'Mortal Kombat 11' Mercy Explained: What It Is and How to Do It

Defeating an opponent in the previous Mortal Kombat games gave players the option to perform a Fatality to finish them off. In Mortal Kombat 11, however, a new option called Mercy gives the opponent one last chance at winning the match.

Why would anyone want to do this is anyone's guess, but there are some perks to performing a Mercy at the end of a match.

If you're wondering how to actually do a Mercy in Mortal Kombat 11 and the various reasons why you might want to attempt it, here's everything you need to know.

HOW TO PERFORM A MERCY IN MORTAL KOMBAT 11

Once you get to the "Finish Him/Her" part of the match, input the following commands:

• Hold L2, Down, Down, Down, then release L1 at mid range.

If done correctly, the opponent will recover a small amount of health and will have a second chance to win the match.

WHY SHOULD YOU DO A MERCY?

While it may seem pointless to do a Mercy and give your opponent another chance, there are a couple of reasons you might want to.

The first is the most obvious: to obtain a trophy. The "Not Dead Yet" trophy is granted to players who "show Mercy 10 times." The completionists out there will want to get this one out of the way early, and it's simple enough to pull off in the first hour or so.

Some Brutalities only trigger after you've performed a Mercy. For example, Cetrion's Falling Sky must come after a Mercy and then the final hit comes from the second hit of Earthquake. So if you fancy pulling off this Brutality, you'll need to do a Mercy first.

Performing a Mercy during a Klassic or Time Tower will give extra points when you complete the entire ladder. Every Mercy you perform gives an extra 15,000 points.

Feeling confident in your skills? Try doing a Mercy and then taking out your opponent again with a Brutality or Fatality to earn more points than you would otherwise.

Mortal Kombat 11 is available now for PS4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.

What do you think of the Mercy feature? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.