Summary
- Playing support roles in co-op games is essential for team survival and success.
- In games like Left 4 Dead 2, Monster Hunter: World, and The Division 2, support players keep the team alive and functioning.
- Support players in games like Helldivers 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 have powerful and thrilling roles that make a significant impact on gameplay.
Some players just want to watch the world burn. Others want to heal the guy who’s setting it on fire. In co-op games, that second player is often the backbone of the entire team, quietly patching wounds, boosting damage, or yanking allies out of certain death. And while support roles rarely hog the spotlight, they’re usually the reason anyone survives long enough to bask in it.
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These are the games that make playing support not just viable but downright thrilling. Each of them thrives on teamwork, but they’re especially satisfying when one player takes on the burden of making sure everyone else can keep doing their job.
Left 4 Dead 2
The Best Kind Of Support Role Is Screaming While Reviving
Left 4 Dead 2
- Released
- November 17, 2009
WHERE TO PLAY
There’s no healing class in Left 4 Dead 2, but there might as well be. One player always ends up being the de facto team medic, hoarding health kits and pain pills like they're priceless artifacts, and doing CPR on a teammate mid-zombie horde because they have no concept of personal safety. It’s chaotic, it's stressful, and it’s also what keeps the squad from wiping during a crescendo event.
Support isn’t limited to bandaging wounds either. Someone’s got to keep an eye on the guy who startles the Witch or makes noise near a car alarm. That player who sticks to the back, closes doors, revives allies while the Hunter is pouncing someone else? That’s the real MVP, and every group knows exactly who that is. Usually, the one yelling “get in the safe room” while everyone else is chasing a Boomer.
Monster Hunter: World
Buffing Blades And Booping Monsters
Monster Hunter: World Game
- Released
- January 26, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Teen
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Fighting, Action RPG, Action-Adventure
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Despite being built around soloable boss fights, Monster Hunter: World absolutely sings in co-op, especially when someone builds for support. Hunting Horn mains know the drill. While everyone else is dodging tail whips or trying to mount a Rathalos, there’s one hunter playing a full-blown instrument mid-battle, casting defense buffs, and healing a squad that refuses to learn iframe dodging.
The best part is how baked-in support is to the game’s gear system. The Hunting Horn isn’t just viable—it’s absurdly useful in group hunts, especially for status resistance, stamina boosts, and area heals that can completely swing the momentum in Elder Dragon fights. The weapon even deals blunt damage, letting the support player KO monsters and support at the same time. It’s like if a bard could also cave in skulls.
The Division 2
Armor Plates, Drones, And Keeping Your Friends From Dying In Cover
Tom Clancy's The Division 2
- Released
- March 15, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Massive Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Co-op in The Division 2 thrives on tactical synergy. Aggressors with high DPS loadouts can only survive as long as their healer’s drone battery does. One player might be laying down suppressing fire or rushing the enemy armor, but there’s always one in the backline juggling cooldowns, throwing out repair drones, and praying their Hive doesn’t get destroyed by a stray grenade.
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Builds in The Division 2 are highly modular, but support players tend to lean into gear that boosts skill power and cooldown reduction, letting them crank out heals, revives, and buffs as quickly as possible. It feels more like a real tactical role than the usual fantasy-MMO support template. Healing is a calculated act, done behind cover while reading enemy patrol patterns and checking for flankers. When things go wrong, it’s usually the support player who keeps the mission from falling apart.
Helldivers 2
Support Roles Just Have The Bigger Explosions
Helldivers 2
- Released
- February 8, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Support in Helldivers 2 isn’t about healing. It’s about orbital bombardments, minigun turrets, and deploying enough firepower to make an entire quadrant uninhabitable. When one player commits to the support role, they’re essentially playing as artillery. While the rest of the team is gunning down bugs or bots, the support guy is radioing in a stratagem and dodging into the blast radius just to get the angle right.
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Even the loadout reflects this dynamic. One player always ends up carrying the resupply packs, dropping ammo boxes like breadcrumbs during the mission’s most intense firefights. Turret placements can make or break defense objectives, and calling in a well-timed airstrike on an Automaton spawn point has saved more missions than any heroic last stand. Being support means being the reason everyone else gets to feel heroic in the first place.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
One Enchanter, Three Idiots, And A Lot Of Status Effects
Divinity: Original Sin 2
- Released
- September 14, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
Every good party in Divinity: Original Sin 2 has one character running Hydrosophist, Aerotheurge, or both. The other three are usually setting themselves on fire. This is a game where support means playing 4D chess while the rest of the team is playing whack-a-mole with swords. Healing, buffing, repositioning allies, stripping armor, removing burning status effects; it’s a full-time job, and the payoff is spectacular.
The real magic is in the turn-based combat system, where a well-timed support move can literally rewrite a losing battle. Chain lightning to remove evasion, teleportation spells to drop enemies into pools of oil, rain to put out fires before a combustion chain reaction. Support doesn’t just mean healing; it means controlling the entire flow of combat. And the player who knows how to do that turns every boss fight into a masterclass in manipulation.
Baldur's Gate 3
Clerics And Bards Are Just As Dangerous As Fighters; They Just Smile More
Baldur's Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, macOS
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
In Baldur’s Gate 3, support characters have the most fun. Whether it’s a Bard charming enemies into skipping their turns or a Cleric reviving the Barbarian for the third time in one fight, support roles feel essential, powerful, and incredibly flexible. They don’t just fix problems, they prevent them from spiraling out of control in the first place.
The level of utility support players bring is wild. Spirit Guardians melting mobs while healing word is used mid-turn, or a Bard buffing accuracy just before the Ranger crits for triple-digit damage. And because the game is built on 5e D&D rules, every spell choice matters. A single Bless cast at the right time can carry an entire encounter, and the player casting it knows they just turned the tide. It’s the kind of support play that makes everyone else feel cooler, and no one’s mad about that.
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