How to fix Mercy (Feedback Wanted)

I have a longer version of this post that I’ll reply to this topic with, but heres the short version of how I believe Mercy can be fixed, to make her more fun, more balanced, and more skillful.

Res becomes a resource (similar to torb’s armor). This resource is earned exclusively from activating your ultimate (Valk). You earn 3 res points per Valk.

During Valkyrie
15 second duration (like today) Chain healing/damage boost remains as is.
Res is instant cast
Res has a 5 second cooldown

Outside of Valk
Res cooldown: 30 seconds (same as today)
Res cast time: 1.75 seconds (same as today)

So how does this work?

  1. You cannot res any players at all until you activate Valkyrie at least once. That means no res’s for at least the first 30-60 seconds of the match. Res has now become an ‘ultimate’ based ability, but one that can be used after you’ve finished your ultimate!

  2. You get exactly 3 res’s from activating Valk, that can either be used during your ultimate to resurrect a dead player, or they can be saved to use between now and your next ult.

  3. If used outside of Valk, the 1.5 second cast time is in effect. If you are killed during the res, you still LOSE your res point. Best to be smart with these!

  4. You can res 3 people during your valk, however with a 5 second cooldown, and a 10 second corpse expiration, you will not be res’ing 3 people who died together. Best case? You res 1, then another 5 seconds later, and the 3rd person’s corpse will have expired by then. If a 4th person dies during the fight, you can bring them back, but now you have no res’s to use at all between now and the next time you Valk. Note that this is a nerf from previous versions of Mercy, as it is no longer possible to ‘double res’ instantly like it was prior to this most recent patch!

To be absolutely clear, you cannot and will not be able to res anyone without a res point, and you earn exactly 3 res points the moment you activate valkyrie.

How does this change Mercy?
Res becomes a resource. Not to be used on a whim (Oh, I’ll save you a walk from spawn), but only when it matters most. Res cannot be used frequently. Three times total per ultimate (which is down from being able to res 5 people per ult in the past, and unlimited number of people now).

Smart mercy players will save them and use them at critical times. GOOD mercy players will be able to keep more of their team alive during Valk, and will have res’s to use in between Valks. Bad mercy players will not.

A lot of skill and strategy starts to develop around this character now.

I welcome your feedback?

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26 posts were merged into an existing topic: [Feedback Thread Continued] Mercy Updates - Jan 30, 2018