Hero Shooters Defined: The Evolving Genre
Hero shooters have carved a unique niche in the gaming world, blending the strategic teamwork of traditional shooters with the vibrant diversity of role-based gameplay. These games revolve around characters, or “heroes,” each equipped with distinctive abilities, weapons, and roles. This creates a dynamic battlefield where team synergy is paramount.
At the forefront of this genre is Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment’s revolutionary title that debuted in 2016. With a diverse roster of heroes spanning damage-dealing assassins, chonky tanks, and versatile supports, Overwatch redefined multiplayer shooters by emphasizing team coordination over individual prowess. Its success not only birthed a legion of fans but also inspired a wave of hero shooter titles.
Another notable entrant is Marvel Rivals, which blends hero shooter mechanics with cooperative action gameplay. It incorporates the role-based elements that make the genre compelling. Players can step into the shoes of iconic Marvel characters, each bringing their unique abilities to battles that demand strategic cooperation.
What sets hero shooters apart is their reliance on roles, such as tanks to absorb damage, DPS to eliminate threats, and supports to sustain and empower their teammates. The interplay of these roles creates a rich tactical layer where victory hinges on understanding and exploiting team dynamics.
However, this very reliance on distinct roles has led to some misconceptions—particularly surrounding the support role. Often mischaracterized as “healers,” supports in hero shooters provide much more than mere health restoration. Their utility extends to damage amplification, control effects, and mobility boosts, making them indispensable to any team.
The rise of hero shooters has expanded the boundaries of multiplayer gaming. Additionally, it has sparked discussions about the evolving roles within these games. Understanding these roles is critical to appreciating the depth and strategy that make hero shooters a staple of modern gaming.
Support vs. Healer: Breaking the Misconception
One of the most persistent misunderstandings in hero shooters is the conflation of “support” with “healer.” While healing is a vital aspect of many support roles, it is far from their sole function. The term “support” encompasses a broader set of responsibilities that extend beyond simply keeping teammates’ health bars full.
At its core, a support hero’s job is to enhance the team’s overall performance. Healing, though prominent, is just one tool in their arsenal. Consider Zenyatta from Overwatch. While his orb of harmony steadily regenerates a teammate’s health, his orb of discord debuffs enemies, amplifying the damage they take. This duality showcases how supports operate on both sides of the battlefield—assisting allies and hindering opponents.
In contrast, the term “healer” narrowly focuses on the restorative aspect of gameplay, ignoring the tactical utility many support characters provide. Heroes like Brigitte, also from Overwatch, exemplify this distinction. Though she can heal allies with her Repair Pack and Inspire abilities, she also provides armor, knocks back enemies with her flail, and shields teammates from incoming damage. These capabilities highlight her role as a hybrid of protection, control, and healing—a true support hero.
Other games in the hero shooter space reinforce this distinction. In Paladins, the character Jenos is classified as a support, yet his gameplay revolves as much around enhancing teammates’ damage as it does healing. Similarly, in Apex Legends, Lifeline’s healing drone is only part of her utility. Her ability to call in supply drops provides tactical advantages by equipping her team with better gear.
The mislabeling of supports as healers often underestimates their strategic importance. It also contributes to a skewed perception of the role, where players undervalue or overlook the nuanced contributions these characters make. Understanding the distinction between support and healer allows teams to leverage these heroes’ full potential, fostering more effective gameplay.
By redefining how we view supports, we can better appreciate their complexity and the vital role they play in hero shooters. This clarity also encourages players to explore support roles without being pigeonholed into a narrow, one-dimensional playstyle.
Support Utility: Beyond Healing
When you hear the word “support” in a hero shooter, you might immediately think of healing teammates in dire moments. However, support heroes bring much more to the table, offering a wide range of utilities that can turn the tide of battle without relying solely on healing. Their value lies in how they enhance team performance, disrupt enemies, and create opportunities for victory.
Consider Overwatch’s Lucio, a quintessential example of non-healing utility. While he can heal his teammates with his Crossfade ability, Lucio also provides a team-wide speed boost that’s invaluable for initiating attacks, retreating from dangerous situations, or securing objectives. His Sound Barrier ultimate delivers a temporary shield, enabling the team to survive high-damage ultimates or push through choke points unscathed.
Similarly, Apex Legends introduces support elements through characters like Gibraltar and Wattson. Gibraltar’s Dome of Protection shields allies from harm while reviving them faster, and Wattson’s electric fences control enemy movements while regenerating shields for her team. These abilities don’t just keep players alive—they shift the dynamics of engagements and create strategic advantages.
