The healing hero is one of the main focal points of the new Overwatch PTR patch, which was put live by Blizzard earlier today.
The biggest change has been made to Mercy, whose ultimate move now doesn’t include being able to resurrect people.
In the development comment, Blizzard explains: “While resurrecting downed allies is a core part of Mercy’s gameplay, the way her Ultimate functioned was causing a number of problems.
“It was frustrating to play against, and it incentivized Mercy players to hide away from important battles, instead of taking part in them. This version turns Resurrect into a single target ability.
“It’s still an important part of Mercy’s kit, but plays much better for both Mercy players and her enemies.
“Valkyrie, her new Ultimate, gives her the opportunity to make big game-making plays and opens a number of new options for her.”
As mentioned above, Resurrect is now one of Mercy’s normal abilities, although it only targets one player, cools down in 30 seconds and no longer makes her invulnerable.
It’s a massive gamechanger for Mercy mains and it’s unclear just how big a tweak it will prove if implemented before Blizzcon.
Mercy’s new Ult, Valkyrie, now unleashes the full power of Mercy’s Valkyrie Suit, enhancing her weapons and abilities for 20 seconds.
There were also plenty of other changes made to the game in the latest Overwatch PTR patch, information on which can be found below, as well as new developer update video from game director, Jeff Kaplan.
HERO UPDATES:
Mercy
- Resurrect (formerly Mercy’s Ultimate ability)
- Ability now targets a single player, instead of every player within a radius
- Radius reduced to 5 meters
- Ability cooldown is 30 seconds
- Mercy is no longer granted invulnerability while Resurrect is active
- 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
D.Va
- Micro Missiles (New Ability)
- D.Va fires a barrage of small rockets that detonate on impact, dealing damage in a limited radius around each explosion. These can be fired while D.Va is using any other ability or firing her Fusion Cannons
- Defense Matrix
- Defense Matrix’s resource meter will now deplete twice as quickly
- Boosters
- Fusion Cannons can now be fired while flying
Developer Comments: D.Va’s Defense Matrix uptime has proven to be too strong, but simply reducing it without making other changes would make her too weak (and far less interesting to play). Instead, we’re adding a new ability, and giving her the ability to fire while flying. These changes give D.Va a lot of new options while maintaining Defense Matrix’s ability to shut down big enemy attacks.
Reinhardt
- Barrier Field
- Holding primary fire while your shield is active now allows you to rotate the camera
Developer Comments: This change gives Reinhardt more situational awareness while using his shield, allowing him to keep an eye on the battlefield while still protecting his team.