Crusader OFFLINE! (The story of how Reinhardt's Shield was chipped away)

General Discussion
1

I have been told by several players in our forum community that Reinhardt is fine. Well let me first begin by saying this: I have been playing Reinhardt since day 1. I’ve played every competitive season, and I’ve been very attentive to changes that impact him and the game overall. Also, I don’t suffer from long term memory loss, which so many people seem to have these days. This post is designed to paint the picture of just how Reinhardt’s main purpose in his kit (HIS SHIELD) has suffered greatly.

So sit down my friends, grab some warm coco or BEER and let me show you just how a Crusader’s shield died.

  • November 15, 2016: Sombra is introduced. As well as Pharah’s Minimum explosion damage has been increased by 13%. As well as 76’s gun Bullet damage increased from 17 to 20 (and eventually brought down to 19 5 months later).

  • January 24, 2017: Hack Cooldown has been reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. Also Time it takes to hack a target has been decreased from 1 second to 0.8 seconds.

  • February 28th, 2017: Hog’s gun Spread decreased by 20%

  • March 21st, 2017: Orisa joins the roster. But also, Junkrat’s explosions no longer hurt himself. This allowed him to use his mine at close range freely against Rein (which he will eventually have two) Also, Sombra Translocator Cooldown reduced from 6 seconds to 4 seconds. BUT THE BIG ONE THAT BROUGHT IN DIVE HAPPENED ON THIS DAY: Winston’s Shield Ability cooldown now starts when the barrier is placed, instead of when it ends

  • April 11th, 2017: Lucio damage increased by 25% (obviously not a real rein counter but more damage brought into the game, and supports often target shields to help take them down). Lucio Projectile speed increased from 40 to 50, also Alternate fire now considers vertical orientation when knocking targets back (this one directly effected Reinhardt players).

  • May 23rd, 2017: Orisa’s Barrier Cooldown reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. I mentioning this because this buff right here was good for Orisa, but this is where we start to see Reinhardt’s shield becoming overshadowed, and soon even more with the next changes to come when Spam meta is introduced with Junkrat buff soon.

  • May 23rd, 2017: REINHARDT nerf to Earthshatter; Effective height has been lowered from 3 meters to 2 meters.

  • June 20th, 2017: Hog comes full circle to pump faster damage to be apart of spam meta; Bullet damage decreased by 33%; Fire rate increased by 30%; Clip size increased from 4 to 5 (this will be coupled with Junkrat soon for spam meta)

  • July 27th, 2017: Doomfist released (another direct counter to Reinhardt with Rocket punch; Orisa is the appropriate counter to him).

  • August 29th: HELLO JUNKRAT! (Spam meta is complete, and Reinhardt’s shield dies like a fart in the wind) Concussion MineJunkrat can now hold two mines; Also, Tire’s movement speed has been increased by 30%; There is no longer a time limit when wall climbing.

  • August 29th, 2017: Orisa receives further buffs to help seal the deal for spam and bringing down Reinhardt’s shield faster: Projectile speed increased by 20%; Barrier size increase by 20%; Barrier shape has been changed to allow for more coverage from enemies that are below the barrier. Also Hog can now heal while moving also giving him more reason to be in spam meta.

  • September 19th, 2017: D.Va’s Micro Missles are brought into the game, More damage creep, and now Diva and Spam meta BOTH are in the game (both are terrible for Reinhardt) Her change also is another way to spike Rein’s shield or him. She can also attack while boosting: Fusion Cannons can now be fired while flying.

  • September 19th, 2017: Mercy changes brought with Valk, making her part of Dive and Spam, and just about everything because she was so good.

  • October 10th, 2017 Ultimate lost when interrupted. This was a nerf for a lot of heroes (and not for some). Reinhardt was hit bad with this one (his counters were not). Also, Hack now interrupts Reinhardt’s Earthshatter.

  • November 16th, 2017: Moira enters the game, she is a good addition. I love her, even though Reinhardt is not the most equipped tank to deal with such a hero. D.Va is the tank that best counters her (which also feeds back into Dive).

  • February 27th, 2018: Doomfist handcannon Ammo recovery rate increased from 0.8 seconds to 0.65 seconds per bullet. And now we have all the recent Sombra changes.

So why did I show you all this Chronologically? Because I have to paint the picture. I have seen too many people say that Reinhardt is fine; that Reinhardt’s shield hasn’t suffered. This is simply wrong. I know most people these days have short term memory, but when you dig into the history of Overwatch’s changes, you see a clear pattern that Reinhardt’s kit has suffered greatly to the following:

  1. Hero Reworks (specifically to heroes that counter him)
  2. Hero buffs (specifically damage buffs that contribute/enable dive or spam metas) and
  3. Hero additions (almost all the new heroes contribute to countering Reinhardt in some way).

All the while, Orisa feels and is better to deal with these changes. She actually fits right in. Sombra change? Np, your shield is already out. Junkrat buffs? Np, you have fortifiy to survive the RIP Tire. Briggy? Np, her bash won’t bring down your shield like it will Reinhardt and you can spam her shield with primary fire from a distance. Dive? Np, you can bring as much spam, Moira (and now Briggy to counter it).

