There are a great many characters I love in Overwatch. I love D.va because she’s a pro gamer who pilots a mech suit, every nerd’s dream. I also love Torbjörn because he’s the only character I managed to get a quadra kill on whilst dead. But if there’s one character I love above all else, it’s Mercy.
Mercy, AKA Angela Ziegler, is a formerly world reknowned surgeon who has dedicated her life to the preservation of others. Through her achievements in the field of applied nanobiology, Overwatch sought to recruit her. Though their militaristic approach troubled her, she viewed their efforts as an opportunity to save lives on a global scale.
I’ve always been a support at heart, working in the background so that others can step into the spotlight with the multi-kills. It’s thankless work, most of the time, but for the first time in recent history I’ve actually seen a gaming community applauding their healers. Mercy receives almost a royal treatment on Overwatch communities, heralded as the backbone of a strong team, a response most support players aren’t used to outside of high skill levels.
What’s more, Mercy represents a class that is both easy to learn and hard to master. It’s perfectly well if you want to hide around the corner spamming your heal and picking up assists in safety, but knowing when to stop healing and apply damage, the best moment to pop your resurrect so you can get your entire team back up, the best positioning to keep you mobile with ‘Guardian Angel’, that takes skill and practice and really sets the skilled valkyries apart from those who have yet to earn their wings. While you probably won’t be making ‘Play of The Game’ much as Mercy, your team will be counting on you to make some sweet plays from the background and that’s pretty much what a support should be, in my opinion.
