The Mercy Super Jump in Overwatch: How, why, and when to soar

One of the worst-kept secrets in Overwatch history is the Mercy super jump. Originally discovered as a movement glitch in the early days of the game, the highly-technical trick is now a standard part of the support Hero's kit in Overwatch 2. That said, its uses and functionality are daunting for players trying to make the most of a Hero that's fallen by the wayside.

Allow this handy guide of tips and tricks to help all you would-be support Stans out there to straighten up and fly right (and up, and backward, and every other direction) with this overview of Mercy's super jump in Overwatch 2.

First, a history lesson: In the early days of Overwatch it was discovered that Mercy's Guardian Angel ability which allowed her to fly in the direction of friendly Heroes had a glitch. Similar to how Doomfist and Widowmaker can speed up and extend the distance at which move with their own abilities, Mercy was also able to pull off fantastic, if not unintended stunts.

By pressing crouch and the activation button for Guardian Angel at the same time Mercy could shoot straight up into the air, almost as high as Winston can jump. To use fighting game terms, this combination of button presses was sort of like an option select, where pressing two buttons causes the game to select both actions at the same time. This resulted in this fantastic and useful jump.

And Blizzard just sort of left it in the game until the beta period of Overwatch 2 earlier this year. At this point, the developers began to experiment with an official version of the super jump, with multiple iterations being tested on the PTR.

The end result is a now-intentional version of the old super jump that allows Mercy to have, in essence, complete omnidirectional movement in addition to the ability to shoot straight into the sky without a flying-friendly Hero.

The activation of the Mercy super jump is far easier than it used to be, with the player needing to hit crouch right as you arrive at your target, causing Mercy to shoot upward. Activate this move using the jump button and looking in a specific direction, with Mercy slingshotting to where the reticle is facing.

This allows Mercy to air-dash to a friendly Hero, then immediately slingshot back out into a different direction, all in one smooth motion and quite fast to boot. This allows for highly technical three-point movement, useful for reaching critical allies or getting out of dodge in a snap.

The added functionality to Guardian Angel allows Mercy to get in and out of situations quickly. This allows her to avoid her biggest threats such as Genji, dive tanks, and hitscan Heroes such as Ashe. The most impressive part is that Mercy can still be healing and boosting while doing all of this movement. This makes Mercy one of the most technical supports due to the sheer number of button presses and combinations involved.

However, the reward for mastering Mercy's super jump in Overwatch 2 is substantial. This gives her the ability to zoom in and out of danger and get back to safety while still being deep in team fights.

Finally, the super jump can also allow Mercy to hover in mid air for as long as she wants, bobbing up and down each time the short cooldown on Guardian Angel returns. While this can be risky against a team with competent hitscan players, the ability to stay constantly in the air is a boon against the likes of Junkrat, Torb, Reaper, and more. It will also force the enemy team to be looking up, which in many ways is a distraction that your team can use to its advantage.

Being able to constantly provide healing and not dying is a Mercy player's top priority in a current balance state where Mercy is considered the weakest support Hero. The super jump not only gives Mercy greater explosive speed and movement than most Heroes but it also gives her the ability to save herself from dire situations.

You're no good to your team dead and the super jump gives Mercy the self-sufficiency needed while also letting her take aggressive chances. Whether it's a clutch Resurrection or a rapid pursuit of a wounded enemy, Mercy's multidirectional super jump is crucial to success.

That said, don't anger the gods and use these movement secrets to just be a DPS Mercy. If we spot you with that pistol out while flying through the air and not healing, consider yourself in time-out. Bad Mercy. Go to your room and think about what you did.

With these tips and tricks--as well as some practice time in training mode--you'll be flying with the best of them as Mercy. Now, get out there and shut up that annoying teammate that made a negative comment when you snap-picked Mercy in competitive!

As always, stay tuned on esports.gg for more esports news and updates!