Role Guides¶
A role is not only a weapon slot. A role is a responsibility in the fight.
The same weapon can be played badly if the player does not understand what problem the role is supposed to solve. These guides focus on function first and build details second. They are written for general ZvZ education, not for one comp, caller, guild, or meta.
Core role principle¶
Know what your role protects, pressures, denies, or enables.
Every role should be able to answer four questions:
- Where should I stand so the next call works?
- What danger or opportunity am I responsible for?
- What value do I add between major cooldowns?
- Did my movement make the zerg safer or more clumped?
The role families¶
All Players
Universal habits: stay connected, interpret calls, spread without leaving the fight, and review repeated mistakes.
DPS
Turn windows into pressure and kills through timing, angles, target reading, Q/W uptime, and value per cooldown.
Healers
Heal danger, not only low HP. Keep the players making the fight possible alive and active.
Supports
Own the danger lane with preventive utility, support-stack timing, movement help, and non-E value.
Defensive / Stopper Tanks
Create safety by stopping enemy paths, covering exits, controlling counters, and staying until the zerg is safe.
Engage / Clump Tanks
Create hittable clumps before zero and shape the kill window for allied damage.
Callers / Officers
Convert information, terrain, cooldowns, enemy style, and roster reality into executable calls.
Role responsibilities by fight phase¶
| Phase | DPS | Healers | Supports | Tanks | Callers / Officers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before contact | stay connected, find functional range, avoid pre-clumping | position for likely danger, not safest backline | read enemy posture and prepare danger lane | establish front/side coverage | define terrain objective and likely enemy style |
| Friendly engage | damage lands on the window, not after it | heal forward lane and returning danger players | enable push but expect counter | create or hold hittable opportunity | give next step: hold, push, reset, or switch |
| Enemy engage | spread, survive, then look for Q/W or counter | heal the impact and tail | cleanse/shield/block real danger | stop enemy DPS path and follow-through | identify bait/full engage and cooldown state |
| Post-bomb window | Q/W pressure, low-target conversion, do not auto-retreat | keep pressure players alive | protect forward pressure and exit lanes | prevent enemy reset or counter path | decide whether enemy cooldowns are spent enough to walk in |
| Crossing / objective | turn and help next wave once safe | heal danger lane, not just first players through | layer tools where the next wave crosses | be last out or hold the stop line | call route, side, and exit clearly |
The role review template¶
Use this for any role during VOD review:
- Was I close enough to do my job?
- Did I use my tools on the real danger or real opportunity?
- Did I support the players making the call possible?
- Did I add value between major cooldowns?
- Did I create or reduce friendly clumps?
- Did I understand the call's intent, or did I follow the words blindly?
- Did I move because of real threat, or because red name tags made me uncomfortable?
- Did I preserve my cooldown for the right window, or waste it before the team could use it?
How to read the specialized pages¶
The specialized role pages are not build guides. They explain how each role family thinks.
- Read DPS Overview before the DPS sub-pages.
- Read Healers before Holy or Nature specifics.
- Read Supports before deciding what support tool your comp needs.
- Read Defensive / Stopper Tanks and Engage / Clump Tanks as two different jobs, even if one player sometimes flexes between them.
Related Library references¶
- Role and Tool Library for matching tools to jobs.
- Weapon and Ability Notes for tool-function context.
- Practical Examples for role behavior examples.
- Role-Specific VOD Questions for review prompts.