3 Reasons you think your supports suck in Overwatch 2 (and why you’re wrong)

With the launch of Overwatch 2 and the game’s new 5 vs 5 format, many words have been written on the various platforms of the internet complaining about the support role. From DPS Moiras to the ever present misogyny against Mercy players, everyone seems to have a bad take on the current state of support in the new version of the game.

Most complaints are from players who think they’re just not getting healed anymore since the game lost a tank in the switch over to the sequel. And for sure, at lower levels, support players will struggle to heal in that maximally efficient way that higher level players are able to achieve. But the reality is that the ability for, let’s say, a silver support to heal their teammates is roughly equivalent to a silver DPS player’s ability to kill an enemy, and a silver tank’s ability to take effective space for their teammates.

You all suck at it.

There’s this misconception that support players have somehow become worse since the release of Overwatch 2. It’s true that there has been some adjustment to how support players need to position without an extra tank in the game, but reality is these are the same supports you had in Overwatch 1.

Here are 3 reasons why you think your supports suck and why you’re wrong about it.

1. Your positioning sucks!

In order for every support in the game to be able to heal you, they need to be able to see you. Most supports try to position themselves so that they can see their whole team, with minimal line of sight of the enemy team.

If you play split from the rest of your team, or you are constantly going on crazy flanks, you’re probably not going to find healing from your supports. A good support player will recognize teammates who take strong off angles and will support them, this is usually done by the main support (Lucio, Mercy, Brig, and sometimes Zen when they’re playing with an Ana, Bap, or Kiriko).

It goes without saying that if you push up around a corner from your supports’ lines of sight, you shouldn’t expect to get healed. If you do take a flank, try to play neat a health pack that you can grab during your escape back to your team. If you die in a place where your supports couldn’t see you, that death was your fault.

Most low level supports are healbots, eager to heal anyone that loses even a sliver of HP. Though there is a tendency to over focus on supporting the tank at the lowest levels, nonetheless if a low level support knows you lack health, they will likely be eager to top you off. If you’re not getting healed, watch your replays back, are you in their line of sight?

2. You take too much damage

There are no support heroes in the game that can outheal an entire enemy team’s worth of damage over the long term. Sure Zen can use his ultimate to give you a short term burst of healing to survive that scenario, or Ana can give you nanoboost. But for the most part, taking damage from multiple enemies will nearly always result in your death, especially if you’re not a tank.

Supports also cannot save you from most one shot abilities. A Hanzo or Widow headshot are always going to be a death. Some one shot abilities and ultimates, like Roadhog’s one shot combo, or Tracer pulsebomb, can be countered with Bap lamp, or nanoboost, or Kiriko’s protection Suzu, but these are higher level skills for higher level supports.

It’s still your responsibility to try to avoid these, and you certainly shouldn’t grief your supports if you keep getting owned by a Hanzo.

One thing it took me a long time to realize is that there are certain corners that low level players spam. The first corner on Eichenwalde attack, for example, is a place where enemies will spam all their fire. If you peek it without a tank in front of you, you will probably die to random shit. That’s not your supports’ fault.

Use safe corners for cover. Expose yourself to one enemy’s fire at a time. Avoid common spam spots. Follow these rules and suddenly your supports will seem better.

3. Your supports are dead and you did nothing to keep them alive

I’ve lost track of the number of times low level players complained about me not healing them when they died after I died earlier in the teamfight. This is a dangerous time for supports, who are more exposed to the enemy than ever before.

It’s been an adjustment even for me, a relatively experienced support player, in learning how to avoid enemy flankers or ward off coordinated dives. Sombra now can hack me when I’m invisible and just delete me from the game anytime she wants if I let my guard down.

If one team kills the other team’s supports, the teamfight is over. Like you should either just die fast, or escape back to your spawn if you lose your supports.

But beyond that, you should be actively trying to keep your supports alive. Even Overwatch League support players struggle to heal their team while they’re also being attacked by one or more enemies in close proximity. Expecting a silver Ana to kill an enemy Tracer, and escape an enemy Winston, while also healing you on your off angle, all at the same time, is frankly delusional.

If you’re playing as a close range DPS, try positioning near your supports throughout the fight. Your presence alone will deter enemy attacks and being close to the highest priority enemy target will give you ample targets of opportunity for damage.

If your supports are always dying to flankers, you’re just not going to get healed. Help them out already, this isn’t rocket science.

*****

I fully realize that there are many bad support players, hell I’m high plat, I’m still bad. But you’re the only common denominator in all of your Overwatch games, if you are literally never getting healed in any of your games, that’s on you homie. You’re fucking up somewhere along the line.

Watch your games back and see why you’re not getting healed, I guarantee doing so will help you become a better player.