For the primary three days of the Overwatch 2 beta, Mercy could not heal correctly. The sport’s hottest healer had a bug that prevented her therapeutic beam from chaining to allies throughout her Valkyrie final, squashing any hope of saving her crew throughout a busy battle. Blizzard issued a patch that mounted the flexibility immediately, however an inventory of issues stay for the help character, that are detailed on this Reddit post by consumer ihatemouthwash.
I seen Mercy’s wonky habits myself whereas enjoying the beta this week. Valkyrie is meant to extend the therapeutic charge of Mercy’s beam and unfold out throughout your crew whereas additionally permitting you to freely fly across the map. It is not unusual on your allies to die throughout it anyway, however it was exhausting to inform why Valkyrie was much less efficient than within the authentic sport. The time-to-kill in Overwatch 2 is noticeably sooner with out a second tank to show round and show you how to out, so I initially attributed it to that. Now that it is mounted, Mercy ought to not less than have the ability to sustain with the remainder of the help roster, however that is not the tip of the story.
Mercy’s signature capability, Resurrect, is inconsistent within the beta proper now too. Gamers are reporting that it will not work inside its supposed vary, its cooldown is usually reset for no purpose, and that the animation for it will probably stall out and interrupt the flexibility. The brand new, contentious scoreboard additionally does not appear to accurately replicate the quantity of harm Mercy’s beam has boosted whereas connected to a different hero. An alternate setting that permits Mercy to fly to teammates whereas therapeutic another person appears to interrupt often, too.
Outdoors of the now-fixed Valkyrie bug, none of Mercy’s issues are game-breaking on their very own. It is attainable they may very well be mounted earlier than the beta ends in Could, however they drag the character down in a beta that already appears to have it out for help gamers. A lot of the suggestions in the previous couple of days has been that enjoying a healer within the fast-paced Overwatch 2 beta is a thankless, laborious job the place you repeatedly get crushed by enemy DPS and tanks. The most well-liked thread on the official beta boards is solely titled, “Assist feels AWFUL,” with many gamers discussing how exhausting it’s to outlive within the sport’s rather more deadly 5v5 format.
“In OW2, I simply can’t heal sufficient, regardless of how properly I do,” wrote SkillNoKills within the thread whereas on the subject of Mercy. “I barely get any likelihood to wreck enhance as a result of there’s all the time extra therapeutic that must be executed.”
“Now, Mercy can’t sustain a DPS getting attacked, and it’s extra like delaying the inevitable,” they added.
Serten1tynow, a Mercy essential who performs her within the sport’s highest aggressive ranks, instructed me that the Valkyrie bug was manageable for skilled gamers as a result of they’re used to juggling the well being of their allies, however that it does not remedy the present state of the help function.
“Assist on the whole is having it tough in comparison with the remainder of the roles,” he stated.
“In most locations, Zenyatta fills Mercy’s spot higher,” he stated. “That’s why we noticed Brigitte Zenyatta [compositions] be so dominant. He has superb harm, a very good defensive ult, and Orb of Discord. Mercy has been a distinct segment decide for a really very long time, though you can also make it work in case you adapt, there are simply heroes that do it higher sadly.”
“Eradicating exhausting crowd management from the sport did not do something besides make helps really feel worse to play,” argues Reddit consumer Sushi2k. Many gamers, together with myself, have discovered that extremely cell helps, like Lucio and Moira, can safely zoom across the map and keep away from getting snared by an enemy DPS. Blizzard eliminated most types of stuns from harm characters, like Cassidy’s Flashbang and Mei’s freeze, which had been usually used to assist shield their healers. Now, healers should defend themselves. The one reply, in a whole lot of situations, is to easily kill your attacker earlier than they kill you. Injury characters all transfer sooner and tanks have elevated mobility. Helps now have regenerating well being, however it not often issues when it is really easy for enemies to leap onto you.
That leaves heroes like Mercy, who’s primarily made to heal and harm enhance allies, really feel too weak to play. Extra aggressive healers like Zenyatta and Moira, alternatively, are higher geared up to chase down eliminations whereas additionally therapeutic. It is a shift from the dwell sport, which at present favors a mix of devoted healers and harm sellers. Throughout Reddit and the boards, help gamers appear confused on whether or not they need to heal or deal harm. And with out a new hero to experiment with, they’re left struggling to make their present favourite heroes work in Overwatch 2.
if the subsequent overwatch 2 character is not a help, you help mfs want to begin protesting or one thing you guys are being abused that is unhappyApril 28, 2022
“If the subsequent Overwatch 2 character is not a help, you help mfs want to begin protesting or one thing you guys are being abused that is unhappy,” wrote skilled Overwatch participant Apply. For reference: the final help added to Overwatch was Baptiste, a healer/DPS hybrid, in early 2019.
The rationale for a beta is to provide suggestions on the sport, so it is attainable Blizzard will take this under consideration and alter therapeutic to be extra helpful quickly. The Mercy Valkyrie repair is a step towards balancing the function, however it’s clear that one thing needs to be executed on a bigger scale. Overwatch League’s 2022 season, which would be the first skilled occasion on the beta construct, begins subsequent week. Even within the fingers of the sport’s most expert gamers, the matches would possibly assist reveal why help wants some assist.
