As a Reaper main this entire situation sucks

General Discussion
1

On my main account I have 300+ hours on Reapist. I have onetricked him for the past year or so. And while I barely play comp anymore, I hate the situation Reaper is stuck in.

Let me start off, it’s always sucked to main Reaper. In any scenario. Like any DPS I am blamed for a lot of the issues my team encounters during a game.

But as a guy who has loved playin Reapy-Beef for more than 3 years. It’s really hard to enjoy how I am seen by my community.

This is a brief history of Reaper
-Normal at launch
-Beyblade meta
-Underpowered during a triple tank meta, where Reaper should have excelled
-Trash for 2 very long and frustrating years, of fighting for buffs and a spot in matches
-Now Reaper is suddenly a meta pick with forced 222

And with the amount of complaining going on. I expect Reaper to be nerfed. And it sucks. I know that my hero will probably go back into the garbage can, because he will need a full rework to not be oppressive or trash. His design is far far too simple for a game like Overwatch. He needs a change in playstyle.

No amount of range, change in healing, or changing in numbers or statistics can properly balance Reaper. (While I personally think Reaper is balanced, I am apparently in the minority here).

Reaper needs changing in abilities. Not just less % health, less dmg, or less % spread. Reaper needs extra utility, something Reaper players can learn to master, something with a high skill ceiling that can still be used by beginners.

IMO this has always been smoke bombs

But for now. If you are for some reason having issues in 2019 with Reaper. Here’s what to do.
-Literally any CC DPS or a DPS with more than 15m of range
-As a tank, damage Reapist as much as possible while you still have armor. Reaper is trash against armor
-As a healer, keep your tanks armored
-Prioritize Reaper as a team. Reaper excels against poorly coordinated people

Reaper is a pushover at range. If you can attack him before he gets 10m of your tanks. He should be an easy kill.

Personally I have the most issues with Reaper when I fight:
DPS: McCree, Hanzo, Sombra (escaping), Mei, Pharah
Tanks: Sigma, Roadhog (shoot hook shoot combo), fast Hammonds
Supports: Baptiste (ranged), Lucio (especially his knockback)

13 Likes
2

I get it, no one wants their mains nerfed for fitting into a meta that they didn’t create or cause. Trust me, I completely understand this feeling more then most, I’m a Sombra main.

Bad news though, Sombra was pushing an F-tier WR, and still got quad nerfed because she could get play in Goats; so I wouldn’t hold out much hope. Your lifesteal percent is almost certainly going to drop, at minimum.

That said, you are seriously discounting how much the changes to Wraith(refilling ammo & cancelable) and especially Shadowstep have helped him tremendously. The SS change alone made him viable/strong in the majority of ranks(especially low-mid ranks) alone. SS went from nearly unusable(and easily the worst ability in game) to a really solid set up move plus environmental boop proof, literally overnight.

So in short, I feel your pain, but I think you are overstating how much the PTR changes will hurt him.

17 Likes
3

Fam… I know, it is crazy. I feel you. I dropped that sack awhile ago.

4

I’m not really mentioning the PTR changes. I’m talking about future nerfs that seem inevitable.

And Reaper for the most part has had good buffs. But his good buffs weren’t based on stats and numbers, but on changing him. (Except for self heal, they went a bit overboard with the numbers)

5

The problem with reaper is that they buffed him to try combat goats it didnt work so now we moved to 222 and there less tanks and healing in the game reaper has becoming far to overtuned he is one of lowest skill ceiling heros in the game that destroys everyone and for the people that play high skill base hero it sucks been even if we good we cant get as much free value as reaper does 40percent lifesteal is insanely high and alot of the times he doesnt die becuase of it the range nerf i suggest allowa counter play between him and the tanks 10maters is quite a decent range to say he has alot of dps potential he destroys tanks as if it was butter that isn’t balance or fair play. You got to understand the meta is designed around picking the most powerful heros in the gamr and the fact that he easy and get valye with little effort you can help controle the from line no problem is op

6 Likes
6

You forgot that most triple tank metas include triple support, and every support hero (except brig now) counters reaper. This is why Reaper didn’t excel against the goats meta

7

Then you are stressing too much. What could they do that’ll effect his playstyle drastically? Barring a complete rework, at absolute worst they potentially could add a couple seconds to his CDs, and nerf his leach and damage a bit.

An extra second or two on his abilities wouldn’t realistically do anything, his leach probably should be a bit lower, and even if he needed an extra shot on tanks(or even needing a second shot to kill a squishy), it won’t impact him much since he ordinarily either: gets CC’d hard focused and dies instantly or he kills his target(s) and can walk away at full health.

The biggest nerf Reaper can ever get is less barriers, which would mean more Widows. That’s why I brought up the PTR, if the barrier/tank changes are enough to push Widow’s PR up significantly, Reaper’s will drop. Regardless we’ll see more Hanzo, and that’s not great for him either.

What in the world? You seriously think any, much less every, support counters Reaper?!

2 Likes
8

I’m also a Reaper main. To be honest though, the only thing I really fear going forward is the armor changes. I never played OW (I’m fresh. This is my third competitive season) with the original armor numbers, so I’m not sure how it’s going to feel or how negatively impacted I’m going to be.

But. What can you do? If picking Reaper with my skillset currently is a detriment to my friends and team mates, then I will have to pick something elses to learn and main. I don’t wanna do that, but I’m sure it’s a possibility.

9

Reaper one-tricks always existed in T500, so…

10

That selfheal is… (op)

11

Instead of nerfing reaper, they should buff tanks so that if any tank hits him with knockback or some other form of CC he is immediately teleported off the map and forced to fall for 30 seconds before respawning.

2 Likes
12

I understand. I’ve played a ton of Reaper in the past and have enjoyed him. That’s not going to stop me from saying he’s absolutely a broken hero who’s running rampant in plat and below, and the fact that he’s one of the most viable dps in the higher ranks as well is terrible.

40% lifesteal is a dumb mechanic. It was fine at 30%, maybe even should go back to 20%. But right now, the amount of easy value you can get on Reaper (a hero that I do enjoy playing, mind you; he is my most played dps for a reason), is not healthy rn.

2 Likes
13

Dude, you’re nearly a Ball OT. I’m having a hard time thinking of a situation that Reaper can kill a Ball that doesn’t start with “well Mei/Sombra was there too and…”

2 Likes
14

They deleted Symmetra, nothing is sacred.

15

my only problem with reaper is being too quiet and his lifesteal.

16

Finally, somebody knows that Roadhog can counter Reaper. Its next to impossible to beat a good Hog as Reaper in masters. Reaper can even be point blank and the combo works even better.

17

He’s only being used to counter doom, thats why Mei and Moria were also used. They all have abilities that can save themselves from his combo. Forcing the doom to retreat after failing to get a kill.

And if you’re a low rank, you can just get better? Il tell you now its not Reaper whos holding you back. Its yourself.

18

As a doom main I know what’s like to have a bunch of whiny babies complaining about a char that was always been a throw pick until double shield came.

19

That’s because Doomfist’s design is the antithesis of fun for anyone that’s not playing him. Doomfist “whining” has been around since his release and will always be around as long as he exists in his current state. Sorry.

2 Likes
20

Oh, poor kiddo wont be able to 3 shot the one class thats supposed to soak damage.

Thats gotta suck man. Better write a novel on the reddit too so you can keep 1 shotting squishies