EsportsJohn Profile Blog Joined June 2012 United States 4833 Posts #1

Lúcio First Impressions Analysis and Pro Opinions by Midseasons



"From the streets of Rio to the clubs on King's Row, Lúcio's beats bring the party to life, and drive the people to action. Now he's on tour in the Nexus, ready to break it down, and to continue fighting for what's right.”



Table of Contents Strengths and Weaknesses



Abilities



Talents



Professional Opinions

Kit, Design, and Implementation

Professional Play and Meta Changes

Map and Composition Viability

Final Thoughts





The newest Overwatch hero to enter the Nexus, Lúcio brings his unique blend of style and positivity to the Support role. In his home game, Lúcio’s kit brings such team-wide utility that he’s been a mandatory pick throughout Overwatch’s competitive history. Despite repeated nerfs, Lúcio remains a fixture on teams no matter how the rest of the metagame shifts.



Time will tell whether Lúcio becomes as necessary in Heroes of the Storm, but his first week has him off to a strong start. Lúcio’s win rates have been fluctuating dramatically with skill level, ranging from 48-57% in Hero League depending on the MMR bracket. At every level, his Quick Match win rates are even higher than Hero League win rates, peaking at 60% for Master-tier QM. It’s likely Blizzard will turn down the volume on some of his numbers, but after a long dominance of Malfurion and a recent shift back towards double-healer compositions, Lúcio has definitely rocked some life into a stale Support draft.



Now let’s break him down!







Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths

Unmatched mobility



Can move and attack simultaneously



Constant, sustained AoE healing

Weaknesses

Insignificant wave clear



Requires nearby allies to get value from his kit



Lack of cleanse until Level 20



Abilities



Mount

Skate Mode

Lúcio can shoot while moving. Lúcio skates or dies!





Trait

Wall Ride

When moving alongside impassable battleground terrain and Structures, Lúcio can walk through other units and his Movement Speed is increased by 20%. This works together with other Movement Speed bonuses.

Modified by talents: Accelerando (1), Slip (1), Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (13), and Hard Style (13)





Basic Abilities

Soundwave (Q)

Deal 112 damage to enemies in an area and knock them back. 7 second cooldown.

Modified by talents : Subwoofer (4), Off the Wall (4), Chase the Bass [Quest] (4), and Heliotropics (16)

Crossfade: Speed Boost (W)

Currently playing Speed Boost, increasing the Movement Speed of Lúcio and nearby allied Heroes by 15%. Toggle to play Healing Boost instead.

Crossfade: Healing Boost (W)

Currently playing Healing Boost, passively healing Lúcio and nearby allied Heroes for 25 health per second. Toggle to play Speed Boost instead.

Modified by talents : We Move Together (1), Party Mix [Quest] (7), and Beat Mixing (13)

Amp It Up (E)

Raise Lúcio's Crossfade track volume for 3 seconds, amping Healing Boost to 132 health per second and Speed Boost to 45% increased Movement Speed. 15 second cooldown.

Modified by talents : Maximum Tempo [Quest] (1), Loudspeaker (7), Rejuvenescência (16), Bring it Together (16), Up the Frequency (16), Encore (20), and Synaesthesia Auditiva (20)



Heroic Abilities

Sound Barrier (R)

After 1 second, Lúcio and nearby Allied Heroes gain a 1392 point shield that rapidly decays over 6 seconds. 60 second cooldown.

Storm Talent: Bossa Nova . Reduce the cooldown of Sound Barrier to 30 seconds, but the shield now decays over 4 seconds.

Reverse Amp (R)

Blast Lúcio's Crossfade track at enemy Heroes for 4 seconds, causing Healing Boost to inflict 201 damage per second and Speed Boost to slow for 45%. Passive: Increase Amp It Up's duration to 4 seconds. 40 second cooldown.

Storm Talent: Nonstop Remix . While Reverse Amp is affecting at least 2 enemy Heroes, its duration lasts indefinitely.





Like Tracer and Zarya before him, Lúcio has a direct port of his Overwatch kit, giving him a familiar and comfortable feel once you adjust to the different control scheme. If you haven’t played Overwatch, don’t worry—basic Lúcio play is relaxing and simple, as your Crossfade songs will passively benefit anyone within their range without any extra effort on your part. The Wall Ride Trait will probably take the most adjustment for either experience group, being a very different movement style. Its movement speed bonus lasts for a brief window after leaving the terrain, so practice hitting the walls even for brief flashes to keep up Lúcio’s speed on large battlegrounds.



