Mercy in Beta: Testing the Guardian Angel Meter

General Discussion
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I know there’s a ton of us complaining about this charged GA for superjump; but what have you been able to with it? I wanna how we’ve been able to adjust so far. Even if this isn’t permanent, have we tested this out to its full potential?

I am very much biased towards current Overwatch 1 Mercy movement, because it is the best option in terms of Mercy’s flexibility. You can look anywhere and preform super-jumps at any distance within GA. Up close or faraway it works with optimal control for height; a Mercy can determine the height she wants to jump simply by timing when she jumps after the crouch GA.

I’m open to more testing in the future, but I don’t think it can get any better than the Mercy we have currently in
Overwatch 1.

This change to Mercy’s GA…its not that bad but not good either. It is an attempt at something new. Experimenting in the Training Room has provided these results:

Doing a backward’s guardian angel is easier now because Mercy bounces off her GA target. It’s not directly vertical but its a bounce.

At first, Looking up to do super-jump is kinda clunky and you don’t get enough height. But that was probably cause I was trying it out for the first time.

I originally thought that playing at max distance was the only way to superjump-- you can still do it at short distances. Thank you for confirming this this Shrinkray!

You just have to crouch + GA + let that meter fill up then click jump! Mercy will be stationary beside her GA target until the player clicks the jump button- so even if you start the GA at close distance, a superjump is still possible. You can look directly down or directly up and the super-jump will happen. This meter charge makes Mercy more vulnerable; cause she stays still while waiting for the meter to charge when GA is at a closer distance.

Consequence of this patch is:
Mercy’s now have to look up (or down) which I feel is less smooth gameplay; since before, superjump was still possible looking anywhere.

I still haven’t accomplished a superjump rez with this GA change. (It might take some practice.) Though I could do it easily before this specific GA change.

This patch feels like a nerf compared to the last patch, which I think was better in terms of aerial mobility. This GA change feels even more restrictive than the automatic GA bounce. Personally, I prefer the last GA change (with nerfs to the repetitive GA bounce I suppose) if we must update Mercy’s movement.

Overall, this charged GA change is functional but not extremely smooth. Overwatch 1 Mercy’s movement is still the best out of the options that have been presented.

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For this new iteration, I’ve found you have to use what it does fairly easily, the backwards reflection/SJ and make it work for you.

Always look down and do the backwards SJ…and as the meter charges swing your back in the direction that you want to go and hit it (spacebar) when the meter swings to as close to full as you can. Think of it like you’re always driving Mercy in reverse.

When I do that I’ve found I will actually get usable height, and am at least able to do repeated top-down-SJs across a point, from one 2nd level to another and back again. But you have to get used to flying backwards toward where you want to go…be it a window, or higher level, etc.

Second. You don’t need to be at max distance to get this greater height (much of the time) especially if you stick with the backwards SJ. You just have to watch the meter. I’ve noticed that if I GA to a target from say 10-15m, I will fly there, stop, buuuut the meter keeps building for a half second. Sometimes to the top of the meter. Hit space + back and many times I will get enough height to be useful even at close range. It’s a bit hit or miss though, but it seems like there is a timing to it. Though the big failing of it is that you are just standing in one place for a half second, which is usually death.

Anyhoot, it’s the clunkiest, most unintuitive, fakakta way to do a super-jump though, and my least favorite of all their iterations. I generally find it easier to flick my view downward though, and when I reverse-SJ, I at least can see the fight, my target, and what’s going on as I reflect away from it (instead of looking up at nothing). I just can’t really see where I’m going, but I’m kind of use to that from doing slingshots and such. Sooooo, it kinda works.

That’s my workaround anyhow. You just have to get used to not only timing your spacebar press, but also swinging your back around so it faces where you want to go…be it straight up, or at a nice arc, or horizontally back.

Frankly though, I hope this version burns in fire. And we get one of the previous options, with a toggle to just go back to the OG-SJ.

May the Mercy gods forgive the Devs for the abomination they have wrought. They know not what they do. Amen. E pluribus unum.

