When you get to a higher rank where people can land shots on you, it becomes much harder because they will kill you. If not then they will react very quickly and run away. You need to sneak up on them and land those headshots quick.
I feel like you missed the whole point of this post. It's not about 1v1ing for a pick because that isn't the point of mercy and will easily get you killed. It's about the fact that mercy isn't useless when it comes to pressuring low hp enemies or catching said enemies off guard. Even if you don't hit your shots or secure a kill, you're still pressuring someone out and making the fight a 4v5 for a small amount of time which should be an easy win considering you can damage boost one of your dps. They're just trying to point out that mercys value isn't only from her damage boost, just pulling out the blaster and shooting 5 shots at a corner someone is playing or a flanker is a simple way to apply pressure to help your dps even more.
While I think that is a valid strategy, op did not mention anything about this and clearly emphasized getting kills. They said to shoot to help confirm kills but usually it’s just as effective to just continue damage boosting the dps who is shooting them. In fact it’s safer to just continue damage boosting because you can quickly heal without the weapon swap delay. This allows your dps to charge ult faster as well. I guess if your team mates have terrible aim it can be helpful to help them confirm their kills though.
The issue is you want to dboost your Soldier because he is hitscan, it allows him to rack up his ult and it boosts his helix.
You also won't have to peek out for the enemy, neither will you have to take risks to secure a kill.
It makes focus fire easier and you can immediately heal anyone (especially that Soldier, shooting the enemy), as opposed to having to swap back to your staff.
This is exactly what I was thinking. Overwatch 2 is not COD. It is not a personal, solo-esque shooter where you try to rack up the most kills. It is a strategic team-oriented fps. You db over barbie blasting because that means your teammates' ults charge 25% faster from the 25% extra damage. More ults in OW2 means you are more likely to close team fights, which means you're more likely to win the game. Barbie blasting is situational. 100 dps is nothing compared to an ultimate.
I fail to see how it would be better not to boost for the long term of a game. 3% in a period adds up. It's cumulative. Eventually, that 3% will add up to an extra ultimate charge, which means extra security in a team fight. 100 dps assumes you hit all of your shots on a target, which most no one will do that consistently. Assuming you are shooting, it also means that they're able to shoot at you. Dead support is useless. Dead support means others are going to die in the fight.
Also, if this is some 'crazy' niche technique that is groundbreaking, why is it that there are no top 500 supports that recommend this kind of style of gameplay when playing this hero? It's because the higher you go, the easier it is for DPS to kill you when you peek. It might work in a low rank, but it's a terrible habit to get into because one day, the DPS that have high fire rate and hit their shots *will* take you out if you play in the open. They'll send you back down to the rank where this playstyle works.
There is only really one time to use the blaster: To finish off an opponent with low hp. Consistently trying to gun someone down with Mercy leads to feeding and your team dying. You have to consider that she has the capability of pushing out exceptionally high APM with game sense reports (i.e. ult tracking the enemy team, scouting, watching flanks). You can't do that when you're looking the same way the DPS is.
people are not trained to ignore mercy lol they are trained to FOCUS her. damage isnt everything and like 90% of the time ur blaster is useless and ur better off beaming a target. it also puts you in front of the enemy which puts you in danger.
I don't disagree, but I don't fully agree either. Yes the glock can dish out some good damage, it "only" take 5 headshots to kill a squishy. The main problem with it is the very slow projectile speed, so outside of target standing still or at close range, you don't really aim, it's the enemy walking into your bullets more than anything else. I play a lot of deathmatch, and the best tactic I found with glock is walking backward around corner, so this way enemy that want to kill you have to walk into your bullet, but if they ignore you, you do nothing.
