Lucio nerf - Jeff Kaplan AMA

https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/5yj2zk/ama_request_jeff_kaplan/dew7nhp/

Right now we're trying some stuff with Lucio. We feel like a lot of players feel like he is a "must have" in comps but he also doesn't feel super impactful to play. We're trying some ideas to make him more engaging to play while making him a little less obvious/must pick. We'll see if those changes make it to the PTR.

One tricky thing is that player perception of "must pick" doesn't match actual behavior. I sometimes look at the hero pick stats and they clearly don't match the "hero meta report" stats. Then players tell me to throw out my stats and look at only diamond and higher in competitive play only. Well, at that point, I'm not sure players realize what a small percentage of the player base they are asking me to make a decision based on. Obviously, we are in the process of toning Ana down right now. But we're also not out to see her never get played either. Player reaction is often to sledgehammer everything.

Balancing around low level gameplay because it represents such a large percentage of players has me worried, that pitfall has ruined a game or two before
Although I can't say I'm surprised that Jeff Kaplan would try to please everybody

Lucio is always going to be a must-pick at high levels until they add a hero that can match the tactical necessity of speed boost. I feel like if "making him a little less obvious/must pick" means nerfing speed boost again, the game is just going to become less interesting.

I thought Lucio was in a pretty good place right now, admittedly its a bit brain dead to play him but the high pick rate is a bit of a non-issue if they released other heroes with built in speed boosting capabilities.

I don't think this Lucio post is about balancing around lower level play. It's more of the fact that having permanent AOE effects as a core ability makes limits Lucio's game play and makes him feel dull. In terms of what impactful play means, it probably refers to individual play making. For example, Ana has her Sleep Dart and Biotic Grenade that allows her to swing fights, Zenyatta has high damage output and helps to focus fire down targets very quickly, Mercy is ... Mercy, pretty much having less play making opportunities with her kit too.

Lucio's Amp ability requires his team to utilize it well, making his good Amp timings feel like it pretty much relies on the team input more than his own. His Boop is great for dislodging positions and peeling, but it's limited by the opponents not expecting it to occur and not punishing Lucio going for Boops.

Even if Lucio contributes a lot to the team, it doesn't feel as rewarding playing him compared to Ana / Zenyatta, sometimes even Mercy. From my own perspective, I don't think he's talking about flat out nerfs to Lucio or trying to balance him around lower levels. Rather, they likely want to make him more fun to play with by giving him more individual play making opportunities.

What they mean by making him less essential could be giving him some form of nerf, or it could also be retooling him or off loading the strengths of his kit elsewhere similarly to what they tried to do for Roadhog.

I don't think he's as much of a must have pick as he used to be and I think he's engaging enough to play if you wall climb to get to places enemies don't expect whilst still providing your team heals and speed.

I think it's more about the person playing it, sure you could stay on the ground and do a good enough job but why not try a little harder and do a little better? You don't have to go to DSPStanky levels and only go for individual flashy moves but theres lots of places on lots of points lucio's can hide and provide healing.

I also don't think teams punish you as much as you think Sandshrew for going for boops, honestly more often than not, as long as you dont just run at them in a straight line, they hardly even notice you. There's so much you can get away with quite often I'll dive past the rein shield and just boop him into my team, obviously relies on a few factors but that's usually a free kill the team gets and it feels impactful.

The only thing I dislike about lucio is his ult. It's the only disappointing bit of kit he has, for a character all about engaging and disengaging his ult is a shield for a couple seconds. I'd rather he did something different than that but I'm not sure what. Just something that fits into his playstyle and purpose.

Bronze/silver/gold/some plats just dont know how to play around/with a lucio.
This majority doesnt understand how speed kills, how speed can get past choke points (hello anubis/eich/kings row etc).
When to engage/disengage with lucio, players dont understand, so you wonder why lucio isn't "fun to play" when players can't "see" how lucio is critical to smooth great coordinated play.

Your asking to have a coordinated team, and simply put, thats just not going to happen in the lower tiers.

I think this is the greatest symptom of the game since its been out, players don't understand how to play this game in a coordinated matter and there are things the OW team can do to help the scene greatly on this point. If this happened, guaranteed this would never be an issue, a rework of one of the most critical characters in the game. You can balance lucio, sure, but rework him like a symmetra because of his pickrate/not fun? Look at the greater game design before you look at the nitty gritty.

They nerfed Lucio's fun without removing his effectiveness. He's reverse Hanzo. Of course he doesn't get picked at lower levels. Solution is to make him fun again without buffing him overall.

Bronze/silver/gold/some plats just dont know how to play around/with a lucio.

they also don't know how to play with a lucio.