I have yet to play a full game without a Mercy on both sides since the patch hit. I have only seen individual rounds where the enemy team didn't have a Mercy, and then swapped to one after they lost that round.
She's basically the most important character on any given team right now.
When the score card is reporting Mercies resurrecting 40-50% of the team's deaths, there's no way she's not insane right now. That's a better return than Q-res Mercy.
I have yet to play a full game without a Mercy on both sides since the patch hit. I have only seen individual rounds where the enemy team didn't have a Mercy, and then swapped to one after they lost that round.
She's basically the most important character on any given team right now.
When the score card is reporting Mercies resurrecting 40-50% of the team's deaths, there's no way she's not insane right now. That's a better return than Q-res Mercy.
If your team can't manage more than 2-3 kills per minute, then you probably have other problems beyond "Mercy is rezzing people".
The big issue with new mercy, and one that might need to be balanced a bit, is the way she starts the game with Rez ready to go. That gives her team a really big advantage in the first fight and the pre-ult part of the match, before anyone's built their ult charges. No one has quick teamwipe potential yet, so getting spotted a death is a huge advantage playing against a non mercy team. It also makes life super hard for pick style offenses, who want to wait for a sniper or flanker to get a kill before they go in.
It does balance out later in the match, especially because d.va's nerf is an indirect buff for Ana, specifically ult combos like nanovisor with big team wipe potential that can blow through Mercy's tempo res's. Plus without a d.va constantly shutting down her healing, Ana's ought to be able to output a little more healing now. But that early match advantage is still too important.
One interesting interaction here I think is that this actually helps out tanks with CC like Orisa and especially Roadhog. Pulling an enemy out of position before you get the kill means Mercy probably can't make the tempo res, and you can keep the advantage. Plus since Mercy has no invuln and has to be close range to make the rez, CC can punish her hard if she tries to dive.
I've also seen some people suggest this is going to lead to another tank meta. If you're limited to only a couple of rez's per fight, it makes sense to make each rez the max amount of HPs. Especially on defense, rez two tanks and you've added 800-1200 HPs that the enemy team has to take out again. And the more beef the longer it takes to die, which lets you keep delaying until rez is up again. Plus tanks tend to have a lot of CC to enable team wipes, which is now much more valuable than just getting individual picks. Not convinced by it, but it's something to consider for team comps.
Of course the counter to all of this is that Mercy has had periods of universal popularity in the high-level meta before, only to decrease in popularity once players got used to countering her (or just look at Doomfist, who was a golden god for 2 weeks and is now mostly a niche pick). And New Mercy does have weaknesses. She's easier to pick off now, she can't reverse teamwipes anymore, she has to stay around the fight, she has to get right on top of a body to rez, and she has no invuln frames anymore. And with a weakened D.Va, it should be easier for quite a few DPS to rack up multikills.
I think it'll take a few weeks to really see how things are going, playing the character always develops faster than countering the character. I think the rez mechanic on its own is fine, and the early power spike that she provides gives her a unique style, so I wouldn't want to take that away, but they could probably decrease her valkyrie ult charge rate a bit more, to decrease her mid and late game power as balance for her really strong early game.
Kana on
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
Of course, if you aim to assassinate Mercy herself first...
Also an argument against running tank heavy with mercy. Tanks like to bunch up, but that means Mercy has no escape routes when she gets dived, and without dash escapes Mercy is fuuuucked.
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
Of course, if you aim to assassinate Mercy herself first...
Also an argument against running tank heavy with mercy. Tanks like to bunch up, but that means Mercy has no escape routes when she gets dived, and without dash escapes Mercy is fuuuucked.
Triple tank actually works really well with the new Mercy. You don't need escape routes as much when you have shields and peels.
I'm liking the new Mercy. The only problem is the passive players who liked playing a hero who could just hang back & hold down a button are still playing her...badly.
New DVa. I've been saying ever since the shield buff that it needed to be nerfed. Like that change. Her rockets seem like they really suck though. There's a delay in firing them, they take too long to all fire, they don't seem to do more damage than the guns, and their AoE is so small you never get splash damage unless the targets are all on top of each other.
Mercy is ALL the bullshit in Mystery Heroes as well as TDM. Whoever gets her first gets the preserved ult charge advantage, and, well... that's all she wrote. And it makes the "too many tanks" snowballing advantage significantly easier to achieve.
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Much, much prefer the new Mercy. No unstoppable ninja rezzes where she brings back her entire damn team after they get bashed by a well-placed ult; she's now far more about preserving momentum than magically turning a complete loss into a suddenly one-sided victory. Vastly less obnoxious to face, and far more dynamic to play since she can no longer hide for massive rezzes.
