I think support is mostly in a good place rn with a relatively diverse pool of mostly interesting characters except for 3 big outliers in mercy Moira and lifeweaver. What can we do to bring these in line with the rest of the cast though?
For Moira I think you could go two routes the first would be to remove her aimbot damage and give her an increased dps on something more similar to a zarya beam. This would keep her current harasser/flanker playstyle but give the opportunity for more damage at the cost of consistency with no aimbot while also removing the pressure points of trying to duel a Moira player who doesn’t have to aim. Other route could be to look at the creator patch and give her the ability to crit if she actually aims at the head but reduce her base damage so he can have a little passive tickle but still do more damage for being skilled and tracking headshots
Mercy is a bit trickier but I think I have a decent idea that would make playing as and against her way less of a chore. First would be to remove the locked tether of her beam while greatly increasing the heal per second for actually aiming on her target. Additionally she could do a flat 50 heal instantly in addition to her heal per second if she targets someone within 2 seconds of taking damage, giving her some burst potential and discouraging the hiding behind wall holding one button "play"style that is so common.
Lifeweaver I honestly have no idea how to make him interesting in any capacity without completely gutting the character maybe someone here has some ideas they’ve cooked because I got nothing for that little backline healbot.
I get where you are trying to go with this but I think fundamentally, they’re flawed because:
Moira does not have auto-aim/aimbot;
Mercy does not have a one-button playstyle, she is literally a fully dedicated support, and;
You don’t have an idea of Lifeweaver, so why even bring up changing him?
Based on those 3, your suggestions, while I can understand why you’re proposing changes, create more problems.
Like, for #2 do you understand why it tethers? Because Mercy can’t defend herself easily and she cannot support/defend herself, she needs to be able to support her team while simultaneously observing her surroundings. Your suggestion is contradicting itself: “it should be removed because it increases her heal per second, but also here’s a suggestion to let her do a flat 50 HPS for burst healing”.
I LIKE having a couple choices for “healbotting”. Some of us like the “holy trinity”. By that I mean I like Mercy as she is. Super high mobility, I actually liked when she had her “triage” healing a couple seasons ago that they took away. She should just be left alone. I like her how she is.
Moira…idk…she is a jack of all trades that is not AWFUL but isn’t AMAZING either. she can do some okay damage, do some okay healing, has an okay ult, has okay mobility. I honestly think she is fine. Maybe a LITTLE pesky in lower ranks.
Lifeweaver. My newest love in the game…I adore this character and again, I like healbotting and love his abilities. I do agree he needs “more” though. I always thought one neat idea would be his petal platform, when reaching its peak, deploys a “winston style bubble barrier” encapsulating the heroes inside it. This would give a sniper using it an incredible post for a couple of safe shots, or safely get a less mobile dps to high ground (or tank even). Or get a struggling support out of danger for a bit. The shield doesn’t have to be abusrd…maybe…200 hp? 250? I have no answer for lifegrip. I personally love it and try to use it intelligently. Sometimes, yes, I goof and ruin an ult or someone’s desired play. IT HAPPENS…but I also rescue from crappy situations plenty. Maybe let him swap from dpsing to healing instantly?
Hot take: Not every hero needs to appeal to everyone.
Another hot take: Mercy needs no changes. Her pick and winrate below the highest elo is solid. She’s fine imo.
As for Weaver… they just need to smooth out his switching from dmg to heals or viceversa. This has been the case since his launch. And platform needs to do something else besides just go up.
I kinda think making those changes would make him a lil too strong tho. So I really don’t know.
And Moira is the cheesiest. Kinda don’t care about her at all
She doesn’t have aimbot, nor auto-lock.
Soldier ult is aimbot and mercy beam is lock on.
Try all three on the practise range and see the difference yourself.
No beam user has headshots, but i wouldn’t mind giving them all headshots.
Just to prove wrong everyone wrong that she’s aimbot or lock on.
The only way to discourage mercy from pocketing would be to make her beam diminish the longer it stays on one person. But that would feel horrible.
She’s so mobile that this would work against her more active playstyle and encourage hiding behind a wall and tapping a button. Like ana does.
She would need a small burst heal to balance out the 44hps she has now.
Faster heal charge, lower max heal. Would make dealing damage feel less punishing.
