It just feels like right now, Mercy is either super strong or super weak depending entirely on the team comp. If she’s got a good hitscan or Pharah to pocket, you’re most likely getting rolled and playing against it is incredibly unfun for everyone except the hitscan. Mercy just stands there holding right click behind cover, her tank and other dps has to play with one less support and the other team is most likely getting rolled because you’re shooting at someone who has either boosted damage, 55 healing per second and can get rezzed if they somehow die anyway.
Why is it that the most boring playstyle for Mercy(Just pocketing an Ashe/Soldier/Sojourn) is also the most effective in all elos? Shouldn’t mid to long range poke characters like that have lower damage boost percentages(15%) while close range characters like Genji, Reaper, etc have higher ones(30-35%)? It just feels like it would make Mercy more versatile, because right now, pocketing a Pharah or hitscan is a low risk high reward strat, while pocketing most close range characters is almost never worth it because you’re putting yourself in the enemies’ line of fire for pretty much the same reward.
It also raises her skill ceiling since now she’s not only viable outside of poke comps, but you actually have a chance to kill her, and if she pockets a dive character, she’s going to get more value for a higher risk.
I know this will make damage boost more confusing for newer players, but it’s definitely worth it imo. It makes her more fun to play, gives her more carry potential and makes it less frustrating when you’re facing a Pharah/hitscan and the Mercy doesn’t even have to do anything to win.
Personally I don’t get why people point the finger at damage boost when the real “problem” is the CONSISTENT healing she provides on a character she’s pocketing. Yes damage boost hurts alot when you’re leaving the duo uncontested, but the moment you try shooting at a pharmercy, pocketed soilder, or pocketed genji isn’t that they’re deleting you, it’s that unless you’re hitting headshots and making every single shot, she’s just gonna heal them up bc Mercy can’t miss a heal like Ana or Bap. That’s why trying to kill something being pocketed by LW is miserable. He can’t aim, there’s short windows in between shots but ultimately, he’s not missing those shots. If you 1v1 a pharah, you can afford to hit a body shot instead a head shot, you can even miss a shot, but when she’s getting healed by a mercy, you can’t afford that anymore. I’m not calling for a nerf to mercy’s healing. I actually have 0 ideas on how to “fix” her, but I just think people misplace their frustrations on damage boost when in reality the problem is the steady and consistent heal beam