Remember how the 1.12 Patch brought along massive changes to Roadhog? The Tank had his iconic Scrap Gun turned into to a pea-shooter and his head shrunken. Because of that, many complained that the hero had become unplayable. Yet, his DPS remains roughly the same. Players find it harder to score an elimination with the hook combo, but still deal the same amount of damage across the board. Those protests were not completely groundless! According to reports, Roadhog's win rate in competitive matches fell substantially. The problem doesn't stop at lower ranks either and is more noticeable among Diamonds and Grandmasters.
With increasingly fewer people picking this tank for an important game, may he soon find himself confined to the history books?
Much fairer chances for all other heroes
Being dragged toward a Roadhog was often a one-way trip. Unless you were playing a sturdier character, you would soon wake up back at your base. Healers such as Mercy, for instance, only had a split of a second to react before being chewed up by the humongous monster.
Considering how the nerf mainly affected the hook chain and secondary fire combo, these changes give other players a way to survive and counterattack. Running around the map scoring one-hit-kills may have been fun, but it's nice to see Blizzard attempting to even the odds.
It's time for Roadhog mains to find a new strategy!
Omnic Meta also showed how the average number of eliminations per match for someone who's playing Roadhog went down. The number is now much more similar to those a Reinhardt or an Orisa would score. The drop doesn't seem too much of a problem, especially for a tank that was designed as a crowd controller rather than a killing machine.
Roadhog's elimination per match - Before and after the 1.12 patch. pic.twitter.com/ElTdLDFFut
— overmeme (@theovermeme) June 29, 2017
Roadhog used to be a security guard before the war. His hook makes him one of the few heroes who are able to move their opponents. As such, Blizzard may have never intended for him to become a frontline slaughterer.
Those who only played this character for the easy kills may need to come up with a new strategy. As a tank, Roadhog still has 600 HP and can take a lot of punishment. Once the prey is hit with the first salvo, skimping ahead for a melee bash isn't that hard! Let's hope things stabilize and this hero doesn't die out completely! I'm looking forward to seeing how Roadhog players will adapt to overcome these changes. I'm certain that they will find a way to get that win rate higher again.
