So recently, in a bid to expand knowledge of the various Tanks in the game and to breathe some life into OW and not think about quitting, i have tried my hand at Hammond.
I have always liked the hamster but never quite spent the time to learn him.
So yesterday, i spent a good 2-3 hours in QP split into 2 sessions, of course and one-tricked him to the tune of 16 wins (!) and a handful of losses total.
I am not a good player, for sure, being a Bronzer but i certainly had a lot of fun with him. Frequently, i would get Silver and Bronze elimins (my contribution to the team) and within a game with about 15 minutes, produce at least 3 ults.
However, all that is moot and the key is that my team and i win (although it be only QP), which happened a lot yesterday and everyone contributed, even me.
Now, the thing is, i noticed a trend.
I have played Tanks for a considerable period of time - Reinhardt, Orisa, Hog and very often, i would receive at least 1 Endorsement per game. I even had 5 endorsements from a match before. Win or loss, the Endorsements were given (Tank U, everyone!).
However, yesterday, despite the victories, the Endorsements were few.
So that got me thinking that people may misunderstand just how Hammond impacts a game and how he contributes to a W.
Hammond players, do you think this way?
Non-Hammond players, do you think that Hammond just runs away and hide somewhere / feed and is not a good contributor?
I always endorse the Hammond regardless of team, basically. Well, the good ones. But that is most of them. I feel like bad Hammonds are just not Hammond mains to be real with you.
Albeit, I actually hate bad Hammond more than virtually any other hero I can have on my team. There is nothing more deadweight than a Hammy that has no idea what he is doing.
Yes, when i was just starting out, i could feel the difference between a practised Hammy and a non-practised one. Like what i am supposed to do, how to do it and when should i do it.
I think that the reason for my question / topic is not about the Endorsements, for sure but if my team mates thought that i was skiving off despite the medals in Elimins (again, it is just a measure of contribution not that i am good) and of course, the 16 almost consecutive Wins.
Because Hammond is best played as doing his own thing, disrupting & harassing, Hit & Run, delay, zoning, initiate fights and draw aggro behind enemy lines so that the Red Team will focus on him thereby allowing the Blue Team to advance (and sometimes dying/feeding). Then returning to contribute in team battles and off to harass people again.
This contribution is not always seen nor understood.
Hence, my question about Hammond (mains) being misunderstood.
However, i see that there is almost no response so i think that maybe there are no Hammy mains left or much thereof. XD
Yeah but not in a āwhy am I not getting follow through?ā Kinda way. Winston has that problem too, but much worse because he is less versatile than Hammond. That brings me to the actual confusion I see:
People see him as Winston minus a barrier when Hammond is really a flexible, high utility tank that can perform multiple different playstyles and roles.
at least at the very low tiers where I am people do seem under the impression that if u play Tank, doing anything away from the front line is considered bad play
I think issues with getting silver or gold medals for damage is nobody knows u got it. If 1 DPS gets silver he would assume the other DPS got gold, if the DPS got Gold he assumes the other got silver. It would probably never dawn on them that the Hammond did anything because all they see is the sillhouette of the Hammond in the distance rolling back and forth.
donāt think Iām as good a Hammond as u are so me not getting endorsements and commendations might be for completely different reasons to you
There are a few misconceptions with Hammond that I see, yeah. The biggest that I see on the forums is that some people only see him as an off-tank. He can be one, but he isnāt restricted to off-tanking. Heās more of a flex tank. He can play a main tank or an off-tank depending on what the team needs and who the other tank is. For instance, a Hammond/D.Va comp would have Hammond as the main tank whereas a Rein/Hammond comp would have him as the off-tank. Now, Winston/Hammond comps are where things get juicy because they can alternate who plays the main tank role for the teamfight and who plays the off-tank, switching off who initiates the dive and who follows in. Hammond/Winston is probably my favorite tank duo at the moment.
Another that I generally see goes along with the main thing that youāre noticing - people donāt really recognize the value that Hammond brings to the team, and thatās largely because that, even if you do play him as a main tank, people usually donāt accept that because a large chunk of the playerbase thinks main tank = shield. So if you donāt have a shield that they can stand behind, they arenāt going to see you as their main tank, even if both Hammond and Winston are great main tanks. Plus, thereās also the notion that every Hammond they see just feeds and doesnāt get many kills, and never switches off even if there is a Mei focusing them, etc. etc.
