Playing Support on Blizzard Entertainment's Overwatch 2 is not for the faint-hearted! Support is considerably harder to play than DPS as it requires crucial game sense and the dual responsibility of keeping their teammates alive while attacking alongside them. As the backbone and literal lifeline of the team, the fate of the game rests on their shoulders. No pressure!

Never fear! Rivalry has got you covered with some of the best tips and tricks for learning the support role, guaranteed to boost your Overwatch 2 rank in no time.

Full list of Overwatch 2 Support Heroes

Finding the right support hero to suit your individual playstyle is important, with eight to choose from. The overall playstyle of all Supports is consistent across the board: heal your team and don't die are all keystones of a good support player.

Certain heroes are better than others and can vary depending on the situation. Some supports can provide a defensive Ultimate, while others have massive healing outputs or can hold their own in a 1v1 fight. Some players may prefer a support/DPS hybrid, where support heroes like Zenyatta, Baptiste, and Moira are perfect options. Other heroes like Lucio and Ana have a kit that primarily focuses on their ability to heal and support their team.

Find your favorite support character to play

Ana

  • Biotic Rifle is Ana's primary source of healing, and can also do ticking damage against enemies.
  • Biotic Grenade is her most valuable ability, able to instantly heal allies hit and boost their healing received. It can damage enemies and prevent them from being healed for a short duration.
  • Sleep Dart puts an enemy to sleep and can interrupt enemy Ultimates. It has a long cooldown and needs to be used sparingly in life-or-death situations.
  • Nano Boost (Ultimate) can be used on a targeted ally to heal them immediately. It also provides a damage boost and reduces their damage taken.

Baptiste

  • Biotic Launcher is Baptiste's main weapon. The primary fire deals damage, while his secondary fire throws a healing grenade to heal allies near the impact, providing bonus healing with direct hits.
  • Exo Boots allow Baptiste to jump higher when Crouch is pressed, so he can stay mobile away from enemy fire
  • Regenerative Burst is activated to heal Baptiste and nearby allies within range over time.
  • Immortality Field prevents friendly heroes inside it from dying. It can be hacked by Sombra or destroyed with gunfire.
  • Amplification Matrix (Ultimate) projects a matrix that doubles the damage and healing of all allied projectiles.

Brigitte

  • Rocket Flail/Barrier Shield are Brigitte's two weapons. Primary fire will deploy her melee flail, while secondary fire will hold up her shield. She can use her shield to bash into the enemy team and knock them back.
  • Inspire is Brigitte's passive healing ability. Striking nearby enemies with her flail heals nearby allies for a short duration.
  • Repair Pack can heal long-distance allies outside of Inspire's radius. Brigitte gets three charges of Repair Pack that recharge over time.
  • Whip Shot is a long-distance flail throw used to knock back and displace flanking enemies.
  • Rally (Ultimate) allows Brigitte to gain movement speed and provide extra armor and overhealth for her allies. Her Ultimate ability lasts for 10 seconds.

Kiriko

  • Kunai are Kiriko's only form of damage. They are thrown projectiles that deal increased damage on critical hits like headshots.
  • Healing Ofuda channels healing talismans that fly towards targeted allies. They take time to reach allies so ensure you predict incoming damage and send the healing ofuda out accordingly.
  • Swift Step allows Kiriko to directly teleport to a teammate, even through walls and terrain.
  • Protection Suzu cleanses all nearby allies' negative effects. Heroes hit by Protection Suzu also become invulnerable for a short duration.
  • Wall Climb is Kiriko's passive ability, giving her extra mobility to climb walls to gain an advantage.
  • Kitsune Rush (Ultimate) summons a visible fox spirit that charges forward, boosting the attack speed, reload speed and movement speed of allies and reducing the cooldowns of allies' abilities that follow its path.

Lucio

  • Sonic Amplifier is Lucio's primary weapon, and it fires in four-round bursts.
  • Soundwave is used to knock back enemies as Lucio's alternate fire on his Sonic Amplifier. It can be used to get environmental kills or boop away enemies.
  • Wall Ride is Lucio's passive ability, allowing him to move along any wall as long as the player holds the Jump button. He gains increased movement speed which he can use to contest objectives in overtime.
  • Crossfade lets Lucio switch between his healing and speed-boosting abilities with a permanent 12-meter aura.
  • Amp It Up is directly linked to Crossfade, increasing the power of whichever song Lucio is currently on.
  • Sound Barrier (Ultimate) can save the entire team when timed right. It grants Lucio and allies within 30 meters a temporary overhealth boost and counters DPS heroes like Pharah and Reaper's deadly Ultimates.