Lúcio’s two Crossfade tracks are Healing Boost provides a small, steady regeneration between engagements completely free of mana. Speed Boost, on the other hand, helps your team avoid damage altogether, and a burst of movement speed somewhat mollifies his lack of Cleanse. You’ll use a mix of both tracks to get your teammates out of danger, and the songs can be switched even during Amp It Up.





Blizzard’s album art and track listing for Lúcio’s hit debut



On its own, Speed Boost’s movement speed buff doesn’t override the faster mount speed of Lúcio’s teammates. But completing the level 1 quest talent Maximum Tempo increases the boost during Amp It Up to 60%, so allies will zoom across the map with Lúcio. Note that this speed boost does not stack with mount speed, so it's better to avoid mounting when Lúcio pops the 60% speed boost.



Soundwave feels the most different from Overwatch, as there’s no environmental kills to be had by pushing people off battlegrounds. It still remains Lúcio’s best form of soft CC. As it turns out, wall-riding past an enemy and booping them backwards into the middle of your team is just as lethal. It’s not as hard of a crowd-control tool as Malfurion’s roots or Uther and Tyrande’s stuns, but with Lúcio’s ability to ignore bodyblocks, it can provide peel for your teammates as you switch from one song to another in an emergency.



Both Heroic options are strong and viable, with Sound Barrier being the more popular of the two. Reverse Amp requires more aggressive positioning to receive maximum benefits but has a greater win rate in the higher levels of play. In addition to its activated ability, Reverse Amp passively buffs the duration of Amp It Up, giving it an edge outside of teamfights when compared to Sound Barrier, which is simply a very impactful, 80 second cooldown. Creating build diversity, Reverse Amp’s passive enables synergy with other talents that further strengthen Lúcio’s E, increasing their value when taken with that Heroic.



Talents

Lúcio’s talent tiers all focus on strengthening a specific aspect of his kit. Level 1 is themed around various ways of modifying his mobility, and Level 4 is filled with Soundwave options. The most noteworthy tiers come in at Levels 7 and 16, the latter being his greatest power spike.



All of the Level 7 talents provide ways of increasing the area affected by Lúcio’s music. Sonic Amplifier is the easiest to use and gives the most immediate and controllable results of the three. Party Mix provides no effects until its quest has been completed, but becomes permanent afterwards; it’s an investment into the later game, and in practice it doesn’t take at all as long to complete as the tooltip might make you fear it does. Boombox is the final option of the three, an active talent that gives Lúcio a placeable ward that can be either a healing or movement totem. The boombox plays the same song as your current Crossfade track, and while there’s no benefit to overlapping its radius with your own, it can let Lúcio’s aura be in two places at once.







The 16 tier, with an outlier that gives Soundwave a Blind ability, provides ways to significantly increase Lúcio’s healing output; once reaching this level, Lúcio can put out truly enormous numbers. The standouts here are Rejuvenescência and Bring It Together, and which provides greater benefit between the two will depend on your team comp. As a rule of thumb, Rejuvenescência will benefit your tanks while Bring It Together helps squishier mage-dependent teams, but



After reaching level 20, Lucio’s options for Storm Talents are jaw dropping. It’s here that he finally gets a Cleanse option in Synaesthesia Auditiva, and while that talent can pull off some amazing feats, it comes so late in the game that the need for it might have already passed. Many games have already been decided by this point, for better or worse. But still, not many Support heroes can cancel a successful Apocalypse/Ring of Frost combo with a single button push. Outside of Synaesthesia Auditiva, Bossa Nova lets Sound Barrier be cast multiple times in a single teamfight, while Nonstop Remix can feel outright oppressive. Bonus Track requires some finesse, but is a strong choice to cap off an E-centric Reverse Amp build.



Professional Opinions

On Kit, Design, and Implementation

Splendour, Misfits

Lúcio's healing is weak until he uses Amp It Up on it, which turns it into a super-Tranquility for a few seconds. Amp It Up should be used mostly with Healing Boost, but an Amped Speed Boost can save your team from being caught out of position or can set up a pickoff on a stray enemy hero.



The key to playing Lúcio is to switch between his Healing and Speed boost at the right time. Often when one of your allies is trying to survive it's better to prevent damage by speeding them. When fighting over an objective, the healing is usually better. Lúcio's Soundwave is an ability with a very high mechanical skill cap. You can use it to cancel important abilities like E.T.C.'s Powerslide and Varian's Charge. Lúcio's healing is weak until he uses Amp It Up on it, which turns it into a super-Tranquility for a few seconds. Amp It Up should be used mostly with Healing Boost, but an Amped Speed Boost can save your team from being caught out of position or can set up a pickoff on a stray enemy hero.The key to playing Lúcio is to switch between his Healing and Speed boost at the right time. Often when one of your allies is trying to survive it's better to prevent damage by speeding them. When fighting over an objective, the healing is usually better. Lúcio's Soundwave is an ability with a very high mechanical skill cap. You can use it to cancel important abilities like E.T.C.'s Powerslide and Varian's Charge.



