Possible Mercy Buff

[Cheesecake-21183]

Also AOE healing would go against her identity, chain beams during Valk aren’t, since her Valk form is supposed to be an upgraded form of her normal version - her normal… suit…?

I like rez as an ability and as her… core part of her kit. It’s balanced now and easily countered but also has to potential to carry tha game - one good rez can turn a whole game around, to your favour.

But yes, rez is holding her back from other stuff in her kit getting buffed.
I would have nothing agains a slight healing increase, lets say 55 but with all the other healers also gutted down, it’s fair if she stays a 50.

[SaintVeloth-2889]

But i think they should make her faster on swapping between her staff and pistol (i don’t know why they don’t make faster for a long time)

I agree, that would also be a helpful buff that doesn’t really make her more powerful, just more readily able to respond, which all other supports can do right away after attacking, anyway.

And to give her a new ability CAN BE USED WITHOUT TEAMMATES JUST USE IT A LONE LIKE A HUMAN BEING

In principle, I like the design of Guardian Angel. But in practice most players don’t know how to position themselves to help Mercy use it to its full potential. Maybe it could be changed to give Mercy a small dash forward if used when no teammates are targeted.

[AkiraNasuki-2927]

I addressed the punishability part already. Letting her continue to heal while she resurrects will not make her any less killable. Also, who cares about the animation? It can just be shortened.

The whole reasoning behind this suggestion is that Resurrect is already incredibly niche simply in terms of it being safe for Mercy personally , so it shouldn’t also be made even less usable by making Mercy trade one life for another in some circumstances.

Because when it comes to game design it is also a form of art not to mention that audiences of video games actually really pick out on stuff like this and if it not accurate the game gets critise a lot and can become a potential laughing stock within the industry.

Also trading lives was something we use to do back in season 1, they had to remove invulnerable because it was too op and they had to punish us for using Res. Res is a Ultimate level ability, as a Skill it is by far one of the most powerful abilities in the game, so it has to come with equal drawbacks.

Also the need to access the situation, position of the player, health of the team and whether it is safe or not to res is all keys to Mercy’s skill as a player. Without that, then you really don’t need skill to play. Mercy is more about judgemental skill and ability to assess the situation than the ability to play mechanically.

[SaintVeloth-2889]

Because when it comes to game design it is also a form of art not to mention that audiences of video games actually really pick out on stuff like this and if it not accurate the game gets critise a lot and can become a potential laughing stock within the industry.

Because an animation gets shortened? I don’t think so.

Res is a Ultimate level ability, as a Skill it is by far one of the most powerful abilities in the game, so it has to come with equal drawbacks.

Mass Resurrect was an ultimate ability. Single-target Resurrect isn’t. It already has massive drawbacks. I am suggesting a buff that would slightly alleviate one of them.

Also the need to access the situation, position of the player, health of the team and whether it is safe or not to res is all keys to Mercy’s skill as a player. Without that, then you really don’t need skill to play. Mercy is more about judgemental skill and ability to assess the situation than the ability to play mechanically.

All true. I am suggesting a slight reduction in importance to the “health of the team” consideration because all the other considerations already create enough of a bottleneck that makes Res into a boring “win more” ability because it is only usable if your team is currently holding the ground, not taking significant damage and not being CC’d. Or if the enemy players have terrible game sense and/or aim. In short, if there is no real threat present and your team is already kinda winning the fight anyway.

[AkiraNasuki-2927]

Because an animation gets shortened? I don’t think so.

I mean there is a reason the Animation last 1.75 seconds with her doing the whole arm lifting up thing, we all hate it but it was there for a reason because DPS players can’t kill us if it was on one second.

On 1 Second the ability was near instant so it will always succeed but Mercy can still die just like season 1 and 2, prior to the invunerable. Not only that they also removed the whole Invunerable because it was too OP and too much for DPS to handle.

As for going in for the res but still healing at the same time, that just creatively will not look good. Mercy is focusing on a Resurrect and they made Resurrect long to compensate for the fact that Resurrect is too strong. They can reduce the time but doing so will just increase her efficiency and p off the DPS community.

Mass Resurrect was an ultimate ability. Single-target Resurrect isn’t. It already has massive drawbacks. I am suggesting a buff that would slightly alleviate one of them.

