antiheal: What is antiheal in video games?

Antiheal is a gameplay mechanic designed to counteract or diminish healing effects inflicted on characters within a game. Competitive games usually have this feature, particularly MOBAs and battle royale games. However, RPGs and similar games where players are able to heal themselves also have this feature.

A good example of this effect is Overwatch 2 ^[1]. Because many playable characters in that game can heal teammates and themselves, some characters have abilities that apply the antiheal effect temporarily, stopping them from performing any healing. Antiheal mechanics can take various forms, such as specific abilities, items, or status effects that reduce or nullify the healing received by an enemy player. 

The antiheal mechanic is fairly useful as it adds an additional layer of strategy to gameplay, encouraging players to think critically about positioning and timing. Developers usually implement this mechanic in games to ensure players aren’t constantly healing and there’s a way to counter characters with more health than others.

How can you counter antiheal?

Countering antiheal depends on the game, but strategies often include positioning, timing, or specific items. While some games offer items that cleanse defuffs, including the antiheal effect, others make it so the antiheal effect is temporary. Therefore, simply staying away from the enemy until the effect is gone and you can heal yourself is a viable strategy.

References

1. [1] "official Overwatch 2 page". overwatch.blizzard.com. Retrieved November 04, 2024