Summary
After a rough Open Beta weekend, the first-party PlayStation hero shooterConcordisn’t in the best position right now. But despite the Beta’s disappointing player-count,Concordis still set for release later this month, and though its initial launch is going to be a fierce uphill battle, there are some shining features that could pushConcordto the top. One such feature isConcord’s roster of unique characters.
UnlikeMarvel Rivalsand other hero shooters that have come before it,Concord’s roster doesn’t take too much inspiration fromOverwatch. While a handful of character abilities inConcorddo share some key similarities, very few feel like direct copies. That being said, when it comes to a healer-type hero, it might actually be inConcord’s best interest to borrow a bit more directly fromOverwatch 2’s homework.
Concord Needs Its Own Mercy
Concord Has a Lack of Healing Heroes
WhileConcordhas a pretty diverseroster of playable Freegunners, just three have any form of healing abilities, and just two are able to heal the rest of the team. The gunslinging Lennox can only heal himself with his Claxton Healing ability, while Daw throws out a stationary healing pad that heals allies within the vicinity, and Jabali sends out an orb that attaches to an ally and heals those in its area of effect.
While the latter twoFreegunners' healing abilitiesare far from awful, they’re not always useful in the heat of battle. During its two Betas, fans were able to get a good feel forConcord’s general flow, and eventually, some metas started to appear. Neither Daw nor Jabali tended to feature in these early-game metas due to their much lower damage output than the rest of the roster. And while lower damage is expected from a support-type hero, their healing wasn’t always enough to justify that imbalance. A core issue is that Daw and Jabali’s healing requires the team to all stay in one spot together, which is antithetical to the general flow ofConcord’s gameplay.
Concord Needs a Healing-Focused Hero
What would solveConcord’s healing problem is if it simply borrowedOverwatch’s Mercy, or at least took inspiration from her.Concordneeds to add a Freegunner who specializes in healing their teammates. This means a character whose primary role should be using their abilities not to shield or buff their allies, but to heal them, and heal them only. It’s important that these abilities also heal players by a substantial amount, justifying the hero’s lower damage output by being an obvious benefit to the team in other ways.
Many ofConcord’s modesencourage teams to split off into smaller groups, so this hypothetical new healer-focused Freegunner would still need a way to defend themselves, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have an additional weapon that offers a non-stop stream of healing, such as Mercy’s staff or Kiriko’s ofuda. This would allow the player to heal their teammates more reliably, directly giving them health rather than hoping they’ll stand in a healing pad or orb’s area of effect.Concord’s team-centered modes felt a little too frantic in the Beta, and hopefully, a healing-focused character could keep things a little more strategic.
Concord
WHERE TO PLAY
Assemble your crew of Freegunner space outlaws and team up online with friends for thrilling 5v5 PVP modes across the galaxy in Concord.Concord is a new team-based first-person shooter for PS5® and PC*. Handpick your personal roster of Freegunners from the crew of the Northstar – a group of outlaws and adventurers working as guns-for-hire.ASSEMBLE YOUR CREWFrom powerful mystics to skilled gunslingers and helpful healers, each Freegunner brings their own unique skills, personality, and abilities that cater to a wide-range of playstyles.Create your own custom squads of Freegunners with Crew Builder to bring an arsenal of different role types to the match or focus on your favourite characters to master their gameplay and unlock unique modifiers, cosmetics, background lore, and more – you decide when to play your characters and how you impact the match.PLAY. PROGRESS. PERSONALIZE.Earn and unlock a wide range of character customization items and learn more about the characters, worlds, and factions in the Concord Galaxy with the Galactic Guide.You’ll also be able to progress toward and unlock Freegunner Variants—versions of each of the 16 Freegunners with added Combat Trait modifiers to their base abilities. As you learn and master the characters, Combat Traits empower you to tailor each character to your playstyle.