The ability to resurrect a player is still too powerful for a skill, hence why it went through so many iterations until it hit rock bottom. Nothing they could do, could actually make Res feel great… It lost Invunerable status, it lost extra Res charges, it lost mobility, it lost Instantaneous use, it lost so much just to make it barable for DPS to do something against Mercy and it also allowed Mercy players to be punished for hitting a button and casting a near instant res.

What you’re suggesting is a Revert to near instant res, whether that is your intention or not, what you are suggesting is to buff Res back to the state it was at which caused the original problem as a skill and had to be curb… Blizzard won’t go in that direction… so deal with it (and this is coming from a Mercy player)

Also rather than just say they should fix it or they should buff it, design it… come up with a proposal and deliver an idea that works. We’ve been there and done that 2 years ago and I am suggesting to you, right now… come up with a unique solution that works and is beneficial to Mercy and for players facing her.

It cannot compromise of design and asthetics, it must make sense and it cannot be a overbuff that will lead to an inevitable nerfing and it cannot be a previous iteration of Res 2.0~3.0+

All true. I am suggesting a slight reduction in importance to the “health of the team” consideration because all the other considerations already create enough of a bottleneck that makes Res into a boring “win more” ability because it is only usable if your team is currently holding the ground, not taking significant damage and not being CC’d. Or if the enemy players have terrible game sense and/or aim. In short, if there is no real threat present and your team is already kinda winning the fight anyway.

You literally just answered your own question and it is literally the main purose for the Mercy changes.

Mercy had to be punished for Res and as a Skill it had to be difficult to use due to how powerful it was. Maybe in Overwatch 2 we can get Mass Res in the skill tree but we will see…

The thing is… a lot of people do not understand that Mercy isn’t just Mercy… she represents the whole team and how good the team is. How good they can function together and how willing they are to win the game sensibly without compromising their chances.

Example, not recklessly charging in, choosing the right heroes to play, having a competent tank to cover you, DPS to protect you and Sub Support to help you. How you use your individual skills and how observant you are of the field and how you utilise each skill.

This is how win as a Mercy, a good team will be boosted by Mercy’s support arguable considering how terrible she is, but usually it still true as long as the team aren’t fanning out too much and aren’t over extending and have the mindset to win and not lose to the bloodlust to chase someone.

[SaintVeloth-2889]

What you’re suggesting is a Revert to near instant res, whether that is your intention or not, what you are suggesting is to buff Res back to the state it was at which caused the original problem as a skill and had to be curb… Blizzard won’t go in that direction… so deal with it (and this is coming from a Mercy player)

No. I am not suggesting that the cast time be shortened, and I don’t know where you got that idea. She’d still be locked into crawling speed for 1.75 seconds without being able to even duck. Just the arm raising thing would be over very soon and then the player could resume healing or damage boosting anything within range.

Also rather than just say they should fix it or they should buff it, design it… come up with a proposal and deliver an idea that works. We’ve been there and done that 2 years ago and I am suggesting to you, right now… come up with a unique solution that works and is beneficial to Mercy and for players facing her.

I basically did. Let’s say there is still the arm raising blah for .25 seconds, then 1.5 seconds of having to stick around barely moving and with the yellow thingy going on, but with the ability to target teammates. Can’t get more concrete than that.

The better part of the rest of your comment was you explaining the game to me. I don’t know what prompted you to do that. I may not have been around since launch, but I’ve played since Season 3 at least (I think I have joined during S2 and played QP only during that, but I am not entirely sure), and I used to love to play Mercy at some point. I still play her regularly on some maps, so I know the ins and outs decently. And currently the outs just outweigh the ins by a fair bit. So I suggested a small buff to alleviate that.

Also you seem to be under the impression I believed that I was the first person to have come up with this idea. I don’t. Honestly I would be surprised if someone hadn’t already come up with it. I just think that it’s a really good idea, not that hard to implement, doesn’t upset the delicate balance of the DPS Q presses to won team fights ratio too much and just makes a currently badly tweaked ability a bit more usable, and I haven’t yet been presented with a good argument on why this small buff would be bad for the game, so I suggest it, probably as the fiftieth person to do so, but whatever.