Jun, Tempo Storm

I see Lúcio as a 'utility support' (like Monk/Brightwing) compared to traditional 'heal bot' supports (like Rehgar/Uther), which I really enjoy playing. He brings a lot of mobility to the team to compensate the lack of heals he might have compared to other supports. I see Lúcio as a 'utility support' (like Monk/Brightwing) compared to traditional 'heal bot' supports (like Rehgar/Uther), which I really enjoy playing. He brings a lot of mobility to the team to compensate the lack of heals he might have compared to other supports.



Kaelaris, Commentator and Host

Generally the Heroes development team likes to try push the conventional barriers of what is considered “normal” for the genre and the current playstyle of the game. Lúcio feels like a rulebreaker. He singlehandedly changes the pace and tempo (musical pun intended?) of the game to a degree that can be downright terrifying. Some of the scariest parts of his kit are his chase/retreat potential and the amazing utility both his Heroics bring—Sound Barrier being my favourite, so I can shout “OH LET’S BREAK IT DOWN” at home alone when nobody is listening. Finally, level 16 Rejuvenesência right now is mindboggling powerful. It’s basically a Heroic in itself, like a Tranquility on a short cooldown. Generally thedevelopment team likes to try push the conventional barriers of what is considered “normal” for the genre and the current playstyle of the game. Lúcio feels like a rulebreaker. He singlehandedly changes the pace and tempo (musical pun intended?) of the game to a degree that can be downright terrifying. Some of the scariest parts of his kit are his chase/retreat potential and the amazing utility both his Heroics bring—Sound Barrier being my favourite, so I can shout “OH LET’S BREAK IT DOWN” at home alone when nobody is listening. Finally, level 16 Rejuvenesência right now is mindboggling powerful. It’s basically a Heroic in itself, like a Tranquility on a short cooldown.



Kendricswissh, Commentator and Host

I think Lúcio's made a wonderful transition into Heroes of the Storm. His kit feels incredibly smooth and retains everything Lúcio offers in Overwatch. When you've played him in Overwatch, you will immediately think of his high mobility and crazy last-second saves using Sound Barrier. You can do the exact same in HotS—and even more. His second Heroic Ability, Reverse Amp, offers very unique and flexible usage. Depending on the situation you find yourself in, you can use it differently. I would even go as far and say that Lúcio is one of the most adaptable Support Heroes in the game, since he can switch between healing his allies and providing utility (mostly movement speed in his case) to his allies.



His talent tree is easy to understand, yet it offers some interesting and situational choices like "Back in the Mix" at Level 13, for instance, which is a great pick against popular Heroes like Varian or Valeera. I think Lúcio's made a wonderful transition into. His kit feels incredibly smooth and retains everything Lúcio offers in. When you've played him in, you will immediately think of his high mobility and crazy last-second saves using Sound Barrier. You can do the exact same in—and even more. His second Heroic Ability, Reverse Amp, offers very unique and flexible usage. Depending on the situation you find yourself in, you can use it differently. I would even go as far and say that Lúcio is one of the most adaptable Support Heroes in the game, since he can switch between healing his allies and providing utility (mostly movement speed in his case) to his allies.His talent tree is easy to understand, yet it offers some interesting and situational choices like "Back in the Mix" at Level 13, for instance, which is a great pick against popular Heroes like Varian or Valeera.



Wolf, Caster

I think Lúcio is underrated by a lot of pros right now. His ability to allow heroes to chase and secure kills (think Valla stutter-stepping and getting that chase kill) is powerful; he can secure kills with his Q as well, especially in the early game. His heal is powerful over time, but not bursty enough to save a target taking massive damage in a short period of time. I think Lúcio is underrated by a lot of pros right now. His ability to allow heroes to chase and secure kills (think Valla stutter-stepping and getting that chase kill) is powerful; he can secure kills with his Q as well, especially in the early game. His heal is powerful over time, but not bursty enough to save a target taking massive damage in a short period of time.



On Professional Play and Meta Changes



Jun, Tempo Storm

I’m not 100% sure how he will do on competitive scene, but I do feel positive that he will have a spot. I’m not 100% sure how he will do on competitive scene, but I do feel positive that he will have a spot.



