I’m genuinely curious why so many Mercy players view pocketing and damage boosting as A) unnecessary or B) offering very little value. I see so many Mercy’s who either don’t know this play style exists or refuse to do it, and I’m genuinely trying to understand the mindset behind it. This is not about insulting anyone.
I’m actually really curious to understand the thinking behind this play style.
They just don’t understand the game.
Or
They do and they’re trolling you for the
L.u.l.z.
Some possible reasons:
They don’t play at a high level and think the primary playstyle is to be a main healer.
In some comps, Mercy IS the main healer and needs to play in that style, i.e. Metcy/Zen, Mercy/Lucio.
Sometimes the other healer isn’t: DPS Moiras, Ana players and Bap players more concerned with damage than heals.
Some people are really demanding of a pocket in a very rude manner. Being rude doesn’t work much.
Some people can’t hit shots. Damage boosting them isn’t efficient.
But do you really have to understand the game to know that applying more damage to a hero is probably a good idea? Or that boosting and keeping a key damage dealer alive is strong? I see Mercy players that literally N-E-V-E-R damage boost, or just try to keep everyone’s health topped off and feel that that’s all she’s good for.
Maybe it’s because they don’t play dps and don’t have any first hand experience about how effective these things are?
Soooooo… They don’t understand the game?
I mean… To you and me it seems so simple.
But to someone who can’t understand simple numbers, you tell them that damage boost does 30% additional damage, they think “well 30 doesn’t mean anything to me.”
But when you realize that, that took (pre-nerf) Ashe from a head shot damage of 170 to 221 damage, they still probably don’t understand how impactful that is because they don’t see Overwatch for what it truly is (a numbers game).
Some people just want to play the game to have fun. They don’t put deep levels of thought into how things interact with each other. A separation of the classes (if you will).
They probably don’t even know what the ability does.
You tell someone its damage boost and it goes in one ear and out the other.
Yes, for sure, you’re right, but I guess I’m trying to understand WHY something that requires only common sense is still so unintuitive.
This is a really interesting insight that you don’t hear often enough. Do you think it’s a good or bad or neutral thing that Blizzard doesn’t give people even basic insights into how to play the game? Not Blizzard bashing, just curious what you think.
Are these people ruining competitive?
I’ve gotten in arguments with people about this, likely super low APM Mercys who see any action outside of merely topping people off as distractions they don’t have time for.
Ah, yes… The condescending “common sense” statement. Please don’t take that personally but I think its… arrogant to call something common sense when its really not.
Don’t steal from the grocery store.
Damage boost your teammates in this SPECIFIC video game.
Relative to Overwatch? Yes its common sense if you’ve put any level of effort into understanding your hero/heroine. But its a little more complicated than that.
I mean… Besides Hanzo, Ashe is my most played hero. So I’m relatively up to date on her damage numbers.
Why not? Blizz isn’t special to me.
Neutral…
Damage numbers really don’t matter that much. You’re either getting final blows or your not. But knowing how patches or hero interactions affect different heroes is how people determine the META.
At the average level of play (up through probably 2.7/2.8) it really has no effect on how the game is played. And a lot of people will still argue that META doesn’t really matter (and it probably TRULY doesn’t) until mid Masters and above. But the hero interactions which are PROGRAMMED into the game VERY MUCH matter. So that’s why I don’t agree with them.
I mean… People complain about Overwatch’s tutorial (and admittedly its basic AF).
But so is Valorant’s. Does CSGO even have a tutorial? Even League of Legends (arguably the most definitive competitive E-Sport in the business) barely has a tutorial compared to what high level LoL gameplay represents.
Its not just Overwatch. And as I’ve commented before, the dev’s don’t decide how the game should be played. Most of them aren’t even that good at it. The player base does.
If you don’t have a desire to undergo the learning process to maximize your hero’s utility, as well as improve as a player to increase your teams chances at success, there are game modes that are more worth your time.
There’s a reason some people will never be good at Overwatch. 
Mercy’s utility is babysitting one person and enabling that player by healing and dmg boosting them. This means that you get the most value out of Mercy by pocketing specific DPS heroes such as Soldier, Cree, or Ashe.
What you have to consider, though, is that this play style won’t yield equal value across all ranks. In fact, the lower you go down the ladder, the less value this will yield. This is due to the fact that the lower you go, the more inconsistent DPS players are. Funneling 50% of your support resources into an inconsistent DPS player is often less valuable than trying to play Mercy as a main healer.
There are many reasons a Mercy might stop pocketing you. Personally, I’ll stop pocketing you if I feel like you’re providing zero value as your ineptitude will be taking both of us out of the fight, not just yourself. I’ll stop pocketing you if I’m the only main healer. I’ll stop pocketing you if you have zero concern for my safety, like a Pharah flying in the middle of the open when the enemy has two snipers or ignoring a flanker that’s murdering me. I’ll stop pocketing you if the other DPS is ult-ing or another player looks like they’re about to dish out a ton of damage. There are probably a few other reasons but those are a few of the reasons I may stop pocketing someone.
