Overwatch 2 update gives Roadhog a rework, here are the patch notes

Roadhog, one of many authentic Overwatch heroes, is getting a rework within the newest patch for Overwatch 2. Whereas his core talents — Scrap Gun, Chain Hook, and Take A Breather self-healing — aren’t going away, a few of them are altering in noteworthy methods. He’s additionally getting a brand-new means, Pig Pen, which can give Roadhog gamers one other offensive software to play with.

Roadhog’s Scrap Gun is getting streamlined, together with his explosive secondary fireplace eliminated utterly. Blizzard is as an alternative combining his two strategies of fireside into one: His shotgun blast now features a shrapnel volley of 4 giant projectiles within the heart of its shot, along with a sprig of shotgun pellets.

“We checked out [Roadhog’s] main fireplace and the secondary fireplace as two issues that function fairly properly, however as particular person components on the equipment, weren’t doing sufficient contribution themselves,” Alec Dawson, lead hero designer on Overwatch 2, instructed Polygon in an interview over Zoom. “So we mixed each of these in a manner with the brand new Scrap Gun that performs a bit of bit higher at vary than Roadhog [used to].”

Picture: Blizzard Leisure

Right here’s a breakdown of Scrap Gun’s adjustments, from Blizzard’s patch notes:

Scrap Gun

Earlier secondary fireplace performance has been eliminated.
Whole injury per shot elevated from 150 to 160.
Shotgun pellet depend decreased from 25 to 16.
Shotgun pellet injury elevated from 6 to six.25.
Now fires a shrapnel volley of four giant projectiles within the heart of the shot.
Every shrapnel projectile offers 15 injury.
Important injury multiplier decreased from 2x to 1.5x.

Roadhog’s self-healing means, Take A Breather, can be getting some large adjustments. Foremost, it’s transferring to the button beforehand used for his secondary fireplace. It’s additionally now resource-based, and when consumed, refills over time — much like how Bastion’s self-repair means used to work.

Slightly than eat an entire bunch of therapeutic directly, Roadhog gamers will as an alternative have the ability to heal him a bit of or lots, relying on how a lot therapeutic fuel (or, uh, tuna) is within the canister. (Minimal heal on Take A Breather might be 84 HP, as much as 450 HP max.)

Picture: Blizzard Leisure

“Turning Take A Breather into one thing that’s on a useful resource simply permits him to be, for 95% of conditions that he needs to make use of it, simply as efficient,” Dawson mentioned of the change. “You’re nonetheless in a position to get that injury resistance. You’re nonetheless in a position to get that therapeutic in. And then you definitely don’t have to make use of your complete cooldown. You’ll be able to solely use half if you happen to solely want half. So it permits you simply to play lots higher in your crew, and tank injury when chances are you’ll must, and have injury discount at-will, mainly. That may be fairly efficient.

“Then if you happen to have a look at issues like stuns in our sport or some kind of delicate CC talents — like Orisa’s spear that used to simply knock you out of your means completely — if you’re utilizing Take A Breather now, [Orisa] will simply spear you and also you’ll get the one-second quiet down, however [Roadhog] can go proper again to [healing]. So it softens a few of the counters Roadhog had beforehand as properly.”

Right here’s how Take A Breather is altering, per Blizzard’s patch notes:

Take a Breather

Now activated by holding Secondary Fireplace.
Cooldown for every use decreased from eight seconds to 1 second.
A brand new useful resource meter has been added. This meter will deplete whereas Take a Breather is lively after which recharge when it’s not in use.
Take a Breather requires 12 seconds to succeed in full cost from empty.
At a full cost, Take a Breather can heal as much as 450 well being over Three seconds.
Take a Breather will now stay lively so long as its assigned hotkey is held.
An choice to “Toggle Take a Breather” has been added below Choices > Controls > Roadhog.
Injury discount decreased from 50% to 30%.
Not amplifies therapeutic obtained upon ending.

Roadhog’s new means Pig Pen lets him, like Junkrat, set a ground-based entice for the opposing crew. However in contrast to Metal Lure, Pig Pen damages and slows enemies for just a few seconds. It’s yet one more delicate crowd-control means for Overwatch 2, not a full-on stun, however one that can get Roadhog gamers some new tactical choices to think about: Do they attempt to Chain Hook opponents not solely towards them, however into the trail of Pig Pen? It would allow extra one-shot kills for Roadhog, however may be difficult to reliably pull off.

Picture: Blizzard Leisure

Like Junkrat’s Metal Lure, Roadhog’s Pig Pen might be barely obscured. Eagle-eyed opponents might spot its dome form half-buried on the flooring of maps. But when they don’t, and so they set off it, Pig Pen will knock any opponent caught in its radius upward barely, sluggish them, and do injury to them over time.

“For [Pig Pen] we have been making this one thing the place if you happen to do catch somebody in it, it feels very satisfying,” Dawson mentioned of the brand new means. “So getting that knock-up makes them a goal for you with Chain Hook particularly. So that they’re not simply slowed a bit of bit, however they’re additionally within the air. So that you’re in a position to form of have this second like, Alright, I can efficiently hook you from there.”

From Blizzard’s patch notes:

Pig Pen

This can be a new means assigned to Potential 2 by default.
Launch a entice that slows and damages close by enemies.
Offers 60 injury when triggered and 30 injury per second in an space.
3-second length as soon as activated.
40% motion velocity sluggish.
Cooldown is 12 seconds.

Dawson mentioned that Blizzard experimented with many iterations of Roadhog reworks over the previous 9 months, together with giving him auras and shields. However Dawson mentioned the Overwatch crew didn’t wish to deviate an excessive amount of from the Chain Hook-Scrap Gun-melee combo that’s so central to the hero’s id.

“There’s been loads of good classes all through the final 12 months about how all of our roles match into 5v5, and the way they may have to be tailored into 5v5,” Dawson mentioned. “I believe tanks particularly [were] one thing we knew moving into, that there’s gonna be a bit extra work there to translate all of them into this new format. With Roadhog, there’s loads of good classes right here, like flexibility is vital. It helps tanks simply really feel much more impactful if their talents can’t be turned off so rapidly.”

Dawson mentioned that suggestions from the group and creators has additionally had a huge impact on Roadhog’s rework, and deliberate tweaks for the sport’s subsequent hero, Mauga.

“With Mauga, he simply hit our preview server and we received loads of nice information,” Dawson mentioned, “loads of nice suggestions that we’re gonna [use to] make and regulate Mauga earlier than he comes on season eight, to extend his survivability particularly. So I believe we’ve discovered lots as a crew there. You’ll see a few of the manner we’re designing tanks are a bit of bit completely different than we used to when it comes to what they could want personally. And Take A Breather is kind of a translation of a few of these classes.”