Overwatch Mercy In-Depth Guide

Overwatch Mercy In-Depth Guide by neck_crow

Hey there, everybody! I noticed a huge influx of Mercy players after her new skin came out, and I noticed a lot of them don’t really know too much of what they’re doing. My goal is to help that.

Just for some credibility, I have ~220 Hours on Mercy, and my Season High is 3960 for Season 2. Anyway, onto the Guide!

Positioning

This is the first section of this guide because of how crucial it really is. A poorly postitioned Mercy is just a huge beacon for the other team that says “kill me!”

I will note: stay alive no matter what. If that means leaving your Reinhardt or Roadhog to get away from a small danger, do it.

STAY BACK

The biggest mistake new Mercies make (or any support, for that matter) is not staying back. You are the weakest hero in terms of killing in the game, stay away from the enemy! Prevent as many lines of sight as you possibly can, especially from Heroes like:

Roadhog

McCree

Widowmaker

Hanzo

Soldier: 76

These guys have range, and even if they don’t kill you, they’ll put you in a shitty situation if they damage you, as somebody can come finish off your remaining health.

Synergies and Counters

Pick Good Friends

While it may be somewhat tempting to rush in and heal a Genji or Tracer at Critical, this breaks the golden rule of staying back. Call to group up, if they don’t, forget about them. You are hardly missing out on any healing. It’s them playing wrong, not you.

Try to stay with a Tank. One who can kill flankers and keep you alive are the best ones. Reinhardt, Zarya, Roadhog, and a Winston assuming he is playing defensively.

• Reinhardt: He is your knight in shining armor. We’ll discuss later how he counters most of your counters. He has a lot of health, and can feed you your Ultimate. He is your best friend.
• Zarya: She has the most potential to keep you in alive if you make a mistake, or get flanked.
• Roadhog: A lot of Ultimate charge from him, and you only need to Damage Boost him once his hooked enemy is ready to be shot. He also kills a lot of your Counters
• Winston: Can kill most of your counters, but will need a lot of upkeep, as he takes a lot of hits when attacking. Don’t stay with him, but keep an eye on him.

Always have an escape route. Widowmaker, Hanzo, and Bastion are long range heroes, and should be safe from most immediate threats if you’re on Defense.

Offense is a little bit more tricky. Pharah is almost required for you to be safe from flankers like Tracer and Genji if your team can’t punish them for focusing you. Here’s a few Offense Heroes you want to stick with:

• Pharah: Probably the best synergy with Mercy. She will make playing so much easier. You will go from being easy to kill to nearly impossible to kill just by having her on your team. She also benefits a lot from your Damage Boost. It will allow her to 1-shot Tracer.
• McCree: Huge damage, and you can bolster that further. Won’t change his TTK, but will give you decent Ultimate Charge.
• Soldier: 76: Decent damage, and can be a good “You scratch my back, I scratch yours” relationship. He can place his Biotic Field down to heal you when you’re low, assuming you can keep him from needing it for himself.

Don’t do your job alone, either! Have a Lúcio, Ana, or Zenyatta help you out with keeping your team alive. I’ll get into “why” later on. Just know that it’s very important.

Know Your Enemies

Mercy has no direct counters, as she should never fight unless in dire need (we’ll get into that later). However, some heroes interfere with her playstyle.

• Tracer: The most notorious counter. A very good Tracer can completely focus and kill you, all while your team is trying protecting you.

How to Avoid: Positioning. Make it hard for you to find her, and always have an escape route. She has no verticality, and very limited range. Fly to somebody higher up, and you’ll be safe for a few seconds. If there is no other option, walk backwards and shoot her. Aim for center mass, not for the head.

• Genji: He can make playing Mercy impossible. He can get you after you get to a higher teammate. He is slower than Tracer however, and most Tanks counter him.

How to Avoid: Stay with your Tanks. Reinhardt, Zarya, Winston, and Roadhog all can deal with Genji somewhat easily. Do not fight back with a Genji unless you are certain his Deflect is down. Flying to a Pharah can work if she is high up enough.

