Despite a high-paced release schedule of one new character every two or three weeks, it’s been some time since Blizzard has released a support for their MOBA, Heroes of the Storm. Half a year, to be specific; the last five characters have been assassins, as I covered during the announcement of Valeera a few weeks ago. While each of these assassins—Samuro, Varian, Ragnaros, Zul’Jin and Valeera—occupy very different roles in a team composition, the community was piqued to say the least.
Now, Blizzard seems to finally be making good on their promise to add more characters of the neglected warrior and support classes, and they’re starting by importing Overwatch’s quintessential, meta-standard DJ doofus, Lucio.
Like in Overwatch, Lucio will be able to speed up or do small amounts of healing to anyone who hangs out near him, depending on which track he’s settled on. His W, Amp It Up, increases these bonuses, while his Q, Soundwave, bumps enemies away from him. Sound Barrier is available as one of his two ultimates, but his other option, Reverse Amp, looks like the more interesting choice. Reverse Amp flips the effects of Amp It Up, doing damage to or slowing any enemies within Lucio’s aura, while also increasing the duration of Amp It Up by one second.
Unlike sustained supports like Auriel, Malfurion or Lt. Morales, Lucio will only be able to heal allies he’s in relatively close proximity with. This, combined with his speed boost, might make him a natural fit for dive comps, helping bruisers and melee assassins close the gap on their delicate back-line targets without getting kited. Whether or not Lucio will turn out to be as meta-essential a pick in Heroes of the Storm as he is in Overwatch remains to be seen.