The bread and butter of the hero-picking tank is about to get nerfed in how it interacts with hooked targets.
Roadhog has been a problem plaguing competitive Overwatch for a long time. A key part in the triple tank meta, Roadhog and his hook were deciding team fights almost too often, with a lot of engagements going to the team who landed a sniping hook first.
In addition, the very behavior of Roadhog’s hook was not working as it was probably intended. Experienced RH players would launch a hook and strafe out of line of sight to pull targets behind walls or even hook enemies while falling down wells to ensure kills and initiate man advantages for team fights. The buggy skill coupled with the high health pool and self-healing, Roadhog’s kit made him an almost auto-include in every single composition.
Having recognized the problem and hearing community’s pleas, the Overwatch dev team are launching some changes to Roadhog’s hook and are planning to roll them out on the Public Test Ream very soon, maybe even this week. The hook will now pull targets only if it passes a “persistent line-of-sight check” once the hook has landed. Said check will also be initiated from Roadhog’s position instead of the hook’s position, meaning Roadhog will no longer be able to pull enemies behind walls after a dash – he will have to be out in the open at all times.
Furthermore, hooked enemies will now be moved directly in front of Roadhog, but a cap on how much RH can spin while hooking will prevent unfair playmaking moves. “You can't just hook someone, spin 180, and dump someone off a cliff,” the official post reads.
