My problems with Ana

[Klingers]

I'll start this bv saying I really like Ana as a character. I like her ability kit, I like Blizzard's conceptual idea of the role she's supposed to fit and I think it's something unique and interesting. Unfortunately though I think they've missed the mark in one very crucial way: Ana is not fun in solo queue, especially quickplay with her current limitations.

Allow me to elaborate: I'm not talking skill ceiling here, I'm talking about her utility being hampered by a lack of team coordination.

Last night in one my first ever games I got bitched out for not healing enough. Let me set the scene: We were playing offense on Numbani and leaving aside I got the gold healing medal as Ana when a Zenyata was on the team, I had three players (two of which were the ones complaining at the end of the game) immediately pick Genji, Tracer and 76 then zip towards the point as fast as they could in 3 different directions while strafing all over the place.

By contrast I'm running behind them at considerably slower speed with zero verticality or special movement abilities. I'm dealing with a map with lots of tight corners. My bolt-action rifle only heals for 80 per shot. Nobody on this team has enough situational awareness to think about line of sight when they want healing.

I get that some people will want to make points about the meta and team comp when picking Ana, but I'd counter with this: That's not the problem. The problem is that Ana's lack of movement freedom and LoS requirements are inherently busted in a solo quickplay match because there's no way to compensate for the... erm... "fucktard" factor. People are lone wolves or aren't thinking about where those heals are coming from. Quickplay is inarguably the place unfamiliar players should be plating Ana as a baseline as that's the most casual-friendly environment there is in Overwatch.

So, how would I fix it? I don't have all the answers, but some of the following need to happen:

• Change the unscoped rifle's heal from a projectile to an instant-hit
• Increase Ana's base run speed so she can keep up with a pack of players
• Give Ana's rifle an alt-fire grappling hook on a long cooldown. Make it more of a chore than Widowmaker's grapple if need-be, but Ana needs the ability to get to the high-ground.
• Buff the biotic rifle's heal from 80 to 100 or 120 per shot
• Allow Ana's healing shots to work through walls with diminishing returns based on distance

TLDR; Ana's got some serious problems in terms of value to uncoordinated teams and her ability set needs tweaking to compensate for lone-wolf behavior from other players. Ana either needs stronger point-shot heals to make up for her lack of mobility or Ana needs more mobility and the ability to reach high ground.

Thoughts?

[Kaleredar]

Instead of a grappling hook like widow, I feel they should give her Hanzo's wallclimb utility. Seeing as she requires positioning not only to attack but also to heal, she needs the quick ability to get on top of things to secure a vantage point (like the buses in Numbani, for example,) and not have her entire team die because she screwed up a 12 second CD because it hit the railing too low or something like that. This allows her quick mobility to help teammates but dissalows her from making completely clutch escapes like widowmaker's grappling hook would, which might make her too difficult to lock down as a support.

[Klingers]

Instead of a grappling hook like widow, I feel they should give her Hanzo's wallclimb utility. Seeing as she requires positioning not only to attack but also to heal, she needs the quick ability to get on top of things to secure a vantage point (like the buses in Numbani, for example,) and not have her entire team die because she screwed up a 12 second CD because it hit the railing too low or something like that. This allows her quick mobility to help teammates but dissalows her from making completely clutch escapes like widowmaker's grappling hook would, which might make her too difficult to lock down as a support.

Yep I'm completely in favour of this idea too, it's more about the need for the verticality than the method of achieving it. My suggestion was just because her Shift, E and right-click are already used. My idea was along the lines of Mercy/Torb flicking their mouse wheel to access a context-appropriate secondary weapon.

I guess as Hanzo's wall-climb is just based on holding the jump button it could work

[Daws001]

The problem is that Ana's lack of movement freedom and LoS requirements are inherently busted in a solo quickplay match because there's no way to compensate for the... erm... "fucktard" factor.

Mercy and Zeny would also suffer in such games. Moving with the team, being mindful of positioning, and keeping LoS are critical to all three of them. Ana isn't busted, she's just another non-Lucio healer. Now mind you, if Blizz said, "We're giving Ana wall climb!" I'd piss myself. I think it would add depth to her game but she's not crippled by its omission. No she can't fly away like Mercy to evade that blasted Reaper on her arse, but she can pump him full of elephant tranquilizer and drop him like a rock. Can she miss it and still get her face blown off? Sure. And Mercy may not have anyone in sight to fly away too and her face could get blown off too. Such is Overwatch.