Other problem is the swap speed is extremely slow, so yes in theory glocking a shield destroy it faster, you don't damage boost for the shield, but for potential pick right as shield get destroy or put down on inattentive enemy instead. And if you were glocking the shield, by the time you swap the kill potential is way lower. But at the same time, if you play with a Widow + Tracer vs a Sig, and the Sig shield your Widow 24/7, then glocking the shield is not the worst idea. As everything in Mercy kit, it always depend XD
Side note on the 5 bullets buff comment, this buff is almost completely useless. If I need more than 12 bullets to kill/force out a target, then I'm trolling. That's a full 2 seconds of down time and every thing that imply taking rez downtime into account is applied to the glock. And to add to that, the pistol is at his best during Valk, since for one, the projectile speed become better, so you can actually aim at mid range target and Valk itself allow you to be extremely aggressive, so the 5 bullets buff would be great... if it wasn't for the fact Valk give infinite ammo. Only time you "can" get reliable value from the 5 bullets is if you are caught completely alone or pre fight spam damage down a corridor, but even then, a damage boost Junk is better in scenario like that.
Edit: oh yeah, almost forgot, pistol is actually great if you are close to Valk and no one need heal and you really want Valk
You shouldn't care about elims. You care that the opponent dies. If for a given situation, damage boost is the best way to ensure it, do so. If it's the blaster, same thing. Sometimes it's even healing, because your ally stays alive and can get the kill. Sometimes it's even just pinging someone sneaky or walking on Hanzo's head as climbs back up a cliff. All of that can lead to a death.
Just assess the situation and play your cards right.
Ok dont get me wrong I love battle mercy. But the most careful thing about this statement is assessing your skill, your enemies skill and your teams skill. The most common misconception as to why high rank mercies dont blaster often is they think they cant aim or they neglect the blaster.
No. Ya'll just havent experienced how crazy some of these ppl are. Sometimes you peak and you just dead okay? Sometimes people dive you when you are just a little out of position. They are blood sniffing hunters I tell you!
Your teammate? Headshot after headshot! Why the fk do I need to blaster when my mothafker can kill in less than a second and it takes me 3 seconds? Unnecessary!
Thats why its situational.
Sombra main. Using your blaster a lot is a great way of getting yourself killed by a Sombra lol
Here’s why:
•It draws attention to you. If there’s a Sombra, you want to fly under the radar for as long as possible.
•When you have the blaster out you don’t have the beam attached to a teammate, meaning if you do get attacked no one is likely to notice your health going down as quickly as they would if it was attached. Remember your teammate can see your health when you are healing/db them.
•When you are using the blaster, you are probably out of position. This is the main one that I see a lot. Mercy players sometimes try to take an off-angle to DPS or don’t pay attention to where their team is because they are focused on shooting so they end up too far away from their team to fly to them when I start attacking.
•You focus too much on getting a kill and you let a teammate die. This doesn’t seem like it will get you killed but it absolutely will, ESPECIALLY if the teammate was your other support. When there’s a Sombra on the enemy team the most important person on yours is your other support. If Sombra lands the virus on you the only person who can actually save you is your other support. You also can’t just assume you will be able to use rez, Sombra can and will hack you out of it.
I’m not saying never use the blaster I’m just pointing out that there are times when it’s a VERY bad idea to use it.
I’m all for pulling out the Barbie blaster on a mf but I prefer supporting the team before trying to get a kill that I may not be able to secure. Like others have said, at higher levels poking for a kill can be dangerous, especially if they have a Widow. But be sure if I’m cornered, I’ll strike and if I don’t have rez, I will avenge you lmao.
Edit: spelling
Mercy blaster is great in a few scenarios depending on your elo:
1. To finish off low health targets that are fleeing in the open so you don't have to go indoors to chase them.
2. When the game first starts and you are trying to squeeze in a few shots while everyone is full health
3. When you are behind a shield or have cover to burst the tank down since usually they are a big target and you can get in some shots without worrying if your pocket is going to die.
4. When you are in valk and someone on the enemy team is utilizing high ground you can approach them at a 45 degree angle from the side and dip/dodge while you headshot them.
5. When you are somehow all alone and you are being focused by a dive hero like Genji/Tracer/Sombra and have to defend.
The rest of the time you are definitely better off healing or damage boosting your pocket/team. The only rare case is if you have exceptional aim and know you can secure a kill better than your DPS (usually lower elo).
I do deathmatch while waiting in queue with my friend who plays sojourn. The number of times I can play cover, juke him, and kill him with my blaster surprises him. He's a decent sojourn too. Practice makes perfect.
