New Mercy Rework on PTR

[Derah]

I wonder what will happen to her achievement that grants the Cute Spray. I've been trying to get it for ages.

[elaina]

New ultimate sounds like a mess. God help us if this becomes a trend and more ults become a complicated mess of "makes everything (s)he does better somehow!" The versatility is interesting, and I'll still play her, but it's almost like they couldn't come up with a good solution so they gave her a catch-all of random tricks. I think it threatens her identity somewhat. There was some beauty in the simplicity of her abilities and the depth of game play it offered, as well as the limitations presented by them (live or die by your teammates, whether to use or pocket ult, mobility restricted by proximity to teammates).

Honest question:

Is the meta of Mercy really that it's better to hide, let your whole team get fucked, then rez, rather than interact and participate in the battle (heal/dmg boost) and intelligently use ult?

[GennGreymane]

Its honestly bad for the game. Its taking the lazy route of making a character "more engaging" by basically just making them more into a DPS. Sym and Lucio were done correctly because they remained the same at their core. Sym got more utility to do her job better, and Aggressive Lucio play won out over passive Lucio play.

Honestly the game has these new code words now

"unfun to play against" means "it slows down my kills and is thus bad"
"engaging" means "Kills means fun"

There are simply not enough supports in the game to justify this. Its unhealthy for the game. If there was another main healer, than yeah maybe this can be justified, but Ana is under powered in general and basically useless on console. Lucio and Zen are not main healers either.

Besides Mercy is not even a big deal once you get higher up in rank. Shes not in the meta and is destroyed by the current meta anyway. Also to add that she won't counter dive and will continue to be massacred by them.

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Is the meta of Mercy really that it's better to hide, let your whole team get fucked, then rez, rather than interact and participate in the battle (heal/dmg boost) and intelligently use ult?

Better for SR. Sombra has a similar issue, but fewer people play Sombra. Basically you get more SR if you do more with your ults. The more you rez at once the better the ult looks in the algorithm. Sombra can get similar SR gains by just running into an enemy team and using her ult too.

In terms of actually winning? Not really.

[elaina]

Why though, Support are EXACTLY that, Support. The Category isn't "Healer" it is "Support". Being able to add in some damage inbetween healing or buffing is the very definition of being a Support.

If any support's ultimate should not be offensive I would say it should be Mercy's. They can do what they want but I feel like that should be her niche. Great healing at price of garbage offense.

[GennGreymane]

2 CP maps are gonna be pure garbage without a lot of recourse. Poor ult economy is no longer punished. Pt one win, have all your ults, go to pt 2 and blow all your ults, GG total skill.

I expect a more monstrous version of dive next season too. DM didn't create dive since D.Va is usually swapped in and out with soldier. The real issue with dive is no one character creates it. Its the fact that Winston, Tracer, and gengu just work perfectly together. Thats the core of dive. Lucio is always meta due to being the only character that has anything he does and Zen is always mid tier but does great with Winston. Every other meta had 1 or two heros that basically created it.

Now we have DPS D.Va who based on some gameplay I've seen now is just another gengu/tracer running in with Winston.

Mercy is Anti picks now which hurts Snipers and McCree who totally were the main issue right? Maybe its meant to counter 1 shots like Doom or Sometimes Rein?

Hell, not enough people play healer as it is across ranks and you will occasionally get a GM game with too many tank/support mains for a reason. If Mercy gets less healing focus (lets face it, PTR is showing that the minute you give someoen that kind of freedom they just go for kills), well thats less healers.

[Jester Joe]

Why though, Support are EXACTLY that, Support. The Category isn't "Healer" it is "Support". Being able to add in some damage inbetween healing or buffing is the very definition of being a Support. You are only looking at her Ult as Offensive when it has both Defensive and offensive uses.

Because Mercy has been a healer support from the start.

That has been her core design.

[GennGreymane]

Ana needs a buff and Mei should just get a thiccer coat for some health at this point (cause she has a tanky kit, but could use another 100 to 150 health so a healer can react to her getting burst down) because OW is focusing way too hard on DPS which ain't healthy. One can hope the next few new characters are supports and tanks.

[Endus]

I really don't see why people are looking at Valkyrie as a personal offensive ult. Sure, she can do some silly pewpew with a gun that's no longer the absolute worst in the game while flying, but she has NO defenses in this state and is easily picked off. If you're team's not dead, you're way better off giving your whole team a massive DPS boost and/or healing them through heavy fire, which are the cases you'd want to pop it.

