This is why Resurrect as a basic ability will not work. Trying to force an ultimate into a basic ability is suicide not only from a balance perspective, but also from a gameplay perspective.
Obviously, a cast time and self-incapacitation on a basic ability doesn’t feel good. What happens to Mercy after she presses E is no longer under her control; it is in everyone else’s.
It doesn’t feel good to wager your own fate against the incompetence of your allies and the coordination of the enemy. It doesn’t feel good to lose control of your own character.
I am expecting this to be brushed off by people who supposedly don’t care about how a hero feels, but I might point out several things:
- This is a videogame. The player is supposed to feel empowered by their actions and their character. Turning into a rock for two seconds doesn’t meet that criteria.
- If it was your hero(s), you would probably feel and respond the same way a lot of Mercy players are now.
- Mercy was reworked in the first place in part because “she didn’t feel good to play against”.
The self-inflicted penalties on Resurrect render the ability not as an asset the player would jump at the opportunity to use, but as a chore they player must endure, as using the ability is objectively better for the team’s chance of victory than not. This just so happens to be the reason Symmetra’s original Photon Barrier (the ORIGINAL one, the one that was part of her kit before her first rework) was removed.
By a show of hands, who likes to be incapacitated for nearly two seconds because you need to cover for the likely-stupid mistake(s) of an ally?
Anyone?
Didn’t think so.
Cooldown Versus Charged:
When Resurrect was an ultimate, it, like all ultimates, needed to be charged through the player’s actions. As it was often one of two or fewer support ultimates designed to protect or recover the team from four or five offensive ultimates, Resurrect was a resource that was scarce in supply compared to its demand. Combine this with the fact that this ultimate was also the only reliable high-impact asset in Mercy’s kit at the time, and the Mercy player’s success depended heavily upon their ability to quickly charge Resurrect. Minimizing the downtime of Mercy’s ultimate was a must.
This glaring need to have Resurrect primed became most obvious in the moments leading up to a teamfight. If the Mercy did not already have Resurrect, the pre-teamfight phase was generally the time in which they would rush to gain those last few points. Aside from teamfights themselves, this pre-teamfight stage was typically when ultimate charge was at its most plentiful for both teams, and the Mercy needed to have their ultimate up prior to the teamfight’s commencement.
During these pre-engagement scenarios, both teams typically face off against one another at a choke point or from opposing sides of a divide created by the map. It is often referred to as a “poke battle”, as that does a good job of describing what the two teams are doing in relation to each other. Each team is scanning for weaknesses in the enemy to capitalize on. Both teams are looking for a fight, but they also want to draw a decisive win out of it; they want some insurance that the fight will go their way rather than the enemy’s. That insurance usually means an advantage upon engagement… the most common of these being a numbers advantage from an early kill.
As a result, both teams are poking each other, testing each other, looking for that weak spot to press on and secure a numbers advantage through a kill. At the same time, they want to prevent the enemy from doing the same to them; each team is minimizing the window of opportunity for the enemy to hit them. Consequently, damage is not often inflicted in large quantities, but when it is, it is dealt in very high quantities over a very short period of time. Heroes that move slightly out of position are quickly moved even further out of position, whether that’s because they are forcefully moved towards the enemy or the enemy suddenly moving towards them.
Playing normally at this time would not provide the Mercy player with enough ultimate charge to have Resurrect ready when they need it; damage isn’t dealt in a steady stream at this time, unlike during teamfights. In order to charge Resurrect, the player is forced to play more actively. Rather than sticking with the bulk of the team behind barriers, they might fly to and heal that Genji off to the right, who is attacking the enemy from the high ground… then they might fly to that Soldier:76 behind the team and amplify his damage for a few shots… then they might fly back to the tanks in the frontline.
If no opportunities for gaining more ultimate charge presented themselves, the Mercy player would create their own opportunities by drawing their pistol and laying down some of her own fire.
Mercy’s playstyle went from reserved, defensive, and attentive those in secure positions, to a more aggressive, almost hungry, mobility-based playstyle. Healing allies that were out of position was not something that was done purely for the purpose of keeping them alive; in many cases, attempting to sustain them was a lost cause. Instead, the Mercy healed them because healing them provided more ultimate charge than not.
