Mercy isn't boring, you're just playing the wrong hero

[Storm-14710]

That or you expect something from Mercy that she isn’t really supposed to offer.

Mercy is modeled around her how she reacts to and with her team. Her kit is intended to be entirely support driven, so her attention is always going to be on her own team rather than the other team.

Her current kit consists of:
-Left click healbot
-Right click boostbot
-The ability to fly (to an ally)
-A single use resurrect (obviously used on an ally)
-A (lacking/annoying/whatever) Ultimate that enhances mobility, and the two first points.
-A last resort pistol with mediocre damage.

Again, her kit is modeled around how she reacts to and with her team. And that’s what I love about her; I’m constantly being a hero. I’m keeping my team alive. I’m setting up amazing plays, and increasing their power of them every moment I can. I’m saving lives, or bringing them back if it’s too late. I rush by my ally’s side to assist them. She’s a very busy stay at home mom, with 5 kids. I get to babysit those 5 kids. She’s fun to play for those of us who enjoy doing that. And she’s the only support built around that idea.

-Zen is equally a dps, and has Discord Orb to take out the enemy faster
-Moira a clean 50% of both dps and support, she’s on or the other at any given moment, and both when she ults
-Lucio has his boop and speedboost
-Ana’s base kit is also 50% each, except instead of deciding which she needs to be in the moment, her bullet decides for her, and she decides where the bullet goes. Her nade acts on both teams. She has a sleep dart, and her Ult boosts one ally.
-Brigitte fills any role. She has a shield, she can use that shield to stun, flail goes through barriers, and she can even use it to put distance between herself and the enemy.

And on top of all this, they all have a readily available primary fire. Mercy starts with her staff, and has to switch to her pistol to get any use out of it, and even then is robbed of any direct support (to her currently alive team, so barring rez of course). Mercy is the only support, hell only hero that works like this, and that’s what I love. I don’t want a new pacify ability where I can target an enemy and reduce their damage, I just don’t. It takes away from what she represents. So many people say she’s not fun to play, and I have to say that you are wrong, because objectively, she is for someone. She’s fun for those of us who actually like to be the man/woman behind the curtain, pulling strings and pressing buttons that the audience never sees. Some of us like to be the legs of the table.

If you’re complaining she’s not fun, don’t play her, because she is fun. She shouldn’t be changed to what somebody else wants, that’s what new heroes should be for. Keep the idea of Mercy alive, and introduce new ideas through the heroes of the future, don’t replace those of the past.

Edit: I do believe she could use some tuning, I’m not saying she’s perfect the way she is, I’m also not shouting that Rez is overpowered and should be deleted reeeee, and I’m definitely not asking for mass rez to come back because it was just a stupid idea in the first place. But I do think Mercy should be changed, just under a safe environment. She has a core that no other hero has, and I don’t want that to change.

[Qwazi-2242]

I didn’t use to find Mercy boring, so who are you to tell me I’m playing the wrong hero? Mercy changed and isn’t Mercy anymore. And Mercy was the only hero that ever appealed to me because she doesn’t play like a FPS hero.

They keep making Mercy easier (and less fun) to play by nerfing her

Mercy is not a difficult hero to play, but she used to be about choices, timing, and decisions. Before her rework the best Mercy players would decide whether to tempo rez or mass-rez by tracking enemy ultimates, sometimes baiting enemy ultimates, and try to optimize their use of the ultimate based on chance for success. Mercy was easy to play and pick up, but by understanding and reading enemy movements you get really good at doing your job as Mercy. The rework removed a lot of the decision ma…

[Needles-11351]

The reason i know she is not fun is because now that i have been playing the other heroes you can see how truly unfun it is to play current mercy.
The real heroes never die is fun…
Mercy having a real impact is fun…
Saving lives is fun… not just prolonging their death

[Storm-14710]

I also used to find Mercy fun. I still do in fact.
And yes she changed, but she is still absolutely Mercy. If she isn’t Mercy anymore, then that’s saying she was defined by her ultimate no? Well she shouldn’t be defined by her ultimate, not that one at least.

And she is about choices, always has been, still is. Obviously choosing who to heal/boost is still one she makes. But now Rez is about who and when and where to Rez, not just when, it requires more thought on the decision itself and how you pull it off, and requires more than just a button press to instantly get your results as well.
I hate that I could just waltz in and rez my entire team. I mean I made a huge play, but it was so unfun to do, so forgiving, so easy. I hate Valk though as well, I don’t believe that’s the right ultimate either, it’s just not what she deserves.

And Mercy was the only hero that ever appealed to me because she doesn’t play like a FPS hero.

She still doesn’t btw

[Qwazi-2242]

She still doesn’t btw

I know, but she is no longer fun for the reasons I list in the post I linked to.

[Storm-14710]

I’ll be quite honestly with you, I didn’t know there was more to that post. I thought that initial paragraph was all it was

[Ungod-1936]

Mercy is way more fun than she used to be! Old mass res was a drag in comparison. I enjoy mobility so new Mercy is way more fun to me

[Annimositty-1844]

Boring and Fun are subjective.

Mercy is boring is a 100% true statement because I find her boring. The issue is people then take that statement and apply it as if I am saying everyone finds Mercy boring. Which would be wrong as long as 1 person in existence finds her fun.

So don’t let it get to you buddy.

[Klaus-1320]

I’ve never found mercy all that fun. Fun is entirely subjective though. I can say mercy is not fun becasue for me, its true.

That doesn’t mean i want her changed. Not every hero should cater to my play style. There are 28 other heroes to choose from to find a hero that fits the type of play i like.

[Storm-14710]

The rework removed a lot of the decision making and choices. Valkyrie removed the need for target prioritization as chain beams does all the work for you. The choice when to use it is also relatively trivial: use if team is alive and pushing, or if team is alive and defending against push

So, you press spacebar and hold a mouse-button, then observe people running around on the ground - not very engaging or fun.

