Blizzard shook support mains to the core last month when they announced that they were planning on reworking Mercy, the iconic healer-support Hero known for turning the tides of a match with a well-timed resurrection.

Well, the hero rework is officially live and ready to test drive just in time for Overwatch’s free weekend!

I’ll come out and admit that I am, and have been, a Mercy main since Season 1. This shouldn’t come as a completely surprise considering she has the highest pick-rate in Overwatch. While Lucio is my admitted favorite hero, with D.Va coming in at a close second, I found that I always fell back on Mercy for most of my competitive play. Why? Because her utility is (was?) too good to pass up.

That utility put Mercy’s gunplay in the backseat for the last 5 competitive seasons and it seems Blizzard couldn’t help but shake up the game.

While Blizzard left Mercy with a rez, it’s now single-target with a 30 second cooldown. Valkyrie, her new ultimate, now gives her the ability to fly (and actually fly), boosting her gun and giving her unlimited ammo, giving her the ability to chain her heal/power boost, and resetting the cooldown on her rez.

The rework’s goal was to revamp the way in which Mercy is played. Playing Mercy has been like playing hide-and-seek: the enemy team refuses to engage until the Mercy is dead, denying her the opportunity to use the ability that make her useful. Most competitive matches turned into a game of chicken between opposing Mercy players, trying to see who would be forced to pop the rez first.

In addition to the stagnation in game and in hero select, there has been a trend of players picking up Mercy and never playing another hero (also known as a one trick). If you get two one-trick Mercy players into a competitive queue but only one can play, what happens? Who is going to be forced to play a hero that they have little to no experience with? Ultimately, the rework is intended to clear up these issues as well as improve the overall gameplay experience.

Rest in peace to the five-man rez’s of the past, now is the time for Battle Mercy to rise.

Here is a full list of reworked items in Mercy’s kit:

Mercy:

  • Resurrect (Formerly Mercy’s Ultimate ability)
  • Ability now targets a single player, instead of every player within a radius
  • Radius reduced to 5 meters
  • Ability cooldown is 30 seconds
  • Mercy is no longer granted invulnerability while Resurrect is active

Valkyrie (New Ultimate Ability):

  • Valkyrie unleashes the full power of Mercy’s Valkyrie suit, enhancing her weapons and abilities for 20 seconds
  • Caduceus Staff: Mercy’s healing and damage boosts beams now affect all allies near the targeted teammate, and the staff’s effective range has been extended
  • Caduceus Blaster: Now has infinite ammo and increased projectile speed
  • Guardian Angel: Increased range and movement speed
  • Resurrect: Cooldown in instantly reset when Valkyrie is activated and reduced to 10s after the initial cast
  • Hover: Mercy gains the ability to fly freely, at increased movement speed
  • Regeneration (Passive): No longer interrupted when Mercy takes damage

Developer Comments: “While resurrecting downed allies is a core part of Mercy’s gameplay, the way her Ultimate functioned was causing a number of problems. It was frustrating to play against, and it incentivized Mercy players to hide away from important battles, instead of taking part in them. This version turns Resurrect into a single target ability. It’s still an important part of Mercy’s kit, but plays much better for both Mercy players and her enemies. Valkyrie, her new Ultimate, gives her the opportunity for big game-making plays and opens a number of new options for her.”

The huge patch that went live today included this rework, Junkertown going live, as well as changes to some other heroes:

D.Va:

  • Micro Missiles (New Ability)
    • D.Va fires a barrage of small rockets that detonate on impact, dealing damage in a limited radius around each explosion. These can be fired while D.Va is using any other ability or firing her Fusion Cannons
  • Defense Matrix
    • Defense Matrix’s resource meter will now deplete twice as quickly
    • Energy regeneration per second has been increased to 12.5% (formerly 10%)
  • Boosters
  • Fusion Cannons can now be fired while flying

Developer Comments: D.Va’s Defense Matrix uptime has proven to be too strong, but simply reducing it without making other changes would make her too weak (and far less interesting to play). Instead, we’re adding a new ability and giving her the ability to fire while flying. These changes give D.Va new options while maintaining Defense Matrix’s ability to shut down big enemy attacks.

Reinhardt:

  • Barrier Field
    • Holding primary fire while your shield is active now allows you to rotate the camera

Developer Comments: “This change gives Reinhardt more situational awareness while using his shield, allowing him to keep an eye on the battlefield while still protecting his team. A new “Movement Relative to Camera During Barrier Free Look” option can be found under Settings > Controls. Simply select “Reinhardt” from the dropdown menu. This allows players to change the way Reinhardt moves when Barrier Shield is active and players are controlling the third-person camera movement.”

You can find a full list of the patch notes here.

Is anyone else excited to pick up and play the new Mercy? Drop a line here or on social media to let us know!

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