How to say "We need a healer" in 'Overwatch': Tips, tricks and guide

You have a few minutes to kill, so you think, "Hey, I'll play a game of Overwatch." You join a game, and four members of your team have already picked their characters: McCree, Tracer, Sombra and Widowmaker. No supports or tanks. Great.

You're not so good at playing support characters, but you're a team player, so you try to round out the team composition by picking Reinhardt.

That's when the sixth person finally picks their character. After a good 15 seconds of deliberation, they've decided on Torbjörn. Thanks, dude.

You've seen other people say the "We need a healer" voice line in the past, but now that you so desperately need it, it's nowhere to be found. And for the love of god, you need a healer. What gives? Don't worry. We're here to help.

How to say "We need a healer" in Overwatch: Everything you need to know

Though Overwatch doesn't tell you, the "I need healing" voice command actually has several different voice lines hidden within it, according to the Overwatch wiki. It's a context-sensitive command, meaning that it automatically changes based on the circumstances. Let's discuss! 

First of all, if you're not even sure where to find the "I need healing" voice line, you need to call up the communication wheel. To do this, hold down "C" on your keyboard (on console, hold down on the D-pad). If you hover your cursor over the "I need healing" voice line and release "C" (or the D-pad), you can communicate to the healers on your team that you're low on health and need some help. On PC, you can also just hit "X" as a shortcut.

However, as stated previously, that command changes based on the circumstances. For example, if there are no healer characters on your team, using the "I need healing" voice line will actually appear as "We need a healer" to everyone else on your team.

Similarly, only the characters on your team that can provide healing — Mercy, Zenyatta, Ana, Lúcio and Soldier: 76 — will see that you're asking for healing. If you're Torbjörn and someone uses the "I need healing" voice line, what you'll see is "I need armor." 

So, if you see the Mercy on your team use the "Understood" voice line several times in a row and you're not sure why, that probably means they're just trying to make another member of your team stop spamming them with "I need healing."

The strange thing about the "I need healing" command is that it only changes for those who are on the receiving end of the voice line. No matter the context, if you select "I need healing," it will always appear — on your end — that you're saying "I need healing."

How to say "We need a healer" in Overwatch: TL;DR

If you have no healers on your team, say "I need healing" to communicate that you need a healer. They'll see "We need a healer," but you won't. Also, make sure that you're not the second or third offense character on a team. If you can switch to a support character instead of whining that nobody else is switching, just do it. Please.

More Overwatch news, updates, tips and tricks

For more on Overwatch, check out the rest of what Mic has to offer. Here is a full explanation of the different types of health in Overwatch, the latest rumor of a Terry Crews-voiced Overwatch character, an update on that Mei ice wall exploit, hilarious video of a play of the game involving the jump pad on Oasis, a roundup of the best Overwatch plays of the week, our definitive ranking of every Overwatch hero and a giant Overwatch FAQ for beginners.