Sure, you could pop Valkyrie to absolutely ruin a Reaper's day, but how is that good use?

It seems to be based off that one gif of one dude wrecking face on the PTR as people are futzing about and testing stuff, with an Ana ult to boot.

Maybe the fire speed and damage buff together are "too much", but Valkyrie brings WAY more support utility than personal offense.

[GennGreymane]

I really don't see why people are looking at Valkyrie as a personal offensive ult. Sure, she can do some silly pewpew with a gun that's no longer the absolute worst in the game while flying, but she has NO defenses in this state and is easily picked off. If you're team's not dead, you're way better off giving your whole team a massive DPS boost and/or healing them through heavy fire, which are the cases you'd want to pop it.

Sure, you could pop Valkyrie to absolutely ruin a Reaper's day, but how is that good use?

It seems to be based off that one gif of one dude wrecking face on the PTR as people are futzing about and testing stuff, with an Ana ult to boot.

Maybe the fire speed and damage buff together are "too much", but Valkyrie brings WAY more support utility than personal offense.

You give too much credit to the Overwatch community and people who use a FPS mentality.

[Endus]

Ana needs a buff and Mei should just get a thiccer coat for some health at this point (cause she has a tanky kit, but could use another 100 to 150 health so a healer can react to her getting burst down) because OW is focusing way too hard on DPS which ain't healthy. One can hope the next few new characters are supports and tanks.

While I definitely agree we need another tank and 2-3 more healers before any more offense/defense heroes, in terms of role distribution and meta comps, the game's a shooter. They're all gonna be pretty pewpew. One of the things I dislike about Mercy, personally, is she's too focused on her teammates; she can't participate in offense while healing, and she's almost always better off boosting someone's DPS than using her pistol, right now. Ana, Lucio, and especially Zen are all pretty aggro pewpew type healers.

Also disagree on Mei; if anything I'd boost the damage on her freeze spray or something. Between her self-heal and her wall, she's already super tanky for a defense hero.

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You give too much credit to the Overwatch community and people who use a FPS mentality.

Are idiots gonna do it at low ranks? Sure. Do I think it'll be the new meta for healers at higher ranks? Not at all, especially when they've already said they're toning her damage back.

[GennGreymane]

While I definitely agree we need another tank and 2-3 more healers before any more offense/defense heroes, in terms of role distribution and meta comps, the game's a shooter. They're all gonna be pretty pewpew. One of the things I dislike about Mercy, personally, is she's too focused on her teammates; she can't participate in offense while healing, and she's almost always better off boosting someone's DPS than using her pistol, right now. Ana, Lucio, and especially Zen are all pretty aggro pewpew type healers.

Also disagree on Mei; if anything I'd boost the damage on her freeze spray or something. Between her self-heal and her wall, she's already super tanky for a defense hero.

I mean..... Mercy is a support, not a DPS. Well now, shes gonna be more DPS. Its also a team game, and lets face it, some characters are gonna have a team focus and thats not a bad thing and should not be considered such. if anything this game needs less idiots from COD going rambo. Lucio and Zen are also much weaker healers and play as off healers very well. Ana is under powered.

Mei if turned into a tank tomorrow would have the lowest healthpool. If she was to be burst down or hit from a distance she goes down faster than Orisa. For mei to be a tank she would need more health and maybe some armor or shields.

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Are idiots gonna do it at low ranks? Sure. Do I think it'll be the new meta for healers at higher ranks? Not at all, especially when they've already said they're toning her damage back.

Still think you're giving them too much credit.

[Derah]

I really don't see why people are looking at Valkyrie as a personal offensive ult. Sure, she can do some silly pewpew with a gun that's no longer the absolute worst in the game while flying, but she has NO defenses in this state and is easily picked off. If you're team's not dead, you're way better off giving your whole team a massive DPS boost and/or healing them through heavy fire, which are the cases you'd want to pop it.

Sure, you could pop Valkyrie to absolutely ruin a Reaper's day, but how is that good use?

It seems to be based off that one gif of one dude wrecking face on the PTR as people are futzing about and testing stuff, with an Ana ult to boot.

Maybe the fire speed and damage buff together are "too much", but Valkyrie brings WAY more support utility than personal offense.

You forgot about how the dude in the gif also happens to be one of the best players in the world, and part of the top 500, facing off against bronze cannon fodder. On average, that kind of slaughter will never happen in the game, even if they don't change a thing.