10/10 have accidentally gotten my McElroy pocket killed multiple times by getting in over my head and having to bail out. Unfortunately I didn’t peek fast enough for her to get out as well 
“Pocketing” or only paying attention to a single player at the detriment to the rest of the team is a terrible strategy.
Healbotting is not a value too. If you don’t have damage boost per 10 around 2000 - you are throwing. Sometimes there is no target to pocket, or they are just bad (which you can consider with the hit markers and sound going through your damage boost). But if you have Ashe, pharah, echo, cree, soldier, you have to prioritize pocketing those heroes even if everyone dies. Because the value it gets is more important.
https://clips.twitch.tv/OpenTenaciousTruffleGivePLZ-zSCmI0wwfnMleur4
And even ress.
There is actual main supports Bap/Ana to do this job, your job is to play around your dps and keep an eye on the main support if it is Ana, Bap is self-sufficient.
When I coached one mercy main and played together for like 3 seasons, I screw him up to the point that he learned to heal me beween my Ashe shots and I even demand to let me die in favour of damage boost if we have res. That is how valuable damage boost.
I don’t believe calling something that is basic and straightforward “common sense” is condescending. Common sense defined : “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” So it’s essentially shorthand for: grasping the obvious. The concept that additional free damage is useful IS common sense. Damage is good. More damage is better. It doesn’t get more fundamental.
If someone fails to grasp something this straightforward, I don’t see the need to mince words, it is what it is. Many of the things people do wrong in Overwatch is a failure to make even basic associations or observations. They’re simply failing to think: since if a person spent even a bit of mental effort analyzing their routine failures and mistakes, they’d arrive at the right conclusion. It’s not that the answers elude them – they’re not even asking the questions.
I.e.:
These and a million other questions like them resolve themselves in simple, accessible logic, not in some arcane understanding of Overwatch.
There’s more than one meta and it’s different for different ranks, mostly based on how much benefit you get from a hero that’s relatively easy to use/doesn’t require high levels of skill, commitment, game sense, etc. I agree with what you said about programmed interactions. That’s a good point.
I can’t help but think they’d spare people a lot of pain and suffering if they offered basic fundamentals. Granted, it’s up for discussion for how deep these instructionals should go.
So essentially yes, they are ruining competitive. Points for diplomacy.
In no comp should mercy be the main healer. If you are main healing on mercy you need to swap and play an actual healer.
Nowhere was it suggested that they do these actions excessively to the point of hurting the team.
Variations of dive incorporate Mercy as the primary source of team sustainment.
I’m glad you picked up what I was putting down but I was willing to bet you knew my position on this.
If you’re unwilling to play competitively, you should not engage in competitive play. And I don’t mean going in trying to win. I mean actually doing the additional work outside of hitting the purple competitive game mode GUI.
I solved 99% of Bronze in a 1/2 sentence.
What would you define as fundamentals? Because these ALSO change based on rank.
Yes thats true. And its even more diverse now that they spent so much time building balance around map specific team compositions.
I would certainly hope so… 
And THE META will trump card other METAs. In a game like Overwatch, its impossible not to have a META and I personally don’t think META is an issue.
Ex: (Pre-nerf) Ashe can do 221 HS damage with a Mercy pocket. The Dynamite was like 100 damage on explosion and the burn was like 75 or 80. Don’t fully remember that one but it didn’t matter because most of the time nobody survived.
Now Ashe is basically a worse McCree with no real CC.
Sure, but it is also independent from specialized knowledge or training.
If I only play Overwatch a couple times a month and I like Mercy, I can see how someone probably can’t be bothered to discuss the deeper points of the hero. Much less how to get the most value out of her in a given scenario (which is breaking away from common sense).
Yes, correct…
Yes, correct…
Yes, correct…
But nobody wants to put in the effort. They just want easy games that allow them the clout of Grand Master. There is A LOT of skill developed between 2000 and 3000 SR. But seriously… If people spent more time actually doing EVERYTHING you mentioned above, the average SR of the game would be like 2.6 or 2.7k.
Instead its like 2.2-2.3 because people are dumb. 
I had a match today with a Mercy and our Hanzo and Widow never got damage boost. Our Ball, Dva and Lucio did though. It was something.
DVa/Ball/Lucio: I hAvE gOlD dAmAgE!! wHaT aRe OuR DPS DoiNg.
I was Ball and grouped with the Lucio. Both of us where trying to figure out what exactly the Mercy thought she was doing.
Also when playing Ball/Monkey it isn’t uncommon to have mercy dive in after me and then die when I jump back out and she is stuck. She is such an easy to understand hero but somehow its just way too hard for some people.