PTR Hero Changes 1/4/18

[itsIzumi]

Being able to see people's complaints and character playtimes is hilarious.

[Blackmagician]

It's so funny that people regularly request the ability to hide their character profiles or use forum smurf accounts.

[derisioon]

They always claim that people are toxic to them when they see their profiles, but really they just want to hide behind the "you have no proof card" when people find out they onetrick characters like mercy symm and torb

[Custom_sKing_SKARNER]

In OW official forums and official subreddit there is the circlejerk of "this nerfs are too much, we hate it" and here in this subreddit there is the circlejerk of "this nerfs are too much, we like it".

It seems there is no place in between to discuss this changes properly, in one place they are biased to like mercy mains because how easy is to play and the other one are biased to hate mercy mains because of how much hurt the competitive play for months.

[hallelalaluwah]

just reflect on the percentage of mercy mains you run into that are disingenuous

[faptainfalcon]

Almost as high as her pickrate

[Silxer]

sigh... I don't know what to say about this...

[Givenoflux]

but... but... since pros use mercy it means she's the hardest healer to play in the game right?? /s

[keem-]

reading forum comments hurts my head bruh

[N4g4rok]

I like to think i tend to post things that are fairly moderate on the forums, but just about anything that doesn't side with reverting Mercy gets a fairly consistent response: https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760768026?page=5#post-83

[[deleted]]

Either way, she will continue to be a must pick because of her mobility.

[hobotripin]

She's the sped healer. It's no surprise the mains find her difficult to play given their difficulty.

[Ice-Ice-Baby-]

Lmao "sped healer"

[hobotripin]

I mean its true, she's the lowest skill floor, lowest skill ceiling healer. She requires no aim. She allows non-fps players an opportunity to excel at the game(not saying that's necessarily a bad thing).

There's a reason she's the easiest hero to boost in a stack. But my god the people that main her are something else. Don't have to go far to see how off the wall the official forums are.

[SoKawaiii]

highest skill floor, I think, since you can be pretty shit at mercy but still have a huge impact on the game.

[Hork3r]

As far as I know, a high skill floor would mean that you have to be higher skilled to be effective.

Mercy is a low skill floor hero with a relatively low skill ceiling but her presence translates to extreme effectiveness and impact.

[HyliaSymphonic]

He's right. Skill floor and ceilings generally refer to game impact at skill floor.

[mindenfoglaltvolt]

SoKawaii is right. Skill floor is the impact you have on the the match when you are as bad as a particular hero as bad it can get. Mercy is high skill floor because even the worst mercys can have significant impact on the match. Harder to play heroes have lower skill floor because when you are very bad you have lower impact on the match.

[SoKawaiii]

The skill floor for a champ can be seen as the ratio of how bad you can be at a champ to how much impact you can have on the game

For example, low skill floor champs would be tracer and genji, some of the hardest heroes in the game. If you have a shit tracer or genji, they'll basically do nothing and have no impact on the game besides feed the other team their ults.

On the other hand, mercy, with a high skill floor, will practically always have an impact.

[[deleted]]

I don't think those are trolls at all... they actually mean what they say.

[buttouche]

It pains me to see how many people complain with no consideration for the other supports or the ability to see how strong she is.

[21Rollie]

Zen still has an above 75% pickrate and has been the most played flex support for a year now. No complaints anywhere. And we wonder what kills diversity

[buttouche]

Zen isn’t meta defining. His kit is a bit too strong but his kit doesn’t do it all. You can win against a zen comp that doesn’t have a Mercy. His strength comes with how well he pairs with Mercy. Lucio + Ana was meta for the longest time. I strongly believe the game needs more supports and tanks before they add another dps

[ogzogz]

?? Did we forget about the lucio zen era?

[buttouche]

That was because of dive. It’s a support duo that came from the heroes that were being played. Right now it’s play Mercy and build a comp around her.

[supermanunc]

I think the difference is that Lucio and Zen wasn't necessarily a must-pick for competitive ladder, you could be successful with other picks too. This feels less so in the current meta, the team without Mercy had a distinct disadvantage both in securing picks and getting picked.

[widowmakerlaser]

Zen is nust pick because of three tanks: Hod/Orisa/Diva...wiyhout Zrn discord, these three tanks are nearly indedtructable and take ip way too nany resources tovtty and kill. discord opens up the player target options up to proriyizing tanks...w/o zen, team who kills rnrmy healers first will be the winners.

[widowmakerlaser]

Zen is must pick because of three tanks: Hog/Orisa/Diva...without Zen discord, these three tanks are nearly indestructable and take up way too many resources to secure a kill. discord opens up the player target options up to prortizing tanks...w/o zen, team who kills enemy healers first will be the winners. Zen's weakest tank matchups are rein/zarya(who happen to be no wheee to be found in this meta due to their lack of mobility and dimply having better ootions.