[GennGreymane]

You forgot about how the dude in the gif also happens to be one of the best players in the world, and part of the top 500, facing off against bronze cannon fodder. On average, that kind of slaughter will never happen in the game, even if they don't change a thing.

Other vids around reddit are showing similar results. Hell youtubers were pulling similar shit. There is a reason they are actually going to tone her down a bit.


You give a DPS mindset more flight mobility than the only flyer in the game....

[Jester Joe]

I really don't see why people are looking at Valkyrie as a personal offensive ult. Sure, she can do some silly pewpew with a gun that's no longer the absolute worst in the game while flying, but she has NO defenses in this state and is easily picked off. If you're team's not dead, you're way better off giving your whole team a massive DPS boost and/or healing them through heavy fire, which are the cases you'd want to pop it.

Sure, you could pop Valkyrie to absolutely ruin a Reaper's day, but how is that good use?

It seems to be based off that one gif of one dude wrecking face on the PTR as people are futzing about and testing stuff, with an Ana ult to boot.

Maybe the fire speed and damage buff together are "too much", but Valkyrie brings WAY more support utility than personal offense.

Her gun was never the worst though, and she doesn't need defensives when she's able to outmaneuver anyone in the game while ulting now, mind you her health does regen nonstop during the ult.

And no, it's not based off of the "one gif", it's the fact that the ult even boosts her personal damage to begin with. It should be straight up more supportive, that's all. The game already has enough offensive supports like Zenyatta, Ana, and even Lucio. Different playstyles should exist, not all supports be pushed into being more offensive.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

Holy shit, 30 sec CD on rez? That seems more than a little OP.

[NoiseTank13]

You give too much credit to the Overwatch community and people who use a FPS mentality.

Conversely, you give the Overwatch community too little credit, and that's saying something considering how bad the community in general is.

Just because Mercy now has an option of not being a healbitch doesn't mean people are going to be whipping out their pistol every chance they get. Maybe in the carbon leagues where they can probably get away with it, but I don't see any Battle Mercy getting away from anyone with half a brain even in Plat and beyond. There will be situations where her healing isn't needed, or they need a snap decision to try and stop a McCree from wiping her team. Options are a good thing. Raising the skill floor will be a good thing.

Also, I really hope you know that Resurrection wasn't the sole counter to DPS ultimates. Reaper, despite his buffs, is at a real risk if he tries to Death Blossom into a team.

For the (unfortunately won't be) last time, just being Mercy has an option of doing damage (hey no one is bitching about Lucio or Zenyatta for some reason) doesn't mean it's the correct choice, and I'm all for raising her low skill ceiling.

[Jester Joe]

For the (unfortunately won't be) last time, just being Mercy has an option of doing damage (hey no one is bitching about Lucio or Zenyatta for some reason) doesn't mean it's the correct choice, and I'm all for raising her low skill ceiling.

How many times must I repeat this.

They. Had. Damage. Tied. In. From. The. Start.

Mercy had to sacrifice her healing to DO damage. But as a trade off, her single target healing is stronger than either of theirs since she can't do both at once. That is, as a Mercy player, what I ENJOYED.

Now her ultimate is pushing that offensive part far too much. She's going to have more movement than Genji. Just think about that.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

Wait WHAT IM SO HYPED NOW I DONT EVEN CARE. I aint using my ult to save you bitches i'm going to dps dps dps all my way to bronze

Heh, don't get too hyped. There is no way it is going to make it to live with that many buffs.

[Tenjen]

people refering to "so many" people using hte ult def dont get that people will quickly adjust to this new tend and start sniping and killing mercy like they do phara, controlled flight or not.

same thing in hots "oh the new hero and their abilities are so op" *half a week later everyone adapts*

people were saying the same shit about "long range healer" and "her ult is unfair" for ana, "shutting down abilities is too op" etc etc

[Jester Joe]

people refering to "so many" people using hte ult def dont get that people will quickly adjust to this new tend and start sniping and killing mercy like they do phara, controlled flight or not.

same thing in hots "oh the new hero and their abilities are so op" *half a week later everyone adapts*

Pharah? As in, the Pharah that is rarely ever managed to be pinned down and also has tons of complaints about because of how easily she can take people out before they can get her?

Also, it's not a matter of being OP or not, it's the matter of "this doesn't fit the character, at all". Mercy isn't an attacker, it makes no sense to wrap offense into her ult.