The support role often extends into crowd control and disruption. In Paladins, Furia combines healing with offensive utility. Her Pyre Strike blinds and damages enemies, leaving them vulnerable while her allies capitalize on the opening. This dual functionality ensures that support heroes influence the battlefield on multiple fronts, often outpacing the direct impact of a healer.
Even in Valorant, a tactical shooter where healing is rare, characters like Sage exemplify the broader support archetype. Her ability to create barriers and slow enemy advances adds layers of control to her kit, emphasizing that support roles can dominate without direct healing.
Supports are also essential for boosting teammates’ offensive potential. For example, Ana’s Biotic Grenade in Overwatch enhances healing received by teammates while simultaneously preventing enemies from healing—a strategic boon in team fights.
The diverse utility offered by support characters underlines their versatility. They empower their teams not by directly confronting enemies but by enhancing the team’s ability to act cohesively and decisively. The broader scope of their contributions ensures that supports are not just a crutch for survival but a cornerstone of team success.
Why “Healer” Became the Norm
The persistence of “healer” as the dominant term for support roles is rooted in both gaming history and cultural shorthand. While the term fails to capture the full breadth of the support role, its popularity stems from decades of familiarity and a shared lexicon among players.
The association of support with healing likely began with early role-playing games (RPGs) and massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). In these games, classes like clerics, priests, and medics were primarily tasked with keeping party members alive, often with little to no offensive or utility-based abilities. Players grew accustomed to seeing the “healer” as a vital role, a mindset that carried over into other genres, including hero shooters.
Games like World of Warcraft heavily reinforced this association. Within raid groups, healers were explicitly labeled by their ability to restore health pools. The term became shorthand, solidifying a stereotype that has followed into modern gaming. As hero shooters emerged, bringing their diverse cast of characters, the old habit of labeling supportive characters as “healers” persisted, even when their abilities extended far beyond that function.
Another factor behind the prevalence of “healer” is the visibility of healing itself. Healing provides a tangible, easy-to-measure impact during gameplay. Players notice when they’re saved from the brink of death, often attributing their survival to the healer alone. In contrast, less visible support contributions, like damage amplification or crowd control, are harder to quantify and often go underappreciated in the heat of battle.
Community dynamics have also played a role in perpetuating the term. Streamers, influencers, and even in-game tutorials often default to “healer,” reinforcing its usage among newer players. This consistent language creates a feedback loop, where “healer” becomes the default descriptor, regardless of its inaccuracy.
Moreover, the perception of support heroes as passive or secondary characters contributes to the misnomer. The term “healer” implies a reactive playstyle, where the primary goal is to patch up teammates rather than shape the flow of battle. This misunderstanding overlooks the strategic and proactive elements of the support role, such as controlling space, enhancing offense, or neutralizing enemy advantages.
While “healer” may be deeply ingrained in gaming culture, it often misrepresents the complexity and versatility of support roles. Recognizing the limitations of this term is the first step toward appreciating the broader contributions support players make to their teams.
Why You Should Say “Support” Instead of “Healer”
Language shapes perception, and in gaming, the terms we use can deeply influence how roles are understood and valued. Referring to support heroes as “healers” may seem harmless, but it reduces their role to a single function and undervalues the strategic depth they bring to hero shooters. Here’s why adopting the term “support” is both accurate and essential for fostering a healthier gaming culture.
1. Acknowledges the Full Spectrum of Contributions
Support characters offer more than healing. They disrupt enemy strategies, enhance team mobility, amplify damage, and control key areas of the map. Calling these heroes “supports” underscores their multi-faceted contributions and encourages players to think of them as critical playmakers rather than passive medics.
For example, Overwatch’s Baptiste’s Immortality Field can prevent a team wipe, and his Amplification Matrix increases damage output. These abilities demonstrate the broad tactical impact of supports beyond just replenishing health.
2. Elevates the Role’s Importance
The term “support” conveys an active, dynamic role within the team, emphasizing versatility and strategic impact. By contrast, “healer” implies a passive function focused solely on reactionary gameplay. Recognizing support players as proactive contributors can elevate their status in team discussions and in the broader gaming community.
Tying this idea to real-world experiences, consider the frustration many support players face when their work is overlooked. Players often notice healing but fail to credit supports for initiating key plays, such as disabling an enemy ultimate or providing critical buffs. Shifting the narrative from “healer” to “support” can help dismantle these misconceptions and highlight the role’s true value.
3. Encourages Better Team Dynamics
Using accurate terminology fosters better communication and teamwork. When players understand that supports are not limited to healing, they’re more likely to coordinate effectively. A player who expects healing alone may overlook a support hero’s unique toolkit and fail to maximize their potential. Too often, you’ll hear a tank or DPS player yelling about not being healed in a team fight while their support teammate is adding value elsewhere.