P.S. I think I’m always just throwing crouch in there too, just from muscle memory from the OG-SJ, so try that too.

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Stylosa and Niandra have been very happy with the new changes.

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A classic carry out the opposite of the rest… it’s a horrible change, it makes Mercy worse, if it was already bad in OW2, now it’s even more so, now because of these people they will keep it and go out on live with this, and what will cause? A lot of players will flee, others will go to other roles (nobody wants to play support with the bad treatment they are receiving and without improvements) and the dps and tank queues will increase a lot more.

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Your observation about the meter charging even when you’re not moving was huge for me. I don’t find that I need to use the backwards jump - I can get everywhere I want using the forwards one. In the practice room I can consistently reach everywhere I want using forward jumps alone.

After a period of adjustment, I can do most everything I’m used to with this new version. It’s kind of growing on me. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it feels like a buff.

This warms my old Jewish heart.

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I posted this in the HUGE thread but I will also post it here.

I will say it’s not as horrible as I originally thought but it’s still not GREAT. But, it has definitely grown on me in a way. There are things they need to change.

Things I like:

  1. I love the control you can have once you get used to it. It feels so cool being able to fly to nothing (no teammate needed) to get better positioning. You can also juke and dodge a lot of things. The backward jump is really fun too. I honestly don’t mind having to look where I want to go as long as I’m not wanting to go up. If it’s a fully charged slingshot she also feels very fast. It’s pretty fun to zoom like that.

Things I don’t like:

  1. I don’t like having to look UP if I want to SJ. It’s not as bad going left, right, or backward. If you want to go up you have two options: You can look at the sky or look at the ground. Both of these things feel very disorienting and as support why would I ever want to not be looking at my teammate’s health? You might not think those few seconds matter but they really do.
  2. The meter is another big problem. It does not charge fast enough imo. It feels so inconsistent. This version of GA feels best when you are super far away from your team. But if you are close it feels so clunky and horrible. You barely get any charge which results in Mercy feeling very much like a sitting duck with no real escape.
  3. The height in which you jump on a full meter does not feel high enough imo. The left, right, and backward charge feels good. But there is no SJ to this GA. It makes getting height nearly impossible compared to other versions we’ve had. The thing I liked about the Auto SJ was that no matter how far or close I was to a teammate if I wanted to SJ, I was going to go UP.

After really toughing it out and trying to learn how to make it work, I do have some ideas that would be a huge improvement:

  1. The meter either goes or charges faster. If it goes there should be a base range you automatically GA to when going left, right, backward, and up. It would make the jumps and slingshots feel more consistent and easier to control. It’s kind of like the range we need to be to even GA to someone - that’s a consistent thing.
  2. With or without the meter, the SJ should be vertically higher. The slingshot left, right, and backward feels like a good range to me. Up is the only problem.
  3. As of right now we need to look in the direction we want to GA to. When going left, right, and backward this doesn’t feel as disorienting imo. When you want to go up? That’s a different story. The fix I have in mind for this would simply be this: as of right now if you want to slingshot backward you pull back on the analog stick. If you want to go forward (forward to whatever you are facing) you simply push forward on the analog stick. But, if you GA to someone and press jump without using a directional button at all where do you go? Forward again. So, why not have it set to when you GA to someone and the meter is full, if you don’t press any directional buttons you go up? This would prevent the need to LOOK up or down to SJ. And yes I know this is similar to the Beta 1 SJ which they obviously wanted to nerf. They could balance this by making us close enough to teammates to go UP unlike the backward jump which as of right now you can do at any time during the GA.

I also have some tips for people, especially those on console. Well, mainly for those console.

