Blizzcon 2017 Announcements!

There’s a thread on reddit right now called “Blizzard literally gave us everything we wanted” and that’s pretty much how I’d sum up this cavalcade of announcements we just got at the beginning of Blizzcon. Blizzard is pulling out all the stops with a host of new Overwatch improvements on several fronts. First and most important, we’re getting our first evil healer! Moira is an Irish geneticist who appears to have something to do with Reaper’s necromantic resurrection, and she specializes in medium-range healing and damage-dealing. She’s got several different beam attacks for defending herself and also fueling her healing… [Continue Reading]

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Another Look at Trinity

The last time I looked at Trinity, the primary healing character in Warframe, I wasn’t a fan of her. I found her tedious and awkward, while acknowledging that, with the right setup, she could be really strong. Of course, back then, I still didn’t have Continuity, nor did I have many of the higher end mods that make Trinity good. Now that I do, I think it’s time to look back at her. Basically, Trinity is the best support character one could ever ask for in a video game. Or at least, she would be if it wasn’t for her… [Continue Reading]

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The (somewhat) Curious Case of Paladins’ Support Classes

Most of the time, in a class-based game, healers or other support classes do rather pitiful damage relative to their more combat-oriented colleagues. I mean, if you have a guy who only does damage, and another guy who does the same amount of damage but also heals and is similar in terms of bulk and speed, the first guy will really need some kind of very interesting or effective gimmick for him to even be used at all. Aside for that, you will run into a scenario where the support class player went off to do anything but supporting the… [Continue Reading]

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Lucio Added to Heroes of the Storm!

Lucio is the single most fun I’ve ever had playing a support class in a multiplayer, and now he’s bringing his area-of-effect heals over to Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard’s mashup MOBA starring characters from all over their various franchises. He’ll be joining Zarya and Tracer as the third hero to represent Overwatch.  (Which does bring up the question, will the next immigrant be a Defense hero? My money’s on Torbjörn.) Most of his kit has been preserved, albeit molded to fit the MOBA gameplay. His wallride lets him bypass enemies and avoid stuns, his various healing and sound barriers are still as powerful… [Continue Reading]

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Turning the Beat Up with Overwatch’s Lucio

The previous four classes I’ve described are all derivative of tried-and-true playstyles from other games. Mercy is a Medic, Junkrat is a grenadier, Widowmaker is a sniper, and Soldier 76 is every rifleman ever. But while he’s not nearly as easy to pin down, Lúcio quickly became one of my favorite classes to play because I can’t think of a single shooter with somebody like him. He feels like a support unit out of a real-time strategy, to be perfectly honest. With his boombox loudspeaker thing, he can either passively heal all the teammates around him (including himself, completely subverting No Self… [Continue Reading]

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