
Retribution is an Arcade brawl exclusive to the Archives event.
Brawl rules[]
Default[]
- Heroes: Genji, McCree, Reyes, Moira
- Only 1 of each hero per team
- No hero switching
- Complete several mission objectives
All Heroes[]
- All heroes allowed
- Only 1 of each hero per team
- No hero switching
- Complete several mission objectives
Functions[]
Four players must reenact the end of the failed Blackwatch mission to kidnap Talon executive Antonio Bartalotti. In the standard mode, players must divide the team into single picks of Genji, McCree, Reaper, and Moira, whereas in the All Heroes variant anyone can be selected. Hero stacking is not allowed in both modes. Players are guided through the map by the four heroes commenting on their situation (in standard mode), and by their evac pilot (both modes).
There are four difficulties for this mode: Normal, Hard, Expert, and Legendary. The higher the difficulty, the more stock enemies will spawn, the more intelligent the AI will be, and the more damage the enemies will inflict. Additionally, playing on All Heroes mode will lead to more frequent, earlier spawns of specials to counter players having a greater selection; from the second phase onwards, where the players pass through the breached door into the streets, any of the three specials can spawn at the predetermined spots.
Anytime a hero gets killed, they will lay down and be incapacitated for 45 seconds. Within that time, if they are not revived by another teammate standing within close proximity for several seconds, the game will end with a loss. This can be circumvented in All Heroes mode, should a player select Mercy and revive the player with Resurrect.
The mission can be divided into multiple sequences:
Sequences of events[]
- First phase -- Mansion:
- Players spawn in the office opposite the reinforced exit, and must interact with it to place an explosive welder. The welder takes a few minutes to work, is ignored by enemies, and requires no further player interaction.
- Three waves of enemies will spawn periodically, entering from multiple locations at once: one wave from west-side doors on both floors, another on the east-side doors on both floors, and another rappelling from the skylight and entering through the south doors and office windows.
- Regardless of if the waves are finished, after a few minutes the welder will detonate and players can proceed.
- Standard: The only spawns will be Troopers and Enforcers.
- All Heroes: At least one Sniper or Assassin unit will spawn.
- Second phase -- Streets:
- Once the weld is complete enemies will cease spawning, and the welder will explode, blasting out the hole it has cut. Players are required to exit into the streets as enemies begin spawning.
- Heading up the street, the road will meet a right turn, where dropships will appear and spawn enemies. Around the corner is a dock.
- Once at the dock, enemies will begin entering the map by boat and by rappelling from aircraft; one of the aircraft will drop a Sniper.
- After holding off a few waves at the dock, units will break out of one of the buildings, creating a path.
- Standard: The first sniper will spawn at the right turn, with a cutscene marking it.
- All Heroes: Any special units can spawn at the turn; on Expert and Legendary a Heavy Assault can spawn instead. The dock will spawn a second special a few waves later, and either can be a Sniper or an Assassin.
- Third phase -- Bridge and Courtyard:
- Once in the building and with the enemies dead, Troopers and Enforcers will enter through the door and by rappelling through the windows on both floors.
- Free to pass through the door and windows, players need to walk out the back where there is a a bridge with an overpass on the opposite side. At least one sniper will spawn in the area.
- After fighting across the bridge, players will be in a courtyard where enemies will continue to spawn in large groups.
- Standard: The first assassin will spawn in the courtyard, again with a cutscene.
- All Heroes: In the courtyard, a few groups of Enforcers will push towards the players as the Assassin spawns. On Expert and Legendary a Heavy Assault can sometimes spawn onto the bridge.
- Fourth phase -- Gallery:
- Exiting the courtyard and turning left, a bridge leading to the courtyard lies ahead, in front of which a Heavy Assault will always spawn.
- Once inside the art gallery, an Assassin will spawn in the central circular room and flit between hanging on the walls and the art piece.
- Standard: The first Heavy Assault spawns on the bridge with a cutscene.
- All Heroes: Multiple Assassins and Snipers can spawn in the art gallery.
- Fifth phase -- Café:
- Outside the back of the gallery, players must hold out for a friendly dropship to fly in. Players must hold off multiple waves, spawning through doors, rappelling from the air, and entering by gunboat on the rear dock.
- Special enemies will spawn throughout the waves, first with a Sniper, then an Assassin, and finally a Heavy Assault. On harder difficulties, multiple snipers can spawn, and at least one sniper will spawn before the Heavy Assault appears.
