Junkrat Build Guide “Fire in the hole!”

Last updated on Sep 26, 2023 at 10:00 by Outofmilk 22 comments
General Information

Welcome to our guide for Junkrat, a Ranged Assassin in Heroes of the Storm. Within these pages, you will find everything required to understand how best to play this hero, in both different map styles and team compositions.

1.

Junkrat's Overview

Junkrat is a Ranged Assassin from the Overwatch universe who can deal a large amount of sustain or burst damage from a safe distance. The area of effect aspect of both Frag Launcher Icon Frag Launcher and his Basic Attacks provide him with great waveclear and team-wide splash damage. None of Junkrat's Abilities use Mana, giving him incredible lane sustain and high teamfight presence when challenging Objectives or areas of high contention. All of his Basic Abilities can also be cast while moving. This is critical, as he lacks any sort of reliable escape beyond Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine. When utilized correctly, Junkrat does have Talents that can make him rather slippery and difficult to catch by the enemy team, such as Tricky Shuffles Icon Tricky Shuffles and Ripper Air Icon Ripper Air. Both of his Heroic Abilities, RIP-Tire Icon RIP-Tire and Rocket Ride Icon Rocket Ride, require a period of channeling to be cast. Junkrat should therefore always be on the lookout for enemy Abilities that can interrupt this channel and keep track of their use and remaining cooldowns.

2.

Junkrat's Strengths and Weaknesses

V Strengths
  • +Uses no Mana, can remain in fights indefinitely when left unanswered by the enemy team
  • +Incredibly long range can reach targets located behind otherwise impassable terrain.
  • +Can reposition enemies and himself with Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine
  • +Scales well into lategame.
  • +Great waveclear via the AoE components of his Frag Launcher Icon Frag Launcher and Basic Attacks
  • +Steel Trap Icon Steel Trap is a valuable zoning tool.
  • +Moderate siege potential.
  • +Very high skill ceiling
X Weaknesses
  • -Incredibly susceptible to dive and enemy crowd-control
  • -All abilities are skillshots which can be difficult to land successfully
  • -Bad Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine can result in an enemy surviving or an ally missing a critical skillshot.
  • -Very squishy with no means of self-sustain
  • -Requires close attention to proper positioning
  • -Weak early game until scaling through talents.
  • -Easy to play, difficult to master
3.

Junkrat's Talent Build Cheatsheet

Steel Trap Build

Recommended
Level 1 Extra-Wound Timers Icon Blow 'Em Up! Icon ?
Level 4 Chattering Teeth Icon
Level 7 Sticky Wicket Icon
Level 10 RIP-Tire Icon
Level 13 Gotta Trap 'Em All! Icon Big As Icon ?
Level 16 Endless Nades Icon Spread Volley Icon ?
Level 20 Cannonball! Icon

The Steel Trap Icon Steel Trap build works well against an enemy team consisting of assassins like Genji or Zeratul. Once you have the talent Gotta Trap 'Em All! Icon Gotta Trap 'Em All!, you will be able to set up a perimeter around you, saving yourself from enemy assassins diving you, and then proceed to punish them for it. You will still want to go for RIP-Tire Icon RIP-Tire and Cannonball! Icon Cannonball! at level 10 and 20 to nuke a trapped enemy hero.

Concussion Mine Build

Situational
Level 1 Blow 'Em Up! Icon
Level 4 BOOM POW Icon
Level 7 Bogged Down Icon
Level 10 RIP-Tire Icon
Level 13 Ripper Air Icon
Level 16 Endless Nades Icon Spread Volley Icon ?
Level 20 Cannonball! Icon

The Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine build works well with an organized team due to the displacement power of this build. We prioritize getting all of the cooldown-reducing talents allowing Junkrat to always have Concussion Mine up for the occasion. Talents such as Bogged Down Icon Bogged Down and BOOM POW Icon BOOM POW reward Junkrat greatly for hitting an enemy hero with a mine, triggering Blow 'Em Up! Icon Blow 'Em Up! and slowing the displaced enemy hero, effectively resulting in securing a kill.

