I wrote up this essay about why I don’t like Mercy and the vitriol was…. Dense. So in the interest of being fair (and knowing that the other thread would be highly downvoted in ye olde forum) I wanted to post a thing about things I do like about her.
I think the thing I want most to be clear between these two writings is that my distaste for mercy doesn’t inherently extend to her playerbase or people who like her. You can like a thing. It doesn’t mean I have to.
That being said, I don’t hate everything about her inherently as a playable hero. And this is a list of those things and why.
So let’s get into it.
Pure Support
I disagree with the premise of mercy being a “pure healer” as said by many a mercy main. That is moira imo. But Mercy being a pure support… I can get behind.
I like that mercy has a lot of tools that emphasize her map awareness and a fluidity that functions to her map and ally awareness. Tracer has high mobility but her mobility is easy to tunnel vision. Mercy doesn’t have that luxury. And for me, this makes her a solid intro to off Supports.
Moreover, I like how she’s a strong pick despite being more off-support in nature. Again, I know this isn’t an opinion shared by many mercy players, But I like that this super popular hero, who has been strong for a while, is an off healer. I feel like somehow, “off” roles are a dirty category in this game. “le gasp** Mercy
isn’t some lowly off healer!”
I don’t see it that way. I think she is great for an off healer. And manages to be a pure off healer while being a pure support. It’s great for game design variety while giving her a strong identity.
Pure support, and pure healer aren’t one and the same. And Mercy shows this in an elegant and fluid manner.
Especially when you compare how emphasized play of off healers tends to focus on the brawl and lethality of them. Mercy is one of the most lethal supports. But unlike old brig, zen or Lucio, her play gives her a strong focus on allies versus going for the kill.
Skins, aesthetic, #Fashion; Mercy is a Cool Hero
She has some of my… least favorite skins. (Devil is #Vom) but I do love the detail in many of her skins.
Especially as they demonstrate a class and poise all unique to mercy.
I think a great example is the contrast in how Pink, Winged Victory, and Valkyrie all hold themselves. Pink in its weebness makes use of the ribbons and hair to make her extra hoppy. Winged Victory gives a solid athletic look by emphasizing her legs and ensuring her skirt doesn’t float about the way her Pink skin
does. And Valkyrie emphasizes a heavier look giving her a toughness not found in her base skin.
These details extend to textures and light which not every hero has in such variety. Her metallic textures in Valkyrie read akin to rein. Her Atlantic has good lighting akin to sombra or Halloween skins.
The details in Mercy skins play to what is being emphasized in that skin, which adds to the player
experience. Compare Uprising Mercy to Talon Sombra. Where younger mercy has a more rigid uniform, that stiffens her look as she GA. Sombras, adds nothing to her gameplay look beyond the skin itself.
Pink versus Uprising Mercy, have different flows. Talon Vs SwimSuit Sombra doesn’t differ much imo
It’s something that adds to the rpg element left behind by Titan that I’m glad remains.
A Tier Skill, Little Aim
I actually don’t find mercy low skill or anything like that. She emphasizes what I think marks a good support player. Patience, and decision-making. As of 222, I think the only other hero who emphasizes this in their kit intuitively is Baptiste. I am forever laughing at when she was still topping the charts but wildly toned down (around the support patch I believe), I had the joy of watching two youtubers join forces and they just… hammered on how “easy” mercy was and they attempted to demonstrate it while slamming on how her players were lazy and liked easy heroes… Just to get frustrated playing her, find she wasn’t “doing enough” and switched.
Like… the point of the video was to show how overpowered she was… and they couldn’t make it work.
It was actually hilarious and I think really showed how frustrating it can be to be a “pure support/ Healer.”
Unlike Ana, or lucio or zen… you have harsh punishments for your choices on Mercy or Moira. And Those choices largely depend on others. You’re being judged… on your judgement of other players. It’s a very unique place to be in not standard to most FPS games.
Even Battle Mercy needs to have an enemy ally awareness not held by every hero. Tracer isn’t bound in her mobility to ally presence.Hammond doesn’t wait for a support to be in his AOE to be able to roll.
It’s very difficult to pull off such a playstyle for many people since team based play doesn’t come naturally to everyone. It’s frustrating to help someone and rely on them just for them to not perform the way you want them to.
If Aim is a Hard skill, mercy is a master of soft skills. And like irl, I find soft skills are the best to work with.
You can train and teach hard skills. But building on soft skills is reliant on others in a way hard skills aren’t. You can have a great idea but if you can’t get approval, you may not go so far.
Widow is only as powerful as someone on the point. This isn’t a commentary on her overall power, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had a game where widow/ a dps was confused about why the point wasn’t captured, They got a triple/quad kill and the team is sitting there like…
“Yo… we died. You cleared
the enemy after we already were killed.”
This kind of mistake doesn’t really happen with Moia or Mercy. They are team reliant. Mercy isn’t going to screech “HEY??? Umm I totally healed 1k? Totally dmg boosted 500 dps?? Why isn’t the point captured?”
It’s not going to happen because Mercy already knows what’s happening. She isn’t confused about why the point isn’t captured because she can see very clearly where and when people died.
It’s a different playstyle, and a different kind of kit which imo demonstrates the uniqueness of overwatch and its players.
And overall, While I don’t dig her, I appreciate how ride or die mercy’s playerbase is. She has a vocal,
dedicated playerbase that proves how great the game can be. I am very proud of Pink Mercy’s success. I am happy that Mercy is an icon even in pop culture. Her voice actress is superb and is overall a great, fun person who loves her hero.
I think mercy as a hero adds a lot to the game and I hope her players never lose that love for her. I hope Blizzard changes her not only in regards to balance for the game. But also with mercy players in mind, and how their skills and values go with gameplay.