Overall, I feel like heās in the same boat as Winston in the sense that some donāt see them as main tanks even if they are; and he is also in the same boat as Roadhog in the sense that some just see them as fat DPS who arenāt actually tanks and just end up feeding ultimates. And that combination leads to Hammond and how his value is felt to be misunderstood quite a bit.
Sombra main here. I love seeing Hammond. I LOVE seeing him on red team, for very obvious reasons, but heās probably my favorite dive partner to have as a teammate.
Sombra and Hammond have amazing synergy. I can scout, hack a source of CC, and make backline packs; he chunks out a bunch of cleave damage for me to confirm kills on, is an immediate threat taking focus off me, and is large enough to he body blocks tons of damage letting me hang out longer. Plus he tends to be able to get out easier/quicker then Winston/Dva if things go south, meaning I donāt have to overstay my welcome trying to buy time for booster/jump to come off CD. Also EMP-Mines is a pretty underrated combo.
I always see Balls contribution, and know how much chaos he can bring, but admittedly Sombra is probably the easiest characters to notice Ball putting in work with. Even fellow flankers like Tracer and Genji donāt have the luxury of being able to peek and scout as much, so they kinda just see a silhouette rolling about, and not the fact that heās been occupying 2-3 characters chasing him around for the last minute.
I will say bad Hammonds are the worst though. Hammond players as a whole arenāt terribly afraid of going in drastically outnumbered, and with how quick he can dive in, go crit, grab a couple packs and be back, Hammond can feed a TON of charge constantly.
I couldnāt possibly disagree with this statement more.
when it comes to mobility and cc yeah, he can do it all the time.
he cant provide the consistent value of monkey or dva if played at an equal level. a bronze ball and bronze monkey, monkey will more reliably help his team and be a more annoying thing for the enemy team
his ult is worse than dva ult for zoning or killing, and it can work well, but nuke is more reliable as a tool for it
he has no way to defend his team directly (dm/bubble shield)
he is worse than roadhog at securing picks with his cc
he is worse than orisa at just displacing an amount of people (yoink is safer, more reliable, and more predictable. while the ball probably knows where he will knock people, the other team members probably wont realize ahead of time)
the fact that he can just be an annoying bully is overplayed. every tank can and should be an annoying bully. hammond is just a meme and im pretty sure the character designers got drunk/high one night to design him
Heās picked far more often then either, and has a higher WR, at all ranks.
Disagree. Bomb is a better combo piece, but solo Mines last much longer for zoning and picks up a random 1-2 kills more often then Bomb in my experience.
He can peel with boops and pile drive, or body block with AS without feeding Ult, but yeah itās not nearly as common.
We werenāt comparing him with Hog, but yeahā¦just barely. His solo kill % is miles better then any other tank not named Hog though.
Again, this was about dive tanks. Halt is better overall at displacement, I agree, but realistically Halt is one of the better abilities in game. His displacement is FAR better then his dive tank counterparts, and heās by far the best tank at displacing a group off high ground.
I think your post asks a very fair question.
I mainly play support but I know my brother loves hamster.
The thing is Hammond always seems to be away from team and does not feel like a tank in some ways. Iām grateful when he holds a point well, but from my perspective itās hard to see how much he has impacted a game.
Bit similar to sombra, you never really know how much they adding as u cannot always see what they up too.
Also trying to heal hamster when he wonāt keep still is not fun lol.
I know on defense especially when two off tanks I may sigh when I get a Hammond in comp.
So yea I think he may be very misunderstood as he is off doing his own thing away from team.
As said it maybe a case of just feeling like he not around much to know he doing well.
That said I have endorsed enemy Hammondās on occasion as they have given me hell even though we lost.
So a well played Hammond is great, but sadly you only get to see that most of time when U being attacked by enemy one
I just donāt see him as much as a tank. They could be my errorā¦
Endorsements are strange. Sometimes I get loads as support the. Other times none even though we won abd had good healing etc.
I always try to be fair with who I endorse. Mainly tanks and healers but will give to a dps if they done something really well.
Btw. His ult used to better. It still kills me sometime but not best ult.
I usually get my only āshotcallerā endorsements as Wreckingball. Probably because he can peel like an absolute madman. People call for help or I hear the āI could use some assistance!ā and I can be there in sub-seconds piledriving, knocking and bodyblocking.
Youāll know your WB is doing work if the enemy isnāt shooting at you since his biggest asset is being so annoying that the whole enemy team is following him. often Iāll break chokes just by getting on the point by shooting past their line. The whole enemy team turns because nobody wants to get backcapped, and then unless my team is absolute lolzwutgunsdo theyāll walk up.