  1. Turn your sensitivity all the way up. 100/100, yes that’s right. I went from 60/60. It will take a little while to get used to it but it helps with the directional GA. I also play on Linear Ramp. I don’t know how big of a difference it makes but I’ve always played on that so maybe try it out.
  2. I’ve always played with GA Toggle off. I think it gives more control of where you fly to and letting go to cancel instead of double-tapping is less annoying imo. But, with this version of GA I’ve found having the GA Toggle on makes it flow better. It’s easier to press one button (instead of having to hold it down) to get ready to press two others. (directional movement and jump) just know if you’re not used to this it’s going to feel hard to control where she’s going because for some reason it feels faster. But, practice makes perfect. You can also play with it off. I switch back and forth some games but I do think toggling on makes it easier.
  3. The easiest way to go up is the look at the ground. How you do this is by looking down while pulling all the way back on your left analog stick and then jumping when the meter is fully charged. If you use GA Toggle on, while you are flying go ahead and automatically pull back and wait for the perfect time to jump. I’ve found you get more verticality this way. It’s not the most ideal thing to do during team fights but it’s the best we have right now.
  4. There is one positive thing I have found about the meter. When you fully GA to someone it lingers for a second or two. I was making the mistake of trying to automatically fly once I got to my teammate. You should try waiting a second before pressing jump. It’s almost like a small pause and then boom. When I do this the GA feels better, the jumps seem almost higher and the slingshots almost longer.

But, yeah. That’s it really. I was pretty upset before but after playing and messing around with it, I do believe it’s a set in the right direction. It just needs a few things adjusted. There are so many options with this GA compared to the Auto SJ.

1 Like
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That’s kind of how I have been approaching all the new iterations. I maaaaaay hate them and kvetch at first, but I think, “might as well see how I can break it, or use it, or figure out what the devs where thinking.”

I wonder if you can do a strafe around the GA target (like a little moon orbiting a planet), in Valk (or not), while the meter charges? I need to try that tonight. Then maybe I could rotate around someone to make it a little harder to shoot me, or rotate around someone on a corner or payload, to do a 90 degree horizontal slingshots to safety. Use them as a pivot point for a directional SJ slingshot.

You can do it on their head now, like your pinned in place, but if you could orbit them a bit, like when you do a flying Valk resurrect around a corner, that might be really fun/useful.

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Oiy. I’m all verklempt.

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Yeah, I sympathize with that.

My process starts with - “Haven’t the Jewish people suffered enough?”

Then it goes to - “Nu, what’s a little bit more suffering?”

And finally to high praise like - “Meh, I’m fine either way. Do whatever makes you happy.”

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I commend you for the mindset that you have approached Mercy with in beta. Did you succeed in completing this maneuver or any finding new tech?

I’ve found that doing the V jumps is a bit easier, but other than that I’ ve nothing new to report as of yet.

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I just kind of view this iteration as a car that has a cool feature, “Wow, it backs into parking spaces all by itself”, but does everything else worse than what I want.

They’ve got 3 other options that I prefer over this (especially in the faster 5v5 format), that are just plain easier to deal with, both visually, and mechanically, and serve me (just talking my play-style here) better.

We’ll see what happens though. Time will tell.

2 Likes
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I’ve been too busy nolifing the Moira changes to put in much work with the Mercy changes, but I will say they feel a lot better now than they did originally.

The original vertical bunnyhop thing was absolutely atrocious, especially for someone who plays OW1 Mercy on muscle memory. So many accidentally cancelled rezzes, lol. But the newer version feels fine. Doesn’t interfere much with my muscle memory and it really only took a minute or two in practice mode to figure out how to do… basically everything. I honestly have a feeling that once I get my turns down I’ll probably have more precision than I did in OW1, and I thiiink I can get just about the same distance, and probably more speed as well.

So, yeah. I wasn’t expecting to be pleased, but I am.

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Pretty sure they devs were initially trying to make the ability more consistent and easier to use. I believe this version of super jump is contrary to that. I appreciate the directional agency, but the current version overall seems more complicated and less consistent.

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Agreed. While some others seem to really enjoy it, it’s not my cup of tea.

I just can’t get in a groove with it like I can the OG-SJ, or the other two EZ-Jump iterations. I’d play a whole evening with those and the only thing holding me back would be my random team mates. This latest version, I play 1-2 games and just pack it in. I don’t die a ton if at all, and can still top heals, but I feel like my wings were clipped, or I’ve got on lead shoes. All the moves are generally there, but the flow is gone.

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