Does Mercy REALLY need a buff?

[Megadodo-11847]

If she goes ‘damage’ then there’s an increased risk teammates will report you falsely, whether effective or not, simply because she wasn’t healing her teammates at the time.

Thats a player problem, ie players who dont understand what is and what is not reportable , not a Mercy problem

Great utility? Just damage boosting a teammate all day isn’t my idea of fun nor does it actually make my brain make decisions.

Rez is a utility, and in my opinion, the very best utility in the game

Able to resurrect the dead, yes, at the cost of relying on your teammates to protect you

I rez players all the time without having to be protected by teammates, even in mid-teamfight - and I have watched many others do so in matches in all tiers of play

and not being able to play for two seconds (you can’t even heal or use the pistol at the same time).

I consider the act of rezzing someone to be part of playing Mercy, same as healing, boosting, shooting the pistil, flying, Ga, etc etc etc

It’s not even an earned ability.

I hear this all the time from anti-Mercy folks, and I never understand its relevance. Every character has abilities that are (by the apparent definition of the term as used above) also unearned. I don’t think “earned” or “unearned” matters

Good healing, I thought I recently saw some posts on this forum somewhere highlighting that Moira and/or Ana were outhealing her? Maybe they were wrong, I haven’t checked Overbuff.

Personally, I find Overbuff to be a very innacurate and incomplete source of data

Flying, well yeah it’s great for escaping but I should be trying to help my teammates, not use it for when someone tries to land an ultimate ability on me .

Flying has many, many other uses aside from escape, but if that is all one uses it for, I can understand the disappointment

Ultimately, forgive the pun, she needs to be reworked again to some degree.

She is imo better balanced now in her current state than she ever has been before, and as such, no rework is needed

Resurrect as a standard unearned ability not only impedes her flow in a fast paced match but also sucks potential power from other parts of her kit.

Personally, I see rez as balanced by the extreme restrictions and limitations placed upon it, and as such, I dont believe its existence in Mercy’s kit results in any of her other powers/abilities being watered down

I can’t actually recall the last time I was ‘on fire’ either, when I last played.

This is a problem with the engine that determines which characters are on-fire, not a problem with Mercy.

No changes need to be made to Mercy to fix this issue

[TurningDrop-1325]

It would help to get Goats under control. Goats was around before she was nerfed and the other supports got buffed. But since she was everywhere and damage boosts were everywhere it was harder for Goats to survive. I would rather they buff Mercy than they nerf Lucio. Obviously aslong as she doesn’t go back to the Moth meta.

[Hauven-2768]

Obviously what you say is your opinion, as what I said is my own opinion, but I doubt we’ll ever agree about Mercy. She might be balanced but there’s no real flare about her.

She’s at least alright to play though when tired, a bit drunk or just want to relax .

[Megadodo-11847]

Obviously what you say is your opinion, as what I said is my own opinion, but I doubt we’ll ever agree about Mercy.

There is a mix in what I said - part opinion, part fact.

For example, reporting the Mercy player for using her pistol - this factually is a violation of the reporting rules

She might be balanced but there’s no real flare about her.

She’s at least alright to play though when tired, a bit drunk or just want to relax .

I find it odd that anyone having the opinions I replied would choose to ever play Mercy at all

I would think they’d move onto other characters, or perhaps even other games

[Hauven-2768]

I agree regarding the false reporting of Mercy, but sadly nothing is really done about it. That’s a fact but that’s just splitting hairs in my view when I said that you and I have opinions (of which are different).

Whether I choose to play Overwatch or even Mercy is my choice, as is my choice to air my opinions and/or facts when it comes to certain aspects of Overwatch. At least I don’t try to break down your posts and appear to air full disagreement .

[Megadodo-11847]

I agree regarding the false reporting of Mercy, but sadly nothing is really done about it. That’s a fact but that’s just splitting hairs in my view when I said that you and I have opinions (of which are different).

