Did I miss something ?
She wonāt be able to bash through barriers. Not sure if that means theyāll stop her in her tracks, or if the bash doensāt deal a stun if it passes through a barrier or whatā¦ Also, Doomfistās ability thatās basically the same as her shield bash remains unaffected, so if you want to boop a Rein around all day, you still can, and thereās not much of anything he can do about it.
One of my favorite characters from the start was Bastion. His character appeals to me strongly, and it has been kind of sad the way he has been received by the community from the very start. When he was good, he was so overbearing as to be discarded by the players. He had a moment in the light because of the Pirate Ship meta, but as soon as that was over, Bastion was over. It breaks my heart, but Bastion is a failed character.
I donāt think giving headshots back is going to make a difference, and no tweaking to armor, cooldowns, damage is going to change thatā¦ Bastionās problem isnāt numbers. Itās design.
I think the focus on the turret form is what is to blame here. Itās too overbearing, while being too simple at the same time. Any nerfs Blizz has thrown onto Bastion have been a band-aid to try to make that change. Itās like thereās a line, and on one side Bastion is overbearing, on the other heās useless. And there just isnāt a good middle ground there, IMO.
So I think Blizz needs to give him the olā āchange the ultimateā rework. Turret would be 100% more acceptable I think if it were an ultimate. I am sure there are a number of ways you could buff the turret if it were an ultimate to make it something special- give it knockback, or change how it interacts with armor or shieldsā¦ and the playstyle of Bastion players would have to change to be a mobile hero who sometimes is stationary, instead of a stationary hero that is sometimes mobile.
I think this also means we need to give Recon and Tank some unique functionality in order to justify playing the character, give him a new niche to play in. There are lots of ways we could play with that, I think.
-Have his tank form beā¦ a tank. Or an off tank. Shields, Knockbackā¦ extra speed, maybe?
-Give Recon mode an ability that makes it do something other than a watered-down 76. I mean, itās called Recon mode, right? What if he could use Ganymede as an āeye in the skyā or use his computer brain to analyze enemy team-members?
At first, I was going to scream, but then I calmed down, now that I think about it, I agree that Brig shouldnāt use her Anti-flank tools against main tanks (except Winston, I will find a way to bash that monkey). I am,all for nerfs or some changes for her, ONLY if they donāt gut her, they NEED to keep her role in the game.
Agreed, it was unnecessary.
Donāt mention her! Or the Anti-Mercy movement will come!
We all know how bad Bastion isā¦ sobs
I donāt think thereās any way to put Sentry on Q without either making him a worse version of 76, or making 76 a worse version of Bastion.
Bastionās main issue with regards to his playstyle is that Ironclad actively discourages players from using Recon mode. Since Bastion loses his damage resistance when moving, it often feels like a better play to just sit there and tank damage instead. This, combined with the fact that a passive damage resistance is inherently very hard to balance around, is what gives Bastion that āHeās either useless or OPā stigma. I really wish they would change Ironclad into something that the player has to actively use, and that can be applied to all modes. Something like letting him overheal himself with armor using his repair tool.
As for the āspecial somethingā that he would have with Sentry on Q, knockback would make it completely useless, because he would never be able to kill anything with it anymoreā¦ Iām not trying to say āOh, youāre an idiot for suggesting such a thingā, that seems like just an off the top of your head thing, Iām just saying it would make people want to press Q with Bastion even less than they do nowā¦
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How does something that canāt block melee attacks block a melee attack? 
Would using shield block Reinhart charge? The boundless logic. I donāt agree with this change, it intentionally limits Brigetteās options and subsequently buffs Reinhart even though he is one of the most played heroes.
I think so long as Bastion (recon) and 76 perform different functions, whether one is better or not becomes academic. The problem with recon is that it doesnāt do anything. There is nothing about Recon, Ironclad or not, that makes a team go āThank goodness we had that Bastion in Recon just then!ā This is because Recon is just the thing that Bastion does in between being a turret.