Normally, this way of playing would be considered too risky. Flying out in the open away from the rest of the team was already a big risk for the hero with the highest target priority in the game. Flying to a single ally who was already drawing the enemy’s attention and fire only added to that danger. Shooting at the enemy with her pistol means being able to be shot at.
Trying to charge Resurrect quickly during this time meant jeopardizing one’s safety. However, the alternative was to enter the next fight with yet another risk; not having Resurrect. The Mercy is given a choice:
- Play defensively now and take few risks, but have one big risk to face later: A greater chance of losing the incoming teamfight.
- Mitigate that big risk by taking smaller, more manageable risks now: Play more aggressively.
Between the two choices, the latter one is typically better, due to its risks being more under the Mercy’s direct control; it is easier to control the outcome of a situation that largely revolves around oneself and a few other players. When the situation includes all twelve players, like the incoming teamfight would, Mercy’s contribution and therefore influence is comparatively insignificant. Having more control over the risks means they are more likely to end in the player’s favor.
However, they are still risks nonetheless, and just like when playing any other hero, taking these risks and coming out on top feels good. Getting in, grabbing some ultimate charge, and getting out alive left the player with a giddy feeling, as though they just got away with something they should not have been able to.
The need to charge Resurrect created its own minigame of balancing risk and reward. Lose the balance in one direction, and Mercy would be missing an incredibly important resource when the teamfight begins. Lose the balance in the other direction, and the Mercy would overstep their boundaries and get killed before the fight begins. Hold the balance, however, and the player is rewarded with a use of Resurrect and a feeling of accomplishment. Enduring this playstyle successfully felt like pulling off a dangerous stunt.
This game of balancing risk and returns not only added diversity to Mercy’s playstyle, but it also gave the player something they could be proud of. If a player charged Resurrect from zero to full in 40 seconds while weaving in and out of enemy fire, they could take pride in the fact that another player probably would not have been able to do the same. It gave the player something to work towards and improve upon, as knowing the hero’s limits, and persistently pushing said hero’s limits without overstepping them, bore rewards.
Today… Well, none of what I’ve said above still applies. Resurrect is now spoon-fed to the player at a constant rate regardless as to how actively or passively they play. Valkyrie fails to fill the void, as it doesn’t have any playmaking or tide-swinging capacity.
The player can no longer take pride in the availability of Resurrect, as there’s nothing to take pride in with that regard. There is no longer a larger upcoming risk that can be compensated for by taking smaller risks now, so there simply isn’t any point in taking unnecessary risks. The diversity in playstyle and pride taken in a successful aggressive endeavor simply isn’t there anymore; those endeavors are now maladaptive.
Before the rework, Mercy players could be differentiated by their playstyle. Good Mercys were visible, yet seemingly untouchable. Inexperienced Mercys were either invisible or far too tangible. Today, there is no difference. Every Mercy from mediocre to absolute-god is a ghost for most of the match.
There isn’t a difference in Resurrect’s availability anymore either. A player could die twice in 30 seconds and still respawn with Resurrect primed.
See that top-500 Mercy that saved her tanks while dodging three ultimates before turning around and quadruple-tapping the enemy’s Tracer? See that Bronze Mercy that just got hooked and killed by the enemy Roadhog at the beginning of the teamfight? They’ll have Resurrect available at the same time. There is no room to grow or improve.
Now we are left with a bland and somehow-infuriating static cooldown on Resurrect.
“No, I don’t have Resurrect now, team, but don’t worry; I’ll have it right after we all respawn.”
Thought Process and Usage Reward:
Remember when the cast time was placed on Resurrect and how a lot of players responded with “Now Mercy mains will have to think before using Resurrect”?
Do you also remember that this is how I introduced this section the past two times I made this thread? I’m bringing this up again because I thoroughly enjoy irony.
Anyway, there is a very clear difference between the complexity of using Resurrect now, and the complexity of using Resurrect prior to the rework. Stemming from that difference in complexity, there is a big difference in the thought processes for the two abilities… namely that ult-rez had one, and E-rez doesn’t.
Before delving into the thought processes, I’ll go over the differences in complexity.
