Can’t see how Reaper changes making him better at dealing with armor meta. Wraith changes are nice (still should be as fast as moira fade imho), but no spread reduction and still zero damage to armor [Overwatch PTR Patch Notes – March 24, 2018]
In fact, we’re looking at buffing Reaper and Mei in an upcoming PTR patch (hopefully this week) since they could use a boost and they could help with this meta if it comes around.
Facts reaper just cant reap armor
Shadwostep hasn’t been touched and it’s still garbage not-ability
These buffs are great but Shadow Step and his shotguns suck against any armor.
I mean, these buffs seems great for wraith mode at least, and although I appreciate the fact that the delay nerf doesn’t seem to be there anymore, and the speed of it is increased, I’m not sure what purpose his ult QOL serves.
Generally speaking you never need to reload with the ult because you either kill everyone, or you die quickly, anything in between you have enough shells left to finish off stragglers.
It doesn’t address his ult’s uselessness in general, his terrible spread, or his garbage shadowstep. I also think this doesn’t necessarily increase his engagement potential to that of the level of other good heroes.
Reaper needs a lot more work than this, but the buffs are appreciated.
The changes will really keep his DPS up. The reload after Death Blossom will be useful for it seeing how enemies will likely survive his ult through the armor. The cancel early is practically a safe reload also. I can totally see unloading all 8 rounds > wraith cancel > unload another 8 rounds > Deathblossom > another 8 rounds.
If there really is going to be an “armor meta”, Reaper will be fine. Armor hurts all DPS. Sure, burst like Widow or McCree are hurt less by it, but barriers are awful for burst characters, and an “armor meta” would certainly be bringing more barriers as well.
What I would of liked for them to of done… but we can only dream right?
Honestly the no headshot but increased damage thing would probably help his consistency a lot and help him against armored targets, you could even up his pellet count that way and further help his consistency.
Still, I think wraith mode being more akin to DM with a resource bar would be better, would make it more of a utility in a fight and be used to both engage and disengage if used right which would also increase his skill ceiling. To prevent stance dancing you could just put an internal cooldown on it for when you could use it again on top of the resource replenishment time.
But again, doesn’t change that shadowstep is an awful ability and one of the only non combat abilities in the game.
These are well needed buffs for Reaper. I’ve been asking for them for the longest time.
Yeah but is it enough?
After playing a few rounds with him on ptr, I’d say these are a really good step in the right direction for him.
The speed buff alone is more significant than I thought it’d be on paper, but in practice it actually functions as an escape and engagement tool when used properly. This alone is gonna help him to stay relevant.
I’m still for something that makes his shots more consistent but maybe harder to aim to make him a bit less strong in lower ranks, but as good, or slightly better in higher ranks.
We’ll see how it shakes out, but I’m optimistic for him if these make it into live.
However his ult QoL was largely ineffective for what I stated before, didn’t notice it much, did significantly notice his wraith fixes though. It’s a toss up for me whether he actually needs the resource management.
IDK about having a resource meter for Reaper since it already reloads his shotguns for him, I think if they added a meter then they’d have to add more activation and deactivation cooldowns, so it might just better to leave it as it is.
The idea is not to buff him againts tanks and tanky heroes, the idea is the buff him overall so he will be played more in general and then people won’t pick 3 tanks. because theres likely an enemy reaper.
What kind of medication are you taking?
If you remove his ability to headshot, then you can raise his pellet damage significantly. THIS would raise his consistency greatly. You cannot control how many pellets hit the head, it isn’t your call unlike a Mccree who can guarantee a headshot if he aims it.
If you are praying on an RNG fest to do the damage you need to be viable, that’s not a good look. That’s why it would be in his best interest to raise his damage significantly (so he isn’t neutered by armor) and remove his headshots. Consistency is better than random burst.
He makes a decent point, why the ad hominem?
Thats a pretty good point actually, but having an anti tank character with an ultimate that doesn’t do well against tanks just doesn’t seem overall fairly balanced. Also, hasn’t Blizzard stated that they’re worried about a new tank meta which is why they decided to buff Reaper and Mei?
or having a barrier tank with a support ult (orisa). doesnt fit… 
Not entirely sure where you’re going with that one, but, to me at least, I think death blossom needs just a little touching up.
I agree with everything except for the Shadowstep during Wraith Form. I am just one of those people who feels like it needs to be faster in general instead of this because of its practicality