“Overwatch” hero Roadhog has been a popular choice in the meta with his ability to one-shot heroes and self-sustain himself. In fact, lower tier players have been using him in solo-queue to reach ranks like Gold and Platinum due to his sheer raw power. Unfortunately, Blizzard has already made their move and recently released a patch that nerfed the “Overwatch” hero.
While he still keeps his self-sustaining ability, Roadhog’s bullet damage has been drastically decreased in exchange for an additional clip size and fire speed.
He cannot easily kill squishy heroes like Mercy or Zenyatta with his typical hook-shoot combo. This has made him a less viable choice in competitive play, but he is still far from being a useless hero.
“Overwatch” Roadhog goes back to basics
Before Roadhog became a one-man army, he was actually in a similar situation in the past. Players found a way to kill squishy heroes but under different circumstances. Instead of merely hooking their foe and shooting them down, players will first have to land a right mouse-button shot. From there, they must hook their opponent, use the left mouse-button shot and then finish them off with a melee attack.
This combo might seem daunting to new Roadhog players as it takes skill and patience to master this. For those who have yet to do so, they can rely on more traditional methods to score some kills. In line with this, the latest patch has made Roadhog less of a solo killer as he heavily relies on communication to kill his foes. Players can call out to teammates after they managed to hook someone similar to how Zenyatta “Overwatch” players land a discord orb on their enemy. Roadhog and his other allies can easily shred any hooked enemy without much effort.
Positioning and awareness
With the recent Reaper buff in check, “Overwatch” hero Roadhog will constantly have to be aware of his surroundings.
A few shots from Reaper can easily shred the hero so he must now stay closer to his team and rely on them during dangerous situations. Similarly, Roadhog should also be careful on who he hooks as full health heroes now have a fighting chance against him after his initial shot.
Keeping this in mind, Roadhog now acts more like a finisher instead of an annihilator. Most "Overwatch" players will usually try to escape from the heat of battle once they drop around half their health. As they try to escape, he can easily pull in an enemy with his hook and decimate him/her with one shot.
Overall, the latest Roadhog nerf has raised his skill cap but has not made him a bad hero. Characters like Ana have also received similar nerfs yet they still play effectively in competitive play.