What Are Off-Supports?

Overwatch 2 is more intense than Overwatch 1. Supports have more responsibility than they ever had before, which is a lot considering all they had to do in the first game. Off-supports are a subdivision of the support class that focuses less on healing and more on doing utility and damage. The off-supports are Zen, Lucio, Brig, and Baptiste. How do you play them in the current state of Overwatch?

15. Build Trust

As an off-support player, you need to build trust within your team. You’re going to be providing lots of utility, and your teammates may be wary of that. Some may demand that you heal more, while others will yell at you no matter what you do. The best way to create smooth gameplay is to build trust in your team.

You can do this in multiple different ways. For starters, you can go in with a positive attitude. There are so many negative people on Overwatch 2 that a positive person can change the attitude of the game altogether. Your teammates will subconsciously like and trust you more.

The next thing you can do is follow up on your promises. Play your role well and save your teammates. Even one clutch save can have a team wrapped around your finger for the rest of the game. By doing your job, saving your teammates, and communicating, you can build trust within your team.

14. Choose Your Hero Wisely

The off-supports in Overwatch 2 vary depending on who you ask. Some say the off-supports are the ones who don’t heal as much, while others say the off-supports are the ones with the most utility. No matter how you define it, there are certain heroes, like Lucio, that fall into both categories. Lucio has a decent healing rate, but not as much as, say, Moira, Ana, and Mercy. Along with that, he has high utility.

When playing Overwatch 2, you need to choose your off-support wisely. Zenyatta is another popular off-support option. He has high utility thanks to his kit's useful perks for his team. You need to choose which hero you play based on how your team is doing. You can also choose based on how the enemy team is playing. For example, if you’re playing Zen and you’re dying constantly, then it’s time to switch to a hero with more survivability.

A huge gameplay mechanic in Overwatch 2 is hero swapping. Don’t be scared to switch off your hero, especially when playing off-support. The reason why is because each off-support has a vastly different kit. When playing main support, each kit is different with one thing in common: they heal a lot. Off-support is much different, meaning you have to treat their characters differently.

13. Don’t Forget To Heal

Just because off-supports tend to do less healing doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be healing at all. Yes, you should leave most of the healing to your main support, but you should still help out your team. Your main support can only handle so much at once. Work with your fellow support to create fluid gameplay and capitalize on your kit.

Healing is what keeps your teammates alive long enough to do damage to the enemy team. That’s why when a team rushes in without supports, they’re more likely to die. Not many DPS and tanks in the game have self-sustaining kits. Mei and Soldier 76 are two of the most obvious choices for self-sustaining kits, but otherwise, there aren’t many.

You need to keep your team alive. Don’t be all about doing DPS; otherwise, your team will dislike you and won’t trust you. This tip applies especially to Zen players. It’s very easy to heal as Zen since all you need to do is throw a harmony orb on a teammate. Try your best to always have your harmony orb on a teammate.

12. Get High Ground

The off-supports tend to play well on high ground, especially Baptiste and Zenyatta. Zenyatta has good range, and with a bird's-eye view of the map, he can throw his harmony and discord orbs on anyone in his line of sight. Baptiste is similar. He can fire at anyone and shoot his healing grenades as long as his aim is good.

Baptiste is the best choice for attempting to gain high ground because he has a super jump ability that grants him high ground automatically. High ground gives your team a significant advantage because you have a better view of the battle below and the enemies below have a difficult time shooting at you due to the distance.

Along with that, if you’re fighting on high ground while the rest of the team fight is happening below, suddenly the enemy has to worry about attacks from two sides. The added pressure is more likely to cause you to win the team fight.

11. Know Your Team

You need to know your team in order to play well with them. You can’t have fluid gameplay without knowing who you’re playing with. There are dozens of possible team combinations, so make sure to notice which heroes are on your team. For example, if you’re playing with Bastion and Soldier, Baptiste is a great pick to capitalize on his ultimate.

Most supports get along well with most team members. Just keep in mind that there are better picks than others. For example, if you have a very fast and agile team, Zen could either be the best or worst pick ever. Best because your team is quick enough to pull back and assist; worst because you are too slow to keep up with them.

