Hi, my title is Matt, and I’m a Mercy predominant in Overwatch. She’s the character I play probably the most in accordance with my time-played stats. As you may think about, the brand new rework for Mercy that’s currently on the PTR initially had me fairly apprehensive. She’s been radically modified, and so my pondering was that the alterations might be so far-reaching that not solely will I’ve to re-learn her from scratch, however I could by no means take pleasure in enjoying her once more. If you’re a Mercy predominant too, it’s possible you’ll be equally involved.
Catch up with all the pieces that is as a result of come within the subsequent Overwatch updates.
Don’t panic, although: I’ve acquired excellent news. I’ve been enjoying her on the PTR and all the pieces seems to be high quality. In reality, all the pieces’s /higher/ than high quality.
Mercy’s iconic resurrection final has been scrapped, which means she will be able to not revive her complete workforce in a single faucet of the Q key. Resurrect is now a standard means on a prolonged 30-second cooldown, and it could possibly solely deliver again a single ally when used. This does take some getting used to nevertheless it’s a extremely sensible change.
With previous Mercy, a single lifeless ally was a dilemma: do you pop your final now and convey them again into the combat, or do you anticipate much more individuals to die to verify your ult is ‘worth it’ (risking the potential of dying your self and screwing all of it up)? With new Mercy, a solo casualty will be resurrected on sight with out pause for thought. If you benefit from the ways behind resurrections, a number of corpses now present that: who’s probably the most invaluable proper now? Picking the fitting individual to deliver again, after which profitable the combat, appears like a real triumph.
The new system feels a lot fairer to play towards, too. It’s not an excellent feeling in any respect to have labored collectively as a workforce to coordinate a workforce wipe, solely to have that thrown again in your face by a Mercy participant who’s been saving their final for half the match. Cheap victories are a poison and deserve all of the culling they get. What’s extra, a proficient Mercy can nonetheless flip the tables on a workforce wipe state of affairs.
So far, my solely challenge with the brand new ressurection system is that the vary on it’s extremely quick; a mere 5 meters. You must be virtually dancing on their physique earlier than you may set off it, which feels very unusual after getting used to the massive area-of-effect on the previous final. Merely seeing the glowing stays of a workforce member is not sufficient, you really want to dive in there.
But that’s what I really feel this rework is all about: getting caught in. I’ve all the time been a fan of enjoying a Mercy that zips round like an annoying fly, continually topping up well being bars and guaranteeing nobody drops under about 60%. Many Mercy gamers I see take the hide-and-sneak strategy, staying hidden from sight to allow them to pop a sneaky final simply as a Mei has destroyed 5 allies in a blizzard. I’ve personally by no means seen the enjoyable in that. Get on the market together with your allies; that pesky Mei received’t be an issue in case your buddies are wholesome sufficient to take her out.
That’s why Valkyrie, Mercy’s new final means, is so thrilling. When activated, you get 20 seconds of being a superhero. You can fly – full with attractive, glowing wings – and rapidly soar throughout the battlefield. Your workers’s therapeutic beam chains from one ally to the following, permitting you to carry out unimaginable group heals. Activating it instantly resets your cooldowns, too, so resurrect is prepared instantly. Resurrect has additionally been lowered to a ten-second cooldown, so when you combo E, Q, E, wait, and E, you may revive three gamers in simply over ten seconds. Like I stated earlier than, a proficient Mercy can assist a workforce overcome a very nasty workforce wipe.
Yes, it’s not the table-flip ‘screw you’ to the opposite workforce that Mercy’s earlier resurrection was, however it’s merely extra /enjoyable/. You can maintain extra individuals within the combat, you may deliver the fitting characters again from the brink, and you’ll just about fly a loop-the-loop to remain out of hazard. That altitude provides you an incredible overview of the battle, too, permitting you to maintain a eager eye on who wants medical consideration.
It’s not nearly therapeutic, although. While in Valkyrie mode, Mercy’s blaster does considerably extra harm and doesn’t require reloading. This means you may hurl your self into battle and grow to be an actual menace to the enemy. The feeling is great. Mercy has all the time been a little bit of a single-trick character, in direct opposition to her fellow healers Lucio, Zenyatta, and Ana. While that trio all have fight choices, Mercy has all the time felt like she was on the again foot when utilizing her blaster. The swap from workers to gun was gradual, too, robbing you of any speedy retaliations. But this rework lastly makes her weapon actually viable.
What it doesn’t do, nevertheless, is flip her right into a DPS character. In the fast backlash on Twitter, Tumblr, and Reddit, some followers have been crying out that the rework has turned Mercy into an offensive healer – a transfer that may drive Overwatch to really feel like each different FPS. These fears are, fortunately, unfounded: second to second, Mercy remains to be a core healer. Her gun is simply improved when Valkyrie is energetic; for almost all of the match, you’ll nonetheless be targeted on therapeutic and buffing. What the rework does imply is, ought to there be want for it, Mercy can grow to be a really helpful harm seller for a quick 20 seconds. That seems like nothing however an distinctive bonus to me.
The neatest thing concerning the rework is the way it merely makes your basic moment-to-moment play way more kinetic and fascinating. No longer are you simply holding down left mouse to heal; you now have way more company on the battlefield. You’re continually flittering between targets together with your Guardian Angel glide, and punctuating fight encounters with revives. You can deliver the lifeless again to life with considerably extra frequency than earlier than, which helps alter all the circulation of battle. And quite than your final being a single air-punch second, it’s 20 seconds of joyful – nearly extreme – therapeutic effectivity and/or loss of life. I’ve all the time liked enjoying Mercy, however the matches I’ve performed along with her rebuild are a few of the most partaking I’ve ever had along with her but.
I do know change is tough however it is best to belief Blizzard on this one. It’s not the novel combine up you suppose it’s – Mercy nonetheless performs and appears like Mercy – however the adjustments are certainly an distinctive enchancment. Go attempt her out on the PTR; I promise you all the pieces goes to be okay.
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