Also, you can fly over and shoot Widow in her dumb face with Mercy's ult.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Took some time with D.Va 3.0. I still don't like the recharge rate of her matrix, but the rockets are amazing to apply against a group of enemies or to bust shields. Plus I finally managed to start working in the shooting-while-boosting.
I'm liking the new Mercy. The only problem is the passive players who liked playing a hero who could just hang back & hold down a button are still playing her...badly.
New DVa. I've been saying ever since the shield buff that it needed to be nerfed. Like that change. Her rockets seem like they really suck though. There's a delay in firing them, they take too long to all fire, they don't seem to do more damage than the guns, and their AoE is so small you never get splash damage unless the targets are all on top of each other.
The thing about her rockets is you can use them at the same time as her other skills. So you can fly, matrix and rocket or fly, rocket and shoot all at the same time.
It's not like it's a close match every time and we just barely win or lose, with my personal performance having a noticeable effect on the game.
Half the time my team gets the 1-2 shitty players that ruin everything, and half the time the other team gets them. Most wins I could just sit on the payload and ride it in, and most losses I can play out of my mind and make no difference. It's not fun at all.
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KasynI'm not saying I don't like our chances.She called me the master.Registered Userregular
Have played about 25 comp games since the patch.
I have never, not once seen either team win a single round if they didn't have Mercy. It's fucking nuts.
I did a TDM as Mercy this morning and got reported for "Hacking and exploiting a glitch" cause I "rezzed three people in 10 seconds".
Of course I didn't get in trouble cause all I did was Rez, popped ultimate, resized again, then rezzed again 10 seconds later. Of course Chloe (she was D.Va) accidentally enflamed one of them by innocently saying, in her cutest voice, "It's just a game."
Guess not everyone's read the patch notes. :P
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
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KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
If a Penny Arcade user donates at least $5 to my Extra-Life Page, you are entered into two(2) Blizzbucks raffles for $20 each, as well as some big Steam raffles. Be sure to include your PA name in the donation comment so I can keep track of who's who. You can also view the stream over at my Twitch channel.
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On the plus side I consistently do well when I play here. On the minus I still lose even when I get the 3-4 Gold medal card.
Also...hmmm...her Pulse Bomb is tricky and the pros make sticks look easier than they actually are.
What I usually do is teleport directly next to an opponent press q, then rewind back out. It's harder to miss if you're closer to the target it seems like.
On the plus side I consistently do well when I play here. On the minus I still lose even when I get the 3-4 Gold medal card.
Also...hmmm...her Pulse Bomb is tricky and the pros make sticks look easier than they actually are.
Nah watch pro streams. They miss enough that it makes me feel wayyy better. Pulse Bomb is the 2nd-hardest Assault ult to get value out of (Sombra being 1st), and unlike Pharah, Reaper or Soldier will never wipe a team outside of a perfect Zarya ult or a moment of insane luck.
To get value out of pulse bomb...
1 - use it all the time, if you don't have a Zarya to combo with. Tracer builds ult so fast that every second you spend not building your next ult is wasted damage, and the more you throw the more chances you have to get a double or better. The best time to use it is constantly.
2 - tanks are obviously your best targets - Hog, D.Va, Rein and Bastion are all big targets begging to be stuck. Protip: if you stick D.Va's mech at the very moment her Mech dies - that is, the 5 damage a pulse bomb does when it sticks is the 5 damage that finishes off the Meka's HP for example - it will always kill the D.Va as she pops out.
-it'll one-shot Bastion
-you have to take 100hp off Rein before the pulse bomb will kill him (1 solid clip with his armor)
-you have to take 200hp off Hog before you can kill him with it.
The bigger health pool you stick it to, the more value you've gotten out of it.
3 - missing it is easy and common enough that dropping it on any stationary target - Bastion, an aiming Widow or Hanzo, an ulting Junk in the middle of a team fight - is often worth it. It's a guaranteed instant kill that lets you empty a clip into another target before it blows - and that's better than hoping it'll stick to a moving target and maybe getting no value at all.
I'm liking the new Mercy. The only problem is the passive players who liked playing a hero who could just hang back & hold down a button are still playing her...badly.
New DVa. I've been saying ever since the shield buff that it needed to be nerfed. Like that change. Her rockets seem like they really suck though. There's a delay in firing them, they take too long to all fire, they don't seem to do more damage than the guns, and their AoE is so small you never get splash damage unless the targets are all on top of each other.
The thing about her rockets is you can use them at the same time as her other skills. So you can fly, matrix and rocket or fly, rocket and shoot all at the same time.
Oh shit, didn't even realize you could shoot the guns at the same time. That is a big deal!
It's not like it's a close match every time and we just barely win or lose, with my personal performance having a noticeable effect on the game.