Currently, Resurrect has a restrictive numerical value, allowing for only six possible combinations of Resurrect targets:
- Solo-rezzing allies 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. 5 combinations.
- Not using Resurrect. 1 combination.
Ult-rez, on the other hand, had far more possible combinations of Resurrect targets:
- Solo-rezzing allies 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. 5 combinations.
- Duo-rezzing allies 1 through 5. 10 combinations (5 choose 2, for you math freaks out there).
- Trio-rezzing allies 1 through 5. 10 combinations.
- Mass-rezzing (four-man) allies 1 through 5. 5 combinations.
- Team-rezzing all allies. 1 combination.
- Not using Resurrect. 1 combination.
That is thirty-two possible combinations of Resurrect from Mercy 1.x, making it more than five times as complex as the current iteration of Resurrect, and that’s from a numerical perspective alone.
Resurrect currently has a 5 meter radius, a 1.75 second cast time, and a 75% movement speed reduction, narrowing the parameters in which it can be safely used. It is less flexible due to safety concerns.
Resurrect used to have a 15 meter radius, no cast time, and post-rez invulnerability, allowing it to be used in a variety of situations. It was very flexible.
Resurrect currently is not an ultimate ability. It is on a 30 second cooldown, making its availability predictable and reliable. On top of this, its limited power range does not allow it to contest other ultimates.
Resurrect used to be an ultimate ability. It had no guarantee as to when it would be available again, making it more difficult to gauge when it could next be used. It was not only an ultimate, but a support ultimate, rendering it a scarce resource. It was capable of matching the power of other ultimates, and its expense counted as an ultimate expense.
As a result of lower numerical complexity, usage inflexibility, downtime predictability, and a basic-ability status, E-Resurrect also has a consistent optimal use scenario. That optimal time of use is always to reverse the first pick prior to a teamfight. This is the case for several reasons…
First, there is safety. With Resurrect’s incapacitation upon cast, it is clear that Mercy could use all the help and protection she can get while casting; she already has the biggest target in the game on her head. The more living allies nearby to protect the Mercy in the first place, the more likely it is that using Resurrect will result in a successful Resurrection and a living Mercy. Using the ability when there are only two allies to protect the Mercy is typically suicide.
Second, the realistic impact of Resurrect is greater the earlier it is used. Its numerical value remains the same (one person), but that numerical value means much more when used earlier in the fight rather than later. This is because of how teamfights typically snowball.
Both teams start out facing each other at a dividing point in the map. Six players on each side. One team gets a pick (or a first kill that grants an advantage and a prompt to engage), and then pushes into the opposing team. The team of five players is at a one-man disadvantage, a weakness their enemies capitalize on with their engagement. The team of five loses another player, dropping them down to four. Then they lose another. Somewhere in there, they may have gotten a kill, bringing to fight to a 3v5, but it doesn’t matter. The team that got the first pick has too much momentum and too great of a numbers advantage for the losing team to fight back with any success. The team of now three players crumbles, and the last three living players are killed off.
What point in that fight would be the best time to use Resurrect?
Using Resurrect when it’s a 3v5 or worse would probably mean not being able to get Resurrect off in the first place… but let’s cast that aside (no pun intended) and say that the player somehow manages it anyway. Okay, great! You got that ally back, and chances are that another ally is in critical condition from the damage they sustained over the past 1.75 seconds of you not healing them. That is, assuming they didn’t just die in that time.
But you know what? Let’s ignore that second flaw too. Let’s suppose that miraculously, Mercy pulled off the Resurrection and every other ally that was still alive was left unscathed during that 1.75 second cast time… It’s still a 4v5. Mercy’s team is still at a huge disadvantage.
Okay, let’s try using Resurrect earlier… How about on the first pick?
When trying to revive that first dead ally, four other teammates are there to cover for the Mercy; she has a good chance of getting Resurrect off, so that’s a good start.
What about Mercy’s other allies? Well, the enemy doesn’t have much momentum yet and there are four allies to spread damage among rather than only two, greatly reducing the chance of more allied deaths or even the chance of them dropping to critical condition. Both flaws presented in the late-fight Resurrection are heavily mitigated when using the ability earlier.