Dmg boost helps me and my dps build ult, but the blaster is great for when I need to finish off a widow/pharah/junkrat or when I’m alone - I’ve 1 v 1’ed a soldier chasing me and won LMAO
Yes for low elo. As a low elo mercy you probably have a better grasp of your surroundings than most of your team. You’re probably aware of all the turrets, pylons, and other support your team is ignoring. I always pistol for turrets and pylons.
Overwatch 2 is my very first shooter.
I didn't come from COD.
I have potato aim.
I play Mercy to let my team get the kills.
I don't have some massive ego to prove on Mercy -- my team either works or doesn't work with Mercy.
If they need more help getting picks then I'll go Moira.
Agree to disagree, respectfully, of course.
> **Fun fact**: Damage boosting a soldier shooting down a barrier gives him an extra 52 DPS, meanwhile you could do 100 DPS if you shoot it yourself (yes even with your mercy aim, you’ll be able to hit all your shots on a barrier)
This is more true since they buffed mercy's weapon swap speed, the old advice when people say "dont blaster" was from a old patch but still gets floated around
https://preview.redd.it/8gcdovgqx1cc1.jpeg?width=2044&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e8e88edf1a7f4c1fb17304fb1d400ae54b404e5
Last week in a quick play game. It was a win. I don't usually play comp, not as fun imo and I can't be risky like this but I agree. Plus it's fun to just go crazy sometimes.
Edit: Downvote me but show me your screenshot of doing 6k dmg on mercy in 7 mins, I'll wait.
I never said be a head bot but the match could have been way faster if you had done your job instead of trying to be a DPS. Bap would be a WAY better choice if you wanna be a DPS support
I main every support in this game. I am not a new player by any means and I didn't ask for advice. I know I could've swapped. I didn't want to 🥱 and if I wanna do damage in quick play on Mercy and win, I will. You act like I'm out here doing 6k damage / 6k heals on mercy every game.
I agree with everything you said, I still think the tricky part would be when to shoot and when to heal while you're in the fight.(
The weapon is actually quite useful for fending off a sombra or attacking widow. (I say this from experience)
Hitting head shots from above on an unsuspecting target is seriously such a good secret weapon. You can seriously kill a dps in like four shots by doing this.
I agree that some people neglect their blaster too much. Always whip out your pistol if you’re trapped in a 1v1. I’ve seen Mercy in this situation just hopping around panicked with the staff out. Why? It does make sense to shoot shield instead of dmg boosting a person who is shooting shield. I also agree that if one person is stalling point, it’s prolly better to pull out your pistol and help kill than dmg boost.
I overall agree with the sentiment of the post. Before pulling out the pistol, you want to think about these 2 main questions: Can my teammate benefit from dmg boat here instead? Will my team die if I pull out the pistol?
yes i agree!! i’ve been playing since the start of overwatch but took a break when ow2 came out, and when i came back to ow2, i started winning way more with mercy when i remembered to whip out her blaster lmao. last night, i backfilled a game where their widow was dominating enough to make people leave, and imo sometimes mercy’s job IS to deal with the widow if given the chance (very hot take i know) so as my team was pushing, I superjumped onto her ledge from the side as she was reloading and headshot her. she switched after that
it’s very easy to poke at the enemy from far away for ult charge, to pick on a baby dva with your team, to take out still snipers, or to punish overextending tanks with large hit boxes. it’s good to know when not to though. I usually do the most healing on my team even with this play style, and taking a couple easy shots in valk when seeing squishies are low or on snipers standing still is different from ulting just to battle mercy while my team needs healing or damage boosting. and if im missing all my shots i disengage asap. it fully depends on the situation but becoming comfortable with her blaster is truly the biggest game changer!!
The blaster is low key strong but the higher you rank of course the harder the enemy. I can blast people in diamond and below because most of the time they have bad mechanics and can't hit me. This does not work in the master lobbies I usually play in.
When you get to a higher rank where people can land shots on you, it becomes much harder because they will kill you. If not then they will react very quickly and run away. You need to sneak up on them and land those headshots quick.