I will also mention that I rarely if ever use VC, so my only callouts are the ingame triggers.
Thank you everyone for responding.
As is my practice, +1 for (relevant) posting.
Indeed, the general consensus by both Hammond players and OW players is that the hamster is not very well understood, to the point of being misunderstood.
Interestingly enough, there is another recent thread about the Hamster:
XD XD XD
Yes, indeed. As i was OTP-ing Hammond (now into 3.5+ hours) over the past 2 days, that was the impression i got. Because of the hours spent and OTP-ing, i got to try him out on almost all the maps and in all the various modes.
With some thinking and the right use of Grapple + Roll + Piledriver, Hammond can defend, take points and push chokes.
For the āfollow throughā part, because of his mobility, i never have to worry about that any more because if my team is not nowhere near me, i can always get out very quickly. Unlike say, Rein or Orisa.
Yes, i agree. As mentioned, i am a Bronzer, so in QP, i would be grouped with team mates from Bronze / Silver / Gold majority of the time, iād reckon.
There was one game on Eichenwalde on defense where my co-Tank asked what tank should he play with Hammond. No one replied. I just told him to play what he liked and whichever was his best character. He chose Orisa.
We actually managed to keep the Red team in Spawn with me constantly rolling and piledriving through the first choke for about 3 minutes. I felt bad but well, it was what it was.
The Red Team had 3-4 leavers.
The replacements were able to push and although the game was a Win for us, the Red managed to escort the payload all the way to the castle.
Yes, indeed and i never tooted my horn. So sometimes a leaderboard would be nice just so that my team mates know that the Hamster is doing his job, aye?
Dude, donāt be modest. I am a Bronzer. How can i be better than you?
Anyway, the (lack of) Endorsements is not an issue for me. It is symptomatic of the lack of understanding of how a decent Hammond player contributes to the team Win.
Could not have said it better myself.
QFT!
Thanks for the response, Peridotite.
I suppose that this could be the reason why we do not have many Hammond users.
It is interesting that you mentioned a Sombra playing with Hammond because that was exactly what happened in one game during my combined 3 hour sessions the day before yesterday. I was doing the Hamster flank to try and break the first choke on Dorado on Attack and my team mate who was Sombra pretty much worked with me to harass & distract the Red Team enough so that our other 4 team mates could break through.
I cannot disagree. As i am still learning and will continue to do, i wince internally whenever one of my solo dives go wrong and i die. Because i am aware of how much i would be feeding the Red Ult charges. However, the only way to learn is through mistakes and by being a OTP.
Fortunately, so far, 18 Wins in 3.5 hours should mean that i am learning well enough.
Yes, indeed. I did a quick check on Overbuff after i read your post and it does seem that way and with a slightly higher win % as well albeit 49.56% across all ranks. However, from Diamond to GM, Ball is over 50% in Win rate with a whopping 53.59% in GM with a 4.08% pick rate.
Yes, that is why i created this thread to ask if there are any misconceptions about Hammondās positive contributions to the team.
I mean, if there is a Ball on oneās team and the team wins, it should mean that the Ball is doing some things and doing it right, aye?
And to consistently do it for 3.5 hours with 18 wins, it means that the player is doing some things right.
It is simply interesting to see other playersā responses to a Hammond.
Keep going with Hammond if you are enjoying him.
One gave me hell in comp Hanamora today. Got past rein and bastion and kept swinging round 1st point and me and roadhog could not stop him. Others came to help and we lost point.
A well played Hammond I actually admire.
I feel same when I play Brig. Itās hard for others to know how much Brig really helping. I had a Mercy asked me to switch even though I had gold healing. Sometimes brig and Hammond others canāt tell if they helping.
Iām silver and know when my certain healer like brig is and is not working.
My bro great on Hammond but he does not feel comfortable playing him in comp for similar reasons.
Thank you, Kash.
Yes, i believe that a game forum should seek to educate as much as channel for feedback.
Glad that your brother loves Hamster!
I am really starting to like him too.
Even my daughter and son were puzzled by my choice and honestly, playing Hamster has reinvigorated my passion for the game.
Yes, i cannot agree more.
I have been playing Barrier tanks for years and obviously playing Hammond is a huge (and needed) departure from always being with my team as a tank.
However, when i combine what i have learnt as a traditional barrier tank and playing hitscans dmg dealers like S76, Hammond is pretty much it.
So in order to be effective, Hammond players have to leave the team for a bit and then rejoin the team during team fights or when the team catches up to him and of course, that means that unless people are communicating via the mic, no one knows what Hammond is doing, like a Sombra as you mentioned.
