When it comes to pick rate, Blizzard Entertainment has continually struggled to find the perfect balance across all available heroes in "Overwatch." The last official patch released for all platforms saw some changes made for the characters Mercy and Lucio. The developers previously gave the Swiss healer a big buff that saw a dramatic increase in her usage by most teams. However, a lot of competitive players collectively pointed out that her buff made her too powerful, which resulted in another tweak that changed how her Resurrect skill refreshes during her Valkyrie Ultimate activation.

Now, participants in the PTR (Public Test Region) reportedly noticed a couple more changes included in the test server’s latest patch, which again nerfs the winged healer and buffs Ana.

Nerfs for Mercy and a buff for Ana

Despite the notable adjustment made to Mercy’s Resurrect ability on October 17, Blizzard Entertainment has opted to test another patch, which assigned a 1.75-second casting time and a 75 percent speed reduction upon activation. It should be noted that once Valkyrie has been activated, the casting time no longer affects her skill. According to Venture Beat, opponents can now hit her out of her skill animation to cancel the action. Meanwhile, another healer, Ana, has received a damage buff that increases her Biotic rifle damage from 60 to 70 per shot.

Pick rate issues

The previous build for Mercy was greatly valued by a lot of teams who relied on her Resurrect skill to bring back allies during crunch situations. In fact, she became so popular that the other healers like Lucio, Zenyatta, and especially Ana were rarely used by players.

The development team is testing her changes on the PTR because her revive skill “still feels too strong and frustrating to play against.” Prior to her latest buff, Ana was initially tweaked to lower her damage output. Nonetheless, the developer’s decision to increase her damage-dealing potential could have been requested by the player community.

A new season

Competitive play now welcomes its seventh season. The current Halloween Terror seasonal event is also drawing to a close. Gamers can still take advantage of the remaining hours to hopefully earn those new Legendary skins for some of the team-based shooter’s heroes. For now, these changes for Mercy and Ana are undergoing extensive testing in the PTR. Once approved, “Overwatch” players can most likely expect the changes to go live for all platforms once the Competitive season ends.
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