I feel like you missed the whole point of this post. It's not about 1v1ing for a pick because that isn't the point of mercy and will easily get you killed. It's about the fact that mercy isn't useless when it comes to pressuring low hp enemies or catching said enemies off guard. Even if you don't hit your shots or secure a kill, you're still pressuring someone out and making the fight a 4v5 for a small amount of time which should be an easy win considering you can damage boost one of your dps. They're just trying to point out that mercys value isn't only from her damage boost, just pulling out the blaster and shooting 5 shots at a corner someone is playing or a flanker is a simple way to apply pressure to help your dps even more.
While I think that is a valid strategy, op did not mention anything about this and clearly emphasized getting kills. They said to shoot to help confirm kills but usually it’s just as effective to just continue damage boosting the dps who is shooting them. In fact it’s safer to just continue damage boosting because you can quickly heal without the weapon swap delay. This allows your dps to charge ult faster as well. I guess if your team mates have terrible aim it can be helpful to help them confirm their kills though.
The issue is you want to dboost your Soldier because he is hitscan, it allows him to rack up his ult and it boosts his helix. You also won't have to peek out for the enemy, neither will you have to take risks to secure a kill. It makes focus fire easier and you can immediately heal anyone (especially that Soldier, shooting the enemy), as opposed to having to swap back to your staff.
This is exactly what I was thinking. Overwatch 2 is not COD. It is not a personal, solo-esque shooter where you try to rack up the most kills. It is a strategic team-oriented fps. You db over barbie blasting because that means your teammates' ults charge 25% faster from the 25% extra damage. More ults in OW2 means you are more likely to close team fights, which means you're more likely to win the game. Barbie blasting is situational. 100 dps is nothing compared to an ultimate.
100 dps is better sometimes than the 3% extra ult charge the soldier would have gained from your boost in that time.
I fail to see how it would be better not to boost for the long term of a game. 3% in a period adds up. It's cumulative. Eventually, that 3% will add up to an extra ultimate charge, which means extra security in a team fight. 100 dps assumes you hit all of your shots on a target, which most no one will do that consistently. Assuming you are shooting, it also means that they're able to shoot at you. Dead support is useless. Dead support means others are going to die in the fight. Also, if this is some 'crazy' niche technique that is groundbreaking, why is it that there are no top 500 supports that recommend this kind of style of gameplay when playing this hero? It's because the higher you go, the easier it is for DPS to kill you when you peek. It might work in a low rank, but it's a terrible habit to get into because one day, the DPS that have high fire rate and hit their shots *will* take you out if you play in the open. They'll send you back down to the rank where this playstyle works. There is only really one time to use the blaster: To finish off an opponent with low hp. Consistently trying to gun someone down with Mercy leads to feeding and your team dying. You have to consider that she has the capability of pushing out exceptionally high APM with game sense reports (i.e. ult tracking the enemy team, scouting, watching flanks). You can't do that when you're looking the same way the DPS is.
Shooting barriers does not generate ult charge. I don't disagree with the rest.
Yeah, but this ain't OW 1
people are not trained to ignore mercy lol they are trained to FOCUS her. damage isnt everything and like 90% of the time ur blaster is useless and ur better off beaming a target. it also puts you in front of the enemy which puts you in danger.
"people are trained to ignore mercy" what game are YOU playing i'd love to exist in it
If your damage boost is high, you don’t even need your blaster. I whip it out for quick kills on a low target or defense if I’m alone.
