Overwatch's Jeff Kaplan today outlined a slate of big changes coming to Mercy. The primary healer of the game is getting a significant overhaul on the newest PTR. Here's what's happening:
First and foremost, Mercy's ultimate ability is changing. Resurrect is no longer Mercy's ult—it's now a regular ability that can be used without ult charge. If this sounds incredibly powerful, don't worry, Resurrect itself is changing some too. Res is now a single-target ability with a radius of 5 meters and a 30 second cooldown.
With Resurrect changing, Mercy now has a new ult: Valkyrie, a 20-second ability that enhances all of Mercy abilities. She can fly, her healing and boost beams link to other teammates, and their range is extended, she has unlimited ammo, shoots faster, and hits harder, Guardian Angel has extended range, she regens health while taking damage, and the cooldown of Resurrect is immediately reset, and reduced to 10 seconds for the duration of Valkyrie.
In other words, Super Mercy. Here's a gif of what that looks like on the PTR:
"While resurrecting downed allies is a core part of Mercy’s gameplay, the way her Ultimate functioned was causing a number of problems," read the developer notes. "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 to make big game-making plays and opens a number of new options for her."
These changes, along with some updates to D.Va that we discussed earlier this week, are now available for testing on the Overwatch PTR. As always, balance updates are subject to change.
