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Overwatch 2 has arrived, bringing substantial changes to Blizzard Entertainment's popular hero shooter while retaining its classic gameplay. The loss of a second Tank on each team may have changed the meta, but the synergy between Tank, Support, and DPS Heroes remains at the heart of Overwatch 2.
There are only eight Support Heroes in Overwatch 2, compared to 10 Tanks and 17 DPS, but each one has its own unique playstyle. One of the most interesting Supports is Lucio, who combines passive healing and speed buffs with extreme mobility, crowd control, and a strong defensive Ultimate.
Lucio's Playstyle
Lucio is a versatile Support in Overwatch 2, as his passive healing allows him to focus on more than just topping up his teammates when they get low. His Crossfade Ability allows him to either passively heal all allies within 12 meters or give them a 25% speed boost, with Lucio being able to switch between these two modes at will.
When he uses Amp it Up, he increases the bonus of whichever mode he is in, providing increased healing or speed for a few seconds.
While Crossfade is keeping his team healthy, Lucio can focus on contributing damage using his Sonic Amplifier and pushing enemy Heroes out of position using Soundwave. He's also one of the most slippery Support Heroes in the game and can combine Soundwave's knockback with his Wall Ride Ability to quickly escape if he gets in trouble.
Finally, Lucio's Ultimate Sound Barrier grants a huge amount of temporary HP to all allies in a 30-meter radius, allowing him to effectively cancel any DPS Ultimate that relies on dealing burst damage.
Lucio's Abilities
Sonic Amplifier
Lucio's primary weapon fires in 4-round bursts, with each round doing 20 damage on a direct hit. Although the rounds aren't particularly fast-moving, they fire with pinpoint accuracy. This means Lucio can easily lay down covering fire at a distant window or doorway to prevent a sniper Hero like Widowmaker or Ashe from peeking out. With a magazine of 20 rounds, Lucio can fire 5 times before he has to take 1.5 seconds to reload.
Crossfade
Crossfade is Lucio's primary Support Ability, creating a permanent 12-meter area around him that can either heal allies or boost their speed. Lucio can switch between these two modes at any time, and it's important for players to learn when speed is more important than healing and vice versa.
Both of the Crossfade modes can be blocked by obstacles or enemy Barriers, and an indicator in the center of Lucio's screen helps players keep track of how many allies are currently in the radius.
Amp it Up
Amp it Up is an Ability linked to Crossfade and will dramatically increase the power of whichever mode is currently active for 3 seconds. If Crossfade is in healing mode, then Amp it Up will cause that healing to accelerate to 50 HP per second for Lucio's allies and 30 HP per second for Lucio himself. If Crossfade is in speed mode, then Amp it Up will cause the speed buff to increase from 25% to 60%, allowing Lucio and his teammates to rush forward or retreat with ease.
Soundwave
Soundwave is a versatile Ability that can be used both offensively and defensively. When activated, Soundwave will project a short-range wave of force that deals 25 damage and knocks enemies back. With a cooldown of just 4 seconds, Soundwave can be very powerful on maps like Ilios, which have multiple cliffs that enemies can be knocked off. Lucio can also use Soundwave defensively, allowing him to create space from aggressive Heroes like Reaper or Tracer.
Wall Ride
Lucio's second passive Ability is Wall Ride, which allows him to move along any wall that he jumps onto for as long as the player holds the jump button. While using Wall Ride, Lucio gains a 30% buff to movement speed as well as an increased jumping height. Wall Ride, combined with Crossfade's speed buff, is one of the reasons that Lucio is such an evasive Support, often able to outmaneuver even fast DPS Heroes who are trying to hunt him down.
Sound Barrier
Lucio's Ultimate Ability in Overwatch 2 is all about defense, granting him and allies within 30 meters a massive 750 temporary HP when activated. Although this bonus HP is higher than any Tank's base HP in the game, it does decay at a rate of 125 per second until deactivating completely after 6 seconds. This makes Sound Barrier an ideal tool for countering other Ultimates. Reaper's Death Blossom, Cassidy's Deadeye, and Pharah's Barrage are all powerful Ultimates that can be completely negated by Lucio's Sound Barrier.
Tips and Tricks for Lucio
Mobility is at the core of Lucio's playstyle in Overwatch 2, and players will need to learn to stay alive while also keeping as many allies as possible inside Crossfade. Mastering the Wall Ride Ability is essential for this, and there are a few tricks that experienced players can use to make the most of it.