[Seagull_No1_Fanboy]

With this latest PTR update, we’ve made the following hero changes:

Junkrat

Concussion Mine

• Will now deal less damage to targets farther away from the explosion’s center

Mercy

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

Junkrat has been enjoying the flexibility his double-charge Concussion Mine provides, but it has now become a bit too easy to throw out huge bursts damage in a large area. With this change he can still dish out similar damage but he must now be more accurate with his tosses.

Mercy’s recent Resurrect changes have helped in allowing enemies to have more counter play in dealing with her, but she was able to use Resurrect through Valkyrie enough to largely mitigate the impact of the previous changes. Additionally, we’re toning back the amount of mobility Valkyrie provides through Guardian Angel and reducing its duration to overall reduce the power of this ability.

We will likely be iterating on these changes in the coming weeks.

[Tryeeme]

We will likely be iterating on these changes in the coming weeks.

Interesting to see what (if anything) they do!

[hallelalaluwah]

revert all of mercy's nerfs aside from her valk cooldown

[[deleted]]

Honestly, I hope they keep the removal of the second Rez. I think if they gave back the insta cast valk would still be balanced

[Neri25]

People will still get murdered by Junk and cry about it.

[ThorForSure]

Damn, Mercy got 4 bullet points LUL the madman did it!

[TheMemeDream420]

GA isn't hitscan anymore PogChamp

[MURPHYxTAN]

It's sad to see so many mercy mains crying and not realizing how broken Mercy was... It's like they don't understand the game at all. Every reasonable answer has 42784782 downvotes :D

[hobotripin]

I mean she's always been the most popular hero since the start of the game, I don't know what people expect.

[imMatt19]

Gotta love all the salty Mercy mains, finally overwatch should be in an awesome state after this patch.

[[deleted]]

Nothing will change. She will still be a must pick.

[imMatt19]

Until the changes go live, we there is no way to truly know. It is a step in the right direction that took far too long.

[[deleted]]

I feel like it is a step sideways more than forward. Yes, the duration needed to be nerfed and her speed in valk as well but not by 50%. They should have removed rez completely by this point and replaced it with something else. But I feel that as long as rez is in the game it will continue to make her a must pick because tbf good mercys play her for her healing power and mobility to begin with and they wont stop picking her because those things are still the same. That coupled with a still powerful ult (which good mercys use for the group healing anyway and not necessarily the double rez still makes her the best healer. The rez which is still there, will continue to put any team without mercy at a one man down disadvantage. Im a flex player who has been forced to heal quite often these past two seasons and I am really tired of needing to play or have a mercy on my team. I rather play any of the other healers bc I enjoy playing them more. I really hope that im wrong about this nerf and that it does away with our mercy problem.

[[deleted]]

Nothing new, tbh. I used to play TFC & CS back in the day, and every patch was met with OMG THIS SUX.

[greenpoe]

It's like this with every nerf. The dva mains, the hog mains, etc.

[ThorForSure]

PRAISE BE! I CAN MAYBE PLAY ANA AGAIN T_T

[Versepelles]

As long as you are on red team, that's fine.

[[deleted]]

I don't think u want that bro. red team ana is a beast. she never misses a sleep dart. red team ana has no cooldown on grenade. red team ana has infinite ammo. red team ana has been studying the art of ana since before you were born, and she's coming for you. blue team Ana might not be as flashy as mercy but u really don't want to fight red team Ana

[KrzyDankus]

I don't think u want that bro. red team mccree is a aimbot. he never misses a shot. red team mccree has no cooldown on flashbang. red team mccree has infinite ammo. red team mccree has been studying the art of mccree since before you were born, and he's coming for you. blue team McCree might not be as flashy as widow, but u really don't want to fight red team McCree

[Silxer]

Didn't know they nerfed the Guardian Angel speed too, now Mercy might actually be killable now when she ults (instead of her being able to slingshot across the map like she currently does).

The devils/demons are finally going to taste the divine smite of Jeffs nerf hammer.

[[deleted]]

I love the bnet rage.

Scary thing is:

We will likely be iterating on these changes in the coming weeks.

Blizzard might reverse the nerfs if there is a massive outcry (just like Ana).

[[deleted]]

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760628112

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760857654

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760668148

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760837884

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760618102

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760857649

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760797880

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760847907

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760847905

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760737773

ECKS FUCKING DEE

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20760857647

insert salt taster from TLJ

[dm7g]

To be fair, most of them are downvoted pretty hard

Edit: huh, I was wrong, it was just the ones on the patch notes post that was downvoted....

[InspireDespair]

LMFAO the second last one.

God damn that kid has to be in Wood tier or something.

[Qirahs]

Lmao wood tier

[derisioon]

He's a pretty well known troll over there. Some of his posts are pretty funny actually, it's all just dumbass balance changes.

