Can Mercy’s Gun Heal? Unveiling the Truth About Her Caduceus Blaster
The short and direct answer is no, Mercy’s gun, the Caduceus Blaster, cannot heal. Mercy’s healing abilities come exclusively from her Caduceus Staff, which she uses to either restore health to allies or amplify their damage output. The Caduceus Blaster is her projectile pistol and is designed purely for dealing damage. It’s crucial to understand this distinction to play Mercy effectively. While her healing is powerful, she relies on her pistol for self-defense and finishing off low-health enemies.
Understanding Mercy’s Kit
Before diving into the nuances of her pistol, it’s essential to understand her two primary tools: the Caduceus Staff and the Caduceus Blaster.
The Caduceus Staff: Mercy’s Healing and Damage Tool
The Caduceus Staff is the core of Mercy’s support capabilities. It has two main functions:
- Primary Fire (Healing): By holding down the primary fire button (RT/R2 on a gamepad), Mercy tethers herself to an ally with a healing beam. This beam provides a consistent flow of healing as long as the target remains in her line of sight and within range. The healing output changes depending on the target’s health, healing for 45 health per second (HPS) if they are above 50% health and increasing to 67.5 HPS when they fall below 50%.
- Secondary Fire (Damage Boost): By switching to her secondary fire, Mercy can tether herself to an ally with a beam that amplifies their damage output by 30%. This ability transforms an ally into a significant threat, especially when paired with damage-heavy heroes.
The Caduceus Blaster: Mercy’s Offensive Tool
The Caduceus Blaster is Mercy’s pistol. It fires projectile shots at a rate of five shots per second, each dealing 20 damage. It’s a precise weapon with no damage falloff, ensuring accuracy at all ranges, although the shots do have a travel time. This pistol is not capable of healing and serves purely as her means of dealing direct damage.
The Misconception About Mercy’s Gun
The confusion around Mercy’s pistol potentially healing often stems from a misunderstanding of her role as a support hero. Her primary function is to keep her team alive, and her staff is what enables that. The pistol is an auxiliary tool for self-preservation, providing a means to defend herself and potentially finish off opponents who are weak or out of reach for her allies.
It’s important to recognize that using Mercy’s pistol should generally be secondary to healing and damage boosting. Most often, boosting the damage of a teammate will be much more impactful than the damage that Mercy can output herself with her pistol. However, skilled Mercy players understand how to identify situations where using her gun could be necessary to secure kills or defend herself when cornered.
Situations Where Mercy’s Pistol Becomes Relevant
Although her primary role is healing and damage boost, there are specific situations where Mercy’s pistol becomes extremely relevant:
- Self-Defense: When facing flankers or other enemies who are directly engaging you, the pistol becomes a critical tool for survival.
- Finishing Kills: If an enemy is low on health, using Mercy’s pistol can be a quick way to eliminate them without pulling your allies from their focused engagements.
- When Surrounded: If a Mercy is surrounded or cut off from her team, her pistol can help her stay alive long enough for an ally to reach her or escape.
Important Considerations
While understanding when to use Mercy’s pistol is essential, keep in mind:
- Healing is Primary: Never neglect healing for the sake of using the pistol in a situation that could result in your allies dying.
- Boost Your DPS: A damage-boosted teammate is far more impactful than Mercy shooting with her pistol in most situations.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Mercy’s Abilities
Is Mercy’s pistol better than D.Va’s?
The damage output of Mercy’s pistol and D.Va’s Fusion Cannons are close. While D.Va has a higher rate of fire but slightly lower damage per shot, Mercy’s blaster has a slightly lower rate of fire, but a higher damage per shot. The damage per second is quite close, with Mercy’s being just slightly higher.
How much does Mercy heal per second?
Mercy heals for 45 health per second to a single target when they are above 50% health. If the target’s health drops below 50%, she heals for 67.5 health per second.
Can Mercy boost healing?
Mercy cannot directly boost the healing of other heroes. However, her healing is affected by healing modifiers on both the target and Mercy herself. If both Mercy and her target are affected by amplified healing, the healing will be doubled.
Who is Mercy dating?
Mercy is confirmed to be dating a character named Pere.
Can Mercy solo heal?
Yes, Mercy is considered a viable solo healer because of her strong and consistent healing output.
Is Mercy’s gun good?
Mercy’s gun is surprisingly effective when used correctly. It can be used for self-defense and to finish off low-health enemies, especially with accurate headshots. It doesn’t suck.
Is Mercy still a main healer?
Mercy was initially a main healer due to her high healing output. After her second major adjustment, she was shifted to the off-healer role or also called a “main support.”
Who heals faster, Kiriko or Mercy?
Kiriko can heal faster than Mercy if she lands all of her healing talismans, clocking in at 72 health per second compared to Mercy’s base healing of 55 health per second.
Does Valkyrie increase Mercy’s healing?
Valkyrie does not inherently increase Mercy’s healing on its own but self-healing is affected by healing modifiers both on the target and Mercy herself. The healing will be increased if either Mercy or her target are affected by amplified healing.
How strong is Mercy’s pistol?
Mercy’s pistol deals 20 damage per shot, and it fires 5 shots per second. It has no damage falloff or weapon spread, giving it perfect accuracy at all ranges.
What is Mercy’s gun called?
Mercy’s weapons are called the Caduceus Staff and the Caduceus Blaster. The staff is for healing and damage boosting, while the blaster is a projectile pistol for damage dealing.
How old is Mercy?
Mercy is 39 years old in the Overwatch lore.
Does Mercy’s ultimate increase damage?
Mercy’s ultimate charge increases based on how much damage she has amplified, as she gains a percentage of ult charge equal to the amplified damage she does.
Who heals more, Moira or Mercy?
In general, Mercy is considered the better healer, despite Moira having potentially higher raw numbers in some compositions.
Is Mercy the easiest healer?
Mercy is considered one of the easiest support characters to use, making her perfect for beginners due to her flexible and straightforward kit.
Final Thoughts
While Mercy’s pistol is a valuable tool for self-preservation and finishing off enemies, it cannot heal. Her primary function as a support hero revolves around her Caduceus Staff’s ability to heal allies and amplify their damage output. Understanding this distinction is crucial for mastering Mercy and leveraging her full potential. By carefully balancing her healing, damage boosting, and pistol usage, you can make a significant impact on the battlefield.