• Widowmaker: She herself is not usually a huge problem, but her Ultimate is the real issue. She can make the entire team know exactly where you are.

How to Avoid: Stay out of her line of sight at all times, or behind a Reinhardt. When she uses her Ultimate, move back further. Play like there is a Tracer trying to kill you. You should be the last target the other team has a chance to kill. This also makes her Resurrect somewhat weaker. We’ll get into that later.

• Hanzo: Same thing as Widowmaker. He has a Wallhack Arrow, and an attack that can go through walls. His arrows deal massive damage.

How to Avoid: Don’t let him see you. If you see a Sonar Arrow, move away from it.

-Roadhog: He will kill you. He will fuck up your postioning. Don’t let him.

How to Avoid: The Hooks! Don’t put him in a position where he can hook you. Ever. He will, because there is nothing you can do to fight back, and not much your teammates can do either.

• Zarya: While Zarya can have very high damage, that’s not an issue, as her range is quite low, and she has no mobility. The issue is her Ultimate. This will kill you if you are pulled in about 99% of the time.

How to Avoid: Stay out of a Graviton Surge’s Range no matter what. It can pull through walls, but this isn’t an issue unless the have a Hanzo and his Ultimate.

• Ana: She has range, which can be problematic, but her Biotic Grenade is the real issue. This stops your self healing, and the healing of your friends.

How to Avoid: Avoiding her gun is easy, just stay out of her sight, but that grenade can hit teammates. When they are unable to be healed, heal other people, and if that’s not possible, hold a damage boost on them just so they know you’re there.

• Zenyatta: Discord Orb. That’s all. Your chances of dying skyrocket as soon as that is placed on you.

How to Avoid: Don’t give him sightlines. Ever.

Abilities

Heroes Never Die!

Resurrect is arguably the best Ultimate in the game, but, it must be used correctly. In this case, the only thing to talk about are scenarios. I can’t list every scenario in the game, so a lot of learning this Ultimate comes from experience, and gut feeling.

The best way to use this ability is to hide. If you can, do it. This alone is the reason why having another Support Hero is vital, as you are out of the game until you are done hiding, but it is the most effective use of her Ultimate.

Try to save your Resurrect for at least two people. If you see two dead, and at least one other teammates besides you is alive, Ressurect. This can change a fight in your team’s favor.

Zarya, Reaper, and Reinhardt are your best Solo-Resurrection canidates. They have very gamechanging abilities. Solo Resurrect if they have their Ultimate and have a good opportunity to use it.

Ich Ben Da!

Mercy has wings. Let her be a peacock and fly! This ability has a 2 second Cooldown. Use it of you can. I reccomend you make it non-toggled (this is changed in the Control section of the menu). This gives you optimal control, and helps you follow the golden rule of “Stay Back!”

This ability immediately resets upon use of your Ultimate. Right after a Resurrect, get the fuck out. Your enemies will not be happy to her you yell “Helden sterben nicht!” after a 4-man Ultimate.

Did Someone Call a Doctor?

Mercy heals 60 HPS. This is enough to outheal some sources of damage that are not 100% accurate. Preference people in combat if you are not solo Support.

If you are solo Support, your main job is to keep that healing beam up. Heal tanks first, unless somebody is critical. You do not have to fully heal somebody once you start! Reinhardt is fine for a few seconds at 350 Health, halt on healing him, and heal your Critical DPS players first.

Powered Up!

Mercy has a unique ability to Damage Boost teammates (30% extra damage). As much as the Genji or Hanzo say “Hey Mercy, keep that Damage Boost on me!” don’t listen. Use it only when needed.

The best people to use this on are as follows:

Pharah

McCree

Soldier: 76

Zarya

Bastion

Reinhardt

Roadhog

Hanzo

Widowmaker

Notice how nobody on here is a close range Hero? That’s for a reason. Unless they are staying back, don’t damage boost them. Reaper, Genji, Tracer, Winston, and D.Va need to be up close to be effective. You are not effective up close.