I got into an argument with my friend on what makes a main healers and an off healer. The definition from early OW was only Mercy and Lucio we’re main healers and the rest were off healers. This definition has not been updated since before Ana was introduced into the game.
I disagreed because I think the healers are divided like this:
Main: Ana, Mercy, Moira
Off: Brig, Lucio, Zen
So to settle the argument, what do you guys think?
well, are you talking about early ow or current ow?
Current overwatch, mostly OWL uses of healers.
I think the community defines it.
If I recall correctly I don’t even think the pros refer to any healers as “main” or “off”. They use them depending on what utility they need.
I could be wrong though.
Yeah…I’m pretty sure “main” and “off” are just what pros use them for and commentators call them. Not what pros actually call them.
In other words…they’re buzzwords whose definitions change from match to match depending on whether or not they’re used in the comp more for their healing, or more for their utility.
Main healer is whoever provides the most heals for your team. Although obviously not preferable if a support can solo heal a team they’re a main healer, if they can’t they’re an off healer. It’s an unpleasant experience but you can keep a team up with Ana/Moira/Lucio/old Mercy whereas it’s absolutely horrid trying to keep a team up with Zen or Brig.
A zenyatta will never
I counter with this… I played a game as Zen and got 74% team healing (or was it 72? it was stupidly high either way). Was I not the main healer?
The comp whatever 2 healers are run in.
This whole notion that only Moira, Ana, or Mercy can heal properly as “Main healers” is dumb.
My main Ana but I know damn well that certain team comps my own teams AND my enemies team will lower my healing as Ana and where my secondary healer, Lucio, wil lbe able to accomplish more.
Barriers (stops my healing), high mobility flankers both my own and enemies hurt Ana’s healing but hardly even register on Lucios radar. The games too fluid to limit yourself to such a rigid (and horrible) mentality of what healers can and cannot accomplish.
You were the main healer in that specific game but as a character Zen is not a main healer. Even with transcendence putting in work you shouldn’t be getting 74% of the healing unless the other support is also an off healer or they flat out weren’t healing(dps Ana/Moira).
You would have gotten that with your ult. You cannot keep 5 players alive with just the orb unless they just aren’t taking much damage.
I think of main healers as being ones you choose primarily for their healing capability, as opposed to their utility. Heroes that crank out enough healing that they’d be capable of solo healing if they absolutely had to (but please don’t make them). Ana, Moira, and Mercy would fit the bill, although Mercy’s 50 HPS puts her on the fence. Their utility is important, but their main job is keeping healing flowing to their team.
Lucio, Brig, and Zen are useful for their healing, but are primarily picked for their other utility (speed, shield bash, and discord respectively). None of them can crank out enough healing on their own to sustain their team solo, but their utility and ults are hugely important to the team.
In game: Amount of Healing output. Ana, Mercy, Moira and sometimes Lucio are main healers, with Brig and Zen and sometimes Lucio being off healers.
In OWL, they use main and flex healer. Main healers would play Lucio and Mercy and flex healers would play Zen and Ana, and both would play Moira. There are some exceptions, especially with Main healers playing Ana but this usually only happened on 2cap point B defense where they’d often have an Ana and Zen. Brig was almost never played by support players so I dunno about her.
I interpret this as main healers having good movement and flex healers having good aim; Moira uses a little of both so either one would play her.
It’s hard to say currently for who is off and who is main, but there are those who are a definite
Ana and Brig are main healers, despite brig’s kit used for cc
Mercy and Zen are off, since they bring utility more than healing
That is correct, at least in my very humble tanky opinion…
I agree with your list 100%
But you said yourself
So doesn’t the definition change depending on the team comp? Isn’t it a fluid definition and not static?
Actually it was mostly with the Orb. I was the only healer and nobody died. The other 28% came from bastion’s self heal. It was a stupidly good game, and one that made me realize I enjoy playing Zen.
Lucio, Zen, Brig are main healers too.
If you play a comp with a bunch of fatties with no sustain then your going to need a lot of healing. If you play a nibble comp that doesn’t face tank damage then you don’t need a lot of healing.
Moira, Mercy, Ana are no more main healers then Zen, Lucio, Brig
It all depends on the heros you run with that decides how many resources need to be distributed where.
It’s interesting to see these responses, lots of people have different understandings of main healers vs off/flex. I personally think if a character is picked for raw healing they should be classified as a main healer, off healers contribute less healing but more overall utility.
In this sense Lucio, Zen, Brig and to some extent Mercy could be classified as off healers while Ana, Mercy, Moira and Lucio (in certain situations) could be classified as Main healers.
Ana has the most utility out of any support. In fact, it’s why she is used so much in the higher brackets.
Not because of her Raw healing. (although it is good)
In the context of ladder and quickplay no. We’re talking about the characters themselves and not your individual games. Case in point below.
That’s like calling soldier 76 the “main healer” if there are no supports on your team and he’s placing biotic field down. I would hope we wouldn’t have to have a discussion on whether Soldier 76 is a main healer or not… If there was a Lucio/Ana/Mercy/Moira on your team it’s very obvious why Zenyatta isn’t considered a main healer.