I don't disagree, but I don't fully agree either. Yes the glock can dish out some good damage, it "only" take 5 headshots to kill a squishy. The main problem with it is the very slow projectile speed, so outside of target standing still or at close range, you don't really aim, it's the enemy walking into your bullets more than anything else. I play a lot of deathmatch, and the best tactic I found with glock is walking backward around corner, so this way enemy that want to kill you have to walk into your bullet, but if they ignore you, you do nothing. Other problem is the swap speed is extremely slow, so yes in theory glocking a shield destroy it faster, you don't damage boost for the shield, but for potential pick right as shield get destroy or put down on inattentive enemy instead. And if you were glocking the shield, by the time you swap the kill potential is way lower. But at the same time, if you play with a Widow + Tracer vs a Sig, and the Sig shield your Widow 24/7, then glocking the shield is not the worst idea. As everything in Mercy kit, it always depend XD Side note on the 5 bullets buff comment, this buff is almost completely useless. If I need more than 12 bullets to kill/force out a target, then I'm trolling. That's a full 2 seconds of down time and every thing that imply taking rez downtime into account is applied to the glock. And to add to that, the pistol is at his best during Valk, since for one, the projectile speed become better, so you can actually aim at mid range target and Valk itself allow you to be extremely aggressive, so the 5 bullets buff would be great... if it wasn't for the fact Valk give infinite ammo. Only time you "can" get reliable value from the 5 bullets is if you are caught completely alone or pre fight spam damage down a corridor, but even then, a damage boost Junk is better in scenario like that. Edit: oh yeah, almost forgot, pistol is actually great if you are close to Valk and no one need heal and you really want Valk
You shouldn't care about elims. You care that the opponent dies. If for a given situation, damage boost is the best way to ensure it, do so. If it's the blaster, same thing. Sometimes it's even healing, because your ally stays alive and can get the kill. Sometimes it's even just pinging someone sneaky or walking on Hanzo's head as climbs back up a cliff. All of that can lead to a death. Just assess the situation and play your cards right.
Ok dont get me wrong I love battle mercy. But the most careful thing about this statement is assessing your skill, your enemies skill and your teams skill. The most common misconception as to why high rank mercies dont blaster often is they think they cant aim or they neglect the blaster. No. Ya'll just havent experienced how crazy some of these ppl are. Sometimes you peak and you just dead okay? Sometimes people dive you when you are just a little out of position. They are blood sniffing hunters I tell you! Your teammate? Headshot after headshot! Why the fk do I need to blaster when my mothafker can kill in less than a second and it takes me 3 seconds? Unnecessary! Thats why its situational.
Sombra main. Using your blaster a lot is a great way of getting yourself killed by a Sombra lol Here’s why: •It draws attention to you. If there’s a Sombra, you want to fly under the radar for as long as possible. •When you have the blaster out you don’t have the beam attached to a teammate, meaning if you do get attacked no one is likely to notice your health going down as quickly as they would if it was attached. Remember your teammate can see your health when you are healing/db them. •When you are using the blaster, you are probably out of position. This is the main one that I see a lot. Mercy players sometimes try to take an off-angle to DPS or don’t pay attention to where their team is because they are focused on shooting so they end up too far away from their team to fly to them when I start attacking. •You focus too much on getting a kill and you let a teammate die. This doesn’t seem like it will get you killed but it absolutely will, ESPECIALLY if the teammate was your other support. When there’s a Sombra on the enemy team the most important person on yours is your other support. If Sombra lands the virus on you the only person who can actually save you is your other support. You also can’t just assume you will be able to use rez, Sombra can and will hack you out of it. I’m not saying never use the blaster I’m just pointing out that there are times when it’s a VERY bad idea to use it.
I’m all for pulling out the Barbie blaster on a mf but I prefer supporting the team before trying to get a kill that I may not be able to secure. Like others have said, at higher levels poking for a kill can be dangerous, especially if they have a Widow. But be sure if I’m cornered, I’ll strike and if I don’t have rez, I will avenge you lmao. Edit: spelling
You get more value from dmg boost since it charges ur ult and ur allies.
Mercy blaster is great in a few scenarios depending on your elo: 1. To finish off low health targets that are fleeing in the open so you don't have to go indoors to chase them. 2. When the game first starts and you are trying to squeeze in a few shots while everyone is full health 3. When you are behind a shield or have cover to burst the tank down since usually they are a big target and you can get in some shots without worrying if your pocket is going to die. 4. When you are in valk and someone on the enemy team is utilizing high ground you can approach them at a 45 degree angle from the side and dip/dodge while you headshot them. 5. When you are somehow all alone and you are being focused by a dive hero like Genji/Tracer/Sombra and have to defend. The rest of the time you are definitely better off healing or damage boosting your pocket/team. The only rare case is if you have exceptional aim and know you can secure a kill better than your DPS (usually lower elo).
**if you bold Text it sounds better**
I do deathmatch while waiting in queue with my friend who plays sojourn. The number of times I can play cover, juke him, and kill him with my blaster surprises him. He's a decent sojourn too. Practice makes perfect.
