I’m a support main, although I’ll admit I’m not a Mercy main. My two most played heroes are Ana and Lucio, and while some of you may roll your eyes in thinking that the person who plays Ana has no right to really talk about Mercy’s balance, I seriously just need to vent this.
Mercy I feel has always been way too easy for how much value she gets. And I feel she enables some of the most unfun and toxic playstyles this game has to offer.
Pharamercy isn’t unbeatable, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t one of the most annoying things to go up against every other game.
Fighting a Widow or and Ashe is already annoying as it is, but fighting them with a Mercy parasitically attached to them makes me wanna slam my head into a wall.
I feel as long as she remains the kind of character that she is, a healer designed to provide benefit to a single target while being able to glide around with a whopping 30% damage boost and a resurrect ability, she’s always going to be annoying as all hell to play against, while also being kind of poopy.
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Mercy and Genji are two heroes that are difficult to critique because they have such a large fanbase protecting them and any ounce of a negative light and it’s shot down.
Mercy is and always has been one of the most simple heroes by design and can provide alot of value for arguably much less then other heroes who need to break their back to get stuff done. I may love Mercy but I’m also aware she’s not a hard or complex design. It’s heal/dmgboost, fly, rez and the rest that follows is just positioning and knowing what and what not to do which is honestly applicable to any hero but with Mercy it’s more prominent because that’s all she has
Now it’s not bad to have easier heroes but they should probably offer alot less value vs heroes who require more effort to get stuff done
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Hence why she doesn’t have the same potential value that other supports do when played optimally by skilled players. Hence why she has an almost 0% pickrate in OWL this season.
Because no matter how good you are at Mercy, you still only do 55 HPS single target. No ways to burst heal or have more output by being good. You still have no real offensive threat aside from damage boosting someone and hoping they land their shots. You still have no midfight utility aside from rez which is overly situational.
A top Ana player can land insane sleeps to essentially nullify ultimates like Blade with a single CD in her kit, or bully tanks, or set up enemies to be free kills for her team. She can land insane anti nades to completely negate enemy healing, even in trans. Her healing and damage output are directly tied to her own aim ability, her value increases with player skill level. A good Ana player can make way more impactful plays than a good Mercy player can.
And the same goes for other supports like Zen, Kiri, Bap, etc.
Mercy would be more comparable to Brig for skill-to-value ratio
The reality is that most OW players on ladder especially below Masters are simply not that good at the game/support/aiming/CD usage and thus Mercy is a more consistent option for them
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You’re 100% right here, and don’t worry about the metal rank Mercy moab that likes to pretend Mercy isn’t the problem when she’s been a problem since the game’s release.
“She may not run the game herself, but she enables the oppressors that do.” -Poom
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Which is why i stated in the same post heroes like Mercy are good they just shouldn’t provide as much value as a hero that takes more effort
Mercy has serious design flaws. Unfortunately blizzard can’t really do anything about it.
Not when the Mercy fan army comes to dox you and your family and hold your dog hostage for mentioning the words Mercy and nerf in the same sentence
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It’s not so much that. But they don’t want to lose support population. Mercy players tend to be one tricks. If you nerf Ana, Zen or Kiriko those players will probably just play something else more because they tend to be more flexible. But if mercy mains are unhappy with a change they’ll just straight up leave. And that’s very bad for Matchmaking/queue times if probably the most popular hero on the in-demand role leaves on mass.
There’s that but also Mercy’s design flaws aren’t fixable with a nerf but rather an actual change. But as you said Mercy one tricks don’t want said change because currently she’s simple and offers a more passive playstyle that isn’t Lifeweaver doodoo
And if she drops then support que times and support as a role is probably about to get messed up
Careful now. You can’t criticize mercy on these forums. They are coming with their pitchforks and torches to mass report you and get you banned.
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While there is truth to this I still feel bad for mercy players because she is the only hero of her kind on the roster. She’s the only real passive support hero. I guess life weaver kinda is that now too but he doesn’t really have that aesthetic I think mercy players are drawn to which is another huge reason many of them like her.
Strengths and weaknesses, oh no. (and quite a bit weaker than anyone else)
I think that’s intended.
I think having that type of support is good but they tried to have it both ways with Lifeweaver by giving him the mercy support identity but the requirements that most supports have which is damaging capabilities while lacking an efficient way of doing so.
If they give Lifeweaver a rework i want it to be a proper wack at Mercy 2.0
Mercy is appealing for it being commonplace if she ends with 0 damage
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The truth is dps players and tank players don’t mind mercy players. Support players don’t mind mercy players if they are on your team.
But…… if you don’t want to play mercy and the enemy has a mercy…. It’s almost impossible to win as a support.
I’ve found the best counter to her is zenyatta bc he can also dmg boost…. And now he’s getting nerfed.
I think they are trying to chase the fps players that enjoys supporting… out of the support class.
It’s tragic.
It’s even more tragic they are nerfing zenyatta without nerfing mercy.
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And my post was saying that she doesn’t. If you take a top Mercy player and a top Ana player, the top Ana player will get more value.
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you need heroes with high and low ceilings, low ceilings hit a wall faster high skill ceiling can usually are more adaptable and more profienct with experienced players. Like for example a pro ana will prolly beat a pro mercy, but a average mercy will prolly beat an average ana
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She is holding the entire dps roster hostage.
And blizzard could easily change that. But they don’t want her to be good on her own.
So bluebeam the fresh released dps character is fun.
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A good dps will harass and eliminate mercy enough that she swaps.
She is not as hard to kill as people think once you learn cd and movement patterns.
Also most of them on the ladder are months to rez whichever rank they are you just have to make them think that you aren’t looking.
i dunno i think you can create a hero with intended strengths and weaknesses while still making them not feel terrible to play against.