Roadhog changes.

[Fenzha]

So from what i read these are changes they have in mind for Roadhog.

Spread on the scrap gun decreased by 20%.
Cooldown on the hook increased by 2 seconds.
Distance hooked target lands away from Roadhog increased from 2m to 3.5m.


The first 2 seem reasonable but that third one has me a little concerned. Before it was fixed Ana used to not be pulled in as far as others and could just walk away after the hook. Before hook 2.0 people used to sometimes not get pulled in far enough if they clipped terrain or something silly and could again sometimes just walk away. Is melee range not 3m? and won't this change stop you from using melee in the combo if it goes live?

With this change will we be seeing people just walk away from getting hooked? or will the spread decrease allow more of the shot to hit and make up for it?

[Jessicka]

I think the idea is to put it back to being more of a skill shot to make it a proper combo again. Which is fine by me. Obviously the spread reduction compensates it a little, and makes him less useless between hooks as well but from what I've been reading it is definitely not the guaranteed kill it had become, and is more like it was pre buff.

[Endus]

I'm fine with reducing the hook cooldown and giving Roadhog more reliable primary/secondary fire.

The change to the distance people get dumped after a hook MAY be offset by that spread change. If you hook a 200 health hero, they should die to the followup primary fire. If it's dropping them far enough out that some can survive, it'll need to be tweaked.

[Fenzha]

I'm reading a load of forums posts and i see alot of people saying that characters like Mei/Reaper/Ana/Lucio etc all have a chance to get their defensive abilities off and maybe survive.

[Deleted]

I'm reading a load of forums posts and i see alot of people saying that characters like Mei/Reaper/Ana/Lucio etc all have a chance to get their defensive abilities off and maybe survive.

As it should be. There's only a few heroes who can still manage to do that (Like Mei). Roadhog basicly fears no-one, perhaps now he will.

But the spread on the scrap gun is a buff right? Feels kinda weird. Is it for the primary or alternate fire, or even both?

Also, yay for longer CD. I guess Blizzard never properly anticipated how devastating his hook was going to be. 6 sec CD on an insta-hit KO has been really bugging me for months.

[Anzaman]

I'm reading a load of forums posts and i see alot of people saying that characters like Mei/Reaper/Ana/Lucio etc all have a chance to get their defensive abilities off and maybe survive.

Sure they have chance, but Roadhog can still oneshot those listed heroes on PTR - just need to know where to shoot on each individual hero. These tests only included hook + M1 combination, doing melee attack afterwards can secure the kill if your shot is not optimally placed and your opponent is slow enough with defensive activation.

I had 48 ms, Roadhog had 48 ms.

[Fenzha]

doing melee attack afterwards can secure the kill if your shot is not optimally placed and your opponent is slow enough with defensive activation.

I have not tested on the PTR myself only going by what i read. But doesn't the hook now drop you outside of melee range so if the shot fails to kill they should be able to act before the melee attack can hit them.

[Anzaman]

I have not tested on the PTR myself only going by what i read. But doesn't the hook now drop you outside of melee range so if the shot fails to kill they should be able to act before the melee attack can hit them.

Melee range is 3 meters, it drops target to 3.5 meters away from you - you can pretty much move "during" the hook and get close enough.

[Deleted]

I'm reading a load of forums posts and i see alot of people saying that characters like Mei/Reaper/Ana/Lucio etc all have a chance to get their defensive abilities off and maybe survive.

They already do in some situations though so it's not really an issue. I guess masters + gmasters players would be the most concerned about it though.

[Very Tired]

Balanced or not, I think Blizzard was just getting tired of Roadhog's hook being the most complained about topic by far.

The big change is the increased cool down, which allows Zarya's to shield allies everytime it comes up. So now she could effectively shutdown all of Roadhook's hogs as long as she keeps an open eye and stays alive.

Still waiting on some PTR footage to see how his combo lines out.

[Woobels]

Balanced or not, I think Blizzard was just getting tired of Roadhog's hook being the most complained about topic by far.

The big change is the increased cool down, which allows Zarya's to shield allies everytime it comes up. So now she could effectively shutdown all of Roadhook's hogs as long as she keeps an open eye and stays alive.

Still waiting on some PTR footage to see how his combo lines out.

I've tried and you just do the regular old combo where you walk up and shoot now, basically good Roadhogs will just have to go back to this and not notice much of a difference.

Average ones will probably start missing kills they shouldn't again, which should reduce the complaining about him.

The spread reduction feels pretty good too, it's easier to gib people with RMB which feels really satisfying.

[Deleted]

Honestly those aren't the things I'd change about him.

I'd remove the little stun or whatever that is applied when the hooked target reaches Roadhog, letting people actually fucking do something once they're hooked, like Genji deflect, or McCree flashbang.

I'd also, straight up just improve the hitbox because it's pretty shit.

[Woobels]

Honestly those aren't the things I'd change about him.

I'd remove the little stun or whatever that is applied when the hooked target reaches Roadhog, letting people actually fucking do something once they're hooked, like Genji deflect, or McCree flashbang.

I'd also, straight up just improve the hitbox because it's pretty shit.

Removing the stun makes his hook complete garbage to be honest, and the hitbox is fine right now, he's nowhere near as oppressive as he used to be.