Mostly addressing this question to “forum friends”, but any idea is welcome.
This morning I decided to start a Lucio streak.
As per usual, I checked his talents and figured that
a) those I’d use have a funny winrate (best build is 46% winrate)
b) the rest is all about wall riding
The match was like this. I spent some time on the walls. But then I heal less.
I tried, but I think I managed to D exactly 0 times.
I tried to boop, only to feed reliably. On the other hand, saved two people.
At some point I had 60k healing vs enemy Ana 20k. I thought we would win, but somehow it didn’t work after a while.
I should keep it to myself, but I have 24% lifetime winrate.
Basically I think the talents are all useless to me, so I’m effectively not scaling. I might as well just not pick talents at all.
So! Jokes aside, what would you do in the next 11 matches?
a) Focus on booping and walling and traiting. Don’t play healer, he is a CC support.
b) Take X build (8 minutes, etc.) and heal. That’s what you are. You are Q Ming and Q Naz after all…
c) …
I play option a, and pick High Five for ult. While not significant, it does add a bit of much needed single target healing. Combined with Unstoppable, I’ve been able to save quite a few teammates trapped in CC chain as they taking a beating.
Lucio is by far my most played healer, and the one on which I have the highest win rate. There are a couple of general tips to keep in mind.
Wall ride is like Dehaka’s W in that you can pass through enemy bodies while active. You cannot be bodyblocked while Wall Riding, and this also lets you set up for nice Push Offs or boops. Be careful if the enemy has a Diablo, as it doesn’t make you Unstoppable, so save your boop if he tries to Q you.
Boop is both a blessing and a curse. It can peel for you or your allies, it can knock an enemy into something like Deathwing’s Q, or it can save people if you knock them out of a Mosh or other combo. Although it is fun, do not boop on CD, but for a reason.
Always be AAing something, as while his AAs aren’t all that strong, they are damage, and they will follow a hero who ducks behind a wall. You can be a surprisingly good finisher if you just always keep attacking. Just remember to press H if it is something like a deflecting Genji or a Zarya shield.
Constantly be switching tracks. As a rule of thumb, I sit in speed boost and only switch to healing when people really need it, and pair it with Amp it Up. Often times dodging damage is more effective than healing it up. If they have steady DoT damage, like a Lunara, I will sit in heal track more, but even so, keep swapping as it makes sense. Just watch out for Anas before hitting E.
I know you said you didn’t use D, but go into Try Mode and practice it. Even if you don’t hit enemies with it, it is a potent repositioning tool. I use it as an escape as often as I use it aggressively. Practice using D into Q to zip behind an out of position enemy, and boop them into your tank.
The build I typically run is:
Level 1) Accelerando - Although I get the most value out of it on large maps, or maps where rotations are key, it does keep me using walls effectively. Also, I like going fast. If it is a map like Braxis where I may be in one lane and with the team consistently, I will take Smooth Moves. I only use Party Mix in ARAM.
Level 4) Subwoofer - Even though it is rare I complete it (don’t be a suicidal idiot trying to hit all of them), the extra range when someone is in my face is worth it. It is lovely against dive heroes, and makes your initiations against overextended heroes even more potent. I sometimes take Supersonic on maps with a lot of walls and repositioning.
Level 7) Reverse Amp - It really is just that good. On the rare occasions Reverse Amp will cause more problems than it solves (W build Genji), I go Good Vibrations. Remember, you get a shield from hitting anything with Q, although the shield is bigger if it hits heroes. It is really good against a dive or displacement comp, and if you get the quest at 4 completed, you get many fat shields.
Level 10) Either. High Five is really strong now, and oppressive after 20. Against heavy CC comps, it is a must. Sound Barrier is still good against burst comps, so don’t rule it out.
Level 13) Slip - Armor saves lives. I will use both of the other talents in certain situations, although I don’t take Heavy Casters very often, as the short stun doesn’t always have the same impact as the slow.
Level 16) Rejuveneicantspellthisia if my team has a lot of fatties, like a Diablo, Stitches, or Azmo. It also works very well with Garrosh. I love Up the Frequency if my tanks are doing fine in the self-sustain department, as it helps my team overall, and benefits my speed boost as well as the healing boost, where Rejuireallycantspellthisia only improves healing.
Level 20) Mixing Fire if I went High Five. This is so good it may actually need a nerf. I am a bit torn on that. The other talents are all situationally good.
Lucio is currently my main, and I have him at level 250. Here’s the thing though, Lucio is one of those rare heroes who can be played two different ways. Healer style, and DPS style, similar to Iron fists Kharazim. I find Lucio’s DPS style to be much more effective. If a healbot is what you want on your team, draft an alex or malf, but I play Lucio for the strict DPS dive potential.
Hard disagree here. Take Smooth moves on ANY map against ANY comp. It should be a mandatory talent for everyone. If you’re worried about not being fast enough, that’s what pushoff on 4 is for.
Smooth move does three things: Heals you for damage you deal, making you more tanky, able to dive better. It restores your mana, meaning you have to back less, and, most importantly, it increases the duration of wallride by 50% (1 second). Why is this last one so important? Because it allows you to keep Wallride going when you move from surface to surface.
A lot of people don’t know this but Wallride actually lasts two seconds after you leave a wall. THREE seconds if you take smooth moves. This two/three seconds includes full bonuses from the armor at 13, AA range with Up the frequency, and all the benfits provided by Smooth moves.
Here’s the build I recommend. Keep in mind, this is HARD dive DPS build Lucio
1.) Smooth moves. Talent is broken. If it was just one thing like extra wallride duration, it wouldn’t be that good, but its the fact that is has 3 in one. The self healing, the mana restoration, and the wallride duration makes it mandatory for this build.
4.) Supersonic. Missing the speed from Accelerando? This is your answer. 10 second cooldown on a super mobile ability that also does damage and slows the enemy by 70%? A must have.
7.) Reverse amp. Pretty self explanatory. Damage talent for the damage build. Other options are trash mostly.
10.) Situational. I only take Barrier against pyroblast and triple tap. If the enemy has neitiher of these, high five all the time. Not only for the team healing and self-cleanse, but for the insane 20 value that Hoku mentioned. Lucio is downright oppressive at 20 with this talent.
13.) Slip. Mandatory. Permanent 20 armor, super easy to keep up forever with smooth moves on 1.
16.) Up the Frequency. Probably his most important talent ever, for both heal build and DPS build. If anyone ever tells you to go Rejuvenescencia, they’re trolling. You can half the cooldown of reverse amp with constant autos which are extremely easy to get thanks to the increased AA range. Not only that, but this ability has insane synergy with Smooth moves, letting you heal yourself and restore mana from a very safe distance.
The biggest thing about this talent is obviously more amp it ups = more damage with reverse amp. It’s not uncommon to spend more time amping it up then you are with regular cross fade. This talent is absolutely broken.
20.) Mixing fire. Ridiculous talent. I’ve yet to find a single hero who can duel me 1v1 with this talent, with the only exception being butcher with a lamb to the slaughter and fully stacked.
Thanks all for the valuable feedback.
I’m feeling a consensus about “learn his ways” as opposed to “play him like others”, to simplify my a-b-c in the opener.
Orangejuice’s build is the one I took this morning, being the best performing one.
I’m considering to switch the level 4 up until I actually start using D meaningfully.
The synergy between 1-13-16 is fairly obvious indeed.
