‘Overwatch’ Is Already Looking To Nerf Roadhog, But Torbjorn Could Be More Lethal

A few weeks back, Blizzard essentially turned Roadhog into a must-pick tank in Overwatch by upping his one-shot potential, and making shield tanks much less viable. But Team 4 is already tuning the off-tank’s damage output back down in the the latest experimental card, which is now available in-game.

There aren’t huge potential changes on the cards for too many heroes this time around, save for a tweak to how shotgun-type weapons work across the board. That said, Torbjörn could be in for quite a buff if these updates make it into the live game. As ever, these changes might not last beyond the experimental card — they’re effectively in a public beta test for now.

Here are patch notes for the September 4th Overwatch experimental card, along with Blizzard’s developer comments and notes from yours truly:

“We’re making weapons that utilize shotgun patterns more reliable by removing the random rotation applied to each shot. Individual pellets within the shot will still have a tiny amount of variance to their firing angle for the sake of the shotgun weapon feel, but this change will provide significantly more control over aiming these weapons.”

That’s a good change! Though Ashe’s main weapon is a rifle, her Coach Gun deals shotgun-style damage, as does Torbjörn’s secondary fire.

“When combined with the changes to shotgun patterns, we’re looking to keep Roadhog’s Chain Hook combo reliable, but not overly powerful against heroes with higher health pools.”

This reverts the damage increase from Roadhog’s last balance change in mid-August. He’ll still be able to one-shot combo squishier enemies, especially if he can double each pellet’s damage with a headshot, but the change could make him less viable in many situations.

“This change to Torbjörn’s secondary fire is aimed at giving it a stronger role at close range. We’re hoping this change allows each shot to feel more impactful, since it has a larger burst. To keep this change in line, we’ve also reduced the damage-per-second.”

This is a fairly similar change to the previous Roadhog buff. Torb’s secondary fire will have a slightly longer time between shots, but he’ll output more damage with each one. Bear in mind that he can increase his firing and reload speed with his Overload ability.

I don’t have any real complaints about any of these proposed changes, and hope to see them make their way into the live build. Experimental cards are typically live for at least a week before Blizzard decides whether to bring such changes into the full game.

I cover all things Overwatch, including the Overwatch League, for Forbes. I also currently write about tech, games and entertainment for Engadget.

I cover all things Overwatch, including the Overwatch League, for Forbes. I also currently write about tech, games and entertainment for Engadget.

I’m a Scottish expat who lives in Canada with my partner and many, many plants. Email me tips (or just to say hi) at kris [at] krisholt.net and follow me on Twitter @krisholt

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/krisholt/2020/09/04/overwatch-experimental-patch-notes-roadhog-torbjorn-ashe-doomfist-dva-reaper/