Not only that, but a successful Resurrection means the fight is back to a 6v6; the enemy no longer has the numbers advantage, and has likely backed off because of that. Teams typically want to engage with an advantage.
It is easier to stop a snowball before it starts than it is to try to stop it once it is rolling. Rather than using Resurrect to little or no effect later in the fight, it is best to prevent the scales from tipping in the enemy’s favor in the first place. Therefore, using Resurrect as early into the fight as possible is always the best option.
Resurrect during Mercy’s 1.x versions, however, was a different story. It had greater numerical complexity, it was more flexible in how it was used because it had no activation safety restrictions, its next use was unpredictable, and it was contending with other ultimates. As a result, it never had a consistent optimal execution. Its best-case scenario varied from fight to fight.
For example, if the Mercy waits to use Resurrect on four or more players every time, she’s reviving her team into an uphill battle every time; the enemy has the momentum, the positioning advantage, and the first shot. Furthermore, waiting to revive a bunch of players at once runs the risk of staggered deaths, risking a numbers disadvantage on top of those other disadvantages.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, using Resurrect to revive 1-2 players every time ran the risk of blowing Resurrect without depleting enemy ultimates first. Considering that “Helden sterben nicht!” was practically a green light for the enemy team to start activating ultimates, using Resurrect early in the fight against a loaded team without a plan B wasn’t really a good idea.
How was the best execution of the old Resurrect determined? That is where the difference in thought process between the two ability versions begins. The optimal time of use is predetermined for the current Resurrect, while the optimal use of the old Resurrect needed to be discovered on the fly for each individual scenario.
As for how the best execution of old Resurrect was determined… It depended upon a lot of variables. For starters, here are some variables and questions considered before the engagement begins:
- Living allies prior to the teamfight. Are we a full team, or are some allies dead/walking back from spawn?
- Living enemies prior to the teamfight. Does this put us at a numbers advantage/disadvantage? Is it possible that additional enemies will join the fight late?
- Ultimates held by present allies. Are there any allies I should prioritize when it comes time to Resurrect because of their ultimates?
- Ultimates held by present enemies. How many ultimates does the enemy team have at the ready? Does this put us at an advantage/disadvantage in primed ultimates? Are there any ultimates I should be weary of in particular?
- Missing enemies. Are there any enemies I cannot see/have not accounted for? Are they flanking? Where might they attack from? Am I their target?
- Allied positions. When things get hot, who can I fly to for safety? Will I still be able to heal the frontline from there, or will healing the tanks require another reposition?
- Mercy’s position. How can I place myself in a way that still allows me to support the team, but minimizes the enemy’s ability to shoot at me? If I am directly attacked, could a reach a position that gives me an advantage in that fight? Are there nearby healthpacks that I could take advantage of?
- Engagement patterns. Will the enemy get a pick and then engage, or will they fly through that choke point, ultimates blazing? If we are the team initiating, which pattern will we follow?
During the engagement, here are some of the variables the player might consider in the heat of battle:
- Midfight numbers. Are we at an advantage/disadvantage in this category? Will Resurrect give us a numbers advantage? Is Resurrect even necessary to win the fight?
- Enemy activity. How aggressive are they playing? Are they slowly gaining an upper hand, or has all hell broken loose? How aggressive is each one playing? Do the aggressive ones have their ultimates ready? Are they prepared for me to use Resurrect, or are they too blinded by their tunnel vision to realize I’m still here?
- Death locations. Are my allies close enough to one another to be revived in a single use of Resurrect? Is there a specific position I should attempt to reach to revive them all? Would reviving a particular ally provide our team with an advantage due to their location in relation to the enemy?
- Midfight ultimates. What ultimates are active? What ultimates do we still have? What ultimates does the enemy still have? How can I bait out those ultimates? What ultimates do our dead allies have? Are they in a position to use them?
- Respawn timers. Will more allies die before that first ally respawns? Should I revive that first ally now, or should I hold onto resurrect until more allies are down?
- Resurrect priorities. If I am forced to choose between reviving one ally or the other, which do I choose, based upon their hero, skill, and ultimate status?
- Enemy positions. Where is each living enemy? Are any flanking around in an attempt to kill me? Am I in the sights of any enemies?