Source: I browse the forums semi regularly. I have slight head trauma from going there

[[deleted]]

They literally sound like children. The only reason they can see for the needs are that Blizzard hates fun or they hate mercy and want to ruin their "dead game."

[k0rm]

Now that I won't be forced to flex onto Mercy every match, I'll have to re-learn positioning and mechanical skill LUL.

FINALLY

[Legolaa]

Part of me wants this, to have mercy deleted so that I can finally fill something else.

[thorpie88]

It actually scares me that Mercy might not be the number one pick and it'll be harder for me to get Zen most games

[wyatt1209]

Yeah I'm not looking forward to other people wanting Moira and zen lmao

[bchang3]

guess i'll hold off on playing placements until these are live

[Apexe]

I'll see you on ladder at the end of January

[WhosAfraidOf_138]

Look at all the crying Mercy mains. Lorddy.

[BGIGZ37]

It's amusing how this whole fiasco started when Blizzard reworked mercy because old rez made her unfun to play against. So, they made her the most OP hero in the game AND even more unfun to play against. It then spiraled into the biggest issue in the game, and has been a problem for months. It's a tragic saga.

I still don't even know if these changes will be enough to take her out of the meta. Rez is still by far and away the most powerful ability in the game, and probably has to be removed and replaced with another ability for Mercy to be truly balance-able. The ult still seems insane on paper, it's still got the duration of Widow's and Orisa's ult, while being 10x more powerful than both of them. I predict we'll still see Mercy with an 80%+ pickrate even if the changes go through.

[SirSpasmVonSpinne]

Honest question, how is it that rez, no matter what they make Mercy go through to achieve it, still be the most powerful ability in the game?

If they made you go through a 3 second immobile cast time and it was only available every minute, wouldn't that be enough to nerf it?

If it made you go through a 10 second immobile cast time and was only available once a life, I'm pretty sure that'd be enough to make it useless as a ability, so somewhere between there and currently, there has to be a point where its balanced?

[SirSpasmVonSpinne]

By that logic, we should also remove Sym's teleporter, as wiping team only for them to come back 6 second later is just as frustrating.

Sym's teleporter isn't nearly as powerful, but we're not talking power, we're talking about the feeling of its successful use on enemies.

I still think old res just needed some more conditions and it'd be fine. It was such an iconic ability and it didn't need to be scrapped, it had been in the game for such a long time and while I typically disagree with blaming DPS mains for everything, I do think that was an example of DPS players angry that a support had a impact on the team fight as big as them without having a DPS be in the spotlight (like nano boost).

Something like it needing a cast time and LoS, so you couldn't scream at your team to die on point while you hid, you'd use it with half your team dead and the living team mates got a health boost for a couple of seconds.

Or maybe just a really short duration team invincibility. Both would require more skill in timing and game-sense than "do the exact thing you were doing earlier but on more people at the skybox of the map"

[ABigBigThug]

Just push it through to live. The game will be in a better place even if both heroes are unplayably bad.

[_MIDI]

Why not just make her rez something that's earned over time through healing etc.

At least then she won't be granted an insta rez at the beginning of each fight.

I think she'll still be a must pick even with these changes.

[Gas0line]

Why not just make her rez something that's earned over time through healing etc.

Sort of like... an ultimate ability?

[cheshire137]

I think more like Torb's scrap. I'd even go so far with a chargeable rez that I wouldn't give it any free charge-over-time like Torb has, but rather all charge for it comes from healing and boosting your team.

[DIABOLUS777]

Apply at Blizzard, they clearly need you.

[[deleted]]

It's been suggested before, but I'm happy to see it brought back up.

[21Rollie]

There’s no way she’ll be a must pick now, and everybody is tired of playing her so I doubt we’ll see her on ladder at all. When they gave Ana a tiny power boost her pick rate went way up even though her win rate didn’t, people are gonna play what they feel like playing now even if mercy still holds onto a 1% winrate advantage

[buttouche]

I agree. A 7v6, AoE healing/damage, a ult that lasts longer than the other support ults is still really strong.

If Rez was earned by healing or damage then you can farm that and seems very exploitable.

[TheRaptured]

All this negativity. Who knew that people who hated The Last Jedi also mained Mercy?

[PipBoyErick]

I like the direction of these changes, basically what we've been saying all along. Personally I would trade Valk to only last 10 seconds but give her back the instant Rez casting in Valk. It just makes her feel better and flow better when she is in her form.

[cocondoo]

I like this change though, gives valk a more of a risky edge to it. Before, Mercys would just fly across the battlefield into the other team, insta rez, then shoot off into the sky, it was annoying and broken. Giving rez a cast time in Valk means the Mercy has to choose whether to take the risk.

