The idea of this post is to inform the people are genuinely questioning Mercy mains and don’t understand how or why they feel the way they do. I’m making this post to hopefully help explain it for everybody. Edit: I’ve made some changes in response to feedback to the thread.
Disclaimer:
I do not speak for everyone, this is a generalisation based off everything I have been reading on the forums lately. I have over 600 hours on Mercy so I have plenty of experience to draw from when it comes to discussing her strengths and weaknesses. I want to try my very best to remain unbiased, impartial, open-minded and respectful.
Let’s start with why Mercy mains are unhappy.
A reply to this thread said it better than I ever could but basically: Mercy players want to feel like their choices in a match can actually accomplish something.
Let’s move on to why some people were unhappy at the recent PTR buff.
Okay so imagine you have $100. I take $20 from you and I decide to give you back $10 later.
How does that make you feel?
I’d be surprised if you said it made you feel good. You used to have $100 now you have $90
That’s just a little example of how this buff feels because it is a partial revert to the 60hps nerf. We already know how Valkyrie with 60hp/s plays out.
Personally I’m just happy to be finally receiving a buff in any capacity although I will be disappointed if this is it. The Mercy community is afraid the devs will think “Okay Mercy is in a good spot right now” and leave her as is for months and months. They also feel this change doesn’t address any of our concerns (such as she is no longer that fun to play in this reworked state) nor is it the change we wanted or have been asking for.
If you’re thinking "Too bad it’s not what YOU wanted, it’s what the devs have decided is best for their game. Then please read this section.
Read me :)
Actually the devs have contradicted themselves with every Mercy balance change.
So much so to the point that everything they claimed this rework would do has been stripped away. The rework itself contradicts Mercy’s core design as a highly mobile “strong single-target healer”. Mercy was meant to feel engaging to play whilst Valkyrie was meant to open up a lot of play-making capabilities. I assume the devs really wanted this to be a positive change for Mercy and the rest of the game however with each iteration she became more balanced at the cost of losing this intended goal thought out for her. (And in turn this made her increasingly less fun to play). Eventually this led to Mercy losing her identity as the strongest heal throughput support just to take her out of this must-pick status that Mercy 2.0 has (and that nobody asked for). I can honestly say that I personally have not once in my entire time playing Mercy heard anyone complain that she ever healed too much (until now…). In fact she was buffed in the past to solidify her role as a strong single-target healer.
Next up!
- A lot of us hate Valkyrie and call it unfun.
On paper this ultimate has a lot going on
Valkyrie summary
Extended range on Guardian Angel + Speed increase.
Extended range on chain beams, free flight, infinite ammo, unhindered regeneration (20hp/s) and is the longest lasting ultimate in the game (15 secs).
However none of this helps too much in keeping the team alive especially when other ultimates are involved making this a poor ult when used defencively. It’s even a poor ult when used as an initiation tool as people you are healing can still easily be damaged beyond our healing capabilities and Valkyrie incentives grouping up which the enemy team will respond with team-wiping ultimates. In that case it just feels ironic that Mercy screams out “Heroes never die” when yeah, they do, and there’s nothing we can do about it. (This includes the period in which Mercy’s Valkyrie healed at a rate of 60hp/s)
- Holding LMB (or RMB) = max potential reached. And this in particular is a problem.
- Chain beams make this ultimate un-engaging because it removes the need for target prioritisation.
- It is also called “unfun” because it has little visible value (unless you go battle Mercy and harass/kill some squishies including that poor helpless widowmaker).
- It’s not that different to how Mercy is played normally either, it’s just Mercy’s kit with enhancements and increased survivability.
- We are not saying it’s not helpful, and it’s not a useful tool but it does leave the Mercy player feeling unsatisfied. Let’s be real, most Valkyries play out exactly the same way a lot of the time. Some of us want an ultimate that can accomplish bigger and better things.
We are not saying we want to her be overpowered, a must pick, easier to play or have value handed to us on a silver platter we’re trying to explain why we don’t like this ultimate as best we can when on paper it looks really good. However I also acknowledge that some people do like Valkyrie. I have some suggestions at the bottom of this post that I think could improve it’s state.
Frequently brought up by the rest of the community.
- 1 ) Mercy has never been fun to begin with.
Fun is subjective and obviously there are things a lot of us still do like about Mercy. That doesn’t mean we are satisfied with her state as a whole. - 2 ) Other ultimates aren’t that fun to use either?
Point 2 answer
Maybe so but they do however provide the player with the tools to make an impact on the fight overall and often differ from the capabilities of the hero’s regular kit. We’re simply saying Valkyrie is lackluster and falls short of doing this. Holding LMB (or RMB) = Max potential reached, and you can often do this while peeking behind a corner.
- 3 ) Just play another hero there are 28 for a reason.
Point 3 answer
Lots of us enjoy Mercy’s concept as a pacifist “healer only” support. We love her mobility which allows us to be self sufficient and rely on our team less for help. We even love her aesthetically, being a beautiful and angelic figure is a lot of fun. She is unique. No other support comes close to being as fun in comparison (for most of us).
- 4 ) Mercy mains are bad.
Point 4 answer
Please don’t consider "Mercy mains are mechanically unskilled" or can’t aim as an argument because it’s not the case for everyone. Plus don’t forget there are different heroes that require no aim or forgiving aim anyway. Not all of us choose to play her for her mechanical simplicity.
Community ideas: I’ll give this its own section because it will be sort of long.
Read me :)
There have been lots of ideas but they do tend to pose either balance issues or focus heavily on an ultimate revert for Mercy instead of thinking outside the box to improve what we already have. Let me say this before people get upset at me. I acknowledge there are great ideas out there. Some of which are supporting a mass resurrect rework (which I am on board with). But at the same time not many people have presented ideas for helping Mercy 2.0 that sound healthy for the game and my own have been met with discontent due to people being closed off to those ideas. (I’m not saying my ideas were perfect either)
Mercy is meant to be an entry level hero (1 star difficulty) with simple and easy to use mechanics. You have to consider how any changes will play out across the board in every skill tier. And how her simple to use mechanics translate into the rest of the game.
It’s a problem when bronze and grand-master players use mechanics in the exact same way and gain equal value. Resurrect being instant cast is an example of this.
Finally, if you’re interested. Here are my ideas for tweaking Valkyrie. (I’d love to see Mass res come back in a reworked form but in case it doesn’t here are my suggestions)
Mercy 2.0 Valkyrie
The values proposed are subject to change.
- Mercy
- Resurrect can now be cancelled manually. (But incurs a penalty cooldown of 10 seconds)
- Valkyrie:
- Healing increased to 70hp/s.
- Chain healing reduced to 35hp/s (was 70hp/s)
- Resurrect cast time reduced to 1.5 seconds (down from 1.75)
Notes: Cancel res is a solution that allows res to be a part of Mercy’s kit and flow better with her high mobility design.
Valkyrie: These changes are designed to subtract power from places it’s not needed and add them to places that are. So the single target heal is increased whilst chain beams are being reduced, this should give Mercy back the “engaged” feeling by having to choose your targets again while giving you a hefty heal increase to respond to heavy bursts of damage. However it also still provides additional group healing at a reduced rate. 70hps should be strong enough as I believe any higher and you’re getting dangerously close to rendering your pocket unkillable. (Due to the nature of Mercy’s heal being a consistent uninterrupted healing beam)
Res cast time is adjusted slightly so that it flows better with Valkyrie but it’s not too drastic that you would pop Valkyrie just to res.