Kaelaris, Commentator and Host

When I consider how he could be applied to competitive, I feel second support comps could be his real power position to accommodate for his lack of early sustain power until 10 to 16. Tassadar and Zarya spring to mind as ideal buddies for him. Outside of that, he could open up the possibility for a larger pool of melee assassins to be seen in competitive. One of the only things holding some back is their options, or lack of options, to rapidly close the gap and engage effectively. The speed boost negates a lot of that. Even something like Valeera, which admittedly we’ve seen a bit in NA, could be opened up in EU and KR a lot more. When I consider how he could be applied to competitive, I feel second support comps could be his real power position to accommodate for his lack of early sustain power until 10 to 16. Tassadar and Zarya spring to mind as ideal buddies for him. Outside of that, he could open up the possibility for a larger pool of melee assassins to be seen in competitive. One of the only things holding some back is their options, or lack of options, to rapidly close the gap and engage effectively. The speed boost negates a lot of that. Even something like Valeera, which admittedly we’ve seen a bit in NA, could be opened up in EU and KR a lot more.



Kendricswissh, Commentator and Host

Of course, it yet remains to be seen whether Lúcio is going to have an impact on the competitive meta. Some people claim he is not viable as a solo Support, while others think he can assume that role. Personally, I see him combining very well with other Supports, especially Tassadar, whose strong single-target shields match very well with Lúcio's sustained AoE healing. Moreover, I think that Lúcio can work some true magic in the hands of a pro player and enable some fancy maneuvers (especially ganks and last-second retreats) thanks to his movement speed boosts. Of course, it yet remains to be seen whether Lúcio is going to have an impact on the competitive meta. Some people claim he is not viable as a solo Support, while others think he can assume that role. Personally, I see him combining very well with other Supports, especially Tassadar, whose strong single-target shields match very well with Lúcio's sustained AoE healing. Moreover, I think that Lúcio can work some true magic in the hands of a pro player and enable some fancy maneuvers (especially ganks and last-second retreats) thanks to his movement speed boosts.



On Map Composition and Viability

Splendour, Misfits

Lúcio is great when he is with his team, but not that good at splitting. His low damage makes him slow at de-pushing and weak at dueling. To counter Lúcio, you can pick heroes that have a stun or a root. It doesn't matter that you're the fastest hero on the map when you can't move. Lúcio is great when he is with his team, but not that good at splitting. His low damage makes him slow at de-pushing and weak at dueling. To counter Lúcio, you can pick heroes that have a stun or a root. It doesn't matter that you're the fastest hero on the map when you can't move.



Final Thoughts

Jun, Tempo Storm

I originally thought his healing numbers would be very low, but as I play with it more, he has reasonable/pretty good sustain power (even good burst counter with Sound Barrier). The more I play it, the more I like it. I originally thought his healing numbers would be very low, but as I play with it more, he has reasonable/pretty good sustain power (even good burst counter with Sound Barrier). The more I play it, the more I like it.



Kaelaris, Commentator and Host

Overall he feels like a support that many a support main has been craving for a long time.



He could make rushing Cores more successful too *cough* Overall he feels like a support that many a support main has been craving for a long time.He could make rushing Cores more successful too *cough*



Kendricswissh, Commentator and Host

All in all, I think Blizzard should definitely implement more Heroes from the Overwatch universe, as they're easy to make (Overwatch's gameplay is very team focused, which makes it similar to Heroes of the Storm in some aspects). Furthermore, Overwatch Heroes draw a lot of attention to the game, and as such, they are capable of reaching players that other Blizzard franchises can't reach. All in all, I think Blizzard should definitely implement more Heroes from theuniverse, as they're easy to make ('s gameplay is very team focused, which makes it similar toin some aspects). Furthermore,Heroes draw a lot of attention to the game, and as such, they are capable of reaching players that other Blizzard franchises can't reach.



Wolf, Caster

The cast time for Sound Barrier allows for easy interruption, and his lack of Cleanse is a problem. I think he'll mostly be used as a secondary support, with some rare cases allowing for solo healing (like Brightwing). The cast time for Sound Barrier allows for easy interruption, and his lack of Cleanse is a problem. I think he'll mostly be used as a secondary support, with some rare cases allowing for solo healing (like Brightwing).