In the previous statement, it was stated that I had expressed a bunch of opinions. Some of the things i said were facts. The reporting issue was just one example, not the only factual item

Whether I choose to play Overwatch or even Mercy is my choice, as is my choice to air my opinions and/or facts when it comes to certain aspects of Overwatch.

Absolutely agreed, 100%

However, one wonders why a player holding such a very negative opinion of Mercy would want to continue to play her or talk about her

[FFirebrandd-1844]

I hear this all the time from anti-Mercy folks, and I never understand its relevance. Every character has abilities that are (by the apparent definition of the term as used above) also unearned. I don’t think “earned” or “unearned” matters

If I may cut in…

In many ways, using Resurrect feels much more like using an ultimate than a standard ability. It restricts your movement like Deadeye or Barrage. It restricts you from using your normal kit like all non cast time ultimates. It’s power level is undoubtedly above that of most normal abilities, like ultimates. The only way that it isn’t like an ultimate is that it is on a flat CD as opposed to needing to be charged up… which is why Resurrect sometimes gets the complaint of “not being earned”. All of its other attributes are that of an ultimate.

[Megadodo-11847]

I hear this all the time from anti-Mercy folks, and I never understand its relevance. Every character has abilities that are (by the apparent definition of the term as used above) also unearned. I don’t think “earned” or “unearned” matters

If I may cut in…

always…all are always welcome to do so…

In many ways, using Resurrect feels much more like using an ultimate than a standard ability. It restricts your movement like Deadeye or Barrage. It restricts you from using your normal kit like all non cast time ultimates. It’s power level is undoubtedly above that of most normal abilities, like ultimates. The only way that it isn’t like an ultimate is that it is on a flat CD as opposed to needing to be charged up… which is why Resurrect sometimes gets the complaint of “not being earned”. All of its other attributes are that of an ultimate.

I understand that one can classify a power/ability as earned or unearned

I don’t however see its relevance in a discussion of gameplay - they function as they function as defined by Blizzard whether classified externally/artificially as earned or unearned.

To illustrate this, one could classify Mercy’s healing and Moiras spray and healign orb as “yellow powers”, and then go on to make arguments about how one doesnt (for whatever reasons) like these powers, and conclude with - “besides, these are yellow powers” (implying that yellow coloring is somehow a negative thing) like the earlier post did with the “unearned” term

[Agnostika-1802]

Short answer: probably yes. Not a rework, not a huge change, but some kind of healing buff.

There are two main reasons for this. The first is intrinsic to the hero - Mercy is a main healer, and she currently struggles a bit fulfilling that role in a 2/2/2 comp alongside an off healer. The total healing numbers don’t matter as much, it’s the mid combat healing that reflects this problem the most.

The second reason is meta related. People will often say that she’s fine and that her low pick rates at high ranks are symptoms of the fact that the meta doesn’t favor her. This is mostly backwards reasoning. The meta isn’t a random selection of heroes that drifts one way and then the other. It’s a function of which heroes are good and which are not quite as good. Some heroes don’t get played as much because they simply don’t stack up well against their competitors.

Mercy has been out of meta since the hps nerf. This isn’t a coincidence. When she is out of meta, most dps heroes are forced out of it as well. This has been the case for the entire history of the game. Most dps heroes (and dps comps) work best with Mercy.

Blizzard are currently trying to buff large swathes of the dps roster, but a simpler solution would be to make Mercy a bit better. With a Mercy/Zen healing comp, dps can often do a bit more than 60% increased damage. That’s a much bigger buff than anything on the ptr. All you need is a bit more healing for the comp to work better.

[Azrael-13313]

Zen boosts the damage of multiple team members, regardless of distance, AND himself without using an ult.

Mercy has to ult, depends on her team to group up, and does not benefit from her own damage boost.