[AkiraNasuki-2927]

No. I am not suggesting that the cast time be shortened, and I don’t know where you got that idea. She’d still be locked into crawling speed for 1.75 seconds without being able to even duck. Just the arm raising thing would be over very soon and then the player could resume healing or damage boosting anything within range.

You’re trying to get rid of the animation right? Getting rid of the animation means getting rid of the Cast Time hand in hand, you cannot have no animation and just continous Healing as YOU’VE suggested. She either stays in place or we revert back to instant cast.

1.75 seconds was, as I said… put in place because the DPS community are really bad at getting Mercy if it wasn’t that long.

I basically did. Let’s say there is still the arm raising blah for .25 seconds, then 1.5 seconds of having to stick around barely moving and with the yellow thingy going on, but with the ability to target teammates. Can’t get more concrete than that.

No this will revert it to instant cast ensuring the constant success of Ressurect which is not something this community wants (the DPS community) also it is counter productive to stick the mobility drawback on Mercy after Res is done in 0.25 seconds (this is what you are suggesting btw, you are trying to make it instant)

Also it stupid to cast it then having to wait for the resurrect as Mercy locked in place and no one is near to even heal. It’s like ok… I cast res… but now I’m stuck, it’s not a feel good solution that you have suggested it’s a suicide mission.

Part of game design is the perception you want to give, the waiting for the whole animation to complete creates the element of suspense and it gives the process meaning and purpose, that you have committed to the usage of res and that you are going to make a big play, not a hit E and Res is done but now you have nothing to do for a minute and a half except die and maybe heal someone but still die.

The better part of the rest of your comment was you explaining the game to me. I don’t know what prompted you to do that. I may not have been around since launch, but I’ve played since Season 3 at least (I think I have joined during S2 and played QP only during that, but I am not entirely sure), and I used to love to play Mercy at some point. I still play her regularly on some maps, so I know the ins and outs decently. And currently the outs just outweigh the ins by a fair bit. So I suggested a small buff to alleviate that.

Because you don’t understand game design nor game development nor the full extent of Mercy’s drama. As I’ve said, your idea was suggested before and in fact there were more refined and improved versions of your idea but they were also shot down because it either wasn’t thought through or it wasn’t plausible for implementation.

You either do away with the whole casting animation or you keep it, there is no middle ground! You can wish for it but it won’t happen as other iterations of it has happen. At best they might add a cancellation feature like Doomfist charge attack since there are times where I want to abort res and I am certain most Mercy’s want to do that as well.

Also you seem to be under the impression I believed that I was the first person to have come up with this idea. I don’t.

I never said you was and I’ve already linked you to the mega thread, there is 12000 comments scroll through it, read it… there are 12000 ideas there and most are refined versions or better ideas than yours with counter arguments as well.

I just think that it’s a really good idea, not that hard to implement

Yet it isn’t a practical design… it is like a laymen telling a arts and craft master how they should make their art and craft when the laymen don’t understand a thing about game design and development.

You just want a cheap feature with a very ill and poorly designed idea that doesn’t work out. What is the purpose of your idea?

Are you trying to make res instant?
Are you trying to make res a 100% success rate?
Why 0.25 seconds? That seems almost instant? Does that tie into the casting of res? If so that is a 100% guarentee tha the target is revived?
Is the target instantally revived or do they have to wait the remainding 1.5 seconds?
Why is Mercy locked in place for 1.5 seconds? What is the purpose for it? Is it meaningful? Will the Player feel good about the handicap? How does it impact the perception of the targeted audience?
Is Mercy the only support? What is the other support doing? Should Mercy be the be all, end all Supports and be a must have support on the team?
Is the Heal Beam Extended?
What about Valkyrie Mode? How will the change effect that?
Have you considered all of the previous versions of Mercy? Have you refined your idea, can you continue to refine your idea? Does your idea benefit the community as a whole? Will it result in more nerf drama?

There is a lot to consider when it comes to Mercy, they were working furiously to curb her pick rate after their little mistake with 2.0 that escalated her Pick Rate.

You have a very I don’t care attitude to this as if you just want a fix but not really suggesting a realistic option to do so. You haven’t considered the end goal, the purpose of why they are changing Mercy and the impact it will have on Mercy/players opposing her.

This post you’ve just made in response to me, suggest you just want a 100% res success but Mercy is locked in place showing you haven’t thought this through.

