Overwatch‘s resident geneticist, Moira O’Deorain, is one of the most polarizing support characters in the meta right now. With abilities to both maim enemies and heal targets through scientific vampiric-type abilities, she’s extremely powerful and can be quite hard to get the hang of.
The 32-strong roster in the Overwatch game universe is full of diverse and strong personalities, and Moira is no exception to that. The iconic Irish support was a former member of the covert Blackwatch division of Overwatch, but now sits on the council of the villainous Talon.
Die-hard fans will know that Moira’s motto is that “science will reveal the truth,” and she’s discovered ways to break down and rebuild the fundamental building blocks of life. Though she’s relatively easy to pick up and play, the real challenge comes in mastering her arsenal.
Contents
- Overwatch Moira lore
- Moira’s weapon
- Moira’s abilities
- How to play Moira: tips
- Moira’s skins
- Changes for Moira in Overwatch 2
Overwatch Moira lore
In the past, Moira put together a research paper that entailed creating genetic modifications to alter DNA down to a cellular level, and it made huge headlines. Initially, many thought that her discoveries were groundbreaking, as they looked fit to take on and advance some of the medical roadblocks humans face today.
However, the ethics of these discoveries were soon brought into question, and many, including Overwatch itself, shunned her. Following this, the Irish geneticist was instead taken on by Overwatch’s covert ops, Blackwatch. While her employment here was largely kept quiet, this opportunity allowed her to continue research behind closed doors, furthering weapon and development technologies for Overwatch.
After taking part in a mission to take down a businessman with links to Talon, the events that took place in Rialto led to her work being revealed to the public, and the higher-ups at Overwatch completely denied their knowledge of them, forcing Moira into the shadows.
Sometime after these events, she was approached and recruited by both Talon and the scientific founders of the city of Oasis. For the latter, she served as their Minster of Genetics, and Talon’s leader, Doomfist, allows her to continue her medical research freely.
Moira Weapon
Moira’s weapon is slightly different from many of the gun-toting members of the roster, whereby she uses her hands to fire both biotic energy to heal and energy beams that leech the life out of her victims.
As you heal teammates, you’ll run out of energy, slowing your chances of healing down. To counter this, you’ll fire your energy beams at your opponents, which in turn restores your ability to heal.
On the other hand (excuse the pun), if you attempt to focus too much on damage, you’ll also run out of juice. Moira’s weapons require a balanced style of play to truly get the most out of them.
Biotic Grasp (Left hand)
- Healing: 70 per second, then healing an extra 35 over 2 seconds.
- Max Range: 15 meters.
- Ammo: 160 Biotic energy.
- Ammo Usage: 12.5 energy per second.
- Casting Time: 0.1 seconds.
- Duration: 2 seconds.
NOTE: While this can pass through both allies and enemies, the skill is blocked by any of the opposition’s barriers.
Biotic Grasp (Right hand)
- Damage: 50 per second.
- Healing: 20 per second (this only affects Moira).
- Max Range: 20 meters.
- Ammo: Infinite.
NOTE: Increasing the amount of damage done to a player does not increase the amount of healing Moira herself receives — they’re completely separate.
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Overwatch Moira abilities
Aside from Moira’s two weapons of choice, you’ve also got three other skills that can help turn the tide of a match. From being able to slip into the shadows and dart from one location to the other, completely unseen, to firing a laser beam of biotic energy, her abilities are incredibly powerful.
Biotic Orb
- Damage: 50 per second, capping at a maximum of 200.
- Healing: 65 per second, capping at a maximum of 300.
- Projectile Speed: 20 meters per second.
- Max Range: 4 meters (damage orb) / 5 meters (healing orb).
- Duration: 7 seconds max (until depleted).
- Cooldown: 8 seconds.
NOTE: The first skill, Biotic Orb, is a suped-up version of Biotic Grasp. Instead of firing beams of energy, Moira will instead launch a giant ball of energy that can either heal or deal damage, just as her primary weapons do. Reacting to the environment, it will bounce off of floors and walls at a high velocity.
Fade
NOTE: Her second ability gives Moira the brief chance to slip into the shadows, becoming invulnerable to damage. Able to be used to move quickly forwards, backward, and to bounce up off of small objects, it also cleanses her of damage over time and status effects. Despite this, she is unable to attack while the ability is active.
Moira’s Ultimate Ability: Coalescence
- Damage: 70 per second.
- Healing: 140 per second / 50 per second (self).
- Move Speed: +50%.
- Max Range: 30 meters.
- Casting Time: 0.5 seconds.
- Duration: 8 seconds.
NOTE: Moira’s ultimate, Coalescence, fires a long-range beam that can bypass enemy barriers, unlike her other skills. It also heals and damages at a much longer range.
How to play Moira: tips
Moira’s abilities and style of play are very different from many of the other heroes available on the roster. As aforementioned, picking up and playing her is relatively easy to do, but she also has an incredibly high skill ceiling.
Focusing much more on movement, timing, and positioning within a map, aiming takes a back seat when playing O’Deorain.
The main tips that we can suggest when playing Moira are:
- Remember to flip-flop between healing and damage, as you’ll run out of juice quickly if you just focus on one.
- With Biotic Orb, we recommend trying to fire both orbs in as straight of a line as you’re able to ensure a decent amount of output. This decreases the chance it’ll bounce off of something.
- After getting comfortable with Biotic Orb, try placing them in corners, or firing them up at the ceiling when in a closed space. Firing it like this will keep it relatively in the same spot as it bounces between the ceiling and floor.
- Make sure to always jump before exiting Fade, as it will give you a little boost to help you cover more ground.
- Hold down the Fade button when stunned, and it’ll activate as soon as it’s over.
- Coalescence‘s damage output isn’t incredibly high, so try to focus more on healing, but try to do both at the same time if enemies and teammates are in your line of sight.
Overwatch Moira skins
Overwatch 2 Moira changes
As of June 2021, we haven’t seen any new hints towards Moira’s iconic look in the sequel, but back in 2020, ability leaks made waves on the internet that showcased a whole boatload of changes to her skill tree.
Make sure to check back often, as whenever new information on the Geneticist in the sequel drops, we’ll make sure this guide is updated.
Fancy trying your hand at other epic heroes from Overwatch? We’ve got a whole host of guides to help you master their unique playstyles right here: Ana | D.Va | Genji | Lucio | Mei | Mercy | Reaper | Reinhardt | Sombra | Tracer | Widowmaker