Why is Mercy's healing still 50hps?

[Set-1764]

Why is Mercy’s healing still 50hps?

@GeoffGoodman

Primary fire healing beam reduced 17% from 60 HP/s to 50 HP/s.

@GeoffGoodman

Mercy is intended to be able to consistently pump out more healing than any other healer over the course of a match. While this is currently true, the difference in healing is so significant that it makes it very difficult for other healers to compete with her for a spot on a team. Reducing her healing output will close this gap a little, but she will still maintain her status as the go-to pick for raw healing power. We’ll keep an eye on her to make sure she is still a strong pick

This change was and continues to be problematic
They stated that the difference in healing (in comparison to other supports) was so significant that other healers struggled to compete for a spot on the team. If i’m interpreting that correctly: the nerf was intended to make Mercy less of a must pick by making the other supports a more viable option. Except… they probably already achieved this with the buffs they gave to the other supports in the very same patch.
Not to mention other supports already had the capability to deal damage as well as heal so what makes the “significant gap” in healing so significant anyway?
“She will remain the go-to pick for raw healing power” this seems false to me considering Mercy has no burst healing potential. In actuality, post-nerf the go-to picks for raw healing power were (and are) Moira and Ana. Currently she is out of meta and I highly doubt a revert to 60hp/s would change that fact.

I understand the buff to Valk’s healing was meant to dial back the healing nerf and currently with Valkyrie healing 60hp/s I believe I am getting similar healing averages that I achieved in the past. However the difference now is that I have less opportunities to utilise damage boost (because I have to spend more time healing), at times I struggle to maintain my tanks mid-fight and sometimes feel pressured to ult just for the sake of that extra healing per second.

Looking to the future, healing 50hp/s continues to be problematic for Mercy’s gameplay.

@TomPowers

Damage boost is now applied when a projectile is fired rather than when it hits a target

Opportunistic damage boosting is going to be nerfed so if I understand this correctly: Catching a firestrike from rein for example or a dynamite from ashe that exploded on several people will no longer be damage boosted unless the Mercy was boosting before it was launched.

So even less opportunities to utilise damage boost efficiently for a Mercy player such as myself that prefers to tend to the entire team as opposed to a pocketing play-style.
50hp/s will play a huge part in shaping how Mercy is played viably in a time where Mercy already struggles to be an effective main healer (in my opinion).
I’ve heard people say she should not be run as a main healer more like an off-healer (usually to pocket). Her healing per second is more in line with an off-healers anyway however she lacks the powerful defensive ults that the other off-healers have to offer. Therefore running her with another main healer leaves your team without a defensive ult and running her with an off-healer could potentially mean your team is not getting enough healing.
There will be buffs to damage heroes in the next patch so I sincerely worry Mercy will not be able to keep up with the damage output anymore. And with the addition of Baptiste to the support roster Mercy will now be the one to struggle for a spot on the team.

So, I’ll ask again.
Why is Mercy’s healing still 50hps?

[MegaLopunny-11165]

Her simplicity is her downfall

[HongKongNo1-3302]

I actually think it is low because it is continuous.
Like, infinitly continuous
If it had any gap, CD, they would buff that heal.
Maybe she needs another heal skill on cd to stack. Or “reload” staff…which seems weird

[Set-1764]

The simple solution is a revert to 60hp/s. It was never a problem before and the reasons stated for the change in the first place are now irrelevant.

[HongKongNo1-3302]

You dont see the logic at all Hmmm…
It is like why Moira damage is so low. But still feels so high.

[RevertMercy-1819]

So, I’ll ask again.
Why is Mercy’s healing still 50hps?

No idea… I think it would be no harm in bumping it up to 55hps at this point, in the very least.

---

~Sincerely Yours xoxo,
a Lover of True, Fair, and Fun Balance.
xavvypls

[anon49971419]

It feels like she’s supposed to be used for mobility and damage boost now more than healing.

Her healing is about as reliable as Harmony Orb these days.

[Latest-1664]

Question.

How does stacking work in OW? Do you get 40% increased damage if you are being mercy boosted and hitting a Zen target?

[DrClan-1789]

Opportunistic damage boosting is going to be nerfed so if I understand this correctly

No it’s not. What the opportunistic time was simply changed.

[Set-1764]

I agree, it makes trying to fit Mercy into a lot of comps feel awkward. I don’t think she brings enough to a team comp anymore to be considered a better or even a competitively viable choice outside of niche situations.

