait. And you'll get lots of Rip-Tires in the game at level 20. It's perfect for Lower Leagues.

You're TRAPPED!

This is the standard build for Trapping people. You want to really maximize how many Steel Traps you get, their damage, and when you see a hero going for a trap, Rocket Ride so they're trapped for 2 seconds and can't really get a good run away from your impending doom! With so many traps out there that you expect to get on the enemies, I find taking Endless Nades a good talent. Non-moving targets are easy to hit. Any level 1 talent will do honestly.

For Dragon Shire and Haunted Mines, I'll usually consider this build.

In Dragon Shire, The top and bottom shrines have great places for Steel Traps. The bush rotation spots are obvious. You can put vision on key points. It just slows the enemy team down tremendously.

For Haunted mines, trap every entrance. Nothing is better when you're fighting in a lane and a weak hero dives into the mine for safety... and then dies on a trap you placed in there two minutes ago.

Mercs so Explody!!

This is the build I'll use if I'm going to be the Mercenary Build, forever siege pushing Junkrat. You'll be doing your best to stack your Taste for Explosion quest. When you take Mercenary Camps, you'll always be bouncing the Frag Grenades against the wall. And once you get Spread Volley, your mercenary camp clear times will be the fastest, non-expensive way to clear camps.

Keep in mind if you're taking a Sapper camp, like on Haunted Mines and Towers of Doom, there's a good trick to help you. If you walk to one side, the other Sappers will clump up. That will make your Grenades splash on all of them with every hit. Auto, step to avoid their grenades, auto, add in Q-Grenades and dance around them. You don't need to take any damage from that camp. For Firebats, walk a little away from them so they clump for your splash damage.

You can use your trap for extra damage on the mercs, but if there's a bush that an enemy will walk through, I use Steel Trap for that. Once they're trapped in the bush, use a mine to knock them away to cap the mercs, or place the trap under the capture point and run if you don't think you can finish. You may be able to steal the camp or keep vision on it.

Cannonball rounds out this build for maximum push.

MINE MINE MINE!!!

There's very little reason to ever go a mine build, but if you're going for it, I recommend this one. You'll do a lot of damage with your mines. Your Steel Traps will slow enemies by 90% for 3 seconds, and the Mines will slow enemies for 60% for 2 seconds. It gives your team a lot of time to blow up enemies.

Endless Burst works great with this build, because slowed enemies are easy to hit. You have your Rocket Ride for both offense on slowed heroes, or as a defensive escape.

The key to maximizing this build, is when a hero is trapped, run into them and drop a mine to knock them in the opposite direction they are running. They have 3.5 seconds of slow, and it takes you 2 seconds to knock them backwards with a mine. And when the mine quest is done, you'll punt them very far away from safety.

Pro Build

If you're looking at the Masters or Pro level players, this is the build they are using. Spread Volley is a close 2nd choice at Level 16. Players at this level can really focus down a target, so Junkrat needs to play a lot safer. But Junkrat will be in a comp where there's protection, so he'll need to lob mines into the back line and keep his mine for defense.

It's similar to the Mediocre build. I just feel at lower league levels, the Extra Wound timers offer more potential for damage, the cool down reduction on Rip Tire offers more displacement and damage, and Spread Volley is too valuable to give up.

4/13/2018 Updated Auto Attack section.