[Megadodo-11847]

Zen boosts the damage of multiple team members, regardless of distance, AND himself without using an ult.

this is only true if members of the team choose to fire at the discorded individual, which isnt always the case.

Mercy has to ult, depends on her team to group up, and does not benefit from her own damage boost.

I suppose it depends on what you call “benefit”

For me, if my team members are killing the red team more easily and effectively, leading to a better chance that we win teamfights, move the payload, and/or capture the point, I am benefitting

[Quest-11845]

Mercy has been out of meta since the hps nerf. This isn’t a coincidence. When she is out of meta, most dps heroes are forced out of it as well. This has been the case for the entire history of the game. Most dps heroes (and dps comps) work best with Mercy.

Prior to the rework Mercy was not meta and DPS heroes weren’t forced out of the game. Why are you saying they were?

[Xelaris96-1920]

She needs a buff mainly because she struggles with the standard 2-2-2 format. She supposed to be a main healer too… and she does not feel like it.

[Agnostika-1802]

The various Ana metas featured 3 tanks and 1 dps, and the choice of the dps was limited. The was a limited period of time between the Ana meta and the Mercy rework that featured 2/2/2 where Zen/Lucio was the healing comp, but this featured Genji/Tracer as the dps and would not have worked well with non dive heroes. It would work even worse now. That’s why I tried to qualify my statement by saying most dps heroes.

My claim is not that it’s impossible to play dps without Mercy. It’s that history has shown that Mercy is strongly correlated with 2/2/2 metas that have diverse dps picks.

[Megadodo-11847]

She needs a buff mainly because she struggles with the standard 2-2-2 format. She supposed to be a main healer too… and she does not feel like it.

Our experiences differ

I dont struggle with Mercy in a 2-2-2 team, and I dont see Mercy struggling in other games I have watched at multiple tiers

I personally get gold healing in almost every game I play as Mercy when another healer is on my team - any healer

[Quest-11845]

There are numerous factors that go into that. Mercy being meta was post rework and lead to diversity in tanks as well, not just DPS. Considering the only meta we’ve had that saw significant Mercy play was post rework, it’s hard to really say anything about historical trends.

We can say however for instance that historically when Ana is strong Triple tank comps become more prevalent.

[Agnostika-1802]

She was also meta before Ana’s release and for a while after that (before people figured out how good Ana was).

In any case though, I don’t think restricting to her post-rework history is a problem. Any future Mercy adjustment will be an adjustment to reworked Mercy. If you’re going to try to use historical trends regarding correlations between Mercy and meta diversity to make balance changes, it would make sense to think about post-rework Mercy. There’s still plenty of history there, and the correlation between Mercy and diversity is strong.

[Kryton-1519]

Mercy needs to be fundamentally different than what she is now.

To be clear… she doesn’t need buffs, she is fine balance wise where she is. Mercy is just a shell of her former self in terms of her character design and how utterly pathetic it feels to play her in a fast paced shooter game. If you don’t have fun in a game why play it type of argument. Many don’t have fun with Mercy ever since Valkyrie (OP and current versions) so they don’t play her.

[Megadodo-11847]

Mercy needs to be fundamentally different than what she is now.

I respectfully disagree

Many don’t have fun with Mercy ever since Valkyrie (OP and current versions) so they don’t play her.

In a game where characters can and often do get changes regularly, I see this as expected and normal.

With each change, a player has to decide - do I still like this character? If not, can I find a different character I do enjoy playing? If not, is there another game I’d enjoy more?

Plenty of players, myself included, enjoy playing Mercy in her current state; and as such she doesnt need to be changed to suit the preferences of other players who dont enjoy playing her, just as I would never ask that Blizzard change Genji (a character I personally dont enjoy playing) to suit me when many players already love playing Genji as he is

[kongajinken-1805]

She has impact, she herself can’t make impact though. She exists, either she is enough or she isn’t enough, weather she is enough is not up to the Mercy. That’s the problem, she has no player expression.