How does stacking work in OW? Do you get 40% increased damage if you are being mercy boosted and hitting a Zen target?

I believe it works like this:
100 firestrike + Damage boost (30%) = 130 damage.

Nanoboost (50%) + damage boost works like this:
Firestrike 100 + nano (50) + damage boost (30)= 180 damage

I could be wrong though.

[Ani-1991]

Here’s the weirdness with Mercy – What healing role is she fulfilling?

At her core, she’s a single-target healer, but which target? Is she a main-tank healer who stands behind Rein’s shield and marches in with the tanks, or is she a more pocket-centric healer who follows the DPS and flankers while they do their thing?

Well, the rest of her kit seems to answer the question–she flies to the targets that need the most help, heals those doing DPS in harm’s way, and then damage boosts them for the quick kill.

Forget Rez. Her flight should be her most important feature.

Guardian Angel is not only the most unique ability to the character, but her mobility is what feels most FUN when playing the character. Only Lucio has a similar mobility, but even he can’t get to the same places and do the same things as a bunny-hopping Mercy. However, because of the limitations on Rez and its past history, Mercy is still forced to mostly hide around corners and stay out of sight during the fights. That’s not very fun.

Just think about how they categorize GA itself. “When Mercy is in trouble, she can fly away to other teammates.” That only tells half the story.

The devs could incentivize Mercy (the healer with the most mobility) to actually… move . Give GA a healing-over-time dot to the target of her choice. Literally acting like a guardian angel.

When Mercy flies to a target with her healing beam, she leaves a HOT that ticks for a small amount of healing, allowing her to dash across the map to another target of her choice in need of support. This rolling HOT would help flankers making their move against enemy players and would give Mercy some breathing room as she struggles with her 50HPS to top off a Dva/Wrecking Ball. Plus, it would reward skilled Mercys who utilize the tricks and momentum hacks offered by the best ability in the game–Guardian Angel.

The exact mechanics would need to be worked out, of course. Maybe the HOT is triggered when she tops off an injured character. The HOT might only last for only a few seconds before needing to be reapplied. But this would, once again encourage Mercy to make the laps around her teammates to ensure they’re ready for the fight. This would make Mercy fun, exciting, and, most importantly, ACTIVE in her play-style and decision making.

Plus, a chance like this would flush Mercy out into the open, leaving her vulnerable for the enemy team to pick off. Big risk for big rewards.

I don’t know of any Mercy that actually cares about Rez–but they all love her mobility. Time to reward/incentivize that. The best way to make Mercy fun is by making her useful and an active component of the team. A Mercy working her butt off, flying to all her teammates, leaving them with dots and being out in the open is fun.

[Suff-1370]

Because she’s easy. Easy + highly effective = OP

[Set-1764]

60hp/s was never a problem before for how many years?
That answer doesn’t cut it sorry. Why is her healing still 50hp/s?

[Suff-1370]

Do you want absolutely invincible tanks? Because 60hp mercy is how you do that

[Acedeuce-1627]

Rez, movement, reliability. /thread

[Megadodo-11847]

to OP:

Because the developers stated they felt that at 60HPs/s, Mercy was a must pick, and they didnt (and still dont) want Mercy to be a must pick

50HPs/s is fine, and she is played effectively at all tiers in her current state

[Ihnami-1515]

60 Hps was problematic for over a year. They are trying to tone down supports. 50 hps is looking more statistically balanced.

In terms of numbers, she is fine.

[Set-1764]

Tanks were not invincible in the past when Mercy had 60hp/s and there are currently other supports that offer higher healing outputs.

In terms of numbers, she is fine.

I know this, it’s not a problem of how she gets the healing it’s when. I can heal an insane amount by the end of a match and have it mean nothing because I couldn’t handle the burst damage that my team recieved.

60 Hps was problematic for over a year

Do you have proof, this seems very anecdotal.
Valkyrie was evidently the biggest issue Mercy had for a very long period of time not her healing output.

[Goldyn-11838]

I feel 55hps wouldn’t make much of a difference it would feel like she still does 50. For a noticeable change she should do 60hps and in valk 70hps. They will shave a second for how long you have to heal the target for.

[Ihnami-1515]

Jeff on multiple occasions said that looking back, Mercy was way too prevalent in games. If you don’t remember it yourself then you must not have played back then. Every match was “Mercy or GG”. This frustrated most players.

Also Jeff said that she is more balanced now than she was then in the Stylosa interview (part 1 I think)