Knowing your team also allows you to play a certain way. For example, if you have a Zarya, you can flank and be more aggressive because you know your tank can shield you and gain charge out of it. Knowing your team and their kits helps you win fights.

10. Play With Your Main Support

Team synergy is what makes the difference between a win and a loss. You could be the best player in the world, but without team synergy, the odds are, you’ll still lose. It’s a team game; therefore, you need to play with your team to survive. Playing with your team doesn’t necessarily mean sticking to their sides like glue the whole game; it means communicating with them and tweaking your playstyle to match theirs.

Your main support is the biggest target in the game. They do the most healing and keep your team alive the longest. They’re going to heal you and help you, so it’s only fair that you do the same for them. The support players need to play together to survive. They need to help each other out of bad situations.

The longer you keep your main support alive, the longer you stay alive. Yes, you can heal yourself, but not with the same effectiveness as a main support. Keep them alive, and your entire team, including yourself, will stay alive much longer and be more likely to win the fight.

9. Communicate With Your DPS

Support players tend to choose off-support because their DPS aren’t doing enough damage or the team isn’t getting enough utility. Since off-support does high damage and has high utility, you need to be prepared to work with your DPS. Your DPS will need the utility the most due to their positioning and kits. Be prepared to communicate with them.

Your DPS are still your primary damage dealers. Off-supports are there to add utility and give the DPS room to do damage. Use your kit to play with your DPS. Communicate with them using the communication wheel, text chat, or voice chat. Tell them when you're going in so that you can speed boost them as Lucio, or call out the target you discorded as Zen.

The more you play with your DPS, the better the game will go. Your kit is made to encourage doing damage and causing aggressive attacks. Your DPS will play better and do more damage if you communicate with them and are open about your playstyle.

8. Practice Your Aim

Aiming tends to be more important on off-support than it is on main support. Although you don’t need to have Widowmaker-level aim, you should still work on improving your weapon accuracy. The reason why is because you’re an off-support, meaning you have to do more damage than your main supports. Heroes like Zenyatta do a lot of damage.

Of course, practicing your aim is beneficial for reasons other than off-support. It never hurts to practice your aim. It opens up doors to playing other heroes at a proficient level. Hanzo and Widowmaker, for example. If you can aim well, you can play just about any hero in the game. Especially off-support.

Off-support is not an aim-focused class, but heroes like Zen and Baptiste do have an aim component to them. You’ll be a better Bap and Zen player if you take the time to practice your aim. Your training will also help you become better at other heroes.

7. Don’t Play Off-Support To DPS

This ties into the thirteenth tip. When you’re playing off-support, you should still remember the "support" part of "off-support". Yes, off-support is fun to play to get kills and do damage, but don’t forget you’re still a support. Don’t play off-support with the sole intention of being a third DPS. You should still support your team, whether that be with utility or healing.

You’ll annoy your team very quickly if you’re focusing on doing damage instead of helping them. Let your DPS do, well, DPS. You’re still supposed to support others. Yes, of course, sometimes supporting others means killing enemies who are attacking them. However, keep in mind that you should still have a decent amount of healing after the game is done.

Heroes like Zen get away with it more because they don’t do much healing. If you're playing Lucio, you should naturally have high healing, despite the fact that you do less healing than others. You have the benefit of having multi-target healing that you can do while still doing damage. Take advantage of that.

6. Use Your Environment

Off-supports tend to have the most unique kits. For example, Baptiste has a high jump ability that, although slow, can boost him to high points on the map. Take advantage of that. Use the high jump to dodge enemy fire and go to places in the environment that can protect you. As a support, you need to stay alive. Use your environment to help you accomplish this goal.

Use your kit to get to interesting environmental spots. For example, get onto the platform on Oasis or jump up on the bus on King’s Row. The environment is there for you to use to your advantage. Don’t waste that; use your kit to navigate the world in a way your enemies can’t keep up with.

Maps like Route 66 have various environments with new places to hide or use. Maps tend to have multiple areas with different types of environments. You have the rocky exterior of Route 66 that changes to an industrial interior, and then there’s the outside set of Hollywood transitioning into the indoor set with prop spaceships. Use these environments to increase your survivability.

