Ever since the first season, Lucio has been one of the staple heroes in every composition. Since he’s currently the only hero who has the ever-useful speed boost, he’s essentially irreplaceable, at least in that regard. While he may not have the fastest healing per second, he makes up for it with all of the utility he provides (and not to mention the ability to potentially heal the entire team at once).

Usually, people think of Lucio as an easy hero to play because of the nature of his abilities. While that’s not entirely wrong, he has a deceptively high skill ceiling. Now, let’s go through a few things that can help you wall ride your way up to that ceiling.

JUMP AROUND

One of the things that makes Lucio special is his ability to wall ride. Knowing how to take advantage of his wall riding mechanics can mean the difference between life and death, or maybe even a win or loss.

While it may sound easy to just mash the jump button, it’s essential to learn which walls you can jump from. You can wall ride and hop on pretty much any flat or (most) curved surfaces, but you can’t jump on a wall that’s facing the same direction, neither can you hop from the same wall you just left. This may seem like a minor detail, but a simple slip-up can easily snowball into a lot of other mistakes (and maybe even an early death).

It should also be noted that you move significantly faster while wall riding. If you jump off a wall, you get to maintain this momentum for a short amount of time. With this, you can easily traverse hard to reach areas or just make yourself a target that’s annoyingly hard to hit.

CROSSFADING & SPLIT-SECOND DECISIONS

If you’ve seen players like DSPStanky, you’ve probably noticed them “spamming” crossfade. Despite what it looks like, it’s usually really a product of high awareness/game sense. In order to be a highly effective Lucio, you need to be constantly aware of what’s happening to your entire team.

Here’s an example scenario:

Your team’s attempting to push in, you have your speed aura up to help everyone get into a safer position inside. One of your flankers has one tick of HP left and is retreating to the rest of the team and your other support player (which will more than likely have better healing capabilities) is too busy healing the others, possibly a tank.

In this situation, the ideal course of action may be to switch to your healing aura and Amp It Up until everyone, especially the person with one tick left, is healthy enough. Immediately switch back to your speed aura to continue the push forward, even better if Amp It Up is still active.

Okay, now what if the flanker in question has low mobility or has their movement skills on cooldown? In this situation, you’d have to decide between amping up either speed or healing. This is where game sense comes into play. Is the flanker in any immediate danger? Will running towards them put you or the rest of your team at risk? Is the distance close enough that you can afford to keep a healing aura up while escorting your hurt teammate? Maybe you can speed boost in and boop their pursuer away?

These kinds of decisions can make or break fights, and learning the appropriate course of action comes with experience. Play around, experiment, and take note of your successes and failures whenever you get into a situation such as this. With time, you’ll find yourself frantically wall riding across the map while still being able to micromanage your team.

SOUND BARRIER

Lastly, learn how to efficiently use Sound Barrier. There's really not much else to say here that isn't common sense. One bit of advice though is to use your ult as much as you can. Now I'm not saying you should waste it and pop your ult whenever it's up, but don't hold on to it for too long, which is something a lot of players tend to do regardless of what hero they're playing.

For example, if your team wants to go for a push, feel free to use your ult along with a speed boost. This will usually put a lot of pressure on the enemy team. If you're lucky, you might even get some of them to waste their own ults to try and stop your push.

Usually, the only times you should be saving your ult is if you're anticipating one from your enemies. Again, this one is all about game sense. If you're certain that an enemy is ready to ult and is merely waiting for an opening, then keep your eye on that person and pop Sound Barrier just when they're about to make their move. If all else fails, you could always ult immediately after hearing an enemy ult's sound cue, though sometimes this would require you to have a very fast reaction speed.

One last thing, as much as possible, don't jump before using Sound Barrier. Not only will it delay the actual Sound Barrier effect, it'll render you completely vulnerable until you land. It isn't uncommon for Lucio players to die during a Sound Barrier attempt, so never underestimate the amount of time it takes to actually land your ult.

Below is a gif comparison that shows how long it takes to land Sound Barrier under certain conditions. It may not be the most accurate representation, but the results are significant enough.

To close this out, Lucio will always be a safe and reliable pick no matter what rank you're in or what comp your team is running. As long as you continue to improve your situational awareness and Lucio mechanics, you're guaranteed to climb with this hero alone! So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and wall ride your way to the victory!

Got any additional tips for aspiring Lucio players? Feel free to comment them down below!

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