==> Mercy mains: Adapt

General Discussion
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This isn’t a pro/anti-revert thread, or a rework/suggestion thread, or a pick/win rate debate thread. There are enough of those around, so please take those discussions elsewhere.

If you’re having trouble playing Mercy, or being as effective with Mercy, in her current state, this thread is for you.

Though the exact number varies depending on how you count individual buffs/nerfs, Mercy as a hero has had more individual balance changes than anyone else in the roster. (source: h ttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13sYNsr6ZNsjkKWsA4QBxCjsK57dD2TH1KxNamEFJlW8/

If you’ve played her for any number of seasons – or if you’re like me, and have played her since launch – you have adapted and readapted your playstyle to accommodate her seemingly-constant flux in ability and strength.

But, right now, we have to acknowledge that things are different from before.

Regardless of how many changes we went through previously, Mercy always reigned supreme as the most powerful single-target healer on the roster, which often made her viable on every single map in every single game.

This is no longer the case.

Again, this thread is not here to discuss how/why this change has happened or whether or not it’s fair.

This thread is to call attention to the fact that – right here, right now – we need to use our skills of adaptation to adapt once more to her current state in the roster. You can have discussions on the forums, you can have strong opinions and feelings as to where she is right now, but neither of those things are going to help when you click that big purple box to queue for Competitive.

Here’s what will.

  • Considering whether Mercy is viable for your current map/composition.

As mentioned before, she is no longer viable on every map, every time – I am of the opinion that her win rates are declining because people still play her under this impression.

Your raw healing numbers do not matter. As I always like to tell toxic DPS mains on my team, gold medals don’t mean anything if you lose. Use your healing numbers as a statistic in conjunction with your offensive/defensive assists and number of deaths per 5/10 minutes to decide whether or not your pick is working. If it’s not, switch off.

Because of her current state, we are finally free to use the phrase “I can’t play Mercy on this map/with this comp” without being yelled at. Use it. It feels good.

  • Don’t be afraid to swap heroes.

Mercy mains (see: not one-tricks) usually have at least one or two other support heroes we can play. We’re not used to flexing to them often because Mercy used to be the strongest single-target healer, and flexing usually meant sacrificing that raw output, which was more often than not a handicap.

This is no longer the case. We can go back to playing other supports. I’ve integrated much more Moira/Brigitte into my rotation, and I’ve been brushing off my Lucio/Zen skills that I haven’t used since like Season Three. I’ve also picked up Ana on a side account – I’m mediocre right now, but once you get her positioning down, she’s extremely fun and feels so good to play right now.

  • Learn to flex.

If you were ever interested in playing other heroes, now is the time to do it. Again, because Mercy is no longer viable every single time, we are no longer forced to pick her, and we no longer have to feel like we’re throwing if we don’t have a Mercy on our team.

I’ve made a big thread about other heroes Mercy players can pick up here: (To all Mercy mains)

Your rank might fluctuate a little. You might not feel as effective as you once did, as you’re learning/relearning to play other heroes.

And that’s okay.

The only thing we have absolute control over in our games is ourselves.

Instead of playing consistently into failure, let’s use those well-honed skills of adaptation of ours to improve our gameplay and remain strong assets to our team.

EDIT: I’m not going to be replying to anyone who clearly only decided to read the title before responding.

tl;dr

21 Likes
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The problem isn’t that Mercy mains need to adapt. The problem is that Mercy mains are being ignored. :wink:

But seriously though, I do agree with your OP’s advice nonetheless, great tips!

~Sincerely Yours xoxo,
a Lover of True, Fair, and Fun Balance.
xavvypls :blue_heart:

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Again, discussions of her current state are one thing.

Continuing to play her in the exact same way as we did before in-game hurts no one but our own team.

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Why is the title written in the style of a Homestuck page?

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I’d say this is the main reason.
While I don’t want mass rez back with invulnerability.

No one wants to play one hero and then it gets switched to another.

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I feel like people use the word adapt like it’s interchangeable with “stop complaining”

Mercy mains have adapted, they’ve adapted with each change, continuing to play the game means that they pretty much have to

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At one hand i want to be bold and tell them to swap. Because Genji players had to as well, After we got a plethora of counters after endless complaining us support mains did.

But on the other hand, they got a rework they didn’t ask for.

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A rework that was both, not asked for and not needed.