Frag Launcher Build

Situational
Level 1 Extra-Wound Timers Icon
Level 4 Taste For Explosions Icon
Level 7 Dirty Trickster Icon
Level 10 RIP-Tire Icon
Level 13 Ripper Air Icon
Level 16 Endless Nades Icon Spread Volley Icon ?
Level 20 Cannonball! Icon

Junkrat's Frag Lanucher Build emphasizes his ability to deal large amounts of damage from a distance. Taste For Explosions Icon Taste For Explosions scales the damage done by Frag Launcher Icon Frag Launcher and makes Junkrat more powerful when heading into the late game. Endless Nades Icon Endless Nades enables Junkrat to deal more reliable sustain damage during critical standoffs or trades and will help accrue stacks of Taste for Explosions more quickly. Ripper Air Icon Ripper Air provides Junkrat with a much welcome kiting tool and means of self-peel when being dove by the enemy team. A well-placed RIP-Tire Icon RIP-Tire can be the difference between a lost and won teamfight.

ARAM Build

ARAM
Level 1 Blow 'Em Up! Icon
Level 4 Taste For Explosions Icon
Level 7 Bogged Down Icon
Level 10 RIP-Tire Icon
Level 13 Bombs Away Icon
Level 16 Endless Nades Icon
Level 20 Cannonball! Icon

Junkrat's ARAM build focuses on the buffing Frag Launcher for good poke damage. Through Endless Nades, the talent pretty much allows you to do exactly what it says.

4.

Junkrat's Synergies and Counters

V Junkrat synergizes with

Junkrat's low Health pool and squishiness require him to hide behind a strong frontline that can distract enemy Heroes during fights. Tanks and bruisers with reliable crowd-control can either help Junkrat set-up takedowns, or assist him with peel should he be focused by the enemy team. A support that can provide Junkrat with healing or damage mitigation in the form of a shield or buffs is mandatory as he has no source of self-sustain within his entire kit.

X Junkrat is countered by

Junkrat is countered by highly mobile Heroes who can easily dive him in the backline. Beyond Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine Junkrat has no immediate source of peel, therefore he is particularly susceptible to Heroes that can stick to him with some form of gap-closer. The fact that all of Junkrat's abilities are skillshots also makes it particularly difficult to combat highly mobile enemy Heroes.

5.

Junkrat's Maps

Junkrat's stronger maps
Alterac Pass Braxis Holdout Cursed Hollow Dragon Shire Garden of Terror Infernal Shrines Sky Temple Tomb of the Spider Queen Towers of Doom Volskaya Foundry Warhead Junction
Junkrat's average maps
Battlefield of Eternity Blackheart's Bay Hanamura Temple
Junkrat's weaker maps
None

As noted earlier, Junkrat provides excellent lane sustain, teamfight presence, and wave clear. All of these traits make him good on maps where a rotation between lanes is needed and has a "king of the hill" type of objective, such as the Altars on Towers of Doom. The poke damage provided by Frag Launcher Icon Frag Launcher can be used to indefinitely whittle down enemies from afar as they attempt to take control of an objective. On bigger maps, Junkrat can make good use of his level 13 talent Ripper Air Icon Ripper Air which allows him to quickly move from lane to lane. Maps with smaller choke points make Steel Trap Icon Steel Trap a particularly effective zoning tool while Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine can catch an unaware enemy off-guard and force them into a detrimental position. Fighting an enemy team forced into a narrow corridor will also generate the most value from the splash-damage component of his abilities and Basic Attacks.

6.

Junkrat's Tips and Tricks

  • Be careful not to overshoot enemy targets with Frag Launcher Icon Frag Launcher. Aiming just in front of the desired target (on the very edge of their hitbox) will cause the bomb to bounce into them if it does not make immediate contact.
  • Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine is Junkrat's primary source of self-peel. Try to not use it unwisely at the start of a fight just because it is off cooldown.
  • Try to set up Steel Trap Icon Steel Trap in areas of high contention just before an impending fight. The 2-second setup time makes the ability very difficult to use effectively mid-combat.
  • RIP-Tire Icon RIP-Tire's jump ability (Q) can be used to flank or cut-off unprepared enemies behind otherwise impassable terrain.
  • Rocket Ride Icon Rocket Ride often times should be used as a "second life" to deny enemy experience when cast just before dying; it may even allow Junkrat to pick up a kill or two!
  • Use Junkrat’s level 13 talent Ripper Air Icon Ripper Air effectively to move throughout the map. Mount is slower than Ripper Air Icon Ripper Air. Only use your mount if Concussion Mine is on cooldown.
  • Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine and Steel Trap Icon Steel Trap can be used to provide vision in bushes. On maps like Tomb of the Spider Queen, you can use Concussion Mine and Steel Trap to provide vision in the bushes between the upper turn-in point.
  • Do not be trigger happy with your Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine. Just because an enemy is standing on top of it, does not mean you need to activate it. Make smart decisions regarding the use of this.
  • Currently, you can animation cancel Junkrat's Basic Attack. This is very effective in terms of wave clear where your rotation will look like this: AA -> Immediately after you see the grenade from AA pop out -> 1 Frag Launcher -> Right click to force AA -> 1 Frag Launcher -> Right click to force AA and so on. Try this out in Test Mode first to get the gist of it.
7.

