Overwatch 2 has made its fair share of hero changes in the time since release. At the start of the game, players had to come to terms with Doomfist joining the Tank lineup and Winston getting a new secondary fire. Mei’s lack of freeze took some getting used to, while Bastion’s new abilities attempted to make him less niche. However, apart from Mercy’s quickly reversed Guardian Angel nerf, no adjustment has been talked about as much as the removal of Roadhog’s one-shot kills.
In the early days of Overwatch 2, Roadhog was as dominant as a Tank could get, running wild due to a combination of his ability to instantly kill most damage heroes and the lack of stuns within the upgraded hero shooter. With gamers outraged at the menacing Australian, a nerf was guaranteed, and Blizzard certainly delivered. One-shot kills were removed from Hog’s arsenal, and in turn he has gone from a must-play character to someone to avoid. While a big rework has been promised to make him viable again, fans will likely be waiting until 2024 to see it happen.
Overwatch 2’s Roadhog Rework May Not Happen Until 2024
To help soften the blow of Blizzard canceling Overwatch 2’s hero mode, the company shared a massive roadmap covering the next three seasons of content. In it, fans get confirmation that a new Tank hero will follow Season 6’s support character, the announcement of a Questwatch mode, and a release window for PvE story content. However, they also learned just how far away Roadhog’s changes are.
Like the Damage hero Sombra, Roadhog is stuck in his current state until “Season 7 and beyond.” Based on how long Overwatch 2’s seasons have lasted thus far, it can be assumed that Season 5 and Season 6 will stretch across the remainder of 2023, with Season 7 beginning near the end of the year. This means that Roadhog will remain in his current state until Winter, and for those who main the character, this sounds devastating.
When looking at any Overwatch 2 hero ranking or tier list for Season 4, Roadhog is always found at the very bottom. While Blizzard made some light buffs to his primary weapon and emphasized his position as a survivor to give him some kind of viability, anyone attempting to use Roadhog in competitive is asking for a loss. In his current state, he is simply too poor of a damage-dealer to justify a pick over someone like Orisa or Junker Queen. He also cannot protect his team like Reinhardt or Ramattra, essentially making him feel pointless.
The difference between the upcoming Roadhog and Sombra reworks is that Sombra is still viable in her current state, being regularly seen within Overwatch League matches and the regular competitive latter. More importantly, she is still fun to play, as she serves a clear purpose and can confirm kills on her own. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Roadhog. In his current state, he feels terribly unfun, as landing an impressive hook means almost nothing if the rest of the team does not capitalize on the opportunity. Aside from the well on Ilios, it is highly unlikely for players to see a Roadhog in their games nowadays.
While many have argued that Overwatch 2 getting rid of one-shots is the right direction to go in, something that has also caused players to push for a Widowmaker rework and Zenyatta changes, the hook-one-shot combo was essentially the entirety of Roadhog’s character. Because of this, it makes sense that a rework would require a lot of development time. However, Roadhog being useless for 6 months in a row is a very tough pill to swallow, especially for those who only like playing as him and have spent hours as the character. More buffs will be needed across Seasons 5 and 6 in order for Roadhog players to keep any interest in the game, as the wait is just far too long to justify his current state.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