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I honestly think the main problem is that a lot of Mercy players expected the fun to last, and they expected that they would continue to enjoy playing Overwatch. This is not a unique mindset to Mercy players, and as more and more people realize that Overwatch stopped being fun the nostalgia from fun times represent itself as frustration on the forums.

I honestly think that people who think Mercy stopped being fun, people such as myself, need to accept that it’s time to move on and play other games, because Overwatch is not about fun anymore.

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The problem is that Genji has many alternates; there’s a huge roster of DPS characters to choose from, but Mercy is the only primary healer in the game. She’s the only healer that just heals, she cannot output damage while healing, while all other healers can. She is a unique and singular character in that aspect, and she should be the best at what she does because of this limitation.

Telling tanks or healers to ‘adapt’ is rather unfair because there’s easily double the options for a DPS main to look at, whereas tanks and healers are far more unique and limited, and don’t offer a similar playstyle to one another.

The ‘adapt’ is going to result in a lot of once-was healers taking up non-healing roles, I’ve already seen a huge dropoff in the number of people who want to heal in general in the last month or so, and it’s only going to get worse.

1 Like
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Who is to say that Mercy mains aren’t adapting though?

I and many other Mercy mains have adapted to the changes, and a lot of us have played and mained other heroes. I for example, hold an above average winrate despite the nerfs with the hero. I flex to various heroes where needed, and I can assume that a lot of Mercy mains have as well. This old stereotype of “Mercy mains need to adapt” is tiresome, and it needs to die.

And all the while, how about everyone else? Do they get a free pass to play their favorite hero despite it not working for their team. Do they get a free pass while Mercy mains are held to the artificial standard? What message are you trying to portray with directing this thread specifically to Mercy mains, when this advice can be applied to everyone?

Is it because Mercy mains are the “loud minority” in the forums? Because if so, then as I have stated previously, the problem is that their feedback, complains, and issues with the hero are being ignored - and the stigma against them (like these types of threads) that undermines them even further.

I have an idea. Let’s stop making threads singling out Mercy mains and telling them how they should play this game. Let’s all hold ourselves as overwatch players accountable, and see eachother equally as a part of one team. Not picking sides on the “Us vs Them” mentality.

~Sincerely Yours xoxo,
a Lover of True, Fair, and Fun Balance.
xavvypls :blue_heart:

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Xavvy, I normally agree wholeheartedly with your Mercy posts, but it’s very clear you didn’t bother reading this thread whatsoever and had a knee-jerk reaction to the title. Unfortunately, you’re just derailing the entire conversation I wanted to have.

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It seems to me like the conversation you wanted to have was just making a list of what Mercy players should do instead of pointing out her flaws in the forums.

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Yes, because discussing about her current state is commonplace. Discussing how to play her in her current state is not.

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Literally every point in your list is basically ‘pick a different healer’. You didn’t talk about how to use more cover in order to compensate for the healing reduction or any practical tips on how to actually play Mercy, you just provided a list of reasons as to why Mercy shouldn’t be played, and why Mercy players shouldn’t pick her. The natural conclusion of that kind of tone is not a discussion on how to play new Mercy, but hey do what you want.

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Look, personally I find playing mercy boring, twice as boring after they changed her ult to valk.
But there is a legit point that literally tons of players that initially mained her (not in an op state) were always unsatisfied and bliz instead of prioritizing a second rework, started cutting stuff from her kit and nerfing over time. It is obvious that while she’s getting to a balanced state (that’s good), the hero design will suffer even more.
And no you don’t have to adapt to changes you don’t like, except if you’re a professional player or you’re making money out of this game.

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Precisely. The entire point of the post was how we cannot play her the same way we did before and expect the same results.

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I’ve adapted to the most enlightened form of mercy main known as battle mercy I’m now the #1 player in the world by 5k sr

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Well I already gave up playing her after the Janary Nerf’s
I adapted so I could feel like a hero instead of being this games little sidekick

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I just watched Hizishima or whatever their name is on youtube do a comparison video, and their average healing with Mercy this season is down to 9k, and their Moira that they play at a much lower rank is up at 10.5k - just average healing output per game.

It’s crazy to me that anyone would think that Mercy should not be outputting the best heals, she’s literally the only healer with an arm tied behind her back when it comes to her kit. She’s the only healer that can’t offer damage to her team at the same time. The nerf might be small, but it’s game mechanics 101 that the character that is dedicated to a single thing is the best at that single thing when compared to characters that specialize in multiple things. It’s like… Rudimentary.

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