Overwatch Moira General Guide

by palidian7

I’ve encountered a lot of people playing Moira lately that don’t use her full potential, so I’m here to write a guide to help people avoid the worst mistakes with her.

First and foremost, Moira’s gameplay boils down to three tough decisions at critical moments:

1. Healing orb vs. Damage orb – This decision is easily the most important one you’ll make while playing Moira, and the best way to approach it is to understand exactly what you’re working with. 

– Damage orbs are useful, but they are not powerful. Each one does 50 dmg/sec to those nearby, but maxes out at 200 total dmg. They are best used to finish off low-health enemies trying to run, to soften up large groups (preferably squishy groups), or to fight 1v1 if someone comes after you.

– Healing orbs are staggeringly good. Each one heals 75 hp/sec and maxes out at 300 total healing. If you use your healing spray (80 hp/sec) at the same time, they add up to 155 hp/sec, literally half the healing of Transcendence. Another nice aspect is they are on a 10 sec cooldown, while your spray takes much longer (when not attacking). Use orbs to top off the team between attacks, and save your spray for fights. When you need to heal a lot quickly, combine them both for near-instant results.

– Which one to use: The most important thing to remember about your orbs is that your healing orb is more powerful than your damage orb. If your team is struggling, you can help them more by throwing a ball of health and spraying them back to full, instead of launching a damage orb to try and kill the attackers.

2. Fade now vs. Fade later – When it comes to supports, mobility is a precious, precious resource, and thanks to Fade, Moira is sitting on a veritable pile of that resource. But that doesn’t mean you should squander it.

– Fading to attack should always be a calculated risk. The most common cause of death for Moira players is using Fade to try and pursue an enemy or flank a team, only to realize they have no escape when things go sideways. You should only use Fade to chase after someone who you are sure you can kill in a 1-on-1 fight (low health, low mobility, low skill, etc). Never chase someone with Fade if your orbs are on cooldown; if the enemy reaches healing you will need a damage orb to finish the job; and if additional teammates show up, you will need a health orb to survive while Fade recharges.

– It’s always best to have Fade ready. While most supports die to sudden, high-damage ults, Moira is able to dodge to safety. When your team is being hit hard, the best thing you can do is stay with them and save Fade for emergencies. It’s worth taking some damage in the fight to be able to instantly get out of the way if a Reaper, McCree, or DVa ult the party. It will make sure that you stay alive to help out anyone else who makes it. 

3. What to do with Coalescence – Moira’s ult is extremely powerful if used wisely, but most people unwisely just use it for kills. Similar to Moira’s biotic orbs, the best thing for this is to know exactly what you’re working with before you use her ultimate: Coalescence is built for healing, not damage. The beam heals 140 hp/sec (a little less than a spray/orb combo) to allies, and deals 70 dmg/sec to enemies.

– Because Coalescence deals very average damage on its own, the absolute worst use for it is damaging the enemy team by itself. To give a better idea, here’s a quick rundown of how enemy healers interact with Coalescence: Mercy can heal 50 out of the 70 dmg/sec, Lucio can manage 47 or so with Amp It Up, an enemy Moira can completely reverse the damage (easily), and while Zenyatta has the most trouble, his ultimate can completely negate all of the beam’s damage and then some.

– If you want to use Coalescence offensively, pair it with another ult. The biggest advantages of Coalescence as an ultimate are that it hits multiple targets and goes through all protective barriers. When it is paired with a crowd-control ult (Hammerstrike, Graviton Surge, Blizzard) it will pile onto your team’s damage and help fight any countermeasures the other team has. If it is paired with a damage-channeling ult (Tactical Visor, Rocket Barrage, B.O.B.) then it can finish off any survivors and make short work of the team.

– If you want to use Coalescence defensively, wait for an emergency. Most support ultimates are best saved for one thing; to counter enemy ults. Thanks to its massive healing output Coalescence serves this purpose well, and saving it to heal your team during an enemy ultimate is always a good idea. If you’re trying to save the team from consistent damage (Death Blossom, Rocket Barrage, etc.) remember that you only receive 50 self-healing per second while using it, so stay out of harm’s way! However, because Coalescence is a healing/damage hybrid, it can also be used in less dire moments to help your team conserve their own abilities. There’s a specific situation that happens quite frequently in Overwatch: where each team has done a lot of damage, both are running on low health, and it comes down to who can finish off multiple enemies quickly or who can undo the damage to their allies. In these moments, Moira’s ult can turn the tide by healing her team as well as killing low health enemies without making her teammates sacrifice high-damage ults. Just remember to heal your team before going for kills.