- Safety/practicality limits. Is it too dangerous for me to have a presence in the fight anymore? Would healing my team even be useful at this point? Is it time for me to pull back and supplement healing with pistol fire?
- Post-rez outcome. Given all of the above variables, what are the chances that my team will win the fight after I resurrect them? If the chances are not in our favor, how can I tip them in our favor? Who should I try to finish off with my pistol while taking advantage of the invulnerability frames? If the post-rez fight will not be in our favor, should I bother using Resurrect at all?
There was a mind game that centralized around defining the best way to use Resurrect. It was a mental puzzle in a race against time. The mind game brought an additional layer of player engagement to a mechanically basic hero.
In contrast, Resurrect currently has a static optimal execution. The only real thought that goes into the ability’s use is safety, and its optimal execution serves to mitigate its hazards anyway. Rather than a series of questions, hypotheticals, and planning that require close attention to the fight, quick thinking, and refined awareness skills, Resurrect now only requires a check for a few specific parameters based upon the positions of visible allies and enemies.
“Will doing this get me killed?”
If the answer to that question is “no”, then it is clear to use Resurrect.
Analogy time! Who’s ready for an analogy that I totally haven’t used before?
Go outside and stand in front of (what I am assuming is) your friendly suburban neighborhood street. Now cross it, but don’t be an idiot about it. Be safe. Do what your parents drilled into you twelve-thousand times: Look both ways before crossing the street.
Look left. Are there any cars coming?
Now look right. Are there any cars coming?
If the answer to both of these questions is “no”, you may cross the street. Otherwise, you should wait for those cars to pass before crossing. Simple, isn’t it? The most difficult part of this entire “mental exercise” is remembering to check both ways in the first place, and that isn’t a concern anyway; it’s common sense.
Are you able to do this on a regular basis? Yes? Congratulations! You have mastered the art of not getting yourself killed while using Mercy 2.x’s Resurrect. The train of thought and mental demand between the two scenarios are the same.
Resurrect’s complexity was lost through the rework, removing its mind game and a layer of engagement. Resurrect hardly requires any thought to use anymore, and there isn’t any variation in how it should be used.
Players used to claim and complain that Mercy was a Resurrect bot… Mercy became more of a Resurrect bot because of the rework. Resurrect has been reduced to nothing more than a bot-like function.
Resurrect from 1.x felt very good to use. It presented the player with a dilemma that, if worked through and executed correctly, left the player feeling heroic. They knew that they changed the course of the fight through their own actions. This should be the ultimate goal of a videogame: To make the players feel like they contributed something valuable because of something they did, because of a challenge they overcame. To present the player with the opportunity to do something special by the terms of their own performance, making the task difficult, but allowing the player to take full ownership and pride for a job well done.
Resurrect from Mercy 1.x was all of the above for the player. They earned Resurrect by charging it in the first place, they examined the battlefield, they planned ahead, they evaded the enemy threats, and finally, they flew in to save the day.
“Heroes never die!”
Resurrect’s dramatic effect only added to the player’s experience. It was a buildup of tension followed by a heroic release. The animation and voice line were very appropriate for the ability.
A tide-changing play that the player can take fully ownership over, further enhanced by the mechanics and cosmetics of the ability used to make that very play. These are the moments that make the player truly feel like a hero, and this nature in Resurrect is why the ability became so iconic in the first place. It made the player feel like a hero.
Now… that feeling is gone. It has been gone for a long time.
Resurrect is given to the player regardless of performance. It feels less like something that the player worked hard to earn, and more like something they received as a participation award or as a crutch. Once there is a prompt to use Resurrect, the player takes a lazy glance at the situation and decides whether or not it is safe to use Resurrect. If it is, they fly in, endure nearly 2 seconds of Stone Simulator, and then reverse some random person’s early-fight pick for the third time that match. The only thing a player can really take ownership for in that situation is having the tolerance to play Mercy in the first place. There is nothing special about a use of Resurrect. If one player can use Resurrect in a given situation, chances are that any other player in their place could do the same.
A rewarding and iconic ability that created a layer of engagement on its own was replaced by a bland shadow of itself that feels average at best to use.
How the developers are so blind that they cannot see this is beyond me.
