Support: the hidden carry



In many MOBA’s and MMORPG’s, supports and healers are overlooked by a majority of the playerbase. Overwatch is no different, despite how crucial they can be to achieving victory in your games. Whether it is Capture the Objective or Payload, supports can carry a team to victory, when played well. In this guide we will focus on Lucio and Mercy, who are at the current time the two strongest supports in the game. When should they be picked and what are their respective strengths and weaknesses?

In Overwatch, staying near the objective is critical, and dying means losing precious seconds running back to the action. Health packs are not always accessible and if your health bar dips too low, you are often forced to break off and go look for them. Supports remove that problem from the equation.

Both Lucio and Mercy allow teams to stay on payloads and capture points almost indefinitely as long as they use their abilities intelligently and are capable of staying alive themselves. Instead of slowly being chipped down by the enemy until you are all too low to put up a fight, the support will keep your team topped up. This is key as a Team Kill might give the enemy time to capture the objective, or set up a defense that you will have a hard time cracking. You should always aim to have at least one support in your team. Oftentimes, a team of skilled players can make do without a tank. However, it is almost mandatory to have someone capable of healing you on your team.

This does not mean you shouldn’t pick a support if someone else already took one. Far from it. Some of the most effective strategies in the game might require two Lucio’s, or a combination of Lucio and Mercy. These work very well as both nullify the others weakness when it comes to healing. But when it comes down to you, which one should you pick?

Lucio

Lucio is a very strong support and saw a good amount of popularity on the beta. He is both easy to understand and fun to play. His abilities give him high mobility and good damage if you can get used to his slow projectile speed, along with his passive healing.

He fits into most team comps and his movement speed boost is a huge advantage when you need to reach a point quickly. His healing varies from Mercy’s in that it isn't active. Using Crossfade, he gives everyone in a certain radius 25 hp every 2 seconds. However, you can boost this with his E, in which case he will heal people for 120 hp over 3 seconds.

Keep in mind that his E has a 12 second cooldown and using it when it isn’t strictly necessary could cost you a fight. His ultimate is a 500 hp shield on all allies around him that works amazingly against many enemy ultimates such as Junkrats Rip-tire or Reapers Death Blossom. Use it smartly, as this shield will decay over 6 seconds and his ult will take quite some time to recharge.

Don’t forget to use his Soundwave, as it provides excellent utility by knocking back enemies at short range. It can be very useful in maps where you must fight near ledges, such as Illios.

Tip: The number displayed in the middle of his screen represents the amount of people under the influence of his heals/speed. This also shows the amount of people who will be affected by his ultimate. Try to position yourself accordingly.

Tip: Lucio's healing is weak against high burst, especially when his E is down. Keep this in mind.

Tip: If a crucial team member dies, you might want to speed your way back to spawn and escort him to the fight with your speed boost. Getting them there a few seconds early could save you the game.

Mercy

Mercy lacks any AOE heal, but makes it up with incredibly strong single-target healing. With her Caduceus staff giving allies 50 hp a second, she can top off a wounded ally in no time. Her 30% damage boost is also extremely strong when used on the right target and can empower a Bastion, or a good Widowmaker to do highly impactful damage. She also benefits from excellent mobility when facing allies with her Guardian Angel.

While she is harder to play than Lucio, a great Mercy will be amazing. A great Lucio will only be great. If you are capable of zipping around a fight and healing/buffing correctly, you can single-handedly carry a team to victory.

She also lacks some of the offensive capabilities that Lucio possesses. Where he is capable of holding his own against most enemies, Mercy has less health and a weaker gun. This does not mean that she is incapable of defending herself though, as a series of good headshots will put down any Tracer or Genji that tries to flank you. Her passive makes her extremely durable in extended fights as she will heal herself automatically after not taking damage for 3 seconds.

Mercy’s ultimate is perhaps one of the most game changing abilities in Overwatch. It is capable of turning a horrible situation into a victory by completely negating an enemy ultimate. Use it wisely, but don’t hold onto it for too long and remember, when playing Mercy, decision making is key. If you have to choose between two people to resurrect, pick the one that is the best for the situation you are in. It might be Reinhardt, Bastion, or any other hero in the game. When defending, I often find it advantageous to keep my Bastion in the fight.

Tip: Mercy’s ultimate charges extremely fast in combat situations. Healing a tank with critical health can often give you upwards of 40% on your ult.

Tip: Damage boosts will also contribute to your ultimate recharge rate.

Tip: If you are getting flanked, try to fly to an ally. If none are in range, fight back. With good aim, Mercy can take on a surprisingly large amount of champions.

Tip: Sometimes, you will have to sacrifice someone to save another. Choose your actions wisely.

Tip: Unless this option is deactivated, you can fly to the person you are healing without looking at them.

The Lucio & Mercy comp

During the beta, it wasn’t rare to see someone pick Lucio or Mercy, and instantly switch to something else when another ally chose a support as well. This shouldn’t be an automatic response as having two supports on the team is far from a bad thing. Actually, it could be argued that having both Lucio and Mercy on the same team is an incredibly powerful combination.

Lucio is capable of healing allies that are taking chip damage easily and allows Mercy to focus on boosting allies, or healing those who are taking large amounts of damage very quickly. In this way, the task of supporting the team is divided between two players and allows them to be more effective.

Combining their ultimate abilities can also make for insanely good teamfighting. Lucio’s Sound Barrier will turn the entire team into very tanky heroes for a short duration and increase their survivability. Even if they do get killed, Mercy is there to resurrect them and turn the team into a nigh-unkillable force.

In the end, both of these supports can fit most situations, but a highly skilled Mercy will often be more useful than a Lucio. Never forget that combining them can turn your team into a deadly force.