Overwatch – Let’s Drop The Beat!

Heal Them To Victory

The Summer 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janiero are under way. What better way to celebrate than in depth review of one of Overwatch’s more charismatic characters, Lucio. The Brazilian DJ on skates that speed boosts everyone and then heals them to victory. The very definition of a Tier 1 character that you simply cannot live without. He is the very definition of meta, and you wouldn’t see a team playing in a tournament without him. Perhaps the most OP character in the game in terms of value to the team, Lucio is the most fun anyone could possibly have while healing.

It would happen way too often in Overwatch during the early days of the game, that your team has to attack a point in order to unlock the payload. Everyone chooses multiple damage characters, maybe even a tank or two, and everyone avoids healer or picks a Mercy or Zenyatta. The squad gets absolutely crushed and every attempt on the point is held back by the enemy team. Then suddenly I will be the mature one and take one for the team, and switch to Lucio in hopes of jump starting the attack. Game changer! Immediately you can sense the difference, the team simply lingers long enough in a fight to finish off the defenders and capture the point. Then suddenly, you are breezing thru the map with the payload. The stats may not reflect it, but Lucio makes a world of a difference once he enters the game.

Main Abilities

For starters, right off the gate, his skill is set to increase the speed of his team. His ability to “Amp It Up” causes the entire team to receive an amazing speed boosts that lasts a few seconds. I use this at the start of every game, and every time I die and respawn. This gets the entire team back to the point incredibly quick, sometimes quicker than the defense can regroup. Symentra’s teleporter is the ability in the game that is better in regards to helping team mates get back into the action. Not to mention, Lucio himself and teammates are much more evasive when speeding through the map, and that much harder to hit. Add to the fact that he can also “Wall Ride’ and skate on the walls of any map, there is times where he is impossible to hit.

Lucio’s other ability is crossfade, which switches his speed boost to heal and vice versa. Anyone within line of sight is getting heals just by being near him. During the course of a large team fight, this makes such a difference. You simply outlast the enemy team because they have to shoot that much more to finish you off. In the heat of the moment, Lucio can also “Amp It Up” with his heal and suddenly boost the health of everyone including himself. This is an ability that any successful team cannot live without. It is the difference maker between high competitive skill or a low one. Dont believe me? Play a few rounds without Lucio in the team and let me know how those team fights go.

Weakness Or Not?

Some will say his weakness is his primary weapon, the Sonic Amplifier. I tend to disagree, as his basic attack can pile up the damage during the course of the game much better than most of the other support characters. If you constantly harass and keep shots flying through the map, you are bound to hit people, and it’s easy to rack up kills here and there with that technique. He’s obviously no bastion, but he doesn’t need to be. Run into him near the edge of the map, and his other attack is the Sound wave which can knock you back and score him an environmental kill. Nothing is more satisfying than pushing people off the map and getting kills with this ability. Even if he does not manage to push you off the ledge, it also does fairly decent damage.

Ultimate

Then to finish things off, his ultimate ability is the Sound Barrier. Lucio can suddenly give everyone a huge boost of health that then will rapidly decay, but this giant boost for the team is always the clutch play that finishes off a cap. All team members nearby that receive the boost of 500 HP become a daunting task to kill. They will almost always steamroll through the other team unless they also have a Lucio that counters his ult with one of his ult. Overall, Lucio is a huge difference maker and a fun healer to play. I encourage everyone to play Lucio if you’re team does not have a healer. The win column will start accumulating very quickly. You’ll thank me later. Let us know which support character you love and why.