5. Practice Other Off-Supports

I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you how many one-trick players I’ve run into who play off-support. Many players choose to one-trick Baptiste or Zen. There’s no inherent problem with this because they’re strong picks; however, the problem is that Overwatch 2 is a game based on hero switching. If Baptiste isn’t working, then you need to know how to play the other off-supports so you can make the proper change.

It’s also always a good thing to know how to play multiple heroes. Having a wide variety of heroes you can play makes you a better player. Not only will you understand their kits and know how to work with them when you aren’t playing them, but you’ll also become a valuable asset to your team because you can flex to meet many types of situations.

Along with that, many team comps like to use two off-supports to get more damage. If you know how to play all the off-supports, you can better help your fellow off-support because you know their kit and abilities. If you’re clueless as to what your teammate’s kit can do, then it’ll hurt you in the long run.

4. Don’t Be Scared To Flank

This especially applies to Lucio and Baptiste players. You’re not the main support, so although you should be staying with the team to increase survivability for all of you, that doesn’t mean you can’t flank. In fact, flanking can make the difference between winning and losing a fight. Even a few points of extra damage can tilt the fight in your favor.

Although assault maps are a thing of the past, there was a spot on Hanamura where the attacking team could jump up through a hole in the wall. If you ever find yourself playing the old assault maps, try flanking through that hole and catching the enemy off guard. There’s also a platform during the final stretch of King’s Row that you can get on top of and flank the enemy.

Flanking can distract the enemy and supply suppression fire. If you don’t have flankers on your team, try flanking to add more pressure on the enemy. Even if you do have flankers, it couldn’t hurt to flank every once in a while. Just don’t do it too much; let your flankers do their jobs.

3. Be Aggressive

You have the kit to support you if you ever get into trouble. Except for Zen, most off-supports have a defense mechanism. Take advantage of that and encourage your team to be more aggressive. You can be aggressive without getting too far out of position. Dive in on the enemy team and dive back out when it becomes too dangerous.

The more aggressive you are, the more damage you’re probably going to get. Of course, this isn’t always true, but Overwatch 2 is a very aggressive game. When compared to Overwatch 1, the sequel is much more action-packed, and team fights end quicker than they ever did in the first game. Being aggressive before the opposing team can mean the difference between a fight being won or lost.

As an off-support, you have the ability to be more aggressive. Your ultimates can save you from a tough situation, and you have abilities to help you survive. You can afford to be more aggressive. Try convincing your team to push in. If you have to, play up at the frontline with your tank and push in right by their side.

2. Body Block

I’ve met plenty of support players who are scared to get damaged even a little bit. Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared to body block for your teammates. Some of the best support players are the ones who are willing to take some damage if it means keeping a teammate alive. Of course, don’t unnecessarily risk your life, but as an off-support, you can self-heal and use your abilities to keep yourself alive.

Most tanks and DPS don’t have the luxury of a self-sustaining kit. The entire purpose of the support role is to help your team since their kits can’t. When your kit doesn’t work, try body blocking to increase your teammate’s chance at survival. Now, don’t go out of your way to body block if you have a big, strong tank next to you to do it. However, if a teammate is about to die and you can’t heal them fast enough, body block for them (as long as you have enough health).

Just keep in mind that you should only body block if you think you can do it without getting killed. Your tank does most of the body blocking, but as an off-support, you still have a job to do to protect your teammates. For example, body block a teammate who’s trapped in a Junkrat trap.

1. Don’t Die To Save Your Teammate

One of the hardest things to swallow is that the game really does revolve around support. Every role is important for different reasons, and support is important because without healing and high utility, team fights are much easier. A team going in with supports is much more likely to win than a team going in without supports.

You're more likely to be aggressive as an off-support player, especially Lucio. However, dying to save your teammate is almost never a good idea. There are rare cases where it works out, but supports are imperative to your team’s survival. Off-support players have high mobility and damage, meaning it’s easy to get caught up in your unique kit and not realize that you can get killed too.

Don’t get too cocky and let your teammate die if it means saving yourself. You’re not going to save the teamfight by saving a single teammate. Focus your energy on keeping as many people alive as possible while also doing enough damage to contribute to the game. This tip may seem to contradict the body blocking tip, but keep in mind that you shouldn’t body block for so long that it kills you.

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