Does Lucio's Sound Barrier (Ult) need a Buff?

General Discussion
1

Ok, I’m not a Lucio main and to be honest I only flex onto him when I think it is needed. So this post is not coming from me as someone wanting my favourite hero buffed!

Here’s the thing, Sound Barrier was arguably hit the hardest of all ultimate’s after Blizzard made the change so that you lose your ultimate if you die while using it.

Additionally, it has by far the highest Charge Requirement of all the hero’s in the game, at a value of 2625. To put that into perspective, here’s the other support hero’s charge values -

Zen’s Transcendence - 2075
Symmetra - 1000
Mercy - 1950
Moira - 2125
Ana - 1650

On top of all that, Lucio’s ultimate has the slowest passive charge rate in the game out of every hero, at 1% every 5 seconds.

So my question is, do people think that it’s in a good place now? The game has evolved over time and I feel that Lucio is still a good hero (and very much part of the current meta). However, I would argue he is getting a raw deal in relation to other hero’s in the game with regard to his ultimate. Yes it can counter Blades and Attack-Visor (although Transcendence is better) and can be clutch against Riptire or a Pulse Bomb (not easy to time!), but it feels rather underwhelming and certainly not worth it’s high charge requirement.

I’d say it needs a reduction in Charge Requirement (maybe in line with Zen’s) or a slight boost in power (maybe stretch the 500 barrier over 8 seconds rather than 6). What do people think?

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2

I think it’s fine.

It’s a reactive-type ult to heroes like Soldier/Reaper/Hog (heroes that deal high-sustained damage rather than instant death (D.Va/Junk).

The thing is Lucio provides more presence on payloads than a Zen (group heals) and I think you’re simply comparing ults to ults and leaving out each supports impact on a particular game…

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3

In terms of overall value there’s a good argument that Zen is still ahead of Lucio, regardless of an ult comparison. There’s a reason why the last meta was mostly Mercy/Zen, rather than Mercy/Lucio.

Regardless, my point is that in relation to other support ultimates I can’t see why Sound Barrier takes the longest to charge. Especially since it’s not even the best at the function its in the game to perform (Transcendence is arguably better).

4

I think SB is fine but Sombra is going to EMP it every time so it’s kinda moot

5

I think it could maybe come out a wee bit faster, but I don’t think it needs much of a buff.

6

lets not forget how easy it is countered now

1 Like