The Mercy and Junkrat nerfs are now live (update)

Update: As of Jan. 30, the patch containing these nerfs - along with a couple of minor bug fixes - is now live. Mercy and Junkrat have officially been nerfed. There may be a slight delay before these changes are picked up in the Overwatch League.

Yesterday’s patch brought two much anticipated additions to the game: the new map, Blizzard World, and the core cosmetics update. While most of the Overwatch fanbase are happy with their new highlight intros and snazzy new skins, a lot of players are looking yearningly at changes on the PTR to Mercy and Junkrat.

Right now, Mercy’s Valkyrie is majorly hit on the PTR. The following changes are currently being tested:

Valkyrie

No longer makes Resurrect instant

No longer grants a bonus charge of Resurrect

The speed boost that Guardian Angel receives has been decreased by 50%

Duration reduced from 20 seconds to 15 seconds

Needless to say, these nerfs seriously shift Mercy’s power and would leave room for other heroes to step up in her place. Junkrat also has nerfs pending, making his Concussive Mine deal less damage unless accurately thrown.

Mercy’s nerfs post-rework have been a controversial topic, and this most recent round of nerfs have been considered overkill by Mercy fans. Higher tier players and Overwatch League aficionados, however, have claimed these changes will lead to a healthier support ecosystem.

These changes are nowhere to be seen in the latest patch, however, which suggests they may need more time to be tested. As always, changes on the PTR are never final until they’re pushed to live. For now, Mercy players and Junkrat fans can spam their main all they like without having to worry about slow rezzes and imprecise mines.