Recently, lots of changes have been made to Overwatch, and it seems that an Overwatch Roadhog rework is next in line to hit the PTR (Public Test Region).
The game’s tank heroes haven’t seen particularly significant changes since D.Va’s rework in September 2017, but there has been talk on the Blizzard forums about changing Roadhog’s kit for quite some time now. The Blizzard team finally seems to be ready to tackle this now that Torbjorn’s rework is live on the PTR, but Roadhog’s changes may be subject to delays considering that Torbjorn is broken at the moment.
Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan confirmed Roadhog’s upcoming rework on the Blizzard forum, and stated that it would be about “balancing” his kit, which implies that he will be both buffed and nerfed in different ways. However, it won’t be a traditional “rework,” as it won’t be as major as the recent changes to Symmetra and Torbjorn. Kaplan had the following to say:
He’s not getting a “rework”… just some tuning/balancing. Will take a bit more time then the recent PTR changes that went up, however.
Considering the current state of the meta, it seems that Roadhog’s changes will be geared towards making him a more viable pick. How Blizzard intends to do this is anyone’s guess, but the “balancing” aspect will likely be rooted in balancing his buffs with a nerf to his one-shot potential, which has been a major point of concern to players for quite some time.
It is likely that his hook/shot combo may be slightly nerfed, but he may receive extra ammo or improved mobility in order to make up for it. Is is unknown at present whether the changes will affect his survivability, although it is likely that there will be at least minor changes to his Take A Breather ability.
The changes will likely attempt to make him more of a meta hero, as he has fallen out of favor since the launches of Brigitte and Wrecking Ball. Roadhog works well in bulky, static compositions, so perhaps Blizzard will attempt to substitute his damage potential or survivability for increased mobility, so that he can become a more viable option for faster compositions in future.
