Knowing how to provide and maintain support in a hero-based game like Overwatch is crucial, as you can not always rely on DPS and tanks. In Overwatch, the support heroes are crucial to sustaining the team during those important team fights, so you must master a hero or two in this role.
No matter the meta, Mercy is almost always one of the top-tier heroes. She might be less mechanically demanding than other support heroes in the game, but she is one of the best in terms of what she offers with her unique abilities. Here is a quick guide on how to master Mercy in Overwatch to clutch your competitive games.
Mercy’s Abilities
Caduceus Blaster
Mercy has two primary weapons: the Caduceus Blaster and Caduceus Staff. Let’s go over her Caduceus Blaster first. This is Mercy’s primary damage-dealing weapon, and for support, this weapon deals decent damage. It relies heavily on accuracy and can take out most squishy heroes like Tracer, Zenyatta, and others.
Caduceus Staff
For most of the game, you should use Caduceus Staff, which has two modes: healing and damage. One is intended for healing your allies fast. The other is intended for boosting their damage. A good Mercy player can shift between these two modes quickly.
Although Mercy is a pocket healer only, she has the highest sustain capacity in the game. She can fully bring back the health of any hero in just a few seconds. On the other hand, her damage-boosting capabilities are very good, too, especially if you partner with high-damage heroes like Reaper, Reinhardt, and Roadhog.
Guardian Angel
We suggest shifting between healing and damage boosting. If one of your allies is low on health, you can easily jump to their aid thanks to Mercy’s Guardian Angel ability. Be careful when using this, though, as it might put you in a tight spot if you overshoot your aim when rushing.
Resurrect
Mercy’s best ability, in our opinion, is Resurrect which can bring back any of your allies from the dead. It is a very nice ability that can turn the tides of the battle, especially if the enemy team does not notice you are reviving one of your allies during an intense team fight.
While useful for the rest of the team, Resurrect can be a double-edged sword for Mercy herself. Aside from being loud, Resurrect leaves Mercy vulnerable for a few seconds. Remember, a dead ally is better than having one of the team’s supporters die trying to revive others. Assess the situation first before you use Resurrect.
A Bird? A Plane? No, It’s Valkyrie!
Mercy’s ultimate ability is Valkyrie. Upon activation, Mercy can soar to the skies for a set period. Her healing and damage boost abilities can bounce between heroes during this phase, making it good for team fights. Be careful, as some snipers might take you out while flying.
Valkyrie is best used during team fights. Since her abilities are amped during this stage, it would be best to call for your team to huddle up. That way, they can get the most out of your healing and damage boost. We highly recommend that you reserve the ultimate ability for such scenarios.
Read: How to Master Ana in Overwatch
However, Mercy can quickly charge up her ultimate if she can provide damage boosts to her allies. If you are confident you can provide a balanced serving of offensive and healing support, you can use Valkyrie multiple times in a battle.
When To Use And When Not To Use Mercy
Ideally, you would want to use Mercy when your team is on the attacking side. Her damage boost ability can be beneficial when you are on the offensive, giving your team the extra firepower it needs.
Mercy works well with other flying heroes like Pharah and Echo in terms of ally synergy. When she and Pharah are terrorizing the skies, they are nicknamed Pharmacy. She also works well with Widowmaker, greatly increasing her damage output. With Mercy’s damage boost, Widow does not need to aim for the head of other heroes, as body shots do just fine.