Half the time my team gets the 1-2 shitty players that ruin everything, and half the time the other team gets them. Most wins I could just sit on the payload and ride it in, and most losses I can play out of my mind and make no difference. It's not fun at all.
It still beats Heroes of the Storm where two-thirds of your losses were when you had an Abathur or Gazlowe on your team.
I've been seeing duo queues of Mercy + Ana winning games by double-hitting ults to make an unkillable Mercy that passively outheals all incoming damage. It's insanely not-fun to play against.
I've been seeing duo queues of Mercy + Ana winning games by double-hitting ults to make an unkillable Mercy that passively outheals all incoming damage. It's insanely not-fun to play against.
Damage boost doesn't increase the amount Mercy heals, does it? Ana nade I guess?
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
I've been seeing duo queues of Mercy + Ana winning games by double-hitting ults to make an unkillable Mercy that passively outheals all incoming damage. It's insanely not-fun to play against.
Damage boost doesn't increase the amount Mercy heals, does it? Ana nade I guess?
Reduces incoming damage that allows her ult passive healing to outpace it.
I've been seeing duo queues of Mercy + Ana winning games by double-hitting ults to make an unkillable Mercy that passively outheals all incoming damage. It's insanely not-fun to play against.
Damage boost doesn't increase the amount Mercy heals, does it? Ana nade I guess?
Reduces incoming damage that allows her ult passive healing to outpace it.
Oh I thought Donnicton meant the Mercy could outheal the damage her team was taking.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
So I take it that the only lower-barrier healer at the moment is now Lucio, I guess?
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
If a Tracer or Hanzo or Junkrat(outside of blowing both mines and hoping for the best) can tag an airborne Mercy that well, they're probably pretty monstrous players. In actual practice that's way more credit than I would give the majority of players playing any of those heroes.
Nanoboost aside, I expect most ulting Mercies will generally stick pretty close to the ground or cover. The height is good for seeing the whole teamfight, but you're so exposed.
I guess it's like Pharah. If the reds are the type who'll actually deal with a Pharah, you're screwed. If they're like most? Free reign.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
Again, exposure doesn't matter if you aren't going to die to anything short of the entire team hitting you at once.
Yeah but Mercy being unlillable for what - 8 seconds? - is shitty value out of Nano. Better spent on any ulting Assault/Defense hero or most of the tanks.
You can get the same value via the Mercy just not making a target of herself. I get that Valkyrie+Nano=unkillable Mercy - I'll just be real surprised if it becomes the new Beyblade.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
Posts
There are some points where Zen might be better than Lucio, but yeah, at least Zen isn't Sym.
When the score card is reporting Mercies resurrecting 40-50% of the team's deaths, there's no way she's not insane right now. That's a better return than Q-res Mercy.
If your team can't manage more than 2-3 kills per minute, then you probably have other problems beyond "Mercy is rezzing people".
It does balance out later in the match, especially because d.va's nerf is an indirect buff for Ana, specifically ult combos like nanovisor with big team wipe potential that can blow through Mercy's tempo res's. Plus without a d.va constantly shutting down her healing, Ana's ought to be able to output a little more healing now. But that early match advantage is still too important.
One interesting interaction here I think is that this actually helps out tanks with CC like Orisa and especially Roadhog. Pulling an enemy out of position before you get the kill means Mercy probably can't make the tempo res, and you can keep the advantage. Plus since Mercy has no invuln and has to be close range to make the rez, CC can punish her hard if she tries to dive.
I've also seen some people suggest this is going to lead to another tank meta. If you're limited to only a couple of rez's per fight, it makes sense to make each rez the max amount of HPs. Especially on defense, rez two tanks and you've added 800-1200 HPs that the enemy team has to take out again. And the more beef the longer it takes to die, which lets you keep delaying until rez is up again. Plus tanks tend to have a lot of CC to enable team wipes, which is now much more valuable than just getting individual picks. Not convinced by it, but it's something to consider for team comps.
Of course the counter to all of this is that Mercy has had periods of universal popularity in the high-level meta before, only to decrease in popularity once players got used to countering her (or just look at Doomfist, who was a golden god for 2 weeks and is now mostly a niche pick). And New Mercy does have weaknesses. She's easier to pick off now, she can't reverse teamwipes anymore, she has to stay around the fight, she has to get right on top of a body to rez, and she has no invuln frames anymore. And with a weakened D.Va, it should be easier for quite a few DPS to rack up multikills.
I think it'll take a few weeks to really see how things are going, playing the character always develops faster than countering the character. I think the rez mechanic on its own is fine, and the early power spike that she provides gives her a unique style, so I wouldn't want to take that away, but they could probably decrease her valkyrie ult charge rate a bit more, to decrease her mid and late game power as balance for her really strong early game.