- Once the Heavy Assault and any accompanying specials are dead, enemies cease spawning and evac flies in, hovering above the café. An endless wave will begin, with multiple Heavy Assault units and Enforcer groups swarming the players. Once all players are aboard, the ship takes off and the match ends.
- Standard: One of each special spawns through the waves, and waves slowly enter from different areas.
- All Heroes: Multiple specials can spawn at once, and entire groups of Enforcers will spawn. On Legendary difficulty a second Heavy Assault will spawn part-way through the battle with the first.
Enemies[]
Stock[]
- Trooper: Most common enemy, based on Soldier: 76. Machine gun, lowest damage output, usually the meat of small groups (4-6 enemies).
- Enforcer: Shotgun enemy, can charge attacks to fire multiple rounds in a single blast. Typically 1-2 in a group of Troopers. Has high health for a common enemy, nearly half of which is shield health, and can spawn in groups of 4-6 on harder difficulties or All Heroes.
Special[]
- Sniper: Ranged enemy, based on Widowmaker. Aims with a visible laser sight and will fire after a few seconds of locking on. Medium health with nearly a matching amount of shields (not quite half and half), can use Grappling Hook and will switch to a pistol when cornered.
- Assassin: Flanking enemy, like a mix of Tracer and Genji. Will perch on walls by clinging, and will Blink between spots when under fire. Will usually charge enemies, knocking them down and rapidly stabbing them until suffering enough damage, being interrupted, being knocked back (such as Quick Melee), or being stunned. Will do wide slashes like Dragonblade when retreating or cornered and is more durable than an enforcer while still having a similar proportion of health and shield.
- Heavy Assault: Tank enemy, like a mix of Bastion and Reinhardt. Spray fires two minigun arms, can use a sweep melee to knock enemies backwards, and will close distances by charging (can also target their own allies). Will also suffer headshot damage if hurt on the red glowing vents on the back.
Strategy[]
Any Mode[]
- As with most 4 player PvE games, it is vital to stick together. Stragglers will be singled out by specials to drag the team backwards and cause panic.
- Falling out of the map into water will teleport players back to the nearby shore in a downed state.
- Healers require very careful balancing of playstyles. While focusing on damage will help whittle down Heavy Assault units much faster, any heroes that cannot self-heal (such as Genji or McCree) will suffer greatly if they're not kept healed up or get swarmed.
- As with Uprising mode, failing to resuscitate a downed hero in time will end in a game over. As such, it is absolutely vital to stick together and use cover or dodge ability lest you get downed in an open area. Many games can fail simply because one person carelessly gets downed mid-wave and are so difficult to revive that the rest of the team suffers the same.
- Attempts on Legendary difficulty must be very methodical and slow. As the average Trooper can easily do around 50 damage to your health with a few bullets, it is vital that players stick together, remain indoors as much as possible, and peek in and out of cover as much as possible. Allow enemies to come to you, preferably through a doorway or choke point to easier line up shots.
Standard[]
- As the quartet is built of four high-damage low-health heroes, it's vital to stick together and concentrate efforts. Focusing collectively will allow threats to be eliminated faster and minimize the damage they can do.
- Each hero fills their own niche that should be played to. Failing to play to your hero's strengths can very easily sabotage a game.
- Reaper is ideal for close-medium range with his shotguns, and for taking care of flankers and swarms. Death Blossom can be very useful for clearing out a chokepoint or wipe out multiple stock enemies when you're trying to revive.
- McCree is great for dealing ranged and headshot damage, especially against snipers. Flashbang is a good counter to rushing Assassins, and Deadeye can be vital at wiping small waves or evasive specials.
- Genji can fill the in-between of McCree and Reaper, as headshots with his shuriken can do very good damage, and his Deflect is outright vital on harder modes (as it uses the AI's buffed damage against it). While Dragonblade is great for slicing huge chunks out of stock enemies, on harder modes it's very important to not charge too far ahead lest you get downed and risk the mission.
- Moira obviously excels at keeping everyone alive, and on harder modes should absolutely focus herself on it. McCree and Genji cannot self heal at all, and Reaper only has slight HP returns on damage, so it is vital that her time be devoted to healing and damaging to refill her heal meter.
- When playing as Moira, focus should be primarily on keeping allies alive, as only Reaper can self-heal through dealing damage and she can sustain herself through her primary attack. As such, it is often best to use the healing Biotic Orb over the damaging one.
- As Reaper it is your job to revive ko'd teammates, as you have the most health, can self-heal, and have the ability to become invincible while using Wraith form.
All Heroes[]
- Equipping a high DPS hero like Bastion can make much of the map significantly easier, provided he's supported by a shielding tank like Reinhardt, Orisa, or Sigma
- Mei can be useful in the map, as while it is brief she can use her Endothermic Blaster to freeze collected groups and specials.
