Overwatch Internally Testing Roadhog Changes, Investigating Reinhardt Bugs

Published: July 13, 2017 4:00 PM /

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Overwatch Oasis Reinhardt Charge Roadhog Hook Highlights

Blizzard Entertainment is hard at work behind the scenes with their first-person shooter Overwatch. Aside from some recent changes to the PTR version of the game, the game's development team is internally testing changes to Roadhog and investigating issues with Reinhardt according to forum posts from Principal Designer Geoff Goodman and Game Director Jeff Kaplan, respectively.

Roadhog was changed around the time of the release of the Horizon Lunar Colony map. Aside from his head hitbox being reduced, the damage of his Scrap Gun was decreased and its overall fire rate was increased. This combination of buffs and nerfs has seemingly made him a less favorable pick in the game; according to stat-tracking site Overbuff, Roadhog's win rate has dropped from about 47% to about 44% and his pick rate has dropped from about 7% to about 1%. In short, the numbers show that the character is less successful overall and is being chosen by players much less often than before.

At the moment, the Overwatch team is internally testing changes that would buff Roadhog's defensive capabilities. Mr. Goodman concedes that his hook combo is weaker now; he feels that defensive buffs that would increase the overall survivability of the character will round him out better.

As for Reinhardt, a number of issues have existed for the hero since around the time of the Overwatch Anniversary patch. Overbuff shows a steady decline in the Reinhardt's pick rate over the last three months along with around a 2% lower winrate. A forum thread by Battle.net user Tedex details the issues: Reinhardt's Earthshatter Ultimate is inconsistent, his hammer timing is off, and his Charge ability can miss targets directly in front of your path. After this thread was moved to the Bug Reports section, a second thread was created which complained that Blizzard wasn't taking the issues with the character seriously. This prompted a response from Jeff Kaplan on the matter.

Mr. Kaplan asked that players post any issues they find with Reinhardt in the game's Bug Reports forum. He stated that reproducible steps and video are especially helpful in giving Blizzard the necessary information to remedy the problem.

While there are not yet any definitive fixes for Roadhog or Reinhardt announced as of yet, the Overwatch team has acknowledged the issues and are making moves to get them resolved.

What do you think of the changes made to Roadhog in the Horizon Lunar Colony Patch? What changes do you think ought to be made to Roadhog to make him more successful? Do you think Blizzard was ignoring the issues with Reinhardt or was there some other reason behind the bugs remaining in the game for as long as they have? Let us know in the comments below!

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One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N

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Learn more about Overwatch
Game Page Overwatch
Platforms
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date
May 24, 2016 (Calendar)
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