Pressing crouch while Wall-Riding will cause Lucio to immediately drop, a surprising maneuver that can potentially dodge slow-moving attacks like Pharah's rockets.
In the Overwatch 2 settings menu, there's an option to "Allow Backwards Wall Ride," which enables Lucio to initiate a Wall Ride without having to look at the wall. This should be turned on, as it will allow Lucio players to keep their focus on the enemy even when they're starting a Wall Ride.
As a mostly passive healer, Lucio should be able to put out a fairly significant amount of damage with his Sonic Amplifier. Due to the accurate but slow-moving projectiles it fires, it's best used to hit Tanks in order to build up Sound Barrier or to harass snipers who have taken up static positions. Although players will need to lead moving targets significantly while using the Sonic Amplifier, the knock-back from Soundwave can be used to set up a few easy hits by pushing an enemy into a corner or away from their Supports.
Lucio Combos
Lucio + Reinhardt
Lucio is almost a perfect pick for combo-ing with Reinhardt in Overwatch 2. His speed boost will not only allow Reinhardt to push forward much faster with his Barrier Field raised but also help him chase down and mop-up enemy Heroes when the time comes to use the Rocket Hammer. Lucio can also enhance the protected area created by Reinhardt's large, mobile Barrier by staying in it, allowing teammates to heal in safety.
Lucio + Brigitte
As another melee Hero, Brigitte benefits a lot from Lucio's Crossfade speed buff, enabling her to close the distance even with her Barrier raised. In addition, Brigitte's burst healing synergizes with Lucio's passive healing, allowing the Support duo to deal with both poke and heavy damage.
Lucio + Reaper
Reaper is one of the few DPS Heroes in Overwatch 2 that has his own source of healing, restoring HP each time he deals damage. This extra healing works with Lucio's Crossfade to stop enemy Heroes from bursting Reaper down, and Crossfade will continue healing Reaper even when in Wraith Form. As an aggressive Hero who needs to be in close-range, Reaper can also benefit from Crossfade's speed buff.
Lucio + Genji
As one of only a handful of Supports who can keep up with Genji, Lucio can keep the fast-moving DPS Hero topped up with healing while also harassing the same targets. In addition, the bonus HP from Sound Barrier and speed from Crossfade can help a Genji stack up the kills when using his melee-focused Ultimate.
Lucio + Junker Queen
New Hero Junker Queen is an aggressive Tank who can heal herself by dealing damage over time. This lowers the need for burst healing and makes her an excellent partner for supporting Lucio. In addition, Junker Queen can benefit massively from Crossfade's speed buff, not only to land close-range Abilities like Carnage and Rampage but also to get close enough to maximize her shotgun damage.
Lucio Advantages and Counters
As a mobile Support with a powerful defensive Ultimate, Lucio is particularly strong against DPS Heroes that have powerful damage Ultimates. The bonus HP from Sound Barrier can effectively cancel the Ultimate Abilities like Reaper's Death Blossom, Cassidy's Deadeye, or Genji's Dragonblade. When facing these Heroes, Lucio players should get used to waiting for the perfect moment to activate Sound Barrier in order to negate the DPS advantage.
Lucio's Crossfade passive healing is also particularly useful against Tank Heroes that rely on poke damage rather than burst damage, especially if that damage is spread across multiple Heroes. Sigma and D.va's primary attacks often hit multiple targets, and while a single-target Support would have to heal each individually, Lucio can keep the whole team topped up at the same time.
When it comes to the Heroes that Lucio is particularly weak against, the worst he can face is a Hero that can overcome his agility. Sombra's Hack can render Lucio extremely vulnerable, disabling his speed buffs, healing, Wall Ride, and Soundwave all at once. This will leave Lucio with very few avenues for escape and almost certainly doomed without a friendly Tank or DPS Hero nearby to protect him.
While few Heroes can disable Lucio's mobility, there are several with auto-aiming weapons who can hit him effectively despite it. Torbjorn and Symmetra's turrets will have no trouble tracking a fast-moving Lucio, dealing serious damage as well as slowing his progress. Moira and Winston can also benefit from this tactic with their primary weapons, neither of which require precision aiming to deliver their damage.