Junkrat's Role in the Current Meta

Currently, Junkrat has a decent spot in the current meta. As most of the Maps in the current ranked rotation favor late game compositions, Junkrat can very well scale into a high-DPS monster. Unfortunately, he will not fit into most team compositions and this is due to his very weak early game damage, you would need a Hero that offsets Junkrat's early game. During early game you would want to focus on getting your Taste For Explosions Icon Taste For Explosions stacks up and try to make impactful plays with your Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine. Once Junkrat scales into late game, (most notably at Level 16) he becomes a high sustain damage dealer.

Junkrat can easily poke enemies attempting to capture an Objective that requires channeling, such as Altars on Towers of Doom, Nukes in Warhead Junction, or Tributes on Cursed Hollow. Junkrat's more fragile nature requires allies that can form a strong frontline that can preoccupy his enemies while he dishes out his barrage of grenades.

Should an enemy slip through the cracks of his frontline, Junkrat can disengage with Concussion Mine Icon Concussion Mine to create some distance between himself and his aggressor. Concussion Mine has a lengthy cooldown so Junkrat should position himself in an especially passive way when this Ability is unavailable to him. Junkrat's lack of any self-sustain also requires at least one Healer on his team to ensure he will remain topped off should he receive poke damage or be dove in the backline.

One of Junkrat's greatest strengths lies in the range of his Frag Launcher Icon Frag Launcher. Because the grenades provide vision to Junkrat and his allies, Frag Launcher should be regularly used as a scouting tool to deter a missing enemy from capturing a Mercenary Camp or Objective behind the veil of the Fog of War. Grenades, Concussion Mine and Steel Trap can also be put into bushes to give vision. When possible, Junkrat should be constantly repositioning the location of Steel Trap to best prevent an enemy from ganking or flanking him or an ally during the laning phase or a teamfight.

8.

Changelog

  • 26 Sep. 2023 (this page): ARAM Build added.
  • 30 Jan. 2022 (this page): Updated builds.
  • 12 Dec. 2021 (this page): Updated Steel Trap build.
  • 09 Dec. 2021 (talents page): Updated Steel Trap build.
  • 30 Aug. 2021 (talents page): Talents have been updated.
  • 30 Aug. 2021 (this page): Updated builds.
  • 19 May 2021 (talents page): Guide has been updated with the new functionality of Big As
  • 03 May 2021 (talents page): Updated builds and talents.
  • 03 May 2021 (this page): Updated builds.
  • 21 Nov. 2020 (talents page): Updated builds and talents.
  • 21 Nov. 2020 (this page): Updated builds and talents.
  • 25 Aug. 2020 (talents page): Guide has been reviewed and no changes are needed.
  • 25 Aug. 2020 (this page): Guide has been reviewed and no changes are needed.
  • 08 Aug. 2020 (talents page): Builds updated
  • 08 Aug. 2020 (this page): Builds updated
  • 02 Jul. 2020 (talents page): Guide has been reviewed and no changes are needed.
  • 02 Jul. 2020 (abilities page): Guide has been reviewed and no changes are needed.
  • 02 Jul. 2020 (this page): Guide has been reviewed and no changes are needed.
  • 24 Nov. 2019 (talents page): Reviewed guide and no changes are needed.
  • 24 Nov. 2019 (this page): Reviewed guide and no changes are needed.
  • 26 Sep. 2019 (talents page): Updated Junkrat to reflect his newest rework.
  • 26 Sep. 2019 (this page): Updated Junkrat to reflect his new rework.
  • 05 Jun. 2019 (talents page): Updated most talent tier discussions and recommendations.
  • 05 Jun. 2019 (this page): Made various improvements and updates to the guide to bring it more in line with the current meta.
  • 02 Nov. 2017 (talents page): Updated the guide following the most recent balance patch, with the following changes being notable.
    • Level 4 Talent Gotta Trap 'Em All (E) has had the Heroes hit requirement reduced from 8 to 7.
    • Level 7 Talent Sticky Wicket (E) has had the Slow duration increased from 3 to 3.5 Seconds.
  • 16 Oct. 2017 (this page): Added Junkrat guide.
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