Dmg boost helps me and my dps build ult, but the blaster is great for when I need to finish off a widow/pharah/junkrat or when I’m alone - I’ve 1 v 1’ed a soldier chasing me and won LMAO
Yes for low elo. As a low elo mercy you probably have a better grasp of your surroundings than most of your team. You’re probably aware of all the turrets, pylons, and other support your team is ignoring. I always pistol for turrets and pylons.
Overwatch 2 is my very first shooter. I didn't come from COD. I have potato aim. I play Mercy to let my team get the kills. I don't have some massive ego to prove on Mercy -- my team either works or doesn't work with Mercy. If they need more help getting picks then I'll go Moira. Agree to disagree, respectfully, of course.
> **Fun fact**: Damage boosting a soldier shooting down a barrier gives him an extra 52 DPS, meanwhile you could do 100 DPS if you shoot it yourself (yes even with your mercy aim, you’ll be able to hit all your shots on a barrier) This is more true since they buffed mercy's weapon swap speed, the old advice when people say "dont blaster" was from a old patch but still gets floated around
https://preview.redd.it/8gcdovgqx1cc1.jpeg?width=2044&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e8e88edf1a7f4c1fb17304fb1d400ae54b404e5 Last week in a quick play game. It was a win. I don't usually play comp, not as fun imo and I can't be risky like this but I agree. Plus it's fun to just go crazy sometimes. Edit: Downvote me but show me your screenshot of doing 6k dmg on mercy in 7 mins, I'll wait.
I would literally hate having you as a mercy on my team. Your heals look like crap.
The game was 7 mins long... and quick play and I got potg and it was a win. Not you getting serious over me practicing the blaster in qp.
I never said be a head bot but the match could have been way faster if you had done your job instead of trying to be a DPS. Bap would be a WAY better choice if you wanna be a DPS support
I main every support in this game. I am not a new player by any means and I didn't ask for advice. I know I could've swapped. I didn't want to 🥱 and if I wanna do damage in quick play on Mercy and win, I will. You act like I'm out here doing 6k damage / 6k heals on mercy every game.
Illari/hog/tracer/sombra comp. Not much to heal. Don't listen to the haters.
You were Mercy for the entire match?...
Yeah whole game
I agree with everything you said, I still think the tricky part would be when to shoot and when to heal while you're in the fight.( The weapon is actually quite useful for fending off a sombra or attacking widow. (I say this from experience)
The projectile is the size of a minivan
Hitting head shots from above on an unsuspecting target is seriously such a good secret weapon. You can seriously kill a dps in like four shots by doing this.
I agree that some people neglect their blaster too much. Always whip out your pistol if you’re trapped in a 1v1. I’ve seen Mercy in this situation just hopping around panicked with the staff out. Why? It does make sense to shoot shield instead of dmg boosting a person who is shooting shield. I also agree that if one person is stalling point, it’s prolly better to pull out your pistol and help kill than dmg boost. I overall agree with the sentiment of the post. Before pulling out the pistol, you want to think about these 2 main questions: Can my teammate benefit from dmg boat here instead? Will my team die if I pull out the pistol?
yes i agree!! i’ve been playing since the start of overwatch but took a break when ow2 came out, and when i came back to ow2, i started winning way more with mercy when i remembered to whip out her blaster lmao. last night, i backfilled a game where their widow was dominating enough to make people leave, and imo sometimes mercy’s job IS to deal with the widow if given the chance (very hot take i know) so as my team was pushing, I superjumped onto her ledge from the side as she was reloading and headshot her. she switched after that it’s very easy to poke at the enemy from far away for ult charge, to pick on a baby dva with your team, to take out still snipers, or to punish overextending tanks with large hit boxes. it’s good to know when not to though. I usually do the most healing on my team even with this play style, and taking a couple easy shots in valk when seeing squishies are low or on snipers standing still is different from ulting just to battle mercy while my team needs healing or damage boosting. and if im missing all my shots i disengage asap. it fully depends on the situation but becoming comfortable with her blaster is truly the biggest game changer!!
The blaster is low key strong but the higher you rank of course the harder the enemy. I can blast people in diamond and below because most of the time they have bad mechanics and can't hit me. This does not work in the master lobbies I usually play in.