I’ll use it to help break a shield depending on our team comp. Using valk to kill a widow, hanzo or other sniper has won a fair number of games as well.
She has her pistol for a reason. Ofc healing should be always priority for you, but Mercy has great opportunity to take down Widow or Pharah during Valk, flankers like Tracer or Sombra and even Rein with last HP. I also shoot turrets when I can, mostly when my Rein is holding shield and there is no one else to shoot them. Mercy is not just healbot and you should see those surprised flankers, when I shoot their heads off. They just don´t expect it from her. Also lot of people are turning their back towards her - big mistake, BIG.
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I just put it here xD
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If you used ult and there are free snipers somewhere, then it’s better to go there (as secretly as possible) and try to kill them.
The bullets are slow but have diameter of 50cm which are the biggest normal bullets in game and have 100 DPS, HS possible. So you don’t need decent aim and very strong at close. If you move horizontally as well as vertically, The snipers have almost no chance except for luck shot. Also, your bullets can be more effective than rockets when Pharcy vs Pharcy.
If you’re looking to do damage, damage boost an ally. If you’re looking to confirm a kill, use the pistol. Having another independent source of damage flying at the target makes kill confirmation that much more likely.
A couple of things though.
An ulting Mercy is one of the most difficult things for a Widow to deal with.
Showing that you’re willing to whip out your pistol will make flankers think twice about diving you.
Just make sure you practice good movement. Your #1 job is to stay alive at all costs.
As someone that uses Mercy in deathmatch, she has the most powerful pistol in the game.
Play more deathmatch and you’ll find yourself easily alternating between healing and pistols in team matches.
Don’t feel guilty using your pistol. If you see an opportunity to give your team an advantage, use it. If you can secure a kill in less than 5 seconds, even if someone dies, you have Resurrect to bring them back. I will mainly do this in Valk, since ressing becomes a lot more safe during her ult.
When I use Valk, I’m watching both my team and the enemy. If I see the enemy support is slow, I’ll swoop in and try to kill the person to give my team the advantage.
If only one teammate is around during Grav, I will 100% pull out the pistol because you’ll deal a lot more damage than boosting maybe 1-2 people (depending on who is in the grav and who is following up on it in our team).
There is no shame in pulling out the pistol and glocking some people!
Remember, they have passive healing, Zenyatta can get a lot from his ultimate, and Lucio’s shield does not count as healing but he is healing in an area around him for less than Mercy but when he amps it up, it reaches around 50 or so for a few seconds so he can definitely outheal Mercy that is focusing on damage boosting.
The stars arent really based on how hard they are to play but how hard they are to pick up and understand if that makes sense.
Mei is considered 3 stars moreso because to someone just picking up the game understanding when and how to use her wall as well as primary fire can be a lot more difficult that someone like Mercy or Reinhardt who dont have the ability to multitask and are fairly simple to pick up and play. Of course they can be optimized and have nuance, but they arent as complex as someone like Mei that is easy for people who have played for a while but has an unorthodox kit.
Also remember, the star rating are never changed once a hero is out. So even if a hero undergoes a lot of balance changes and is drastically different, the star rating isnt changed to be reflective of that.
Just notice when you pull the blaster and a teammate dies. Make sure you learn why that was a bad time to do it or if it was unavoidable.
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I usually make that decision entirely based off of what my teammates are doing. If no one is able to get the elim/not paying attention, its okay to pull out the glock. Just make sure you’re not deliberately letting your teammates die by doing so.
Im pretty sure currently mercy outdamages damage boost with her pistol on every character but bastion if she can hit stuff. Obviously barring boosting certain character past 1 shot breakpoints
Now I’m probably an average player at best. But a couple of days ago using Mercy’s pistol, I killed a glowing McCree during his ult, immediately resurrected a team mate, and then healed a Reinhardt, all in a few seconds. I couldn’t believe it!
I was convinced I’d get the POTG, but no…
Not even a highlight for me to save after 
Its too clunky for most people to use, its too slow to switch, because of this people cant hit their targets 90% of the time, and if you have it out youre not doing anything else, which is very counter intuitive. No other hero has this problem since they dont have to switch (torb hammer doesnt count anymore).
