Mercy’s new resurrect gets another nerf on PTR

Mercy’s recent rework has been a work in progress for Blizzard. First, they gave her a new kit - instead of her standard multi-ally rez, she got access to Valkryie, a new ultimate that lets her fly and buffs all of her basic abilities. Resurrect became a one-person ability with a cooldown.

Blizzard stand by the decision to strip away her ability to get her entire team up with the press of a button. In a post on the Blizzard forums, Jeff Kaplan described her rework as “better for everyone”, but still a work in progress. While the multi-man rez was a very easy and engaging skill, it wasn’t particularly healthy for the game. “Having a primary healer who was hiding under a bridge telling people to "die on the point" was not our idea of optimal.” Kaplan wrote.

Her new ultimate, which turns Mercy into a highly mobile and powerful version of her usual self, is considered to be a success. “We think Valkyrie is a very engaging and dynamic ultimate and Mercy's role as a primary healer is very clear now. But resurrect is too powerful and needs to be toned down. We're not going to throw the baby out with the bath water on this one. We're iterating until she's in a good place. We appreciate your patience with us while we do that.”

So, what are the latest changes to Mercy? Keep in mind that this is on the Public Test Realm, and everything here is subject to cancellation or further change before it hits live.

Resurrect

Cast time increased from 0 seconds to 1.75 seconds

Mercy’s movement speed is now reduced by 75% while casting

Can now be interrupted when Mercy is knocked back, stunned, or hacked

Valkyrie

When activated, Resurrection no longer has a cast time

Developer Comment: We feel that Mercy’s recent rework has been successful, but her Resurrect ability still feels too strong and frustrating to play against. Now that it has a cast time, there is more room for enemies to counter the ability. However, casting Resurrect happens instantly when Valkyrie is active. This should make her feel powerful when she transforms on the battlefield.

While this is a pretty heavy hit to Mercy, it may be entirely justified—new Mercy has been a mainstay in pro play, and her pick and win rates have shot up for the common folk as well. Her ability to get her allies up also make modes like Team Deathmatch frustrating for people playing against her.

This is not the first nerf to Mercy’s new resurrect. At launch, Mercy could chain Valkryie to get three team members up in 30 seconds. These recent changes are part of a long-term effort to bring the combat medic back in line. While the process has caused some Overwatch fans to revolt, Kaplan is optimistic: “We think the direction she's moving in is better for everyone -- Mercy mains and non-Mercy players.”

At the end of the day, if these changes go through, players will get big rewards for focusing the enemy Mercy. Picks like Sombra or McCree may become much more valuable as a result. Heroes never die... unless you hack the medic or rain justice from above on the medic trying to get them back into the fight.