In any game, supports heroes are the backbone and literal lifeline of a team, and Blizzard's FPS Overwatch 2 is no different. Among the eight support heroes, Mercy is undoubtedly the most famous - but not just because of her countless nerfs and changes. Some players have iconically transformed this serene guardian angel into an unstoppable killing machine, coined as a Battle Mercy, as they gun down the entire enemy team with just her pistol.

Let's not forget though, Mercy is primarily a peerless healer with the ability to save allies in the blink of eye, either with her Caduceus Staff or her Resurrect ability. Ever since Overwatch metamorphosed into Overwatch 2, Mercy has become even more fun and satisfying to play. She's now a triage healer, able to rescue critical-health allies from certain death and provide damage-boosts for her team.

Whether you want to play Mercy for fun in a Quick Play game mode or competitive play, here is a complete guide on how to play Mercy in Overwatch 2.

Overwatch 2: Mercy Lore

Doctor Angela Ziegler, better known by her codename Mercy, is the head of Overwatch medical research and their most prominent combat medic. She was recruited by strike commander Jack Morrison, aka Soldier: 76, due to her advancements in nanobiology.

While at Overwatch, Mercy wanted to provide healing on frontline crises, developing her iconic Valkyrie response suit, which she equipped on many Overwatch missions.

When Overwatch dissolved, Angela Ziegler sought distance from the organization's overarching aims and became a staunch advocate for global peace. She focused her efforts on helping those affected by the conflicts.

After Winston's Overwatch recall, Mercy felt the familiar flicker of heroism rise within her. She rejoined Overwatch to protect the world against organizations like Null Sector and Talon forces.

Although Mercy starred in the Loverwatch interactive browser game, she is not romantically linked to anyone in the Overwatch hero roster.

Overwatch 2: Mercy's Abilities

Mercy is one of the first characters Overwatch 2 players will have immediate access to, and does not require any challenges to unlock.

As a healer by nature, most of Mercy's abilities rely on her saving allies and healing teammates. While not as powerful a team healer as other support heroes like Ana or Moira, Mercy is great at being a single-target "pocket" healer.

Here is a complete rundown of Mercy's abilities, including her passives.

Caduceus Staff

  • Primary fire: Hold to heal an ally.
  • Secondary fire: Hold to damage boost a targeted ally.

Mercy's Caduceus Staff is Mercy's primary method of aiding her allies, creating a golden tether between herself and her chosen ally - she does not need to be looking at her target while doing this. Her staff's healing rate is 50% faster for allies under half health, allowing her to save low-health allies more often. Her base healing rate per second is 45 on allies over 50% health.

The Caduceus Staff also allows Mercy to damage-boost her allies with a blue bean as her secondary fire, which is extremely useful for allies like Ashe, Cassidy, and Soldier: 76 to focus on breaking shields and barriers.

Caduceus Blaster

  • Fires mid-range projectile bullets.

Caduceus Blaster is Mercy's secondary weapon and primary way of defending herself. It can be used to take out an unaware Widowmaker or to dispatch low-health allies. Caduceus Blaster should only be used as a last resort or if you have confidence in securing a kill. It should never take priority over healing/damage-boosting allies, especially in ranked games.

However, Mercy's Ultimate ability, Valkyrie, gives her unlimited Caduceus Blaster ammo and the ability to see the enemy team's health if they have taken damage. Her Blaster can then be used to take out low-health enemies in an epic Battle Mercy meme moment.

Guardian Angel

  • Flies Mercy towards an ally. Jump launches Mercy forward while in flight. Crouch launches Mercy upwards.

Mercy's Guardian Angel ability is arguably her greatest strength. She can fly to an injured ally or distant teammate to escape danger or heal them. The cooldown for Guardian Angel has been increased to 2.5 seconds, due to previously having a short downtime and Mercy becoming overly evasive.

Overwatch 2 greatly increased mobility resulting from Mercy's new Super Jump, meaning she was harder to pin down. The prominent skill expression from this ability is Mercy's ability to launch herself forwards, backwards, and upwards, which enabled Mercy to throw herself in any chosen direction. Players can practice this in the Practice Range to mix up their movements and confuse the enemy.

Resurrect

  • Revive a dead teammate

Mercy's Resurrect ability sets her apart from other support heroes in Overwatch 2. It can be a game-changing ability and turn the tide of a team fight. Her revived ally is brought back to life with full health.

Resurrect can completely change the tempo of a team fight, but it has a long cooldown of 30 seconds, which does not reset upon her death. Mercy players should prioritize who to resurrect: the Tank or a DPS with their ultimate ability ready are usually the best targets.

Line of sight does not need to be maintained while using Resurrect. Players can activate it and then twist round behind cover, provided they don't move more than seven meters away from the target.

Sympathetic Recovery (Passive)

In Overwatch 2, all support heroes gained a form of Mercy's original Regeneration passive with the Support Role Passive.

To fix this, Blizzard developers have given Mercy a new passive in Season 3, along with other hero balance changes. Replacing Mercy's Regeneration passive is Sympathetic Recovery. This allows Mercy to heal herself for 25% of her healing output with Caduceus staff.

Angelic Descent

  • Fall very slowly while holding Jump

Angelic Descent is her second passive ability and can be paired with Mercy's Guardian Angel ability to slingshot her further away. It can be used to evade the enemy by switching up her falling speed to dodge enemy fire.

If you happen to fall off the map, Angelic Descent can be used to slow your fall while you pray a teammate comes to your rescue.

Valkyrie (Ultimate)

  • Gain the ability to fly. Gain unlimited ammo in Caduceus Blaster. All abilities are enhanced.

