DISCLAIMER: I would like to preface this by saying that this is my opinion. You are entitled to agree / disagree with it, but let’s keep it positive. Remember, this is an opinion. An opinion that may differ from your own. Thanks!
So I hear about Mercy getting some patch notes in the PTR, and upon looking at it, the following changes are to be expected with her:
And for those who are wondering, yes, this is actually another Revert! Wow! What is this now? The third time Mercy has been reverted? Who would’ve thought that they would actually revert Mercy. I mean… I thought for sure I was told that “A Revert Will Never Happen”. But I digress.
Jokes aside, yes, Mercy has received a revert of sorts in Valkyrie, from 50hps to 60hps. I also think that her Ult cost was reverted as well at 15%, but I’m not exactly sure about that (someone correct me if I’m wrong there). But regardless, ladies and gents, a Revert is a revert nonetheless… and it shows that the team aren’t afraid to bring back preexisting parts of Mercy’s kit. To that, I say. Good progress by the staff and the team! I think this is a step in the right direction with testing out various reverts on her kit. Do keep it up!~
However, while I feel that this is definitely a change that will certainly help her current state, I can’t help but feel that this is still bittersweet. And of course, the reason being that… the elephant is still in the room.
Resurrect is still on E instead of her Ultimate, and it’s still on a 30 second cool down.
I have read various threads on this, hundreds of posts, and feedback regarding Mercy’s state since the rework, and I will have to agree with them here. The issue with Mercy isn’t that she’s not meta (In fact, a lot of Mercy players DON’T care if she was made into a niche pick) the issue is that she is still going to be unengaging, unimpactful, and unrewarding to play. So while I am happy that this means that Valkyrie should be strong enough to at least sustain damage from a Winston, I’m not sure if it addresses her core issue. Flying in the skybox with Valkyrie and being essentially a glorified spectator cam, just isn’t engaging to play by a lot of people, me included.
“As if that wasn’t already obvious by now right?”
I’ve said this in the past, and I will repeat it once again. As long as Mercy has Ressurect on E. They will continue to struggle with this tightrope of balance and Mercy being engaging / Impactful to play. And people will still find her unengaging and unimpactful. While a revert of Valkyrie is great, with a single slowly cast rez on a 30 second cooldown, I predict that this revert will unfortunately still not be enough to justify her as a choice over the utility given other supports, and that many people will still find her boring to play - and rightfully so. I also feel that this once again puts her at risk at becoming a Must pick in the competitive scene (since if there’s one thing Mercy with Valkyrie does well, it’s rising in pick rates in competitive), which will cause even more hatred against the hero yet again… Bringing us all back to square one with this Rework.
I believe the solution to this problem is simple.
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Revert her Ultimate to Mass Res again.
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Give Mas Res on Q LOS, 30% Damage reduction instead of invincibility, and a 1.25s cast time, which is lined up with the duration of her “Heroes Never Die” voice-line. Optional: Give her Res charges that she can build up individually through healing, then use exclusively during her Ult.
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Scrap Valkyrie in Place of a skill based preemptive save ability like Pacify or Halo or Nerf it’s duration and make it her E move.
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Or you know… They can always just check out Titanium’s Thread which explains in detail what would help her kit.
Regardless, I believe that this will solve her problems with potentially being a must-pick again, while still keeping her fun, engaging, rewarding, and impactful to play. But while I think this misses the mark, I do commend them for realizing that Mercy isn’t in a great state right now, and are still willing to make changes and reverts to her kit. Ultimately, we will have to see how this all pans out in the coming months. Until then.
“This was a Huge Success (r)”
~Sincerely Yours xoxo,
a Lover of True, Fair, and Fun Balance.
xavvypls