As a flex player with almost 500 hours on Mercy – a large majority of my time in the support role – I've seen Monitoring hero traversed many highs and lows since 2016. She was a must Monitorings early days due to her ability to revive an entire team with her Ultimate, with even unskilled Mercy players able to find value hiding in a corner and waiting for the rest of the team to wipe out. Obviously, a hero who practically obligingly goes against Monitorings design philosophy, so the team rez was removed in favor of Valkyrie Ultimate and single target rez, which has been the norm for over eight years now. It was the end of Mercy's first golden age, but it wasn't her last.
While Battle Mercys, pockets of a skilled DPS duo, and talented move users have managed to make Mercy work in the time since this era ended, she wasn't truly OP again until the release of Monitorings Stadium mode. Here she shined in the first few weeks of the mod's life due to the since-removed Crepuscular Circle ability. While it was considered broken, much like her old Ultimate, Mercy's power grid had a blast with this special power. With it equipped, they could use their gun and heal at the same time while in Valkyrie. When paired with the five seconds of Valkyrie from resurrections granted by Renaissance, Mercy mains were constantly in a fight in a way they had never been, making her an active character instead of a passive one. Unfortunately, after complaints, this ability was removed in season 18, ending Mercy's second golden era. And while it hasn't been as much fun playing her since then, I'm excited about the potential of Mercy's next golden era, which has a chance to begin whenever the mid-season update arrives.
Monitorings midseason patch for Season 1 currently lacks a release date. However, it is expected either on March 10 with NieR collab or March 17 with the conclusion of Overwatch vs. The Talon Event.
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Why the Midseason Patch for Overwatch Season 1 is a Game Changer for Mercy
The absolute worst case scenario for Mercy is that she gets a small but meaningful boost to her vitality with the mid-season patch. This is because Blizzard has confirmed that one of the most requested Mercy changes – adding her Flash Heal perk to her base kit – will happen when the mid-season update arrives. Whenever a Mercy rework is discussed, this is often the first thing players mention as a step worth taking, as Flash Heal is very useful but far from overpowered.
For anyone unfamiliar with what Flash Heal does, it's a simple bit of burst healing from her staff. Activated by pressing the square button on PlayStation, and the corresponding button on other platforms, Flash Heal targets instantly receive a 150 HP beam, which can be a game changer for squishy targets and can help maintain tanks focused by the opposing team. While it initially used a resurrection charge, Blizzard realized that this made the ability far too weak, and it gained an independent charge later because of it. But while this tweak made it a solid Tier 3 Perk pick for Mercy, her kit is still so simple that it always seemed like a logical next step, as it would give her players a bit more to do while helping her compete more with supports that can do so much, like Kiriko.
Fortunately, Blizzard has heard those requests, and while Flash Heal becoming part of Mercy's base kit doesn't immediately make her overpowered again, it does open the door to that possibility for a reason. Since Flash Heal is currently a Major Perk, making it part of Mercy's base ability pool means she needs a new Major Perk to replace it. And with the necessary addition, the potential of the new Major Perk will be extremely strong, which, combined with Flash Heal, can make Mercy feel the best she has in a long, long time.
Lifeweaver, another fighting support, gets a similar midseason buff. His Life Grip will now clear extended targets by default, making his signature ability a little more useful without the need for Perks to boost it.
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Hopefully Mercy's next golden era is her longest yet
While Mercy's Reign of Terror (which briefly reappeared in Monitoring Classic) was memorable, it didn't last long, as the classic Rez was removed about 15 months after launch. Her stadium dominance was even shorter, lasting about five months. Whenever Mercy feels powerful again, I'd love to see it be a change that sticks. Don't get me wrong, the old style of riots had to go, even if they were fun. And while I think Crepuscular Circle could have been nerfed instead of outright removal, I understand why it was unpopular with non-Mercy players. Still, I'd love to see an era where Mercy was just very, very good without being broken. Kiriko has basically been meta since her release, so it's frustrating to see what's meant to be Monitorings most accessible character goes through whiplash periods where she feels either incredibly funny/affecting or boring/weak.
As for what Mercy's new Major Perk might be, there are many options, with just a few:
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A Flash Damage Boost like Flash Heal, where Mercy can pick a target and hit them with a beam that has the effects of a Damage Boost for five seconds, but doesn't require her to hold the beam on the target. That way, she can effectively do two full damage boosts at a time, but sporadically, since Flash Boost would have a decently long cooldown.
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A buff to Valkyrie Ultimate that makes Mercy's chained beam heal and damage increase at the same time, instantly making it an Ult to fear.
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One of her Stadium powers, like Triage Unit, which sees players boost healing on low health targets through Guardian Angel.
In the end, whatever it is, the idea of Mercy getting a potentially huge new major ability alongside the Flash Heal addition is exciting to me, and certainly to other Mercy networks as well. Sure, it's cool that we're getting another Mercy skin included NieR collab, but cosmetics can only go so far. Making Mercy's core game loop more satisfying is something that's been a long time coming, and it's finally happening. As previously mentioned, the worst case scenario is that Major Perk disappoints and Mercy goes from a C-tier healer to a viable B-tier option due to Flash Heal. And at best? Mercy's new major Perk is strong enough when used in combination with Flash Heal that she enters a golden era like team rez or Crepuscular Circle. In a perfect world, Mercy will finally feel good to play without being a pain to play against, and hopefully that's what happens when the mid-season update arrives.
- Released
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August 10, 2023
- ESRB
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Teen/Violence, Blood, Mild Language, Tobacco Use, User Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