- Soldier: 76 is also a viable option. His weapon does decent damage, has self-heal, and his ultimate makes it a breeze to clear out groups of enemies.
- Ashe is also a pretty good option. Her Viper does good damage when scoped in and can be spammed into large hitboxes like Heavy Assault. Her coach gun can be used to reposition herself or boop enemies off the boats. Her dynamite is also useful when thrown into a crowd, as burn damage will help chip away at their health, giving your other teammates the upper hand. And lastly, B.O.B can function as a fifth gun on your team and can mop up lesser enemies effortlessly.
- A generic pick against all types of enemies is Roadhog:
- With his big pool of hitpoints and a healing ability he can withstand even multiple special enemies for a decent time, though on higher difficulties it's vital for him to have one or two other heroes close to him focussing on enforcers and specials.
- The Chain Hook is an excellent tool against snipers, as they usually spawn on exposed highground platforms and being hooked will force them to use their pistol instead of the sniper rifle.
- Chain Hook can also be used to drag an assassin off a pinned team member or catching them during her ambush and therefore cancelling it, though latter needs practice with Chain Hook and tracking of where the assassin starts to approach her target.
- With a single usage of Whole Hog, Roadhog can deal a devastating amount of damage against heavy assaults due to their knockback immunity. Exploiting their weakpoints - the red cooling tanks on the back - an finish a heavy assault surprisingly quickly. Some points should be kept in mind when planning to use Whole Hog for this:
- Always wait after the heavy assault went for the first charge. Charging against a wall - with or without someone being pinned - this will briefly immobilize him and simultaneously expose the cooling tanks to you.
- Take a Breather before you activate Whole Hog, otherwise an enforcer in your flanks can surprisingly cancel your ultimate giving you the final blow
- If the heavy assault turns towards you while Whole Hog is active, try to aim slightly for the head but still make every shot count
- Do not get too close to him, as his melee attack will knock you back resulting Whole Hog will miss some shots.
- Whole Hog can also be used quickly kill multiple enemies by pushing them off boats at the docks and at the Café.
Special Enemy Strategy[]
- Sniper
- The sniper is standard fare for anyone who has had to deal with a Widowmaker. She's less intimidating to flank as she only has a slow-firing pistol, and is easily countered from afar with an accurate or hitscan hero like McCree, Widowmaker, Ashe, Soldier: 76, or even a Hanzo. Genji can aim for headshots, and in a pinch (or as a last resort), Mercy's pistol can take out a sniper, too.
- The sniper is an enemy that is best given priority, as she can very easily overwhelm given the chance. In situations of minimal cover or being swarmed, it's very easy to lose a player by her chipping away when you're preoccupied.
- Snipers always spawn on specific exposed highground platforms, though their count may vary on different difficulties (there can be an exception during the fifth phase at the café, where a sniper spawns lowgrond near the door to the gallery). Knowing these spots is a great advantage as you can spot the sniper way faster and react accordingly to it.
- Assassin
- The Assassin's rush works like Reinhardt's charge if he came to a dead stop after pinning. As such it can be interrupted even after a pin by stun attacks (like Flashbang) and it is blockable with immovable entities like Mei's Cryo-Freeze. Sombra's hack and EMP as well as Junkrat's Steel Trap and Ana's Sleep Dart will also interrupt a charging assassin.
- Additionally, the rush move can be countered by confusing the AI. For example, if you clip through a rushing Assassin with Reaper's Wraith Form or Genji's Swift Strike, the Assassin will simply stand in place similarly to being stunned, before retreating to the walls again.
- Heavy Assault
- The Heavy Assault has physical buffs from Orisa's Fortify, but none of the status immunity. He is immune to pinning, pulling, and knockback, which limits the use of moves like Charge, Graviton Surge, and Whole Hog. However, he is not immune to stunning, freezing, or sleep, making moves like Earthshatter, Blizzard and Sleep Dart potentially useful.
- The Heavy Assault's charge attack is like an upgraded Reinhardt's Charge: it cannot be interrupted by an intercepting charging Reinhardt, but he can be knocked out of it by a stun move like Flashbang or Rocket Punch. He will often use it to close the distance between you, so make sure to keep track of how recently his last charge was.
- It is often much better to play the long game with the Heavy Assault, especially so on harder difficulties. Luring him into an area with good cover and escape routes, like taking the Art Gallery heavy back to the Courtyard. It can make dealing with him much easier and reviving allies less stressful provided you don't mind chipping away at his health slowly.