I think your suggested fixes are unnecessary. They'd just dumb her down and part of Ana's thing is that she's complex. It can be frustrating when you're missing those clutch heals but then the opposite is incredibly rewarding. I say just keep practicing with her. She's only been out for like 2 mins

[Destriel]

I commend you for probably the most legit gripe post I've seen so far. Sadly the only comment I really have is that playing support in quick play with no other reliable allies sucks no matter who you use. The only one most people won't complain about is Lucio because he's a bit more durable ... I find it very hard solo queing and willingly play support and not getting the big bullseye on my forehead with little to no help or peeling off of those annoying Genjis and Tracers.

[Klingers]

I think your suggested fixes are unnecessary. They'd just dumb her down and part of Ana's thing is that she's complex. It can be frustrating when you're missing those clutch heals but then the opposite is incredibly rewarding. I say just keep practicing with her. She's only been out for like 2 mins

I can see that as a fair point; The complexity is what drew me to giving her a go. I wasn't suggesting all of the above changes as necessary, just providing a range of potential solutions.

I like Ana and I want to "get gud" with her, but I suspect myself and many other players will give her a miss due to some inherent toxicity I've been seeing in the playerbase the last couple nights I've been playing.

I don't think it's realistic to expect people are going to change their behavior, expectations or situational awareness in a non-coordinated quickplay match and I don't want to see in a couple months Ana being confined to 6-player queued teams on voice comms due to the inherent frustration of dealing with strangers. I just want to see her kit expanded slightly to mitigate some of that frustration and make it a better time for everybody.

[DeadmanWalking]

I'll start this bv saying I really like Ana as a character. I like her ability kit, I like Blizzard's conceptual idea of the role she's supposed to fit and I think it's something unique and interesting. Unfortunately though I think they've missed the mark in one very crucial way: Ana is not fun in solo queue, especially quickplay with her current limitations.

Allow me to elaborate: I'm not talking skill ceiling here, I'm talking about her utility being hampered by a lack of team coordination.

Last night in one my first ever games I got bitched out for not healing enough. Let me set the scene: We were playing offense on Numbani and leaving aside I got the gold healing medal as Ana when a Zenyata was on the team, I had three players (two of which were the ones complaining at the end of the game) immediately pick Genji, Tracer and 76 then zip towards the point as fast as they could in 3 different directions while strafing all over the place.

By contrast I'm running behind them at considerably slower speed with zero verticality or special movement abilities. I'm dealing with a map with lots of tight corners. My bolt-action rifle only heals for 80 per shot. Nobody on this team has enough situational awareness to think about line of sight when they want healing.

I get that some people will want to make points about the meta and team comp when picking Ana, but I'd counter with this: That's not the problem. The problem is that Ana's lack of movement freedom and LoS requirements are inherently busted in a solo quickplay match because there's no way to compensate for the... erm... "fucktard" factor. People are lone wolves or aren't thinking about where those heals are coming from. Quickplay is inarguably the place unfamiliar players should be plating Ana as a baseline as that's the most casual-friendly environment there is in Overwatch.

So, how would I fix it? I don't have all the answers, but some of the following need to happen:

• Change the unscoped rifle's heal from a projectile to an instant-hit
• Increase Ana's base run speed so she can keep up with a pack of players
• Give Ana's rifle an alt-fire grappling hook on a long cooldown. Make it more of a chore than Widowmaker's grapple if need-be, but Ana needs the ability to get to the high-ground.
• Buff the biotic rifle's heal from 80 to 100 or 120 per shot
• Allow Ana's healing shots to work through walls with diminishing returns based on distance

TLDR; Ana's got some serious problems in terms of value to uncoordinated teams and her ability set needs tweaking to compensate for lone-wolf behavior from other players. Ana either needs stronger point-shot heals to make up for her lack of mobility or Ana needs more mobility and the ability to reach high ground.

Thoughts?

