Roadhog’s rework is finally here, and while some players have concerns about more crowd control being added to the game, his new healing will make dealing with his hardest counters easier.
Roadhog has been in a weird spot for quite a while. After being buffed and nerfed in and out of one-shot territory since the launch of Overwatch 2, he’s struggled to find a place in a tank roster that seems filled with strong counters to him.
Top culprits like Orisa, Ana, and even Doomfist have short-cooldown cc that completely negate Take a Breather, which is Hog’s most important ability. As a tank without a shield, damage negation or mobility, Hog players rely on Take a Breather to effectively double their health bar, and if it gets interrupted by a javelin, nade or a large fist, he becomes a whole lot squishier.
But with the new changes to Roadhog’s healing in his rework, enemies won’t be able to punish him for healing nearly as much, and Hog will have more opportunities to recover from crowd control.
Roadhog harder to punish with new healing cooldown
Discussions within the Overwatch 2 community have largely focused on the inclusion of a new crowd-control ability, in Hog’s new Pig Pen trap.
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However, players have also noticed that because of the significantly shorter cooldown on Take a Breather, Hog will now still have access to healing and damage reduction even if he is knocked out of the original animation.
Because the heal is now on a meter, similar to D.Va’s Defence Matrix, Roadhog can resume his heal after a short 1-second delay. Previously, if Take a Breather was interrupted, that was it. No more healing for several seconds, which was usually enough to confirm the kill. Now, it’ll be a lot harder.
For more news and updates on the Roadhog rework, check out the divided community reaction to Blizzard adding more crowd control to the game.