So… come up with the solution, propose the design and the idea. Mercy drama is still an open wound with salt being rubbed on it, so don’t come up with ideas that will cause inevitable Nerfing or a Feel bad situation or a senseless change situation.

[SaintVeloth-2889]

Just skipping ahead to the questionnaire part of your post since answering this will also address most of the rest of it.

What is the purpose of your idea?
To give Mercy a slight buff that doesn’t impinge on the dev’s irrational insistence on 50 Health per second max healing or DPS players’ wishes to get a free kill on Mercy when she presses E, but allows her to at least continue her subpar healing (that already isn’t able to keep a tank under fire up for more than a second) while she activates sitting duck mode.

Are you trying to make res instant?
No.

Are you trying to make res a 100% success rate?
No.

Why 0.25 seconds? That seems almost instant?
Because then you get to keep your damn arm raising animation that you’re so in love with, just a very short version of it.

Does that tie into the casting of res? If so that is a 100% guarentee tha the target is revived?
No.

Is the target instantally revived or do they have to wait the remainding 1.5 seconds?
You have to wait the remaining 1.5 seconds. If Mercy dies during that period, Resurrect doesn’t go through, just like it is now.

Why is Mercy locked in place for 1.5 seconds? What is the purpose for it? Is it meaningful?
Why is Mercy currently locked in place for 1.75 seconds without the ability to do anything at all? Just so people can admire her raised arm for longer? How is that any more meaningful?

Will the Player feel good about the handicap? How does it impact the perception of the targeted audience?
Does the player feel good about the current, much more restrictive handicap? How do most players perceive the current state of the ability?

Is Mercy the only support?
No. The suggestion does not entail a change to 2-2-2.

What is the other support doing?
Possibly being the target of Resurrect, so disabling the one remaining support (that already has very subpar healing despite clearly being designed as a main healer) for 1.75 seconds to execute an absolute gamble of an ability in any situation in which it actually matters is overly restrictive, which is part of the reason behind this suggestion?

Should Mercy be the be all, end all Supports and be a must have support on the team?
No. That’s Ana’s job already, which everyone readily accepts. Which is also part of the reasoning behind wanting buffs for Mercy, so that it may eventually become imaginable for people to want to pick Mercy over Ana in situations that aren’t “alright, our Pharah needs a pocket healer”.

Is the Heal Beam Extended?
No.

What about Valkyrie Mode? How will the change effect that?
Flight while resurrecting will be exactly the same as it is now, but 1.5 seconds into activating the ability, Mercy will be able to heal or damage boost teammates with the usual chain beam functionality that Valkyrie currently provides. If Valkyrie ends while Mercy is resurrecting, she reverts to very slow movement and single-target beam in exactly the same way as she currently does when Valkyrie ends.

Have you considered all of the previous versions of Mercy?
Yes. I have also considered the purported reasonings behind past nerfs (which, by the way, are inconsistent with current reasonings - nobody finds Doomfist or Wrecking Ball “fun to play against” by their core design, yet they aren’t getting game-changing reworks like Mercy did for that exact purported reason) and am making sure that the delicate Q pressing needs of DPS mains aren’t at all touched by my buff suggestion.

Have you refined your idea, can you continue to refine your idea?
Well, the numbers could be tweaked, I guess. .5 seconds of animation, then 1.25 seconds of mobility lockdown would be a possibility as well, I suppose. Otherwise, I don’t know your definition of “refinement” in this context, so I don’t know how to respond to that.

Does your idea benefit the community as a whole?
No buff will benefit the community as a whole. However, it is one of the slightest mechanics-changing (as opposed to merely numbers-tweaking) buffs that I can imagine, and one that will give the least possible amount of worries to DPS mains, so I guess it is alright on that front.

Will it result in more nerf drama?
Jeff only knows. But I guess it’s rather unlikely to do so, since Mercy will still be a sitting duck to anyone but the potatoest of aimers while activating the ability, which seems to have been the main concern for DPS players during past nerfs.

I think that addresses everything, unless you want an actual storyboard with a tenth-of-a-second resolution breakdown of the animation process. Most of this was already implicit by my phrasing in my last post, but now you have it black on white. Or white on dark grey, since that is this forum’s colouring.