In a new developer update video released today, Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan revealed that radical changes are being made to Mercy. Kaplan even acknowledges just how big the changes are by saying up front that fans are going to be shocked.
Resurrect is no longer Mercy’s ultimate ability and instead has become her second common ability. Resurrect will no longer be able to target multiple teammates either and it will have a significant cooldown. What this means is that Mercy can now essentially revive one teammate at a time, making the choice of who gets to have a second chance at life all the more important.
With Resurrect moved to a common ability, Mercy’s new ultimate, Valkyrie sounds terrific. When a player triggers Valkyrie, Mercy is able to fly and Kaplan stressed that she can really fly, unlike Pharah’s boosters.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”She can fly, and I don’t mean that she can Pharah-boost in the air briefly, I mean she can fly. And it’s super fun. You have complete control of your character. After all, Mercy has those wings we might as well put them to real use. I mean, Guardian Angel’s pretty good, but imagine flying with Mercy, how much fun it could be.” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””][/perfectpullquote]
Flying isn’t the only new trick in Mercy’s bag though. On triggering Valkyrie, all of Mercy’s other abilities will receive a boost. Resurrect will have a shorter cooldown, her blaster will fire faster and deal more damage and Guardian Angel will have a much-extended range. Finally, her damage boost and healing streams will have a much farther reach and target multiple teammates at the same time.
Check out Valkyrie in-action below.
The changes to Mercy as specified in the patch notes are as follows;
Valkyrie (New Ultimate Ability)
Valkyrie unleashes the full power of Mercy’s Valkyrie Suit, enhancing her weapons and abilities for 20 seconds:
- Caduceus Staff: Mercy’s healing and damage boost beams now affect all allies near the targeted teammate, and the staff’s effective range has been extended
- Caduceus Blaster: Granted infinite ammo, while simultaneously increasing damage and fire rate
- Guardian Angel: Increased range and movement speed
- Resurrect: Cooldown is instantly reset when Valkyrie is activated and reduced to 10s after the initial cast
- Hover: Mercy gains the ability to fly freely, at increased movement speed
- Regeneration (Passive): No longer interrupted when Mercy takes damage
The changes to Mercy aren’t fixed as Kaplan has stated the team will be experimenting with different types of Resurrect and how Mercy’s abilities synergise.
I can’t wait to get my hands on the new and improved ‘Battle Mercy’ and hopefully the changes hit the live servers shortly.
Overwatch is available for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