Mercy

  • Caduceus Staff has dual purposes - keeping Mercy's teammates alive with her healing primary fire and boosting her teammates' damage output with her single-target system. .
  • Caduceus Pistol is Mercy's second weapon and her only way of defending herself. Her ammo becomes unlimited when she uses her Ultimate ability.
  • Resurrect is by far the most powerful ability in the game, provided Mercy players have enough game sense to know when to maximize it. Mercy can revive a dead teammate within their respawning cooldown.
  • Guardian Angel allows Mercy to glide towards an ally and can be used to escape anyone pursuing her.
  • Valkyrie (Ultimate) temporarily lets Mercy fly and enhances all her main abilities. Her Caduceus Staff chains her damage beam and healing abilities to her team, provided they are grouped together.

Moira

  • Biotic Grasp's primary fire heals all allies ahead of Moira while consuming Biotic Energy. Biotic Grasp's secondary fire damages enemies and replenishes her Biotic Energy.
  • Biotic Orb launches a bouncing orb that can heal or damage.
  • Fade gives Moira some extra mobility. Using Fade, she can disappear, move faster and become invulnerable for a short period.
  • Coalescence (Ultimate) allows Moira to simultaneously heal her allies and damage the enemy team in one long beam.

Zenyatta

  • Orb of Destruction is Zenyatta's primary projectile weapon. It can be charged up to release a devastating barrage of more projectiles.
  • Orb of Discord can be placed on enemy targets to increase the damage they take.
  • Orb of Harmony is used to slowly heal a targeted ally over time.
  • Transcendence (Ultimate) lets Zenyatta gain movement speed, granting total immunity to himself and nearby allies in his glowing golden aura. This Ultimate ability also rapidly heals friendly heroes while they are within the radius.

Practice Makes Perfect

What better way to learn the support role than through first-hand experience? The best way to learn is by playing Zenyatta and other support heroes through participating in matches. Playing Against AI is a great game mode all players should take advantage of, to gain some confidence before heading into games with real players and opponents.

For new players, the Practice Range will be their best friend! This simple map is a great way to learn what a support hero does, test their limits, and hone their skill. The Practice Range allows new players to become accustomed to the gameplay mechanics without fear of consequence.

Save Your Ultimate

Despite support players having the least carry potential, they have some of the most decisive Ultimates in the game. Moira's Ultimate can easily dish out hearty damage while simultaneously healing. Baptiste's Amplification Matrix can shred through the opposition if timed right. Mercy and Ana can both save teammates from the brink of death by using their Ultimates during teammfights to push the tide into their favor.

Defensive Ultimates like Lucio's Sound Barrier and Zenyatta's Transcendence can shut down the enemy's push with one use. Although support Ultimates tend to charge up quite quickly, don't just use your Ultimates as soon as they're ready; save them for an enemy counterplay.

Communication is Key

As a support player, focusing on tracking enemy Ultimates, key abilities and in-game stats can be game-changing. Calling out important threats can also give your team an advantage. For example, if a Tracer is flanking your team, it's your job as a support in the backline to call these threats out. As a support character, you are a vulnerable target with a low health pool, so you must communicate if you are being focused on by the enemy so your team can come to the rescue.

Luckily, Overwatch 2 now has multiple ways for players to communicate with their team: the in-game voice chat, match/team type chat, and the new ping wheel for those that don't want to use a microphone. These are all great ways to communicate with your team, so take advantage of them! The ping wheel can ping Ultimate cooldowns, objectives, and even tell your team when to retreat and regroup.

Don't Die!

As the team's lifeline, staying alive must always be a support players main priority, and can be the difference between winning and losing a ranked game.

A healer's death may be more impactful than support players may realize. Even though there are two supports on a team, if one dies the team will lose a constant flow of healing. This will which usually result in a team kill and can be a deciding factor in winning a game. Be aware of your positioning in teamfights, and ensure you stay behind your tank for protection.

Final Words

Those are Rivalry's best tips and tricks for mastering the support role in Overwatch 2, so hopefully you'll begin climbing the ranks all the way to Grandmaster. Stay tuned for more Overwatch guides and other esports news with Rivalry! GL HF in your games!