Alright so yesterday I got thinking – should I spend my practice time fighting against computer bots or jump straight into online matches? Heard people arguing about this forever. Decided to actually sit down and test it myself properly. Just booted up Overwatch and gave both a real shot.
Setting Up The Dummy Fight
First thing I did was hit the Training Range. Smacked those robot practice dummies for like 20 minutes straight. Felt pretty good landing those headshots on stationary targets. Then I got brave and fired up a Custom Game against AI bots. Set difficulty to “Hard” because ain’t nobody got time for easy mode.
Fought against computer-controlled tanks and healers. Okay… computer ain’t cheating with aim but holy cow the teamwork is robotic. They move like a boring clock, always same routes. Finished a whole game without breaking sweat. Felt like taking candy from a baby.
Then Came The Real Deal
Switched over to Quick Play. Instantly felt different. Spawned as DPS, walked out the gate and BAM – two bullets to my face before I even saw where they came from. Teammate in voice chat already yelling “trash DPS swap now”.
Here’s what got me:
- Humans play dirty – flanking, sneaky ult combos, trash talk messing with your head
- Toxicity is real – got called names I ain’t heard since middle school cafeteria
- Unpredictable madness – one game teammates played like pros, next game healers ran straight into enemy fire
Felt like night and day compared to the computer. Against bots, I controlled everything. Online? Pure chaos. You either adapt or get rolled.
The Ugly Truth
Went back to bots afterwards just to check. Felt… empty. Like playing chess against a brick wall. Yeah I won every fight but learned exactly zero. Computer fights like it’s reading an instruction manual.
Online matches though? Got my butt kicked three ways to Sunday. But started noticing patterns – when Genji dashes away after ulting, how supports hide during team fights. Actually learned more from getting stomped than winning bot games.
Ended up costing me three hours and a headache. Made a messy list of differences:
- Stress levels: Bots = chill, Online = wanna throw keyboard
- Learning speed: Bots = useless, Online = painful but effective
- Queue times: Bots = instant, Online = go make sandwich wait
So here’s my take – if you’re brand new or just want zero-pressure target practice? Sure, whack some bots. But if you wanna actually get good? Gotta eat that online dirt. The salt, the throwers, the chaos – that’s the real teacher. Ain’t pretty, but it works. Personally? I’m taking the headache.
