Image: Blizzard Entertainment
Roadhog is getting a new ability, but the rest of his kit is changing significantly.
Blizzard Entertainment has unveiled Roadhog’s long-awaited rework, giving the hero some much-needed tweaks to tone down his survivability while keeping him relevant as a Tank pick. His kit is getting overhauled completely, with an additional new ability and the removal of his gun’s secondary fire.
Here’s an overview of Overwatch 2’s Roadhog rework:
What are Roadhog’s reworked abilities?
Roadhog has been part of Overwatch’s playable roster of heroes since launch, but his fans need not worry - this rework is extensive, but not quite as drastic as Orisa’s Javelin-throwing rework from a while back. His basic abilities remain the same, but they have all received significant tweaks to address concerns that his Chain Hook-Scrap Gun combo was the only thing keeping him relevant in competitive play.
Gone is the hook-gun combo. The Scrap Gun’s secondary fire has been removed entirely, with the primary fire reworked so that it fires a spray of shotgun pellets with four large projectiles in the center. This allows Roadhog to play better at medium range than before, albeit with a lower damage-per-shot total. His Take a Breather self-healing ability also relies on a meter with a reduced cooldown, functioning more like Bastion’s old self-healing ability.
That means Roadhog will now only heal as much as his meter is charged up for, to a maximum of 450HP. Despite this looking like a nerf on the surface, it’s actually a buff of sorts - Roadhog can now bounce back to a heal after stuns more quickly thanks to the reduced cooldown, and his damage resistance is maintained so long as he keeps an eye on that meter.
Roadhog is also getting a new ability that makes him more connected to Junkrat than ever before: he can now throw down a trap called Pig Pen that slows enemies down and damages them for a set amount of time. Enemies will still have a chance to wriggle out of the trap, but Roadhog can always chain-hook them before they get out or take them down with his shotgun.
Roadhog’s rework is now live in Overwatch 2. You can check out the full patch notes from this rework here.