Orisa simple dominates, and that’s fine. I like Orisa, but enough is enough that Reinhardt is fine. After all the chronological evidence I have shown, all the changes, Rein’s shield is suffering, so much so, Orisa keeps looking better and better, to the point Rein is only seeing play on very specific maps (like Kings Row). Top this off with Old bugs, and newer bugs that keep popping up…well…
I’ll say it one last time:
REIN IS NOT FINE
(in regards to his shield and disgusting amount of bugs)

395 Likes
2

Perhaps the change on Bastion’s spray plays role as well ? He had his ability to do critical damage taken away and got a different spray which was supposed to be a barrier shredder.

It may not be a very popular pick but if he is picked ( for pirate ship strategy for example ), he makes a difference.

19 Likes
3

Forgot about Bastion, but in regards to certain maps and strats (pirate ship), Rein’s shield is still Overshadowed by Orisa’s.

27 Likes
4

He is one of the most buggy and counterable heroes in the game.
I agree with OP and also let’s not forget all the bugs he is plagued with as well that the dev team has decided to completely ignore for some reason, despite being reported countless times with proof and videos.

Earthshatter not registering on targets infront of you,
Charge pins often not registering, instead booping away targets, even though the target was on the ground and right infront of you in a corridor.
Some melee swings not registering, even though you clearly hit someone.
Projectiles sometimes going through shields.

My video showcasing Earthshatter not working with recent gameplay highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLRfnM4_M7E

46 Likes
5

I do hope Rein gets more use from Brigitte synergizing well with him, though she does also counter him. He used to be the quintessential tank, but now it’s a happy surprise whenever I see someone pick him, because having a giant protective rectangle to stand behind is generally a nice thing in my book.

It’s sad to see what has happened over time.

31 Likes
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Without a doubt. In terms of ‘shield regeneration’ I think Orisa beats him by far because she gets a full shield after a specific cooldown while Reinhardt needs to wait for the regeneration to start, it doesn’t start instantly.

To me, it feels that Orisa can have a full barrier faster than Reinhardt, despite if he is the one with the 2k shield. At the very least, he has no ability to make him take less damage while waiting for the shield to come back.

18 Likes
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true

i hope he will get some love from the dev team …but i doubt it sadly

6 Likes
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While I don’t have the link, one of the Devs did say Reinhardt was fine / balanced in the last couple months.
However, I agree he does need a bit of love. With most DPS heroes being picked are flankers, the useful-ness of Reins shield has gone down a bit too. As Genji’s and Tracers are often in the back lines anyway, which makes Winson more appealing as well.

5 Likes
9

A distinctly remember a blue post saying they are going to fix earth shatter in a month or so.
Why the amount of time-Dunno?

1 Like
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The original post wasn’t really about earthshatter at all. It was about how chronologically the power-creep and changes in the game have not been favorable to Reinhardt’s kit (his shield). At all.

6 Likes
11

Found it-Someone made a thread asking about riens earth shatter being bugged.

15 Likes
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Again, see the post above. I’m sorry, I want to keep this on thread topic.

4 Likes
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I know, but he mentioned bugs, so i thought i would pop this here-as for power creep-thats entirely down to strategies in game and how the developers balance around MC hammer.

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Rein HIMSELF is fine.

The changes and the situation they created made Rein less popular. This essentially happens and has happened for every hero. There is nothing wrong with Rein.

2 Likes
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He’s a good tank. There are so many barriers in the game right now (Orisa, Reinhardt, Symm, Brigitte, Winston) that buffing Rein’s specifically is not necessary. What good would it do apart from making Rein a must pick again ? It’s the devs intention to make all heroes viable in certain situations, but not all. Apart from Tracer, of course, who cannot be touched and can be played on whatever map you wish.

1 Like
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I can’t keep arguing this. I clearly spoon fed every power creep update word for word and how it directly effects his defesive kit (his shield I even listed it chronologically to make it easier for everyone to understand) which, if you haven’t realized, his shield is HIM! Reinhardt is his shield. His shield is Reinhardt. His popularity is a direct result of his dwindling kit.

You don’t have to change a hero for them to suffer. They can be indirectly damaged by a power creep, and that is what we have. Go back and read my original post, specifically the #1 #2 and #3 reasons for this direct impact.

32 Likes
17

I feel it’s a bit dishonest to say that spread decreases hurt Reinhardt. Sure they don’t help him, but with the size of his shield…they’re pretty minor nerfs.

Not that I disagree that the general DPS power-creep has hurt him of course, just things like Roadhogs change (which was a net DPS loss when you factor in reloading) and spread increases are at worse neutral, and at best, nerfs against his shield.

1 Like
18

I think Rein is not in a terrible spot but I agree that his shield up-time needs some work.

I was wondering it a constant recovery rate of the shield (regardless if he uses it or not) could help that.
The shield break would than be the situation to avoid, since that actually disables his shield for a moment.

5 Likes
19

I understood exactly what you are saying.

Your favourite hero may not be the best pick for as many situations as it was before. Like i said, this is a thing that happened for many heroes. I don’t want to see him buffed directly.

If for example Ana is going to be buffed, its an indirect buff for Rein i would say. Rein, the way he works right now, is completely fine. The current situation may not favour him now, but this is not necessarily a bad thing with the hero himself.

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The current situation hasn’t favored him since March 21st, 2017.

And are you forgetting? It’s not like we have a bunch of Anchor tanks in this hero roster. We have 2… TWO! We can’t balance these two to both be viable anchor tanks? Com’on man, that’s just weak if that’s the case.

24 Likes