My two cents, it was Ana and it was you as much as your team. If your team is complaining about not healing as much and you can't keep up with them then you need to switch to a healer that can keep up, does well in tight corners and tell them that you can't heal all over the place, switch to Lucio. Like you said she doesn't do well in tight corners so you are partly to blame for not switching to someone who is better at that.

[Klingers]

My two cents, it was Ana and it was you as much as your team. If your team is complaining about not healing as much and you can't keep up with them then you need to switch to a healer that can keep up, does well in tight corners and tell them that you can't heal all over the place, switch to Lucio. Like you said she doesn't do well in tight corners so you are partly to blame for not switching to someone who is better at that.

Fair point, but as I said already there's a learning curve with a new hero. I also out-healed the Zenyata in that match (which is probably a stain on their record more than a star on mine, but I digress...) You have to bite the bullet and spend time with a character you're trying to skill up with.

If a character's use is so situational that she can only be used in games where people will coordinate, wait for a respawn wave and travel in packs instead of just running one by one into the meat grinder, then her skillset is far too narrow.

If she had a gap closer or a quick way to hit the high ground and get good visibility at a minimum then all those concerns would go away.

[Jessicka]

I don't think it's fair to compare to a Zenyetta to be honest, he's also just been buffed so that player might well have been new to or relearning that hero themselves.

I've outlined my own issues in the other threads with her, so I don't disagree that she is a little underpowered at the moment. Her numbers are a bit low, but the main thing is that her kit is probably a bit too diverse so she's not really great at anything in particular so it's hard to really assess what kind of impact you had.

I agree you need to be able to keep with your team, mostly because her Grenade is probably the strongest part of her kit. Getting to high ground is therefore not a huge deal, so climbing and grapples aren't entirely necessary; and they impinge on the already very limited real snipers and make her a bit too samey. You also need your team to look after you, the Grenade will give Tracer/Genji second thoughts in flanking you, but they'll be back and other flankers are much less put off by it.

[Taalyn]

This game is not and should not be balanced around uncoordinated players.

[ati87]

This game is not and should not be balanced around uncoordinated players.

And neither should it be balanced around a single player.

The argument that the entire team needs to keep track of a single character or else isn't a good or a fun way of playing.

With both Lucio and Mercy you know they are part of the group and not that far away so both players will reach each other in a few seconds.

[Naxere]

If you're playing Ana and your team is half-filled with flankers, either you need to switch or they need to switch.

[DeadmanWalking]

If you're playing Ana and your team is half-filled with flankers, either you need to switch or they need to switch.

And OP said there were lots of tight corners which Ana doesn't work well in but they wanted to practice the character. This isn't a case of Ana needing verticle movement options, this is a case of trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole.

[Zelendria]

Snip

"Only" 80. Well 75, but my issue is the only part.
Her rifle, if you can actually aim it, does +25hp/s more than Mercy does. Could get into a debate about reloading vs beam vs LOS vs danger vs aiming and so on, but ultimately every one of her shots is 50% more powerful than Mercy in the same time period.

Changing unscoped to hitscan just makes her easier to play. If you can't use her well enough to be effective, don't call for nerfs on the hero, play something easier or get better. I hate this kind of attitude towards higher skill cap heroes.

120hp per shot is absolutely ridiculous for people that can reliably hit the target. That would essentially heal your offense heroes from zero to full in two hits.
In comparison Mercy will have to fly to them, potentially putting her in danger, then spending twice as long healing to do what Ana did from safety.
Now add that her grenade not only heals for 100hp, but also increases healing by 100%. That means she can burst heal whoever is hit from the grenade for 240hp per shot. That's almost 50% of a tanks HP every shot. Sorry just no that is simply OP.

She shouldn't run faster no. The vast bulk of heroes run at 5.5m/s. Only Tracer, Genji, and Lucio w/ speed boost are exceptions to this rule.
A ranged healer definitely shouldn't run faster than everybody else, otherwise she's not actually that vulnerable when caught out, because nobody can keep up once she breaks LOS while running away.

Being able to quickly hit high ground again is just OP. Very few heroes in the game can quickly get to high ground, but they sure as hell don't have a sleep and self heal as well.
Someone flanks her, she can sleep, jump to high ground in this case like WM, then setup a free shot and grenade against the bulk of heroes that can't even give chase on high ground.

Sorry but all in all I don't think Ana is weak at all she's just harder to use.

