Lucio is one of the most versatile heroes in Overwatch, and fulfills the role of a support while also bringing game changing abilities and moderate damage to the team. There is rarely a team composition that would not benefit from a good Lucio player as support. Many people want a Mercy as support, and she clearly has her strengths, but an experienced Lucio can change the game in many different ways.

Abilities

First, we will start with the basics. His Sonic Amplifier shoots out a four round burst with a magazine of 20 (5 bursts). Each shot does 16 damage (32 precision damage), and is extremely accurate. The biggest downside is that there is considerable bullet travel time, which means that hitting targets at long range will not be particularly easy. A good use of this weapon at long range is to spam it down lanes where enemies are approaching to add some chip damage to your team. At short range you will still need to lead your target a little, so it will probably take a few games to feel comfortable in a firefight as Lucio. A full precision burst can deal 128 damage, but it is extremely difficult to hit with all shots due to the nature of the weapon.

Lucio’s alternate fire is Soundwave, which uses 4 ammo and has a 4 second cooldown. It does 25 damage (cannot deal precision damage), and knocks the enemy back. It can be used to cancel your normal 4 shot burst, leaving you with a strange number of bullets for your last burst. This can also be used with less than 4 bullets left in the magazine and still have its full effect (so your last burst can be 3 shots with your normal fire and a burst if timed correctly). Of particular note is that this ability is easy to hit and does exactly one bar of health, so it is good for finishing off evasive low health heroes (a Tracer who has been hurt by allies for instance).

Skill with this ability is what separates the good Lucios from the great Lucios. The obvious use is to knock enemies off of the map for instant kills, and in some maps this makes Lucio one of the strongest heroes in the game (specifically Ilios Lighthouse, Nepal Sanctum, and Lijiang Tower Night Market). Other great uses of it exist however, which include pushing back dangerous close range heroes (Roadhog, Mei, Reinhardt) and preventing an enemy from contesting a point. Preventing an overtime or getting enemies off of your payload right at the end can be the difference between a win and a loss, so mastering this ability is essential if you want to be a top tier Lucio.

Next we come to Lucio’s defining support skill: his auras. Lucio always has one aura activated, either healing or speed. Unlike auras in most games, these are Line of Sight based rather than Area of Effect based. There is a maximum range, but it is very long and usually line of sight will be what limits you rather than the range. The healing aura passively heals 12 HP per second, and the speed aura increases speed by a very noticeable amount (exact numbers here are much more difficult to determine). He can instantly swap between auras with no cooldown time in between, which means you can have whatever you need whenever you need it. The passive healing will give your team a lot of staying power on an objective, and makes Lucio himself tankier than his 200 HP would make him appear, as he will heal through some damage if he is not one shot by a sniper or powerful ability.

Don't just be a healer, get into position with a speed boost and kill those guys!

To boost these auras, Lucio can use Amp It Up, which boosts his auras for 3 seconds with a cooldown time of 12 seconds that starts after the boost is over (the total cooldown is 15 seconds from activation). This increases the heal to 40 HP per second and greatly increases movement speed. It is important to know that if you swap auras after you Amp It Up, the new aura have a boosted effect until the 3 seconds is complete. This is very helpful, as you can swap to speed and Amp It Up to escape, and then swap once in a safe place and get a little extra healing if still within the 3 seconds. Most of the time people will save Amp It Up for when the team is fighting for a burst heal. While a good tactic, using the speed boost for varying situations is also very strong. It can allow you to escape a dangerous opponent, help your team run from a D. Va ultimate, position the team for a push, or just get you into a position to contest a point. A good Lucio will also be bold, and knock enemies off the map using a well timed speed boost with Amp It Up to position himself and get the kill. At the highest levels you will want to coordinate with your teammates to rush enemies with the speed boost. A surprise McCree at close range can make for a sad day for your opponents.

Lucio’s ultimate is Sound Barrier, which creates a 500 HP shield for all allies in a fairly large area, and like his auras it requires Line of Sight as well. Lucio’s ultimate gets charged not only from damage he deals, but also from healing (like any healer). This shield decays at 100 HP per second so it is only active for a short time, but in those few seconds you can help your team push an objective, or survive an enemy ultimate. It is best used once you hear the audio cue for an enemy ultimate to counter it (“Fire in the Hole!” should usually be followed a second later by “Let’s Drop the Beat”). This is far from immunity from these ultimates and a wombo combo will still be deadly, but the protection might be what saves you from a team kill, and at times from a loss.

Last, but certainly not least, Lucio has the passive Wall Ride. At first glance this seems almost useless: Lucio can hold down jump to ride along walls. The caveat to this is that he can jump off of those walls to reach higher places, and can chain these jumps as long as each time he jumps he changes walls. This means that he can jump infinitely in a corner as long as he swaps which wall he is jumping off of each time, and he can use shortcuts to flank enemies or escape their chase. With this ability practice makes perfect.

Which walls count as “different” changes from map to map. This is not an issue with obviously different walls, but something like a different panel of what people would normally call the same wall can sometimes be used. One of the most important to know, is that if there are pillars on an objective (like Hanamura point A and Lijiang Tower Garden) you can jump constantly as long as it is a slightly different angle, allowing you to always be above the enemy with some cover while contesting the point. You could probably make an hour long video (or longer) showing all of the different access points you can reach in different maps. My suggestion is that when playing Lucio you should try out as many walls as is feasible until you understand the general trends of what can be used. It is important to explore the uses of this ability because, once mastered, it can make Lucio extremely evasive and mobile, which enhances his entire kit quite a bit. Jumping around erratically makes him a difficult target, while his auras will still be active and affecting his team.

With Wall Ride you should never give up.

The Big Picture

Now that each of his abilities has been discussed, it is important to put the entire picture together. Lucio is mobile, can defend himself, and can heal himself. This makes him entirely self sufficient as a support and with the ability to heal and fight at the same time, he has a huge presence in a fight. His heal also affects multiple targets at a time, and because of this he has the most team healing potential in the game (other than a Zenyatta ultimate). Ideally, a good Lucio will be jumping around, distracting and dodging enemy fire, inflicting chip damage, and controlling the objective by forcing others off of it or constantly contesting the capture. With his healing and wall jumping you can survive much longer than you would expect, and if evasive enough you can even force overtime yourself long enough for your team to get back into the fray. Lucio is a good pick for any game mode, with a versatile kit that helps his team in any situation.

One of the best parts about Lucio is that it is easy to pick him up and really benefit your team, while continual play allows you to master him and be a game changer. He essentially has a low skill floor and a high skill ceiling, and can be fun even for the more DPS minded player. If you do not main support but want to be able to play one for the matches with less than cooperative teammates, I would definitely try him out. If you are a support main, you really need to learn him. Mercy has her own merits and is certainly strong but Lucio has always felt to me like a stronger pick, especially if you are not with a premade team because you have more capability to defend yourself.

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