For instance, in Apex Legends, teams that recognize Lifeline’s supply drop ability as a tactical advantage often fare better than those who focus solely on her healing drone. Understanding and respecting the broader capabilities of supports improves synergy and enhances team performance.
4. Broadens Accessibility to the Role
Many players shy away from the support role, fearing they’ll be pigeonholed into “just healing.” Reframing the role as “support” highlights its complexity and appeal, encouraging more players to explore it. This shift can alleviate long-standing issues like long queue times for damage-dealing roles by showing players that supports are just as rewarding and impactful to play.
5. Reflects the Genre’s Evolution
Hero shooters have redefined gaming roles, blending elements of strategy, coordination, and individual creativity. Sticking to outdated terminology like “healer” doesn’t align with the innovation these games represent. Adopting “support” is a step toward acknowledging the evolution of gaming and embracing its growing complexity.
By embracing the term “support,” the community can foster a deeper understanding of hero shooter roles, encourage more diverse playstyles, and elevate the role’s reputation. It’s a small change in language but a significant shift in perspective.
How We Can Change the Community Verbiage
Shifting the gaming community’s language from “healer” to “support” won’t happen overnight, but it’s an achievable goal with collective effort. Developers, influencers, and players all have a role to play in fostering this cultural change. Here’s how we can make it happen.
1. Developers Leading the Charge
Game developers are at the forefront of shaping how players understand roles. Clear terminology in official materials—such as character descriptions, tutorials, and patch notes—can have a significant impact. For example, when a game explicitly labels a character as “support” and highlights their diverse abilities, it sets the stage for accurate perceptions.
Marvel Rivals is doing a great service to the community by labeling these characters as “strategists”. These heroes can have an enormous impact on the game outside of just providing healing, and you’ll often see a strategist player be the MVP of a match!
2. Content Creators and Influencers Setting the Example
Streamers, YouTubers, and esports commentators wield significant influence over the gaming community. When high-profile players use the term “support” instead of “healer,” it normalizes the language for their audiences. Moreover, these creators can highlight the diverse playstyles and strategic impact of support heroes, showing viewers the role’s depth.
For instance, esports broadcasts that analyze a support player’s non-healing contributions, like positioning or game awareness, can help audiences appreciate the role’s intricacies. Additionally, your favorite Youtuber can use “support” in their video titles and make sure to refer to the characters as such in their commentary.
3. Game Design Reinforcing Role Identity
Game design choices can also shape how roles are perceived. When support characters are given impactful abilities beyond healing, it reinforces their versatility. Abilities like Ana’s Sleep Dart in Overwatch or Wattson’s fences in Apex Legends show that supports are not defined by healing alone. Reward systems that acknowledge these contributions—such as tracking utility, assists, or crowd control—can further highlight their significance.
4. Community-Led Education
Players themselves are key to driving change. Educating others about the broader responsibilities of support heroes can help break the “healer” stereotype. This can happen in everyday interactions, whether in-game or on community platforms.
Communities like Reddit, Discord, and forums dedicated to hero shooters are also ripe for discussions about the evolving role of supports. Articles, guides, and discussions that celebrate the versatility of support characters can help reshape how they’re viewed.
5. Recognizing and Rewarding Support Players
A fundamental way to shift perceptions is by giving support players the recognition they deserve. Games can include MVP systems (another shout-out to Marvel Rivals!) or post-match stats that highlight non-healing contributions, such as damage mitigated, enemies debuffed, or teammates shielded. This reinforces the idea that supports contribute in varied and valuable ways.
Additionally, celebrating support players in esports and gaming awards can elevate the role’s prestige. Seeing a support player praised for their game-winning decisions inspires others to recognize and appreciate the role.
6. Terminology Guides and Tutorials
Games can include beginner-friendly tutorials that explicitly explain the role of supports, emphasizing their utility beyond healing. Highlighting examples, like enabling plays, disrupting enemies, and controlling objectives, can give players a well-rounded understanding of the role.
Similarly, official guides, tooltips, and even promotional content can help drive home the message. If a game’s description for a support hero avoids the word “healer” entirely and instead uses terms like “team enabler” or “utility expert,” it sets the tone for players to follow.
Changing the language surrounding supports is more than just semantics. It’s about fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation for one of the most crucial roles in hero shooters. With combined efforts from developers, influencers, and players, we can build a community that values supports for the full range of their contributions, leaving the outdated “healer” label behind.
