Who are the best healers of the current double-shield meta?
The double-shield meta is upon us as Season 18 of Overwatch competitive is in full swing, with Reinhardt, Orisa, and Sigma leading the way as best picks for the tank role. The rest of the teams are built around the tankline, with DPS like Mei and Hanzo popular this season as well.
It’s surprising to see how the meta has boosted some of the healers to the top spot, while some have been left in the dust who have been amazingly strong in other seasons. If you’re looking to support your team with the best healers of the meta, check out our list below!
7. Brigitte
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Don't let the helping hand fool you -- Brig will mess you up.
Daughter of the engineer Torbjörn and friend of shield-bearer Reinhardt, Brigitte’s abilities reflect her relationships with powerful armor, a rocket flail, and her own personal shield. Brig is best for close encounters and on-point brawls, which is what made her so powerful in the GOATs meta.
Healing Skills:
Rocket Flail: Her passive, which is triggered by her hitting enemies with her flail, provides AOE healing to her teammates around her.
Repair Pack: Brigitte can send a healing pack to any ally she can see. Any healing over that ally’s full health provides them with armor.
Rally (Ultimate Ability): Brigitte gives armor to all allies within her range, which remains until it is removed by damage.
In previous metas, Brigitte has reigned supreme as a near unstoppable force of stuns and damage. However, team fights in the double shield meta are often fought at range, so Brig will find herself standing behind the tankline waiting around for most of the fight rather than making herself useful. Any time she spends away from enemies is time she’s not spending healing her team, and the Repair Packs are on enough of a cool-down that the hero pick just isn’t justifiable.
Healing Usefulness Rating: 35/100 She can still send out those packs, but no brawl means no heals.
6. Zenyatta
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Those balls strike fear into the heart of even the bravest soldier.
This omnic monk talks a lot about peace, but he’s one of the best damage dealers of the healer class if played well. His damage potential and defensive ultimate have made him a mainstay with support mains, but the current meta just isn’t the right fit with his kit.
Healing Skills:
Harmony Orb: Zen can send out a ball of healing energy to focus on one of his teammates at a time that he can see.
Transcendence (Ultimate Ability): This powerful burst of healing in a range around Zenyatta can shut down most of the damage-dealing ultimates in the game.
Zen is another hero with an awesome damage output, but one of his strongest abilities, the Discord Orb, which increases the damage taken by its target, is useless in the shield meta, as it cannot be placed onto enemy heroes through shields. Without Discord it’s hard to justify Zen as a pick on your team right now, even as an off-healer.
Healing Usefulness Rating: 40/100 At least Transcendence is still incredibly powerful, and can win you a team fight if used correctly.
5. Ana
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This old lady's still got it.
This silver-haired sniper is one of the most difficult supports to play considering the aim that’s required, which makes her a strong pick in higher-tiered play. Her burst healing is also unmatched in the roster, and makes her incredibly strong in the right meta.
Healing Skills:
Biotic Rifle: Ana’s rifle heals allies with each shot, while simultaneously damaging allies when they are the target.
Biotic Grenade: This grenade gives Ana’s allies a quick burst of healing, as well as increases the amount of healing an ally can take at a time, while also damaging enemies and preventing them from being able to heal at all.
Nano Boost (Ultimate Ability): This ability gives a nearby ally hero a damage buff while also increasing their damage resistance, and heals them on the spot.
Ana is another hero who relies on range, so she takes a small hit with this meta, although not as much as Brig or Zen considering she can still heal her allies closeby. She’s still a pretty viable pick in double shield, just not reaching the full potential of her kit as she does in other play-styles.
Healing Usefulness Rating: 50/100 She can still put out a ton of healing, she just won’t do the damage she normally can.
4. Mercy
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She's basically the soccor mom of the group.
Mercy has been one of the most popular heroes since the game’s release, and it’s not very hard to see why: on top of the fact that she’s accessible to players of all skill levels, she has an insane healing output and the best mobility of the support class.
Healing Skills:
Caduceus Staff: Mercy’s staff puts out the highest healing per second of any of the other healers to nearby allies, and can also damage boost allies as well.
Resurrection: Mercy can bring a dead teammate back to life with full health.
Valkyrie (Ultimate Ability): Mercy’s healing output is increased, and can heal as many teammates as are in range. Of course, damage boost is always an option, too.
Mercy has remained strong through most meta changes the game has experienced, and this season is no exception. The only thing to look out for is flankers, because you’re pretty vulnerable just sitting being a shield.
Healer Usefulness Rating: 65/100 You’ll get a ton of healing done, but it’s not the most thrilling to pocket a Bastion all game, not gonna lie.
3. Lucio
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Taking the healing power of music a little too far.
Lucio is another one of the game’s original healers, and has a unique ability no other healer utilizes: speed boost. This ability, on top of Lucio’s impressive AOE healing, can make or break a team.
Healing Skills:
Crossfade: Lucio can choose between either a healing or speed effect to give his allies within range.
Amplify: Lucio can increase the effects of the selected Crossfade ability.
Sound Barrier (Ultimate Ability): Lucio sends out a blast of sonic energy that provides his allies in range their own personal shields, which deteriorate over time.
Lucio’s AOE healing is unmatched among the support roster, and his speed boost can be the difference between winning and losing a team fight, getting allies out of tight spots. He’s not as strong as he’s been in past seasons, but Lucio still isn’t a bad face to see in your team’s lineup in Season 18.
Healer Usefulness Rating: 75/100 Steady healing throughout the game plus a defensive ultimate makes for one strong support hero.
2. Baptiste
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Because an immortality mechanic isn't broken, right?
The most recent addition to Overwatch’s support roster, Baptiste is another hero with some much-needed burst healing. When you consider his damage output and immortality field, he’s a must for a team-centered play style.
Healing Skills:
Biotic Launcher: While his launcher can damage enemies in three-bullet bursts, it also heals allies by lobbing projectiles at allies.
Regenerative Burst: Basptiste heals himself and allies within range over a period of time.
Immortality Field: Baptiste sends out a small device that projects a field. If allies remain in the field, their health cannot fall below a certain threshold, making them impossible to kill.
Baptiste has been strong since he’s been introduced, adding some more burst healing to the game, but the immortality field takes the cake with this one. Throw that out over your DPS behind two shields, and you’re almost guaranteed to win that team fight.
Healer Usefulness Rating: 90/100 Immortality Field bumps Baptiste pretty far up this list, even with one of the longest cooldowns in the game.
1. Moira
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She'll give you the succ.
Moira is a healer who’s always had great short term heals with a strong long term effect, too. Top it off with an ult that both damages and heals at the same time, and she’s the top pick for a healer stuck behind a couple of shields in the back line.
Healer Skills:
Biotic Grasp: Moira expends energy to heal nearby allies.
Biotic Orb: Moira sends out a ball that heals allies and bounces off of any surface it touches.
Coalescence (Ultimate Ability): Moira controls a blast of energy from herself that heals allies and damages enemies.
Moira’s kit is the perfect match for this meta: small bursts of healing she can send out from herself, as well as AOE healing in the form of her orbs. Even better, she has great survivability with her damage and fade skills. She’s always been strong, but the double shield meta really gives her a place to shine.
Healer Usefulness Rating: 100/100 You’d be surprised to find a game that doesn’t have a Moira right now.