Mercy's Ultimate ability, Valkyrie, enhances all of Mercy's skills and allows her to fly. Her Ultimate cost is relatively low and can be charged up and ready for any team fight through healing allies. Mercy's tethers from her Caduceus Staff from Valkyrie can create chain healing or chain damage boosting to all nearby allies.

Valkyrie can quickly turn the tide of a team fight, as it can be used offensively or defensively. It works exceptionally well when coordinated with Ultimate abilities like Soldier: 76's Tactical Visor or Reinhardt's Earthshatter for maximum damage potential.

Overwatch 2: Tips And Tricks For Mercy Players

Think before you act: Mercy is a high-priority target, so enemies will typically be looking to pick her and other support heroes off first. Utilize cover, and don't use Guardian Angel to fly into open spaces.

Timing is key: Resurrect has an extremely long cooldown, and Mercy cannot move while casting it. This makes her an easy, stationary target, so think before using it and gauge its value. Wait for an opening in the middle of a team fight when everyone is distracted to rez a teammate.

Guardian Angel: Take advantage of Guardian Angel to escape tricky situations like being dived by an enemy Wrecking Ball or Tracer. Mixing up your movement by randomly crouching or pressing Up during your flight time will make you harder to track.

Damage boost: Damage boost is Mercy's greatest asset. Mercy players should aim for around a 55/45 split with damage boosting being the main priority. Latch onto your team's best damage dealer and boost them to your heart's content. The best damage boost targets are DPS characters like Soldier: 76:, Ashe, Cassidy, Junkrat, and Pharah.

Don't tunnel vision: It can be easy to whip out your Caduceus Blaster and fire blindly at the opposing team or to chase the enemy Mercy into a 1v1 gunfight. However, dealing non-critical damage provides the enemy supports with more Ultimate charge from healing them. Resist this temptation and focus on boosting and healing teammates - you have more value by keeping your team alive!

Overwatch 2: Mercy Hero Synergizes

Mercy works well in most situations, provided she has a capable secondary healer on the team to support her. However, she does pair well with some heroes more than others - let's take a look.

Pharah

Pharah and Mercy are a match made in heaven - quite literally! Since Pharah is a primary airborne hero, Mercy is one of the only support heroes who can keep up with her by using Guardian Angel.

With an iconic "Pharmercy" duo, Mercy can protect Pharah by body-blocking when she uses her Ultimate. She can easily be an excellent pocket healer for Pharah, provided the other support can pick up the rest of the healing for the team.

Ashe

Ashe is a mid-range hitscan hero that can one-shot enemies with the help of Mercy's damage boost. When Ashe throws her Dynamite, Mercy can damage-boost this ability for more damage over time while it burns the enemy. Mercy can also damage boost B.O.B when Ashe activates him.

Reinhardt

With his shield up, Reinhardt can easily protect Mercy from enemy fire. In return, Mercy can provide Reinhardt with damage boosts to his two charges of Fire Strike. When Reinhardt uses his Ultimate, Earthshatter, Mercy can damage boost his follow-up abilities to secure maximum damage potential.

Ana

Ana is a powerful primary healer, so Mercy can focus on damage-boosting allies, knowing that the rest of the team is in Ana's capable hands. Mercy can prioritize their squishier allies like the DPS on their team, while Ana focuses on supporting the Tank.

Overwatch 2: Mercy Counters

Despite her angelic nature, Mercy is not invincible! Several critical heroes on the Overwatch 2 roster can completely counter Mercy and reduce her utility for her team.

Sombra

Due to her hacking and flanking potential, Sombra counters Mercy and many other heroes in Overwatch 2. Her hack can cancel Mercy's Resurrection ability, and stop her from using Guardian Angel to escape.

Widowmaker

Mercy becomes easy pickings for a good Widowmaker, especially as Guardian Angel makes her a clear target when out in the open. Use cover, corners, and barriers to stay safe. If you must be out in the open, use movements like crouching, strafing, and Guardian Angel mix-ups to be less predictable.

Roadhog

Roadhog can easily snatch Mercy away from her team using his Chain Hook and instantly kill her using her Scrap Gun combo. His Ultimate Whole Hog can also isolate Mercy from her team, or be used to cancel her Resurrect.

Winston

Winston can use his incredible mobility to leap in and harass a Mercy player. His Tesla Cannon will fry her, so her best bet is to fly to friendly teammates for safety.

Ana

Although Ana and Mercy work well together on the same team, Ana can also be a counter for Mercy. Ana's Biotic Grenade can negate all of Mercy's healing for a short period, making her useless. A well-aimed Sleep Dart can also wholly cancel Mercy's Resurrect, leaving her vulnerable.

Final Thoughts

With these helpful tips in mind, players should become god-tier at playing Mercy in no time! Remember - practice makes perfect; you will only become an expert after a while! If you want more Overwatch 2 guides, Rivalry have got details on the Overwatch 2 ranked system, the best Overwatch 2 crosshairs, and a complete Overwatch 2 hero tier list!

FAQs about Mercy in Overwatch 2

How to fly with Mercy in Overwatch 2?

Despite the wings on her Valkyrie suit, Mercy cannot fly infinitely unless she activates her Ultimate ability. Pressing Guardian Angel allows Mercy to glide towards the chosen ally. You can Super Jump vertically by pressing Crouch mid-flight or slingshot forward by pressing Up.

How much does Mercy heal per second in Overwatch 2?

With her Caduceus Staff, Mercy heals 45 health per second to a single target while they are above 50% health. Mercy will heal them for 67.5 health per second if they are below half health.

How to unlock Mercy in Overwatch 2?

Mercy is one of the first characters new Overwatch 2 players will have immediate access to. She does not require any gameplay challenges to unlock.

How old is Mercy in Overwatch 2?

Mercy is estimated to be in her mid-30s in Overwatch 2's timeline.