The Overwatch community is divided as to whether Mercy and D.Va’s basic mechanics are working as intended, after a player called out their seemingly clunky hit registration.
While Supports and Tank heroes aren’t often considered the most devastating damage dealers in any given lobby, select characters can certainly pack a punch.
Mercy has her Caduceus Blaster and D.Va has her Light Gun, both of which are more than capable of wiping out an unsuspecting foe. However, these weapons might have a significant downside, which has just been uncovered.
When aiming at an enemy headshot hitbox on a wide variety of heroes, those shots will register directly as critical hits. Even from awkward angles up close, with much shorter characters such as Tracer or Lucio.
Yet aiming and firing with Mercy or D.Va, doesn’t quite work the same. With their reticle lined up perfectly on an enemy hitbox, Reddit user ‘TheEnhancedExe’ revealed how many shots simply wouldn’t connect to the dome.
Instead of hitting Zarya’s head, shots would connect with her arm and even her weapon instead. Despite the shots lining up perfectly. This issue was constant when focusing down a number of opposing heroes from all kinds of angles.
D.Va’s shots also often connected with the headshot hitbox despite being aimed well above the enemy crit-spot. This inconsistency has torn the Overwatch player base in two.
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Many players offered counters to the clip in question, arguing that if either of the heroes were taller, or even “the exact same height,” then the shots would land.
“Mercy’s gun is below most character’s shoulders when on equal footing, so when you walk up to them and shoot their face you actually hit the shoulder,” Reddit user ‘phlyingdolfin25’ explained.
While height could be one explanation behind the issue, more inconsistencies come to pass. Mercy and D.Va aren’t the shortest heroes in the game after all. “Lucio is actually shorter in-game than Mercy,” the original tester said.
“So in theory, Lucio should be the one missing the shots and not Mercy.” Yet as proven in the breakdown, Lucio’s rhythmic blasts connect without missing a beat.
Could this be a simple oversight or an intended design choice? It’s difficult to say without any official comment from the developers at Blizzard. It could certainly explain why you may feel cheated of critical headshot damage in the midst of a team-fight, however.
Try to keep this knowledge in mind as a general rule of thumb moving forward, it might just help make you the most lethal Mercy or D.Va main in your rank.