- One of the greatest dangers of the Heavy Assault is not the boss himself, but his backup. Remain very aware of your surroundings while battling him, as Troopers and Enforcers will continue to slowly spawn into the map and try to push you out of cover by flanking. This is best countered with a crowd-control or DPS hero like Reaper or Mei keeping tabs on them.
Opening Cutscene Transcript[]
[Eights years ago. Cut to a picture of McCree covering his head while standing in front of an exploding building.]
McCree: An Overwatch facility was attacked. The team needed to respond...
[Setting Change: Venice, Italy]
McCree: But officially, their hands were tied.
[Cut to an area patrolled by Talon Troopers.]
McCree: Luckily, heh, Blackwatch plays by its own rules.
[McCree punches a trooper. Another trooper tries to shoot him from above, but Reyes grabs him from behind and silences him, giving a small nod to McCree.]
McCree: We all knew who was responsible. Rumour had that he'd be well protected.
[Moira defeats three troopers from behind with her Biotic Grasp.]
McCree: Our mission was to drop in and get him out so he could face the music.
[The area is flooded with the bodies of troopers. One remains standing as Genji inserts his blade into its sheath.The trooper collapses suddenly, and Genji walks away.]
[Setting Change: Antonio Bartalotti's Office]
McCree: At least...that's how it was supposed to go...
[Antonio is looking out the window. He notices Reyes' reflection in the glass.]
Antonio: Good evening, Commander Reyes. [smirks] How will this look on the news? Overwatch unlawfully abducting a respected businessman? Even if you take me now, my friends would have me released within the week. All these theatrics... have been a waste of our time.
[Reyes hesitates, and Antonio looks at him.]
Reyes: You're right.
[Reyes fires once at Antonio. Antonio's body crashes through the window and flies out, startling a nearby trooper on patrol. Alarms are blaring inside the office.]
McCree: (Surprised and angry) Reyes, what did you do?
[McCree walks up to Reyes.]
McCree: This was NOT the plan!
Reyes: Well, looks like we're going with Plan B.
[McCree looks at Reyes angrily, before withdrawing his peacekeeper revolver as the rest of the team stands in a straight row. Cut to black.]
Achievements[]

Complete Retribution (All Heroes) with 8 different heroes.
Reward: "Talon Enforcer" Spray

Complete Retribution with each of the 4 heroes.
Reward: "Talon Trooper" Spray
Complete Retribution on Expert difficulty with no incapacitations.
Reward: "Talon Assasin" Spray
Complete Retribution on Hard difficulty.
Reward: "Talon Sniper" Spray

Complete Retribution on Expert difficulty.
Reward: "Droppachi" Spray
Complete Retribution on Legendary difficulty.
Reward: "Talon Heavy Assault" Spray
Notes[]
- Each character is equipped with corresponding event skins in the default mode. Reaper is especially notable, as his Blackwatch Reyes skin is only accessible otherwise by purchasing the Game of the Year Edition (or one of the variants).
- Like Uprising (brawl), the standard mode of Retribution frames the story with illustrated cutscenes, and then guides the player throughout the map by comms instructions and character interaction.
- Multiple plays will reveal additional dialogue. For example, dialogue will sometimes reveal that Reyes' original plan had the team disguise as a band (despite Reyes being unable to play an instrument very well), or that McCree was working undercover as a waiter but managed to get fired from his cover job.
- Unlike other maps, the omnic maître d can be destroyed. After taking enough damage he will wobble violently, before his head detaches and his body collapses.
- The Talon dropships can be destroyed, though this is a purely cosmetic effect. Once any bots jump out, dealing enough damage to the ship will make the engines burst into flames and repeatedly give off small explosions as it retreats.
- On release, the escape vehicle would not depart until all players climbed aboard. Since only one downed player could very easily jeopardise the mission (which could also be done deliberately to annoy others) Blizzard promptly patched the mode so the vehicle leaves once all non-downed heroes are aboard the vehicle.
- The players can skip the gallery entirely if the players go through it without fighting anyone. It's tough to pull this off with the default heroes, but it can be done. Lucio's Speed Boost + Amp It Up helps out a lot. This is especially useful if playing on Legendary difficulty, where the enemies can mow you down very quickly.
- A minor bug means that players using mic will display their hero's default icon instead of their Retribution skin icon.
- Similar to Junkenstein's Revenge, You can photobomb the Sniper, Assassin, and Heavy Trooper. Given the player gets to their spawn zone quick enough before the screen fades to black for a second.
Patch Changes[]
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