Youll see people state “mah hitbox size”, but the fact of the matter is, nobody can hit that hitbox as is even, because the projectile speed vs rate of fire is so slow, and if you dome someone theyre most likely being very dumb and walking in a straight line.
Want to nearly completely nullify Mercy in a 1v1? Press these keys in no particular order: W A S D SPACE, and then wait for her to reload
If I were to fix the airsoft gun, I would get rid of the valk DPS buffs (because its stupid), reduce the critbox size, increase the weapon switch time by half, and throw the projectile speed buff from valk to the base kit.
That being said, there is nothing better than having some flanker DPS getting way too cocky and confident and underestimating your experience and time on shooting the airsoft gun and getting rekt. Quite satisfying.
Short answer: Yes, Mercy’s pistol is part of her kit, and good Mercies know when and how to use it.
Longer answer: It usually is not your job to stop healing or damage boosting in order to score a kill. You’re going to want to be able to (very quickly!) ask yourself some questions:
- If I pull out my pistol, will it cause people on my team to die? (If so, probably don’t do it.)
- Is this potential kill in easy LOS/reach of my team’s damage-dealers? (If so, probably let them handle it)
- Am I under threat that I can’t wait for other people to save me from? (If so, pew pew, baby)
- Is somebody ulting/otherwise getting a lot of value that would benefit from me staying on them with damage boost? (If so, keep doing that)
- Is there an enemy that I have a clear shot on who my team is having trouble killing? (If so, fire away)
- Is someone attacking my pocket, and I can’t hope to outheal what they’re about to do? (If so, try to kill it before it can kill both of you)
I’d say this depends on the circumstance. Mercy’s pistol usually does more damage than damage boost does. However, damage boost has the simultaneous benefits of hurting the enemy, as well as speeding up your own team’s ultimates. And of course, damage boosting a cleave attack can potentially do more total damage than the pistol can, and/or strain the enemy healers’ resources more. So it’s a bit situational whether you’ll get more value out of focusing down a target with your blaster vs. blue beaming your teammates for just a vague manifestation of more power.
Also your pistol ain’t bad at generating your own ult charge.
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I’d argue you should concentrate on damage boosting first and foremost, then heals, then the pistol.
If you’re paying attention to who your target is targeting, bluebeaming them is a quick and efficient way to boost ult charge for yourself and your teammate, as well as get eliminations quicker. If you just heal through the fight you’re not only missing out on extra ult charge from DB, but your denying teammates extra ult charge from landing hits in the fight. I only use the pistol in certain situations, always when I’m leaving spawn, especially alone, just in case. And rarely to finish off low health targets or take some shots at a widow or earth shattered/blizzarded enemies.
If you’re interesting in learning Mercy and don’t know where to begin, I’d definitely recommend checking out Niandra on YouTube, she’s incredibly sweet and creates some really nice Mercy guides
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If the DPS on my team isn’t landing many shots, and the tanks are playing defensive, I 1000000000000000% got from pharmacist to harmacist real quick. Also you’d be surprised how many times you can kill some hitscan players with some well placed peeking mercy shots. They are so slow they don’t expect it to happen.
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My favorite, teams trash so I gotta take matters into my own hands, enemies never expect a Mercy to shoot em, nonetheless murk em
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Do not be afraid to use her blaster! She has it for a reason.
There will always be people who freak out if you so much as take it out, just ignore them and continue to do your best to support your team.
Sometimes you gotta use your pistol. If someone is low health and your team is igmoring them sometimes is best to pull it out for a few seconds and finish them off. Dont forget you have a second support who should be helping you.
Generally damage boosting is gonna be your friend, but your pistol is a good option. A Mercy getting a kill isnt the end of the world. You shouldnt feel guilty. Just don’t go crazy and try to get multi kills while leaving your team to die.
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If a teammate is firing on a target, Damage boost will almost always be better than firing at them because it allows you to quickly switch to healing if need be. The pistol is better for either self defense or if you see an opportunity for a kill that no one else on your team is taking.
Valkyrie in particular allows you to chase down a kill a bit more aggressively.
Generally speaking however, remember that if you’re just trying to contribute to your team damage it’s better to boost than to shoot.
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