Why does nobody play Reaper?

[Kujako]

His teleport is pretty horrid. Why does it take so long?

It's for positioning, not escape.

[ati87]

Yeah...you can argue it's his weapons, but changing his weapons is just changing the hero entirely. That doesn't solve his problems. He does more damage than a soldier close range, he kills tanks a lot more effectively...if he can get close... so it is his mobility that is the issue, maybe buff his escape by increasing movement speed or make his TP more effective.

Getting close isn't the issue in overwatch, it;s where the fighting is happening anyway.

I can't really press the point in regards to the weapons, off all of the characters you can choice in Overwatch Soldier is the most flexible one out their. He isn't limited by long range as reaper but also not crippled when fighting short range as Widow/Hanzo, unlike Junk he can attack flying targets but also reliably attack tanks from a decent distance.

Reaper just isn't flexible in what he can kill

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Regardless for what it's for, it's still garbage.

that's a bit to much, I never use it every cooldown but it's a easy way to get a highground which is a good way to pull of reapers ulti.

[Selastan]

After playing Reaper a lot recently (If you run into the guy making terrible Reaping puns and playing Reaper EVERY SINGLE GAME no matter what map or team combo, that's me) I find that he can turn matches by himself if played right. I can hang behind enemy lines and completely keep some players from getting ten feet from their spawn, not to mention my ult gets me PotG nearly every damn time. I think he just isn't played right.

Reaper has a lot of strategic and tactical thinking required, and playing him is more like playing chess than Team Fortress. In a game full of Wolves, Elephants, and Tigers, Reaper is a spider. He doesn't charge in and go for the throat, he doesn't stampede through the chokes, he lies his web and waits. You've got to camp, hide, and pick your battles. Know where the enemy won't suspect you to come at you from behind, most players don't expect to get flanked too close to the spawn. If your team is getting pushed back, guard the flanking areas near your objective. The only hero I can't take one-on-one is D.VA, and if their D.VA is trying to flank instead of pushing directly I think you don't have to worry about that team anymore. Payloads allow you to get right in the center of the action, since the payload is perfect cover to keep you out of sight from long range heroes. The enemy team can't exactly stop or push a payload at range, so they have to enter your spider web. Keep the payload between you and them, taking potshots while playing ring-around-the-rosy with the payload for cover.

[ati87]

Well you are entitled to your opinion on what you think you should change. But each hero is definied by their weapons and toolkit, its not a generic assault rifle game. If you actually watch tournys you will see other heroes still have their uses, even reaper was being played a bit today. Yes soldier is the strongest atm, due to him being a bit op/working with the tank meta/ana meta a lot better. You will see the meta start to adapt again soon though.

In my entitled opinion it's mostly related to the maps and game-modes, if the fights happen in close range which they should tanks will have the natural advantage.

Tank strength hasn't really changed that much since Overwatch release, sure they made D.va viable and a few adjustments to the others but nothing gamebreaking (again outside of D.va). It just took the community a bit to release the strength of the tanks, I mean last season it was all 2/2/2 but could have just as well been 3 tanks instead.

[Deleted]

Tank strength hasn't really changed that much since Overwatch release

Ana happened though. Without Ana, 3 tank meta isn't anything special.

[ati87]

Ana happened though. Without Ana, 3 tank meta isn't anything special.

Ana happend at end of s1, 3 tanks is a recent thing while going 2/2/2 was a s2 thing mostly so it's stil people just recently discovering the strength of tanks.

If Blizzard overnight removed Ana going 3 tanks would still be viable, maybe less but still viable but still strong enough to kill most damage dealers in a group fight.

[GennGreymane]

Expect to see more reaper play with the current D.Va changes. He will be able to shred her now.

[Endus]

After playing Reaper a lot recently (If you run into the guy making terrible Reaping puns and playing Reaper EVERY SINGLE GAME no matter what map or team combo, that's me) I find that he can turn matches by himself if played right. I can hang behind enemy lines and completely keep some players from getting ten feet from their spawn, not to mention my ult gets me PotG nearly every damn time. I think he just isn't played right.

Reaper has a lot of strategic and tactical thinking required, and playing him is more like playing chess than Team Fortress. In a game full of Wolves, Elephants, and Tigers, Reaper is a spider. He doesn't charge in and go for the throat, he doesn't stampede through the chokes, he lies his web and waits. You've got to camp, hide, and pick your battles. Know where the enemy won't suspect you to come at you from behind, most players don't expect to get flanked too close to the spawn. If your team is getting pushed back, guard the flanking areas near your objective. The only hero I can't take one-on-one is D.VA, and if their D.VA is trying to flank instead of pushing directly I think you don't have to worry about that team anymore. Payloads allow you to get right in the center of the action, since the payload is perfect cover to keep you out of sight from long range heroes. The enemy team can't exactly stop or push a payload at range, so they have to enter your spider web. Keep the payload between you and them, taking potshots while playing ring-around-the-rosy with the payload for cover.