[Scufflegrit]

You said it yourself:

there's no way to compensate for the... erm... "fucktard" factor.

And there's so much of it you're going to see. Not just while healing, but in all roles. My favorite ones are:
- people running half way across the map, getting trapped then spamming "I need heals!I need heals!I need heals!I need heals!I need heals!" No, you need situational awareness and a decent dose of teamwork.
- me seeing a choke point turret as Reinhardt, blocking it's fire with my shield... then seeing my entire team run past me and the turret, ignoring us both. Just ignore the fact that if we all die (and by this point I know we will), that this turret will STILL be here and will murderlize us as we run by it again. And again. And again... But ignore the turret. It doesn't count as an actual kill. And like the slogan says: "Gotta kill 'em all!" Oh, wait... it's doing that to us.
- a new one I saw yesterday. As Reinhardt I was at half health, and instead of healing me, THEN doing it, Ana just straight up hit me with the Nano Boost... and didn't stay in LoS to heal me at all. Yes I wrecked the enemy team before with the Nano Boost, but 1)I was at full health at the start 2)you kept healing me 3) it was a different, much tighter area they couldn't move around in. So the enemy team were basically fish in a barrel. It doesn't work so well when they can scatter.

Oh, and none of the healers can deal with that lone wolf/tunnel vision mentality, not completely anyway.
- Mercy can't fly to you to heal if you're too far away. She's probably gonna stick with the tank and guard the objective/payload.
- Lucio's healing is line of sight and is blocked by basically everything, even the payload you are escorting or that crate you are hiding behind. Yes he can speed boost over to you, but that'll likely just get you both killed.
- Zenyatta can only heal one person at a time and requires line of sight, so basically both Mercy's and Lucio's limitations combined. Symmetra can't actually heal you. She's basically a Defense character with a set of support abilities and probably shouldn't be in the Support category.

Oddly enough, Ana is the only healer who could potentially deal with the lone wolf mentality the best (in some situations). If there is someone too far away for all the others to heal, as long as they can get in her LoS, Ana can scope heal them.

[Deleted]

I think she is really good, apart from 1 issue, lack of any form of mobility so cant reach sniper spots. I think hanzo wall climb on her would be a good idea. not as good as WM's grapnel, but handy to let her actually get into snipe spots.

[Destriel]

So I just finished a few matches with Ana, one was a temple of Anubis which was a solo support run for me.... However given the team I had, I felt more than comfortable with it. It was a competitive match, went nearly the entire 10 minutes between the two points and I ended with 40% team healing done with 14,000~ healing done which for a single target healer with (my only real gripe) only 6 shots in a clip and a grenade, was pretty nice to see.

Comparing her to Zenyatta is actually more accurate than people think, both have s*** for mobility, both have similar hp pools(shields too) and both only single target heal which while Zens orb speed is better with the patch, it still heals at the same rate which given the right circumstance, Ana will out heal easily. The only factoring difference is how their ultimates are used, one is a very heavy offense... One is a very heavy support based ultimate. Both have their wins and 75% of the time, the ultimates are paired with other players.

The whole "needing that high ground point" is such a BS statement. Stop playing her like she is a legitimate sniper (granted I was making a pharah very unhappy yesterday from afar).

Is she good for every map? No but every support has maps they suffer on. How often is symmetra used in KoTH maps? Who in the right mind wouldn't auto lock Lucio for Illos? In maps that have easy access for flankers, I'd very rarely consider mercy without playing with either a very aware McCree or an efficient road hog to keep them off me but that's the whole point of a team game.

[Deleted]

Sounds like the usual support in solo queue woes. Sadly Ana Amari is not a good solo support when you don't have a healer capable of distributing 'bulk heals' while staying fairly elusive. Sure her burst heal is really something else, but being a hitscan or projectile rather than AoE and tether, you can and will get fucked by friendlies doing nothing more than playing the game.

In Solo queue, I'd suggest never going solo Ana healing unless her kit is vitally important for the encounter at hand.

[MrBitterness]

My problems with Ana is...I'm really horrible with Ana.

[Destriel]

My problems with Ana is...I'm really horrible with Ana.

Atleast you have the excuse of her being a new character... I'm a horrible Genji and he has been out since alpha, lol.