Hammond, from what i can see, is played a bullet sponge in team fights.
How he pushes versus a Rein, Orisa or Sigma is different but no less effective.
In fact, one of the reasons why i wanted to learn him is because, given how Tanks are being pushed to be more aggressive by Patch 1.43, Hammond is actually going to quite decent with that philosophy.
Yes they are but i was never really bothered over them.
As i mentioned, it was just interesting to see that when i play my Barrier Tanks, i always receive at least 1 (win or lose) but for Hammond, despite 18 QP Wins, i think that i received less than 10.
So iād reckon that it was symptomatic of a lack of awareness of how a Hammond player contributes to a team win.
Nice!
Yeah, i should learn to focus on that as well. Good tip!
Yes, exactly!
That was precisely how i envisioned a decent Ball player would be.
Drawing aggro and making the Red Team focus on him/her while the Blue Team comes up from behind and open a can of whompa$$.
Yeah, in Bronze/Silver, it is silent but i like it that way. =)
Hello again, Kash!
Yes, thank you, i will. Hammond is just ā¦ funā¦
Sorry to hear about the losing that point. I hope that you won that game eventually.
Yes, from my OTP experience thus far, Ball is great for 2CP maps. He barrels in so fast and hard, he breaks through the choke and forces the Red Team to have to respond to him or lose the point. I absolutely love playing Ball on 2CP maps except for Anubis. I am still doing my mind mapping over how best to approach Point 2 there.
Ball is decent for KotH maps as well. Won Nepal map twice over the past 3.5 hours but it can be tough. Ilios is the most difficult map for me, by far. Trying to warp my head around that one.
ikr.
As a Rein main (for now, Hamster is making a very case for himself), i much prefer a Brig at my side and with the Armour revert in Patch 1.43, Brig is a monster but no one really is aware of that.
Brig suffers from the same misinformation that Hammond does, i suppose because she heals AOE and HoT. So it is not quite as obvious as the other Supports who apply HPS directly.
He should!
But i know the situation.
My daughter is decent enough on Junk Rat and Mercy in QP but she does not really want to try out Comp.
I recently picked up Hammond because my daughter has pet mice and, well ā¦ gotta do what the lilā girl asks, lol.
Iāve mostly played him in QP, but feel that he gets the most value when you actively coordinate with the team versus just ādoing your own thingā (though it is very easy to do that given his mobility). I agree completely with people that he is a distractor and Iāll try to tell the team that Iām going to burst through and be a distraction so they can push, etc. I think where WB gets less recognition/endorsement is where you are playing him like a more mobile Hog. Going in, hitting, trying to get picks, etc., instead of using your in and out mobility to set up your team. I.e. when I dive in with WB, my primary goal is to get out alive to (1) not feed and (2) be a distraction so that the other team is firing at me and not my dps/healers. If I can get a pick, great ā¦ but it is decidedly secondary in my priority list.
And like others have said, WB is great for peeling for your support or dps that are getting dove by winston, another WB, doomfist, etc.
I love playing Brig even if she quite different from old brig. I love playing her with a Rein. That is till he charges off and dies lol.
I can feel bit weak healing tanks with repair packs but again the repair packs armor for over heal great even if short lived.
But yes, brig is under rated. When Iām on Moira etc and we have a brig I look after her as I know what she can do with support.
From what I hear, Hammond is very different from all other chars, but once you learn him you love him.
My brother who is younger than me and in his early 30ās is lucky, as he good with most characters but winston, mei and Hammond a soft spot for him.
If I recall though itās rare to see Hammond play of game or on board at end of match.
I was in comp and I could see a crit Hammond through a wall far off. I kept thinking come back for heals come back for heals as I hate seeing someone crit and feel helpless lol.
Hammond and Winston should always come back for heals when poss. Please if safe stay still as we heal u lol.
Iām one of the few that enjoy Orisa ā her shield bitt naff now thoughā I think they should reduce cool down small bit.
If I get Hammond on mystery hero I must look like a joke as I have no idea what Iām doing lol.
Keep practicing with Hammond and hopefully you will continue to enjoy him and others will see good u doā¦
You will learn which maps you Excell at. Canāt help much with Anubis, but his ult good on second point.
Side note.
When Hammond dies and you hear hamster squeak itās hilariousānot in mean way just funnyā
Oh and his danceā¦ EPIC.
Oh he also has adorable highlight intro where he bites cables. Now I think of it my bro often got play of game with him as used to love seeing that Intro.
So play of game is poss
