So the Open Beta for Overwatch has come to an end. We’ve had a chance to play as 21 heroes and we’ve started to choose our favourite heroes to play. However, you may be asking yourself “I wonder if I can impact the game more by choosing another Hero”. Well if you are I’m going to go through the Support heroes their strengths, weaknesses and when to choose which hero. We’ll start with Mercy.

Mercy

Weapons:

Her primary “weapon” is her Caduceus Staff. This staff can heal teammates at a high rate using the primary fire button. While the secondary fire button will increase the targets damage output by 30%. Mercy is one of a few heroes who has a secondary weapon, this is her Caduceus Blaster. This blaster has a slow rate of fire and does medium damage.

Abilities:

Her first ability is Angelic Descent which is an ability that allows Mercy to glide through the air downwards until impact with the floor. This ability can be used while using her second ability which is Guardian Angel. This ability is a great way to help teammates that are far away or a great way to escape a situation. This ability allows Mercy to lock on to a teammate and fly towards them. During Guardian Angel you can heal, damage boost or revive your teammates as you are flying through the air. Her ultimate ability is Resurrection. This ability is key as to why a player should pick Mercy, this ultimate is one of the strongest in the game, and with the ability to revive all your teammates to 100% health is insane and can turn any situation. There is no limit to how many teammates Mercy can revive at once. Once teammates have died and Mercy has her ultimate charge an icon will appear on the players screen showing how many team members are down. If the ultimate is triggered the amount of teammates shown in the icon will be revived.

When to use:

Mercy is one of the most versatile heroes in the game. She can be used on defence and attack, although it is considered best to use Mercy on defence as most of your teammates will be in a more close-knit group, meaning you can give more heals or damage boost quicker. A skilled Mercy however, is equally effective on attack as well. During the open beta the combination of Pharah and Mercy was in almost every game. As Pharah is a 30% damage boost is a great option to have on either defence or attack. This combination is great to have in any team however, when playing as Mercy don’t forget to watch out for all your teammates and not just Pharah. Whilst healing and damage boosting a teammates Mercy can look around at other team members and see if they need assistance. Mercy’s ultimate is one of the fastest charging in the game this is due to the healing beam and the damage boost beam contributing to the ultimate charge, so don’t be afraid to use the Resurrect ultimate.

Lucio

Weapons:

His primary weapon is a burst fire sonic blaster called the Sonic Amplifier, this shoots four bullets at a time. The Sonic Amplifier has a secondary fire ability called Soundwave which knocks back enemies. This also causes small damage, however, if used correctly the Soundwave ability can be used to knock players off the map.

Abilities:

Lucio has the ability to heal and speed boost his teammates using his Crossfade ability. When playing as Lucio you will have the option to choose which boost you wish to do. The boost is a passive ability and is AOE. Using Lucio’s second ability called Amp It Up, the boosts are more effective. Lucio has the ability to skate on the walls. Using the jump button next to a wall Lucio can stake across the environment with ease this is a great escape tool when used with the speed boost. Lucio’s ultimate is Sound Barrier this is an AOE boost for all teammates in the area. This ability give all teammates a buff of over heal points acting as a shield, this lasts for five seconds and once it is over teammates will have full heal points.

When to use:

Lucio is the only hero that can affect movement in the game this is key for certain game modes where your team has to capture a point. The AOE speed boost is great for capture point maps. Once at the point Lucio can switch to AOE healing which will contribute to the ultimate charge as your team mates take damage. Lucio’s ultimate is useful in defence as well as an attack. The added barrier can give your team the confidence to push for a point or stay on a payload a lot long. This ultimate also a huge counter to other ultimate abilities in the game as the barrier of his ultimate will take a lot of the damage from McCree’s high noon ultimate ability. When defending, Lucio is not used very often as the speed boost is almost useless to a defending team and with Mercy as option, there should only be one choice on defending sides. The issue with Lucio is he has to side moderately close to the action as he is AOE based, this makes you as Lucio a huge target for the enemy team to take out.

Zenyatta

Weapons:

Zenyatta’s primary weapon is his Orb of Destruction. These orbs can be shot individually or can be charged up to a maximum of five orbs per shot as a secondary fire mechanism.

Abilities:

Zenyatta has two abilities and an ultimate. His first ability is the Orb of Discord. This orb attaches to enemy players; if an enemy has this orb attached to them attacks received will do more damage than they normally would. His second ability Orb of Harmony is a healing orb which attaches to teammates and heals them for as long as it is attached. Currently these orbs stay on the enemy/teammate as long as they are within Zenyatta’s line of sight, if they leave his for more than three seconds the orbs will be returned to Zenyatta. You only have one of each Orb so choose your targets wisely and don’t be afraid to switch the Orb to other team members that need healing or an enemy that needs to be dealt with. Zenyatta’s ultimate is Transcendence which is an AOE healing ultimate which will heal your teammates. While in Transcendence Zenyatta can move around the map, he is also takes no damage in this form, however, during Transcendence Zenyatta can be knocked back by enemy heroes.

When to use:

Zenyatta is a great hero to use in defence maps as his range with his Orbs for healing and increasing damage to enemy. Also using his Orbs of Destruction in choke points in the map can deal a lot of damage to the attacking team. On attack Zenyatta is a viable choice as his ultimate is a great asset to have when pushing the payload to pushing on to a capture point. However, due to Zenyatta’s low health point total (as most of his health is shield) you have to be careful of taking damage, currently a Widowmaker 100% charge shot will kill you in one hit. His shield will regenerate once he has been out of combat for a few seconds but positioning is key with this hero make sure you don’t get caught out by a sniper or up close and personal with a Reaper/McCree.

Symmetra

Weapons:

Symmetra’s primary weapon is her Photon Projector which fires a beam and attaches to an enemy hero. This beam will lock onto an enemy as long as they don’t go out of range. Also the longer the beam is attached to the enemy hero the more damage it does. The secondary fire of her Photon Projector is created by the player holding down the secondary fire button, the longer you hold the button the bigger and more powerful the orb will get. This however, is a slow moving orb which can be easily dodged. The secondary fire Orb will go through shields such as Reinhardt’s Shield.

Abilities:

Her first ability is her sentry turrets these are placed around the environment by the player. If an enemy walks into their path they will be slowed and damaged for the duration they attached. Enemy players can shoot these off the wall during the turrets firing and before. So it is a good idea to group them together to cause damage and slow the enemy. Once triggered the player is notified so this can be a good indication when you are being flanked. Her second ability is to give team mates shields these increase your teammate’s health by seventy five points. These can be given out every second but once they have been given to a player they cannot be given another shield until the first shield has been destroyed. Her ultimate is a teleporter this is a great asset for any defending team which has a long way to run after dying. This teleport ultimate is great for getting your teammates back into the action straight after they have died.

When to use:

Symmetra is more of a defence orientated hero as her turrets can slow and damage enemy heroes that are attacking. They also display when they are triggered which can indicate when enemy heroes enter a point on the map. Her main role as support is to ensure that all your teammates have their shields activated and getting your ultimate to full charge. Once ultimate is fully charged be careful where you place the teleport as enemy heroes can destroy it if they find it. On attack Symmetra isn’t used as much as her ultimate isn’t very useful as attackers spawn close to where the attack objective. While her turrets can be useful on moving payloads these are easily shot off by enemy heroes.

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