While a lot of this is true, I feel it's important to note that "lying in your web and waiting" is a highly mobile and short-term thing, in Overwatch. You shouldn't be camping, or something, with Reaper. If you've got an ult charge, by all means, get somewhere high, wait and watch for a few seconds for the right moment, and then DIE DIE DIE for max effect, but you shouldn't be delaying action more than a few seconds. I generally play Reaper as something akin to a lancer on horseback; I rush in from the flank, smash one to two people to death, and then ride out the far side of the melee (usually with his shadow form, to not-die), and then circle back around for another assault from a new angle. The moment I break off, that's when I start that planning, so by the time I'm out, I'm already repositioning for that next attack. I might take a second from a vantage point to assess and pick a target, but that's it; better to dive in and get a kill and rush out than wait around too long.

About the only exception I can really see is if you know the enemy's about to push, there's a great vantage point, and you've got your ult up, so you're going to smash that push to pieces and lay in wait for it. Otherwise, I'm constantly diving in and out of the melee, and if anyone chases me out of it, if they're solo, I can usually kill them and keep going. If there's two or more chasing me down, then I've probably weakened their front by the person I killed and the two or more chasing me, so my team should be advancing.

He's not a stab-in-the-back assassin. He's got a big health pool and his shadow form is straight-up immunity for an escape. He's perfectly kitted to strike and escape, over and over, moreso than even Genji.

[Raetary]

Expect to see more reaper play with the current D.Va changes. He will be able to shred her now.

soldier is far more effective against her.

[GennGreymane]

soldier is far more effective against her.

Yes, but that does not mean reaper cant see play. He is a tank buster.

[Jester Joe]

Yes, but that does not mean reaper cant see play. He is a tank buster.

So is Roadhog when played right, and D.Va probably will still also be a decent one after nerfs.

The only tanks he really "busts" is Winston (who isn't used really) and Roadhog (Who he can be killed by before he gets in range by being hooked).

[6k MMR Lolicon]

Reaper falls off as your opponents get better.

[bubbadubba]

I never see him anymore. Not in my games or on any of the random twitch streams I sometimes watch. It's weird because when I play him I feel as though I do really well.

I guess he's just a "scrub killer" character but not good for high rated play. Idk what do you all think?

He isn't strong around a lot of comps. A lot of streams stick to actual comps and so you see them picking a certain set up, this set up requires a hitscan or a class with distance which he is not.

[Raugnaut]

I think Reaper should have some of the following changes.

1 - Reaper shoots 4x before having to reload, but shoots out 2x more bullets.
2 - Reaper shoots out 2x more bullets, but they have a much larger spread - Smaller characters take the same amount of damage, but larger characters eat all the hits.
3 - When affected by a CC effect, (Knockbacks, Freeze, Trap, Stuns, Pinned, Hack, ect) he gains Wraithwalk for a second instead. Wraithwalk would interupt his Ult of course. (My Prefered) (Perhaps limit it so that it can only occur once every 8 seconds or so).

These changes would effectively either A) Make Reaper into a powerful close-quaters combatant, or B) Make Reaper the anti-CC assassin.

[Kazlofski]

I think Reaper should have some of the following changes.

1 - Reaper shoots 4x before having to reload, but shoots out 2x more bullets.
2 - Reaper shoots out 2x more bullets, but they have a much larger spread - Smaller characters take the same amount of damage, but larger characters eat all the hits.
3 - When affected by a CC effect, (Knockbacks, Freeze, Trap, Stuns, Pinned, Hack, ect) he gains Wraithwalk for a second instead. Wraithwalk would interupt his Ult of course. (My Prefered) (Perhaps limit it so that it can only occur once every 8 seconds or so).

These changes would effectively either A) Make Reaper into a powerful close-quaters combatant, or B) Make Reaper the anti-CC assassin.

I'd say just make him be able to cancel wraithform so it's more controllable or have it like D.va with a charging bar or have him be able to use it in any situation - stun/stun/stun.../freeze/stun... (Roadhog puns mainly :P).

[Mormolyce]

Honestly it's largely because D.Va has been OP for a long time. He's a tank buster but the most popular tanks are unbustable.

I see him fairly often as I've been playing a lot of Winston this season. If Winston gets a much needed buff maybe Reaper will be back in the meta.

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It's for positioning, not escape.

Even for positioning it's wretched IMO.

They could halve the cast time and it'd still be fairly useless for escape.

[Woobels]

Reaper is actually not that bad right now, he seems some usage at my skill level atleast.

He definitely busts Dva right now and it's not even close most of the time, the only tank he struggles with are Roadhog as per usual and high energy Zarya, but she walks over the entire cast so that's normal.

Does pretty decent against certain dive comps too (ones without Pharmercy)

Also Winston really does not need that much of a buff, be careful what you wish for, I have no idea why people keep coming up with absolutely insane suggestions for him, he's in a good spot.

[Deleted]

I'd say just make him be able to cancel wraithform so it's more controllable or have it like D.va with a charging bar or have him be able to use it in any situation - stun/stun/stun.../freeze/stun... (Roadhog puns mainly :P).

His wraith form could have a charge bar like Reind/Dvas shields.. I.e. You can go wraith for up to X seconds on a full charge, if not you can use it for a second on low charge etc.

[Orby]

Its funny as I used to play Reaper a lot, (and was very good with him) but find myself switching out to McCree or Soldier 76. I feel they do this job better

[Woobels]

I'd say just make him be able to cancel wraithform so it's more controllable or have it like D.va with a charging bar or have him be able to use it in any situation - stun/stun/stun.../freeze/stun... (Roadhog puns mainly :P).

Making Wraith Form cancellable would actually be a pretty nice change, Mei can do it.