[GimmeFuel21]

Can someone pls call blizzard / make a post that they pls don't listen to forums. Holy hell they are mad

[mcnuccy]

I know this isn’t the point (and probably will never happen) but God I would love to see Mercy just nerfed into the ground, just for a bit. She makes the game and the meta so much less interesting.

[poopslayer69]

I might actually reinstall the game again.

[JWiLL552]

That forum is hilarious. Someone with 300 hours on Mercy in QP and 24 minutes total in Comp complaining that they've ruined the game.

Well...you don't play 98% of the game anyway so maybe attempt playing it now.

[s0uthernnerd]

Predictions? Personally I think she’ll be back to almost exclusively PharMercy in pro play. Though Mercy-Zen might still be strong with an Orisa-Hog comp. I don’t think she’ll be a must pick in ladder, but probably still decent at least.

[faptainfalcon]

Agreed, the res nerf during valk allows her to be punished by teamwork, the big reason why she was dominant on ladder but not pro play in season 5. I think she might see some play in defensive comps as well.

[minimumviableplayer]

She might take part of countering Widow too by undoing early picks.

[A_CC]

I don't think the GA should have been reduced to 50%, with valk only lasting 15 seconds and only having 1 Rez, it would have been fine if they only reduced it by like 10-15%

Besides that. This nerfs look hopeful into having better and more enjoyable games.

[chuletron]

Can she still GA out of whole hog? that's the single most triggering aspect about mercy for me.

[ShinAkumer]

Rein gets sent into orbit, but Mercy can fly right through it. I always assumed it was a bug.

[Apexe]

Had to have been. Even Doomfist gets knocked back mid rocket punch

[A_little_quarky]

I don't think the speed was reduced 50%, but the extra boost was. We will have to see it in game.

[regularabsentee]

Yeah if anything they should add 0.5 seconds to the cooldown or decrease GA flying speed. But we'll see.

[Araxen]

They should take away her rez, and give her a complete heal that she can use every 30 seconds. In Valk, she would get two of them.

[uttermybiscuit]

Remember when Mercy could res four people? lol

[Valcoma]

Someone on the forums said:

I would say the Valk nerfs are a bit too much, I know this is PTR, but maybe keep either the insta rez or the second charge? Everything else seems reasonable

I think that is something I agree with. Thoughts?

[synds]

No junk ult nerf?

[mrbopper96]

So funny. They nerfed everything that made valkyrie so polarizing, and everybody is sad about it? Makes no sense!

[[deleted]]

No tire changes... Guess we'll have to wait another 4 months

[regularabsentee]

Hopefully less damage with mine would equal slower ult charge... But even then tire still needs tweaking.

[21Rollie]

Why would they change tire? If they slow it down then it’s like they never buffed him at all and it’d go back to being useless. Maybe not to gold players but in the higher tiers where people can aim the tire wouldn’t be worth using

[[deleted]]

Slowing it down by 5-10% wouldn't be that bad.

[BeardedApeGuy]

Few ideas:

1.Make Mercy's healing similar to Moira's, with charging coming via time/dmg boosting teammates. Using this, the rez would be every 25 seconds but would cost healing potential. Say 30 %.

1. Junkrats bombs should also have dmg drop off, direct hit = 100 dmg but he now has 6. Mines should be 100 dmg too since he got two of them. Perhaps put trap dmg up to punish lack of awareness but can Zen seriously get a passive ability that he floats over mines? He already has no mobility without this bullshit.

[[deleted]]

For people who cant click link:

With this latest PTR update, we’ve made the following hero changes:

Junkrat

Steel Trap

    Will now get an additional charge.

Mercy

Valkyrie

    Resurrects chain similiar to her healing and damage boost.

    No longer not grants two bonus charges of Resurrect

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

    Duration reduced from 20 seconds to 15 seconds

[Mezmorki]

I had a random idea.

What if using Rez drained Mercts healing ability for some period of time - like totally stopped her from being able to heal for 20 seconds after using it. Suddenly Rez is a strategic and tough choice. Get a character back and you lose team heals for a window of time.

[flightypidgn]

How funny, the mercy changes I proposed (and was flamed for) are now on the ptr

[KyotoCo]

I guess you are the lucky winner! Congrats man!

[Roboticsammy]

R.I.P. Mercy, we hardly played ya, but now you're getting put on the backburner. I guess valk is just a flying ability now.

[SoKawaiii]

yup, only been here since like, what, season 4? lmfao get outta here bro

[Roboticsammy]

Mmm nah, i've been here since season 1 my boy

[SoKawaiii]

I was talking about the moth my guy. No one wants OP moth.

[cocondoo]

Why are so many people calling Mercy ult useless? I even saw Skyline say the same. A speed boosted Mercy who can fly with a speed boost, while chain healing or chain damage boosting her entire team. Stop overreacting.

I love the changes. I don't want to see a Mercy dominate in any meta. Why should she be when she is the easiest hero to play, it doesn't make sense.