The maths that kills you
Being dived is not a skill problem first. It is a health pool problem.
| Your pool | Time at 200 damage per second | Distance you can travel |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 1.25 s | 7.5 m |
| 300 | 1.50 s | 9.0 m |
Strategists sit in the 250 to 300 band, the same as Duelists, and unlike Duelists most of the kit is pointed at allies. So the honest starting point is: you have about nine metres.
A heal from a teammate does not fix this. Healing buys 1 ÷ damage rate seconds per point, which is a fraction of a second, and a dive is built to land inside that fraction.
Nine metres is a placement rule, not a reaction
Because nine metres is the whole budget, the exit has to be chosen before the fight, not found during it.
The rule: wherever you stand, there must be cover within nine metres in at least two directions. Not one — two, because one of them is where the diver is coming from.
| What counts | What does not |
|---|---|
| A corner you can step behind | A ledge above 3 metres |
| A doorway that breaks the line | A open rotation 15 metres away |
| A piece of map geometry | A teammate’s body |
Every hero jumps exactly 3 metres, so a ledge at 5 metres is not an escape unless you are one of nine heroes with a documented way up — Luna Snow at 6, Captain America and Black Widow at 5, Squirrel Girl at 9, or one of the five indefinite fliers. If you are playing a Strategist without a vertical tool, plan horizontal escapes only.
Fight the arrival, not the damage
The useful moment to act is when the diver arrives, not when your health bar starts moving. At that point you still have the full 1.25 seconds.
Three things to do in that window, in order:
- Move toward your team, not away from the diver. Running to open space extends the chase; running through your own team ends it.
- Use the escape cooldown immediately. A mobility ability held for a better moment is usually spent after death.
- Call it. A ping costs no time and the ping button is middle mouse on PC or D-pad down on console. A diver who has been seen usually aborts — the ping guide covers which calls land.
What not to do: do not duel to prove a point. Some Strategists can win that fight. Most cannot win it consistently, and the ones who cannot are the ones who keep trying.
Positioning that makes you a bad target
A diver picks the easiest target, so the goal is not to be unkillable — it is to be the third-best option.
Stand where two teammates can see you. A dive into a covered angle is a dive that gets punished.
Change your angle every fight. A Strategist who heals from the same spot all match is a solved problem by the second fight.
Stay inside your tank’s retreat line. If the Vanguard has to come back, they should be coming back toward you, not past you.
Use the objective as cover. On Domination the point is a piece of geometry with predictable sightlines, and standing on the far side of it is free cover.
The positioning guide covers the three-property check — cover, line, exit — in general, the counter dive comp page is the team-level version, and the peel guide covers what your team owes you.