Wholeheartedly agree. Though it is important to remember it can’t be Zen/Luc strong. Mercy has a strong base with weak ult, Zen/Luc have a weak base with strong ult. It needs to be different, but it can’t be as strong as say those two.

When they removed the cooldown reset on Guardian Angel after successfully rezzing someone it meant Mercy could no longer swoop in and rez, and then swoop out. While this was a minor nerf, it made her less engaging to play and also limited her choices a lot.

That CD is already so miniscule it deserves to be longer if anything. .5-1 second longer only, but longer nonetheless.

When they nerfed rez as an ability and gave it a cast-timer they also removed some of the decision making and target prioritization. It became less about rezzing the right target and more about rezzing a convenient target. Mercy also lost some of her calculated bravery because healing someone in the frontline meant she might end up there alone if her healing target dies and she couldn’t instantly rez this person; so Mercy moved towards the backlines and became less engaging to play.

The cast time is just a tad bit too long I will say. But it is still most certainly about rezzing the right target still. In fact you have to be smarter with it, because of how limited its capabilities are. Mercy is still meant for any positioning, I play her front or back line really, she’s good anywhere still.

With the recent healing nerf you have to heal your target for longer to keep them alive, so there will be less swooping back and forth. It makes her a little easier to play, a little less engaging to play, and a lot less fun to play. Swooping around is what makes Mercy really fun, and I think there’ll be a little less of it if you want to play Mercy effectively.

I’ve not even noticed this nerf. Thought it doesn’t make her easier to play, if anything the opposite because you specifically have to heal more, and her ult charges slower.

So, I don’t want a revert. I don’t want Mercy to be overpowered. I think if they manage to get some balance between the support heroes it’ll be great. I just wish that after the dust settles and we know how things turn out they start looking at giving Mercy a few more choices and a few more decisions to make to give Mercy players a little bit more room to use their skill… Cause right now Mercy’s skill ceiling is much too low, and that makes her boring.

Agreed

[FFirebrandd-1844]

She shouldn’t be changed to what somebody else wants, that’s what new heroes should be for. Keep the idea of Mercy alive, and introduce new ideas through the heroes of the future, don’t replace those of the past.

See… I agree with this statement. Issue is that Blizzard already did exactly that. Mass Resurrect does not exist in the game anymore.

So now we have 2 Mercy’s… and 2 groups of people who like their version of Mercy better. Neither wants to lose their favorite hero, and it wouldn’t be fair to either group to force the issue either way.

The easiest way to smooth this over is to put Mercy back to her roots and make Current Mercy a new hero. Why that way and not reverse? Old Mercy has existed for longer… but for me at least I wouldn’t care too much if they did the reverse.

[BadWidowEU-2419]

Now Mercy is defined by a reset button on a 30 second cooldown. Also, her ultimate is best utilised by staying as far as possible from the fight meaning it’s not engaging. There’s one reason why current Mercy is boring.

[MeiDei-11413]

-A last resort pistol with mediocre damage.

Me, a man who has melted 200hp heroes in seconds with Mercies pistol: You wanna say that again, punk.

[Hotaru251-1596]

But now Rez is about who and when and where to Rez, not just when, it requires more thought on the decision itself and how you pull it off, and requires more than just a button press to instantly get your results as well.

you forget original Mercy ult took a brain to pull off.

use it incorrectly and you died for no benefit.

not all mercy ppl were only use to her post god mode buff.

[CuppaJo-11973]

The Devs have consistently made every aspect of the hero worse and more boring over the months and its us the players that are the problem? Like if there had been a change to her gameplay instead of you know, straight up nerfs(all 12 of them) maybe you’d have a leg to stand on, but no.

Mercy has been made worse in every aspect and she’s boring because of that. Like…this is confusing, have people ran out of ways to justify her being fine after the 10th nerf or am I missing something?

[LunasaysMeow-11459]

I enjoy mobility so new Mercy is way more fun to me

I too enjoy her current mobility than old Mercy but the way she is now everything she does just feels sluggish…

[Annimositty-1844]

Me, a man who has melted 200hp heroes in seconds with Mercies pistol: You wanna say that again, punk.

I sometimes get caught unaware. At close range this thing is way to accurate lol.

[Kootiepatra-2488]

Thought it doesn’t make her easier to play, if anything the opposite because you specifically have to heal more, and her ult charges slower.

It doesn’t make her easier to play, but it still cuts down the amount of thought and multitasking she can put into a match. If you can’t top people up as fast with healing, that means that you have to sit there and heal for longer, which means you can’t afford to damage boost as much, and you aren’t going to be able to bounce between teammates as much. It lends itself towards staying in one place longer and holding LMB down more, which further erodes the number of decisions Mercy gets to make and the amount of (noticeable) impact she gets to have.

I don’t think she’s dead, but her playstyle has flattened out a lot and it just keeps getting flatter over time.

[HealsGood-1715]

After about 800 hours on mercy i dont think you have the rights to say im playing the wrong hero thank you very much Mercy is extremely boring and unimpactful

[Storm-14710]

If anything she has to multitask more. You said she can’t afford to boost as much, well that’s saying she has more on her plate to heal, more she has to deal with, she has to multitask. Having a higher healing output means less time healing, less to worry about, less to think about, less multitasking.

Honestly that healing nerf I’ve barely felt, and with the amount of complaints (that I only really see on these forums) toward Mercy being op, my response is this one statement I saw, but unfortunately wouldn’t know where to look to find it.

“If Mercy with Rez and 60hps is overpowered, and Mercy with Rez and 0hps is underpowered, somewhere between those two extremes is a balance.”