Blizzard is finally giving Roadhog the rework it promised Overwatch 2 fans earlier this year tomorrow, Nov. 14. And just ahead of the new patch, we’ve got detailed specs for his balance changes.
With a new ability called Pig Pen and changes to nearly every part of his kit outside of his ultimate ability, Roadhog is getting a full makeover. But if you’re worried he won’t feel the same anymore, fear not.
In a Q&A on Twitch, the game’s lead hero designer Alec Dawson emphasized that maintaining Roadhog’s identity was critical in the rework process, and Roadhog mains will be thrilled to know the rework even brings back some of his one-shot potential.
All Roadhog rework abilities
Here are the specs for Roadhog’s rework, according to a screenshot posted to 6Cyx’s Twitch broadcast during an interview with Dawson:
Scrap Gun
- Previous secondary fire functionality removed.
- Total damage per shot increased to 160, up from 150.
- Shotgun pellet count reduced to 16, down from 25.
- Shotgun pellet damage increased to 6.25, up from six.
- Fires a shrapnel volley of four large projectiles in the center of each shot.
- Each shrapnel projectile deals 15 damage.
- Critical damage multiplier reduced to 1.5x, down from two.
Scrap Gun only has one source of fire now. Instead of having one fire that’s very strong up close and one that’s very good at a set medium distance, Dawson says this iteration will be “better at range.” The increased damage in total is a nice little boost, and the inclusion of pellets and shrapnel aims to give the new Scrap Gun fire a little bit of what each type of fire on the gun previously had.
Take a Breather
- Moved from E to Secondary Fire.
- Cooldown for each use decreased to one second.
- Take a Breather now uses a resource meter. It will deplete while holding the Secondary Fire button and recharge when not being used.
- At full charge, it will heal up to 450 health over three seconds.
- Take a Breather will remain active while holding the Secondary Fire hotkey.
- There will be an option to toggle the ability under the Roadhog controls settings.
- Damage reduction decreased to 30 percent, down from 50.
- No longer amplifies healing received.
Take a Breather is getting the Defense Matrix treatment. Instead of being on a hard cooldown, Roadhog players will have a resource bar that recharges over time. This will help to eliminate situations where Roadhog previously would get stunned out of Take a Breather, effectively losing the entire cooldown. It also gives Hog a ton of flexibility.
Pig Pen
- This new ability will be Ability 2 by default.
- Launch a trap that slows and damages nearby enemies.
- Deals 60 damage when triggered and 30 damage per second in an area for three seconds.
- Enemies in the affected area receive a 40 percent movement speed slow.
- Cooldown is 12 seconds.
This trap ability will function similarly to Junkrat’s Steel Trap. The new ability will give Roadhog a little bit more crowd control capability as well as a higher potential to hit one-shot combos by using Chain Hook to drag enemies through traps.
According to Dawson, this ability will also do a slight knock-up to enemies within its range when triggered. This knock-up has the potential to be a useful tool for setting up meaty Chain Hooks that can lead to one-shots with a Scrap Gun as well. While this new one-shot potential won’t be as powerful as Roadhog’s older iterations, it will give Roadhog players more of that fun one-shot potential back. But hopefully it won’t feel quite as oppressive to enemies this time around.
