(Ok so this keeps happening so imma be clear up top: this topic is not only about pacifist playstyle supports. I’m trying to ask what players, especially support mains, want from a new support).
I actually think so, for once. Every new main healer has in someway also been an appeal to dps players. Ana is very mechanical and uses some of the highest impact abilities of any support, Moira needs to do damage to heal and duels flankers instead of running every time, and Baptiste, well, just look at him. I think hardcore support players are due for a hero that 100% embodies the role.
Thing is, I’m pretty sure we’ll be getting an off-support next (after the new tank) since there’s three of those and four main supports. That being said, I don’t see that as reason to think it can’t be a pacifist off-support. I think it would be pretty cool, since all the off-supports seem to be some kind of hybrid.
I’m not a support main so i really want to hear what other players think, so if you don’t want a pacifist, then what would you want instead? This topic is about sharing ideas for new support heroes.
There is already mercy and she is a main healer.
Lucio is probably the closest to pacifist offhealer but other than that why would anyone want a support who can’t damage nor heal properly?
The pacifist off-support could have wild utilities to make up for low damage and healing. Or it could just be the next main support instead if it really has to be.
While I don’t want to just make another Mercy, getting a new single-target dps-enabling healer would be a nice change of pace from all the aoe/burst heal tank-enablers.
And they can’t be a pure pacifist, even Mercy has a pistol for self defense (or offense, post-Valk), but it might be a good idea to shy away from hybrids for a while. I’m fine with a little bit of role overlap to provide variety and make characters more interesting, but generally speaking supports need to focus on healing, tanks need to focus on making space, and dps need to focus on securing the kills.
Basically this. They would need a gimmick, a new and impactful kind of utility to make up for not being dps-heavy and to provide some incentive to pick them over Mercy, Lucio, or really anyone else.
If you want to play a pacifist in an FPS, you can always Afk or uninstall. Mercy is annoying enough when she’s played like just a heal bot, someone who is completely useless except as a heal bot would be a worse addition than Brig. No amount of healing is more useful than dead enemies.
I understand that every hero needs a self defense weapon but i mean the pacifist playstyle of basically never using gun. I think its been proven with utilites like Hack that they can be powerful enough to build kits around without adding damage.
I don’t think the question is “can they?” But rather, “should they?”
We don’t have anyone who can create actual healthpacks yet. Sorta like Torb’s old armor packs. But it’d be like a hacked health pack so the enemy team couldn’t use it, and maybe it would only last for a certain number of uses? Or have a limited duration, but have a really short respawn time so multiple people could use it?
It could finally be some kind of cleanse ability, maybe? I’d like that personally, as it could also open the doorway for more DoT and non-stun related status effects being put into hero kits in the future.
No hero in OW is a pacisift, Mercy included. A pacifist wouldn’t even be participating in the game, as they don’t believe in supporting war/violent conflict under ANY circumstances, and healing people who are killing other people is still actively participating in the conflict.
If you mean a pure healer hero, that’s a different story. I’d like one too.
I think most of the people (including me) who are calling you out on the “pacifist” term are really just splitting hairs. We all know what you mean (a “pure” support that doesn’t incorporate dps into a major part of their toolkit), and I’m down for it.
Yeah that’d be cool. With all this CC, a cleanse would be nice. I also really like DoT as a mechanic just cuz it adds more variety to the game, so anything that would allow for more interesting interactions to take place sounds good to me
Support heroes provide Healing, Utility, Added Damage, Boops, and I’m not really sure what you mean by “embodies the role.”
If you’re talking about a main healer with little to no escape or defense options, I don’t think the game needs another frail, defenseless Support archetype hero. The game has been around long enough for it to be established that below a certain tier of play, Support heroes get 0 protection.
Something like Mercy where the support is almost entirely focused on enabling teammates, instead of a support like Ana that shoots enemies more often and places status effects on enemies.
