So, I’m not entirely sure how to kick this whole thing off, besides just getting straight to the point. I think this season (season 12) I will sadly be dropping Support as my main role. I know Support had it’s time in the sun for quite a while (like around Season 4 or 5 until 9), but right now, I think it feels pretty horrendous. I was pretty excited for the changes that were coming in Season 9, but now that the fallout from that has settled and we see the problems from that patch still echo out to this day, Support just isn’t fun for me or feel good anymore.
Like I had stated before, Support had their time in the sun, and the power they had from the gradual creep was pretty insane. However, the new dps passive, plus the increased health pools across the board have all added to a new and worse problem in my eyes. I know Blizzard has made some changes here and there to alleviate the issue, but it still remains. Sure, Tanks aren’t falling over nearly as fast (which is nice), but it still feels overall that Supports are in the struggle bus right now.
Then there is the rank reset. I was fine with the initial one in Season 9 and having one maybe once a year, but to do it again after such a short time after the first was overkill. In Season 8, I had reached my all time peak in Diamond. For context, I started off in Overwatch 1 as >500, which would equate to bottom of the barrel Bronze 5 for those who have only experienced Overwatch 2. I did everything I could to play better, learn from my mistakes and improve as a player. Since the Season 9 reset, it was a struggle to get back into Diamond, but I did do it. However, something feels way off and different with this season’s rank reset. I have done nothing but plummet in rank since I was originally placed in Platinum 2. I have played the best that I can, made sure to position correctly, I’ve done everything to the best of my current knowledge. I have dropped all the way down to Gold 1. I don’t know if it’s me or a team effort to have had me drop that much (solo player btw). I’m not too sure what to do at this point besides just quit the role entirely until something changes, which does suck because I’ve been playing Support since Ana released.
All of this does coincide with my overall frustration with the 5v5 format as well. I dropped tank after like Season 2 or 3 because it felt like absolute crap to play. There was no impact being felt as the tank, no enjoyment and way too much stress. With the recent nerfs to some of Support’s utility (Sleep Dart, Biotic Grenade, Lucio Boop being both buffed and nerfed constantly etc) it does feel like Support’s impact is really being peeled away to force the 5v5 format to work. Now, because of this, I feel like I have to drop yet another role because Blizzard is having a hard time balancing this current format so everyone is having fun. It seems every role gets their turn to have fun before it’s moved over to a different one and that shouldn’t be the case. Keep in mind though, this is just my opinion as a long time player.
Edit: I do appreciate the comments that have been flowing into this, they’ve been fairly positive for the most part. I’m more than willing to open this up more to a discussion and see where it goes. But, I feel I need to clarify some things. 1. This is my point of view. I don’t think that what I’m saying is 100% fact, this has just been my experience. I am more than welcome to be proven wrong, because even though I am not having fun as Support, I still very much love the Role because it fits the playstyle I play in every other game that I play. I like helping others succeed. 2. I was bottom of the barrel Bronze back in the first like first 6 seasons of OW1 (2016 to about 2018 ish). I spent my time getting all the way up to Plat by the time OW1 came to an end. My overall peak had been Diamond 4. I understand the game, my performance on the other hand can be… eh, probably because I play the game in bursts. Which could be part of the issue.
Sounds like you need to go back to tank and main Winston or D. Va while the fun lasts for them.
I do not blame you. I would only queue support if they were paying me. That’s technically what I do. I only babysit for freemium currency.
Freelance Ow2 player fr
I play support when I want to relax, personally. I could see why players in the metal ranks would not be enjoying the role though.
S9 is the root of issues when it comes to role enjoyment.
HP and projectile sizes have to be reverted back to pre-S9 levels for the health of the roles, and for the health of the game.
Heck yeah! This is it right here. My son’s higher ranked Solo Supp games looked like a cakewalk compared to my Silver and Bronze games. I uninstalled even though I really enjoyed most of my 1000+ on the game.
TLDR: I respect that decision OP. Glhf
Its sad being a support main especially with the nerf they did. They basically did it so DPS can have a chance? They have a TERRIBLE take on roles and desire. Why not make tank fun? Why not make support fun? Oh yeah got like 70% people trying to play dps because the characters are fun. I GET IT but this is the time to focus on creating the characters more fun especially in tank or support.
Three paragraphs is not enough for this.
Your username. 
I disagree with a lot of what you’re talking about as another support main, but I wish you the best and hope you find some fun in OW2 somewhere.
thanks hehe
type or paste code here
See, the issue is that DPS isn’t that fun either. We’re just locked in to playing the same hitscan heroes every match because that’s all that works.
I’m a projectile DPS player. To compete in GM, I’m forced to play hitscan even though I’m really good at projectile and love playing it.
am I the only one that likes support? my q times don’t feel like it.
its like I compete against the world to get a slot on a team.
I can’t play tracer 24/7 even tho I would love to. It gets exhausting quickly and I am not the youngest anymore. So Support is much more chill once my energy has worn off.
I would also consider myself a support main since kiriko and now juno.
I’ve dropped from Gold 3 last season to Silver 4 this season.
This game has been getting worse and worse balance wise and I’m done.
I feel like I need to play out of my god damn mind just to win a game.
This game needs a major rebalance.
Tank needs to do the work of 2 people.
Supp needs to do DPS and Heal, and if you drop focus for even a second the team is dead.
DPS seems OK but I still hate getting my healing reduced, idc if its “good for the game” it feels like sh*t and it feels like I have no impact anymore.
And the problem is sometimes even if you do that you still can’t win because you either have a tank who dives alone or two dps who have gone to opposite corners of the map and out of the line of sight, and they all scream for heals while you get wrecked by the enemy dps flankers.
Support is honestly just in a terrible place right now. Unless you have a team who are all playing their best you have no chance of winning no matter what you do. But it’s always the supports fault apparently!
And I’m fine with people disagreeing. This is just how I’m seeing things, but I’m not on the outside looking in on what the actual problem may be. I just personally haven’t really had fun with Support since about mid-season 9. It’s really been a struggle for me, especially lately with the most recent rank reset. I’m open to me doing things wrong, falling back into old bad habits, etc. It’s just from my point, I haven’t changed the way I’ve played to get myself to Diamond, but I feel like my impact has been significantly reduced. I play pretty much every Support except for Mercy and Zen. So, I’m just at a loss right now.
thats my main Motivation for playing support. thats why i switched to support since kiriko and now juno has manifested it even more.
Zen
Ana
Bapt
Lucio
Kiriko
Illari
Juno
Brig
Moira
all still provide value in some way in either DPS, Healing, or Utility that can be really helpful depending on the scenario. The Support role overall still has plenty of value and in my opinion feel fun.
It’s okay that you don’t feel the same. But I hardly feel we’ve been treated poorly overall.
Yeah, I’ve been playing alot more dps.
I don’t think they are at all. Some are, sure, like Zen. But the role in general? Not really.
They’re not much fun for me ever since S9, but they are still strong. They’re just not what supports were in the 7 years before that.