Please tell that to those who tell Mercy players to switch to Ana because Mercy isn’t good enough…
frankly I accuse Mercy for Valk, her ultimate. Not because weak, but because it is an enhanced version of what it already does … I can not sincerely feel the challenge in starting it.
1 Like
Where did this Mercy is niche argument come from? When the meta shifted to GOATs?
2 Likes
Just out of curiosity, you’re opposed to the double nerfs on the PTR, correct? If you believe she is balanced as she currently is (which I also do, viability is not my issue), you dislike that they are making it easier to boop her out of rez, and making her unable to boost indirect ultimates, right?
It is funny that most of the people that are fine with the status of mercy are consol player.
You could think that PC and consol need different type of balancing…
1 Like
I don’t think it’s that she’s a bad healer, it’s that she’s a consistent healer and people have gotten use to Moira and Ana and Brig with these massive burst healing and AOE healing that they forgot how to play with a Mercy.
3 Likes
I’m fine with her in her current state because she’s not a pocket niche. Like I said, I think she’s the most generally useful support. She’s the most flexible, versatile, and consistent. She can enable almost any comp. Her moment to shine is almost all the time. It’s very apparent to me when I see a great Mercy player. Ever have a game where your missing health is consistently replaced less than a second after you lose it no matter where you are? It’s noticeable and there’s nothing braindead about it. You’re not going to get that with anybody else. They all have too many limitations. Heavy amounts of healing aren’t helpful when they can’t get it to you.
I do play mostly on console. Mercy was the most-picked overall hero in GM last I checked a few days ago. It has nothing to do with balance, though. Most of the difference in Mercy’s case I think is due to how much better her movement flows with a controller. I absolutely can’t stand trying to control her with M+K when I’m on PC. Movement is more limited without joysticks and abilities feel more stilted to me. For example, with M+K you’re unable to move at anything smaller than a 45-degree while you’re looking in one direction. With a controller, you can move in a perfect circle. Mercy is very much about mobility and flow, which is much more functional with a controller. Try using a controller when you play Mercy. You might like it better.
I don’t really see these as nerfs. The boop changes don’t affect her much because a lot of pre-PTR boops had a lot to do with momentum of the hero at the time of the booping. Since Mercy was already moving very slow during rez, she was unlikely to have enough momentum in the direction opposite the boop to be unaffected by it. This shouldn’t change her much. As far as the boost change, I think it’s better. Now she doesn’t have to hold the boost on somebody until the impact of a projectile. She’s more free to do other things. With slow projectiles like firestrike, that’s a good thing.
2 Likes
Oof. This never happens to me. Maybe it isn’t Mercy that isn’t good enough?
1 Like
Well, if you are hinting at maybe it being my lack of skills I can inform you that I am just repeating what’s been stated in numerous threads discussing Mercy. I personally haven’t played the game in 13 months.
1 Like
Don’t be a jerk. People tell others to swap off Mercy before the game even starts.
6 Likes
While I respect and agree with your opinion regarding the state of Mercy up to a point, I don’t think using “I’m a GM Mercy main” as a selling point to tell us that our opinions as lower ranking players hold less value compared to yours is something you should be doing. I’m a platinum peak Moira/Mercy/Brigitte main being coached by a GM Mercy player whose opinions differ greatly from your own.
That being said, I do believe Mercy is the closest to being balanced she’s ever been, and I’m relatively content with her state. I do think she needs maybe one teeny tiny more thing to seal the deal, but other than that she’s fine to play and my only real complaint about her is that she struggles with healing tanks and it can get near impossible in a team fight – even with her ultimate. But that’s why you should have more than one support on your team, and I’ve been coached repeatedly on the importance of knowing that sometimes both supports have to work together to heal one tank during moments like this. My particular fear has always been that by trying to keep a tank alive with both supports (say as Mercy and Zenyatta, which is unfortunately common in my elo), those precious seconds may allow another teammate to die.
I’d like for Mercy to have some kind of ramp up with her healing somewhat like Symmetra’s primary fire does, just to help her support tanks better. However, I know that numbers-wise she looks right where the developers want her to be so it’s highly unlikely such a change will come.
Truth be told, I’m okay if it never does.
Mercy isn’t viable 100% of the time like she used to be (moth meta, I’m looking at you), and no character should be. Mercy also doesn’t work well with every single one of her fellow supports (sorry Zenyatta), and I think that’s where a lot of Mercy players are coming from, and what they’re struggling with in this current tank-heavy meta.
Blizzard is trying to kill Goats and re-focus on encouraging the 2-2-2 meta, so maybe Mercy players can finally adjust and become comfortable with where she’s at now. Here’s to hoping, I guess lol
1 Like
I believe Jeff himself stated something to that effect in one of the youtube interviews…
Not to mention that me, a garbage player has figured out mercy is near immortal if you are semi competent and copied some movement and basic common sense tactics from Animetic
1 Like
I feel like I have to criticize only Valkyrie in Mercy. Not because OP or UP, but because it seems a confirmation of how reliable the basic support kit that Mercy can give.
Torbjorn was reworked to spit lava like Ultimate, the overload was too much in combination with the turret or what it already did. Symmetra has found space in the photonic wall, far more striking and decisive in the fight. Valkyrie seems mostly “overloaded” by Mercy. I believe that the ultimate must do something unique. The ress it was (even if exaggerated).
It is not for me to suggest the ideal solution, but I can not understand the value of Valkyrie outside of the “I do the usual things better” … it means that the concept of Mercy is so good that it did not need to be changed so much to give them valkiria in the specific (not comment on the ress)
1 Like
This does not answer my question. She cannot boost things such as Torbjorn’s ult or Widowmaker’s mine at all anymore. Are you saying you are fine with this nerf?
I didn’t introduce myself as a GM to invalidate anyone else. I brought it up because I’ve seen so many posts recently pointing out Mercy’s recently low pick rates in GM and claiming that she’s unusable at high levels, so there must be a problem with her. It’s also safe to assume that teams are well-crafted and communicative in GM games, which makes it the best place to determine hero effectiveness. It doesn’t make lower-level players’ opinions wrong.
Also, I love pairing Mercy with Zen. He makes up for her low damage and she makes up for his low healing. Between them, they cover the need for consistency and burst healing.
2 Likes
Exactly this, nothing to add.
Same can’t be said about your team, however.
Translation: “We are about to take quite a lot of damage, pick healer capable to output that much healing.”
Game balance needs to take all skill ranks and even varied skill ranks within the same game into consideration. Balance should prioritize the highest ranks at the expense of lower rank balance when absolutely necessary in the short term, but the work toward balance across all ranks in the long term should never quit.
1 Like
Thank you for clarifying that, I apologize that I misunderstood the tone of your message. I have seen some of this dialogue regarding Mercy’s pick rates in GM, but to my understanding after discussions with my coach on the issue, it appears to be because lower elo players struggle with the idea that Mercy isn’t viable in every situation as she was previously.
Perhaps it’s just my elo, but I’ve found that Mercy and Zenyatta can be a very difficult support combination. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been able to work well with another Zenyatta (or Mercy on the times I play Zen) and knowing how to best effectively support the team both together and separately. I am being coached for a reason after all I suppose lol
2 Likes
I never get told to play Ana. It could be a toxic thing. Toxic people will be toxic regardless. Or, it could be that Mercy isn’t the best pick in that situation, and Ana would be more appropriate. This applies to all heroes. Mercy is no exception.