The newesthero to enter the Nexus, Lúcio brings his unique blend of style and positivity to the Support role. In his home game, Lúcio’s kit brings such team-wide utility that he’s been a mandatory pick throughout’s competitive history. Despite repeated nerfs, Lúcio remains a fixture on teams no matter how the rest of the metagame shifts.Time will tell whether Lúcio becomes as necessary in, but his first week has him off to a strong start. Lúcio’s win rates have been fluctuating dramatically with skill level, ranging from 48-57% in Hero League depending on the MMR bracket. At every level, his Quick Match win rates are even higher than Hero League win rates, peaking at 60% for Master-tier QM. It’s likely Blizzard will turn down the volume on some of his numbers, but after a long dominance of Malfurion and a recent shift back towards double-healer compositions, Lúcio has definitely rocked some life into a stale Support draft.Now let’s break him down!Like Tracer and Zarya before him, Lúcio has a direct port of his Overwatch kit, giving him a familiar and comfortable feel once you adjust to the different control scheme. If you haven’t played Overwatch, don’t worry—basic Lúcio play is relaxing and simple, as your Crossfade songs will passively benefit anyone within their range without any extra effort on your part. TheTrait will probably take the most adjustment for either experience group, being a very different movement style. Its movement speed bonus lasts for a brief window after leaving the terrain, so practice hitting the walls even for brief flashes to keep up Lúcio’s speed on large battlegrounds.Lúcio’s twotracks are We Move Together As One for accelerating and Rejuvenescência for his healing beat. Activating W will toggle between them with no cost to either mana or cooldown, so key Lúcio play revolves around knowing which song to play at which moment.provides a small, steady regeneration between engagements completely free of mana., on the other hand, helps your team avoid damage altogether, and a burst of movement speed somewhat mollifies his lack of. You’ll use a mix of both tracks to get your teammates out of danger, and the songs can be switched even duringOn its own,’s movement speed buff doesn’t override the faster mount speed of Lúcio’s teammates. But completing the level 1 quest talentincreases the boost duringto 60%, so allies will zoom across the map with Lúcio. Note that this speed boost does not stack with mount speed, so it's better to avoid mounting when Lúcio pops the 60% speed boost.feels the most different from, as there’s no environmental kills to be had by pushing people off battlegrounds. It still remains Lúcio’s best form of soft CC. As it turns out, wall-riding past an enemy and booping them backwards into the middle of your team is just as lethal. It’s not as hard of a crowd-control tool as Malfurion’s roots or Uther and Tyrande’s stuns, but with Lúcio’s ability to ignore bodyblocks, it can provide peel for your teammates as you switch from one song to another in an emergency.Both Heroic options are strong and viable, withbeing the more popular of the two.requires more aggressive positioning to receive maximum benefits but has a greater win rate in the higher levels of play. In addition to its activated ability,passively buffs the duration of, giving it an edge outside of teamfights when compared to, which is simply a very impactful, 80 second cooldown. Creating build diversity,’s passive enables synergy with other talents that further strengthen Lúcio’s E, increasing their value when taken with that Heroic.Lúcio’s talent tiers all focus on strengthening a specific aspect of his kit. Level 1 is themed around various ways of modifying his mobility, and Level 4 is filled withoptions. The most noteworthy tiers come in at Levels 7 and 16, the latter being his greatest power spike.All of the Level 7 talents provide ways of increasing the area affected by Lúcio’s music.is the easiest to use and gives the most immediate and controllable results of the three.provides no effects until its quest has been completed, but becomes permanent afterwards; it’s an investment into the later game, and in practice it doesn’t take at all as long to complete as the tooltip might make you fear it does.is the final option of the three, an active talent that gives Lúcio a placeable ward that can be either a healing or movement totem. The boombox plays the same song as your currenttrack, and while there’s no benefit to overlapping its radius with your own, it can let Lúcio’s aura be in two places at once.The 16 tier, with an outlier that givesa Blind ability, provides ways to significantly increase Lúcio’s healing output; once reaching this level, Lúcio can put out truly enormous numbers. The standouts here areand, and which provides greater benefit between the two will depend on your team comp. As a rule of thumb,will benefit your tanks whilehelps squishier mage-dependent teams, but this helpful Reddit post gives detailed mathematical comparisons between the talents available here.After reaching level 20, Lucio’s options for Storm Talents are jaw dropping. It’s here that he finally gets a Cleanse option in, and while that talent can pull off some amazing feats, it comes so late in the game that the need for it might have already passed. Many games have already been decided by this point, for better or worse. But still, not many Support heroes can cancel a successful Apocalypse/Ring of Frost combo with a single button push. Outside ofletsbe cast multiple times in a single teamfight, whilecan feel outright oppressive.requires some finesse, but is a strong choice to cap off an E-centricbuild. Strategy