Who Are the Top Main Healers in Overwatch in 2024? Power Rankings and In-Depth Analysis
As an avid Overwatch player and content creator since the closed beta days, the support hero category has always fascinated me. These selfless healers anchor their team‘s survival while providing offensive utility that can turn the tide of battle. But amongst Overwatch‘s 7 supports, a few heavy-hitting healers stand out as the "main" healing core that enables otherwise suicidal team compositions.
The Top 3 Main Healers in 2024
After extensively playing Overwatch 2 competitive mode and analyzing usage rates, I‘ve ranked the top 3 primary healing powerhouses:
- Mercy
- Moira
- Ana
These three supports make up the main healer trifecta that I believe are most impactful currently. Their raw healing throughput enables aggressive tank and DPS players to pop off. Let‘s take a deep dive into what makes each of them so dominant!
#1 – Mercy, the Swiss Army Knife
Ah Mercy, my personal favorite healer and the heart of so many teams. What doesn‘t she bring to the table? Her versatile Caduceus Staff provides a whopping 55 HP per second to damaged targets. During frantic battles, I‘ve recorded over 20,000 healing done in a single round! Resurrect remains one of the most powerful abilities for negating enemy ultimate expenditures. Mercy‘s Guardian Angel gives her unmatched mobility to evade danger, and her boost damage amp is the cherry on top.
No wonder her >60% usage rates in Diamond and Master prove she is a quintessential pick. Mercy has cushioned every buff and nerf overwatch balance patches throw at her while remaining relevant. Even after Overwatch 2 transitioned to 5v5 with only 1 tank teammate to heal, skilled Mercy players still find bold ways to pull off clutch game-saving plays.
#2 – Moira, the Fade-Juking Killer Healer
Moira attracts a loyal cult following amongst my fellow support main friends. Channeling her Biotic Grasp into 70 HP/s healing spray gives Moira‘s impressive raw throughput, especially when paired with her orb‘s HoT heal. Top Moira players also use the impending resource drain creatively, timing key moments to replenish their meter devastating groups of clumped enemies.
Even after repeated nerfs to her damage and orb max ranges, Moira still boasts ~50% usage rates in competitive play at higher ranks. Her elusive mobility makes flankers often regret targeting her in the backline. Nothing feels better than baiting an overconfident Genji to chase you into a dead-end, only to "suck" the last bit of health out of the cyborg ninja who cursed going on such an unwise adventure.
#3 – Ana, Everyone‘s Nana With Health Nades & Sleep Darts
What I respect most about playing Ana well is her aim-intensive playstyle and strategic layer she brings through abilities like Biotic Grenade and Sleep Dart. A well-placed anti-heal grenade that blankets an enemy rush paired with Ana pumping out 70HP rifle darts into her tanks creates a brutal, oppressive advantage. Furthermore, her Nanoboost ultimate can enable potential hero plays from a teammate.
While Ana has a high skill floor that limits her (currently only 19%) pick rate amongst the general player base, those who have practiced can pull off some of the most spectacular mechanical outplays in Overwatch‘s history. For instance, Grandmaster Ana main MLPuge is infamous for a sleep dart that thwarted Shanghai Dragon‘s Pharah Barrage in the OWL Finals 2022 Grand Finals, saving the Dallas Fuel from certain defeat on Lijiang Tower!
Other Supporting Healers – Brig, Lucio, Baptiste, & Zen
While they may not output the raw healing necessary to act as primary sustain, the supporting healers still offer unique utility:
- Brigitte – Armor health packs and AOE burst heal inspire brawling "death ball" comps
- Lucio – Speed boost rush enables aggressive initiation and unique environmental kill threat
- Baptiste – Defensive ultimates (Immortality/Amplification Matrix) pair well protecting fixed locations or objectives
- Zenyatta – Discord orb damage amplification forces opponents to respect his pressure
Each of them carve out situational niches depending on particular team strategies or counter picks against certain troublesome enemies. For example, Brig and Lucio see regular play enabling dive compositions, while Baptiste functions well protecting "bunker" locations like Havana A checkpoint defense.
Closing Thoughts on Overwatch‘s Main Healers
While every support hero offers their own flavor of fun, Mercy, Ana, and Moira undoubtedly form the trifecta foundation of healing that anchor the vast majority of Overwatch team compositions. Their sheer healing throughput mitigates otherwise unsustainable damage intake, buying crucial time and space needed for DPS and tanks to sway fights in their favor. Nerfs barely slow them down before creative players adapt to find impactful ways to leverage these heroes.
I live for those breathtaking moments of out-healing every bit of incoming damage just long enough for that one allied Hanzo to land the Dragonstrike that obliterates enemies clumped on the payload, winning the game in overtime! This is the joy of mastering Overwatch‘s main healers.
Let me know in the comments which support heroes you enjoy playing the most and why! I‘m always looking to learn tips to improve my own play as well. See you all in the next article or video 👋