The thing that makes Bastion special, in an aesthetic sense, is that he is the hero that transforms. I think that should be the thing that should be the guiding design principle with the character. A character that can perform a variety of different roles, just not all at once. To use RPG parlance, Bastion should be like a bard: A jack of all trades, but a master of none.
I donāt have any particular suggestions beyond that, really. Bastion needs to broaden his focus to get out of this perpetual rut. And I think thatās why he has been ignored for so long- not because Blizz doesnāt care, but because Bastionās rework is going to be very, very different than what he is now.
Iām still real pissed that they can say no other reworks are planned after a 17,000-post thread over the course of years wasnāt compelling enough to give him any changes in two yearsā¦ Theyāre losing my respect really fast.
3 Likes
Devs confirmed heās not in line for a rework.
The only 2 things the Devs *mostly confirmed was that Bastion is getting PTR buffs, and one of them is 10 more ammo in recon.
With that said, the fundamentals of what bastion needs are less spread, and QoL changes that streamline his kit more.
His spread cripples Sentry, and thatās why heās so weak. The QoL stuff mostly deals with IC not being given the moment he transforms, but rather after he already transforms.
Thus if he goes from Sentry to Recon, the moment he presses shift he loses all IC. Same with Tank.
Other tid-bits involve his ult tank treads being too noisy, more IC on tank, delay and cast time removed from his self-heal.
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One one hand, I can respect how tough it can be to balance. But the other hand takes the respect away because there has been a long list of poor balance decisions, on top of Bastion being ignored for 21 months.
These Bastion buffs are my final straw. They nerfed all 3 of my mains, and every game I face 2 snipers, a DF and a Brig suck any fun I get from flexing/filling/playing other heros.
Itās make it or break it. This is the chance for them to prove themselves to me, and that there is some decent balance remaining.
If not, there are many free to play options out there. I, for one, will look towards World of Warships and TF2.
Tried both, not a fan.
Siege will be my move if/when they fail us.
Until then, 1 last chance.
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Thanks for the reply, I was not aware that the devs had said this. I hope they change their mind.
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TF2 kinda sorta died when they launched competitiveā¦ from what Iāve been hearing, itās basically impossible to find a game anymore.
I donāt really care much for shooters, but vi like Overwatch because itās more than just another call of duty, but Iāve had pretty much all of my mains wrecked throughout the game, and Iām getting pretty tired of itā¦ if they donāt do this well, Iāll probably continue taking a break from OW, and just play fallout. Until they actually fix Bastion
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Not for a rework, just some minor fixes.
Soldier and Recon do fill basically the same role. They have slight differences, but theyāre both automatic mid-long range hitscan. Recon should be a little more than just transportation from one spot to another, but Sentry should still remain the focus of his kit. Thatās not to say that he should be in Sentry for a majority of the game, but that Sentry mode shouldnāt become an afterthought when playing Bastion. Recon shold be for longer range accuracy, Sentry should be for short-mid range high damage.
But yeah, heās not in line for a rework at the moment, though they said that would probably change if these buffs donāt work for him.
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My rule of thumb is 30-70.
30% recon, 70% Sentry.
2 Likes
Of course it is an inconsistency, which is something that makes me skeptical too. But I can see why they are doing it.
I donāt see it from a balance stand point. Especially when she could break choke points, AT the risk of getting focused down. Shield Bashing aggressively tends to put you out of position, especially when it is to break shields for a moment. I can see Orisa being buffed by this indirectly as well and I donāt like how she was buffed in this manner. I like Orisa, but I donāt want her to be buffed indirectly like this.
The only times I get out position with shield bash, is when my main tank doesnāt want to push. I play her, you could easily close the distance, shield bash, whip shot to disrupt the main tank, and back up to where your main tank is.
I think this will only help Rein and not the other main tanks. You can easily pass, through Orisaās shield and Winstonās bubble, as they are deployables, meanwhile, Rein is the actual shield.