Also an argument against running tank heavy with mercy. Tanks like to bunch up, but that means Mercy has no escape routes when she gets dived, and without dash escapes Mercy is fuuuucked.
Re: "Hold to Boost" setting for DVa.
Triple tank actually works really well with the new Mercy. You don't need escape routes as much when you have shields and peels.
New DVa. I've been saying ever since the shield buff that it needed to be nerfed. Like that change. Her rockets seem like they really suck though. There's a delay in firing them, they take too long to all fire, they don't seem to do more damage than the guns, and their AoE is so small you never get splash damage unless the targets are all on top of each other.
Also, you can fly over and shoot Widow in her dumb face with Mercy's ult.
Three strikes policy coming into effect for comp. Three seasonal bans can result in a permanent competitive ban.
This is incredibly frustrating.
The thing about her rockets is you can use them at the same time as her other skills. So you can fly, matrix and rocket or fly, rocket and shoot all at the same time.
Matchmaker seems to be working for you, though! :P
Half the time my team gets the 1-2 shitty players that ruin everything, and half the time the other team gets them. Most wins I could just sit on the payload and ride it in, and most losses I can play out of my mind and make no difference. It's not fun at all.
I have never, not once seen either team win a single round if they didn't have Mercy. It's fucking nuts.
Of course I didn't get in trouble cause all I did was Rez, popped ultimate, resized again, then rezzed again 10 seconds later. Of course Chloe (she was D.Va) accidentally enflamed one of them by innocently saying, in her cutest voice, "It's just a game."
Guess not everyone's read the patch notes. :P
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
If a Penny Arcade user donates at least $5 to my Extra-Life Page, you are entered into two(2) Blizzbucks raffles for $20 each, as well as some big Steam raffles. Be sure to include your PA name in the donation comment so I can keep track of who's who. You can also view the stream over at my Twitch channel.
Would appreciate the support, and any amount helps!
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
On the plus side I consistently do well when I play here. On the minus I still lose even when I get the 3-4 Gold medal card.
Also...hmmm...her Pulse Bomb is tricky and the pros make sticks look easier than they actually are.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
Nah watch pro streams. They miss enough that it makes me feel wayyy better. Pulse Bomb is the 2nd-hardest Assault ult to get value out of (Sombra being 1st), and unlike Pharah, Reaper or Soldier will never wipe a team outside of a perfect Zarya ult or a moment of insane luck.
To get value out of pulse bomb...
1 - use it all the time, if you don't have a Zarya to combo with. Tracer builds ult so fast that every second you spend not building your next ult is wasted damage, and the more you throw the more chances you have to get a double or better. The best time to use it is constantly.
2 - tanks are obviously your best targets - Hog, D.Va, Rein and Bastion are all big targets begging to be stuck. Protip: if you stick D.Va's mech at the very moment her Mech dies - that is, the 5 damage a pulse bomb does when it sticks is the 5 damage that finishes off the Meka's HP for example - it will always kill the D.Va as she pops out.
-it'll one-shot Bastion
-you have to take 100hp off Rein before the pulse bomb will kill him (1 solid clip with his armor)
-you have to take 200hp off Hog before you can kill him with it.
The bigger health pool you stick it to, the more value you've gotten out of it.
3 - missing it is easy and common enough that dropping it on any stationary target - Bastion, an aiming Widow or Hanzo, an ulting Junk in the middle of a team fight - is often worth it. It's a guaranteed instant kill that lets you empty a clip into another target before it blows - and that's better than hoping it'll stick to a moving target and maybe getting no value at all.
Example: the first picks of this vid:
Oh shit, didn't even realize you could shoot the guns at the same time. That is a big deal!
It still beats Heroes of the Storm where two-thirds of your losses were when you had an Abathur or Gazlowe on your team.
Damage boost doesn't increase the amount Mercy heals, does it? Ana nade I guess?
Reduces incoming damage that allows her ult passive healing to outpace it.
Oh I thought Donnicton meant the Mercy could outheal the damage her team was taking.
Hmm...Mercy is still Mercy for the most part you just need better game sense. Technically she still isn't that demanding.
Burst. Tracer, Junk, Widow, Hanzo.
I guess it's like Pharah. If the reds are the type who'll actually deal with a Pharah, you're screwed. If they're like most? Free reign.
Yeah but Mercy being unlillable for what - 8 seconds? - is shitty value out of Nano. Better spent on any ulting Assault/Defense hero or most of the tanks.
You can get the same value via the Mercy just not making a target of herself. I get that Valkyrie+Nano=unkillable Mercy - I'll just be real surprised if it becomes the new Beyblade.