The community around the Overwatch hero Mercy is dissatisfied. They demand significant changes from Blizzard, preferably another rework.
It is one of those stories where there seems to be no end in sight. In Overwatch, balance is always shifting and a hero who is optimal today can be labeled as “useless” in the next patch.
Especially Mercy has been a major point of contention for several years now and many players are again demanding: Mercy needs another rework.
Nerfs Without End
After the major rework of Mercy, the healer has had to endure many nerfs in succession. While players agree that numerous adjustments were necessary, they feel that the nerfs have gone too far and have left only an “empty shell” of Mercy.
The nerfs included:
- A reduction in her damage
- Shorter duration of Valkyrie
- Less healing during Valkyrie
- Increased cooldown for resurrection
- Less healing from the Caduceus Staff
Mercy Doesn’t Feel “Worthwhile”
The biggest criticism is that it simply doesn’t feel good to play Mercy in her current state. She has a low skill ceiling and while playing her, it feels like you could help the team better with another healer.
After her numerous nerfs, Mercy no longer has any significant feature. Her “single target heal” is easily outshone by Ana and resurrections only succeed in the rarest cases.
Her ultimate, Valkyrie, has lost almost all usefulness and often only makes Mercy an easier target in the sky, making players frequently save it and never use it. Often it is just a gimmick to fly around in the sky with little benefit.
The Numbers Speak Against Mercy
A look at the Overbuff site, which analyzes hundreds of thousands of games to create statistics about Overwatch, reinforces the players’ criticism. Mercy ranks 4th worst in win rate across all ranks at 48.73% (only behind McCree, Roadhog, and Sombra).
Mercy’s “On Fire” value is lower than that of all other characters; she is only classified as on fire 1.92% of the time.
Last Resort: Another Rework?
Many “Mercy mains” now believe that Mercy cannot be balanced satisfactorily in her current state.
The only solution, in their view, is another rework possibly with new abilities that are more interactive and exciting. Many state in frustration that they will play “Ana until then because she is simply better in everything”.
How do you currently perceive Mercy in Overwatch? Is she a good, well-balanced character? Or does she urgently need a revision to be playable again?
