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
He’s 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 it’s not nearly as common.
We weren’t comparing him with Hog, but yeah…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 he’s 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. I’m grateful when he holds a point well, but from my perspective it’s 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 won’t 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 Hammond’s 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 don’t see him as much as a tank. They could be my error…
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 “shotcaller” endorsements as Wreckingball. Probably because he can peel like an absolute madman. People call for help or I hear the “I could use some assistance!” and I can be there in sub-seconds piledriving, knocking and bodyblocking.
You’ll know your WB is doing work if the enemy isn’t shooting at you since his biggest asset is being so annoying that the whole enemy team is following him. often I’ll 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 they’ll 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 “follow through” 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, i’d 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, don’t 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 Hammond’s positive contributions to the team.
I mean, if there is a Ball on one’s 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 players’ 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. It’s 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 can’t tell if they helping.
I’m 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 i’d 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 … fun…
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 … gotta do what the lil’ girl asks, lol.
I’ve mostly played him in QP, but feel that he gets the most value when you actively coordinate with the team versus just ‘doing your own thing’ (though it is very easy to do that given his mobility). I agree completely with people that he is a distractor and I’ll try to tell the team that I’m 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 … 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 I’m 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 30’s is lucky, as he good with most characters but winston, mei and Hammond a soft spot for him.
If I recall though it’s 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.
I’m one of the few that enjoy Orisa ’ her shield bitt naff now though’ 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 I’m doing lol.
Keep practicing with Hammond and hopefully you will continue to enjoy him and others will see good u do…
You will learn which maps you Excell at. Can’t help much with Anubis, but his ult good on second point.
Side note.
When Hammond dies and you hear hamster squeak it’s hilarious’not in mean way just funny’
Oh and his dance… 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
I sometimes feel hurt when people say I’m “just dodging queue times”. I play lots of Reinhardt too. Sometimes I just get tired of holding LT is all… plus, cute hamster so…
Almost every time I play Hammond I receive endorsement.
If you didn’t get any, you simply fed or your team wasn’t good.
If you see them countering you, it’s time to switch.
Hamster is a tank that does not provide peels for backline at all, which means you team’s option goes from getting semi-free kills to trade kills and pray for team fight win. It’s not as bad as a bastion pick but the niche of his usage forces the team to pick around u or for u.
I have experienced so many games that a hammond is doing a medicore job and I’m forced to play a defensive character like mccree or even mei for the supports, as I tend not to play dive dps and have to go for the self-peel/peel-for-teammate route.
Playing hammond means u literally need to get result as him, a lot of the time on ur own. I play a fair amount of hammond on tank role, the sec I fail to get results twice in a row, I switch off. Sacrificing your function of peeling merely for a chance to get more kills is completely not worth it.
Edit: Side note on hindsight, have seen a lot of harbleu’s vids lately. The funny part is the comments screaming hammond carry underneath. The truth is, when the god hamster is on your team, they will perform bad as dps too cuz there’s literally 1 less tank in the mix so there’s half of the protection.
Hammond is easy to receive endorsement because he trades his function as a tank to peel into lethality. So technically u trade the performance of your teammates to yours, ofc u gets endorsed becuase u appears to be better in stats.
Not saying u shouldn’t play him, but from the perspective of looking at results, hammonds is similar to genji that he takes most credit in a winning situation.
Truly, the best and only reason to do any thing at all. =D
Yes, i am doing Hammond exlcusively on QP as well, for now.
Indeed.
This reminded me of a game on Numbani on Defence. Red Team was very successful in pushing the payload and pretty much reached the final point.
Personally, i was not doing well solo and my 2nd Ult charged just in time for me to drop the mines on the payload and was able to distract Reds enough for my team to respawn and push back.
A few fast and furious fights with me alongside them and peeling their Tracer and Sombra off our healers, the payload got pushed back to the choke point (point 2). From there on, it was my Orisa providing me with cover while i continuously piledrove and pushed them away from the choke. Let my DDs finish the kills while i return for heals and back again.
It was a good W. for the team.
I agree too. From my experiments in QP, WB is not strong enough to actually be Dmg dealing flanker unlike Hog. There would be times in certain periods of the match to do that but not all the time and best as doing poke dmg.
His place is with the team in team fights, for sure.
Based off his speed and player reaction time as well as communication and a general sense of situational awareness. Yes, i agree. I definitely need to look into that in my next OTP Hammond session.
XD XD XD
It can be quite easy to pick up Hammond to scratch that DPS itch.
In fact, i am surprised that he is not used more by DPS “dodging queue time”.
Good for you, MartySama. =)
Endorsements do not matter to me, as i mentioned.
I was just wondering if it was symptomatic of OW players, even fellow Tankers, being unaware of how the Hammond player had contributed to a W since i went on 16 W semi-streak in 3 hours of play.
I’d admit that during those 3 hours, i was OTP-ing Hammond…
Fortunately, i was able to pull off more Wins than losses (5 or less).
My teams were terrific those 3 hours, even the losses! =)
Your posts are awesome and always most welcome as well, Kash.
Sorry, it took me a while to get back to you. Work, family and all that as well as different time zones.
Sorry to hear that, buddy. =(
IKR! The few times i do not play Rein and my co-Tank does, what always puzzled me is why does s/he just charge at the start of the battle, especially when we are on defence. Sometimes, i can save him by getting kills as Road Hog, sometimes i don’t. Heh.
And Yes, Brig now is very different from when she was released and maybe, it is for the better, looking at the game holistically.
Brig is totally under rated especially now.
I suppose that the reason why she may feel to be weaker is because her Heals have to be procced by a strike & she is Heal over Time like Lucio but unlike Lucio, she has no spike HoT unless one counts Armour Pack which has a rather long cool down but being able to stack it + over heal + armour revert makes up for that lack of spike Healing.
I am actually looking to put some hours on her when i am ready to play Support again.
Very very very different. Aye and i suppose that that is why i am am enjoying playing him and why he may be misunderstood.
Loving playing him more and more.
Thing is, the basics of Main Tanking with Hammond does not quite change all that much insofar as things like drawing aggro, breaking through chokes, creating space and holding it, advancing payloads are concerned. It is just that the methodology is different and very refreshing for a Barrier Tanker like myself.
I would say that your younger brother is lucky because he is young!
Probably a full 10 years younger than i am! XD
That is awesome! Wish i had a Support like you =)
Agreed, i do that as much as i can especially when on Attack escorting payloads.
However, the good thing about Hammond is that because of his mobility, he can always look for heal packs i.e. “mega” and get back into the fight ASAP. This self sufficiency is also very refreshing for a Tanker like myself.
I enjoyed playing Orisa as well and i agree with you, the Shield HP reduction may appear to be a little too severe but again, it probably may be better from a holistic point of view. I agree, either revert the CD a little or make Fortify endure 0.5sec longer.
Thank you, i will…and i still look like some fat fingered n00b on Hammond, trust me but because he is so much fun to play, even dying is fun because it is a learning experience!
Oh, this is a good tip. Will think on it more!
Thank you!
Yes! Never gets old
Yes, cute, right!
I was lucky, i got that drop in one of the few Christmas Lootboxes i obtained.
It is now my intro…if i ever get POTG! =)
Thanks, Kash.
Always a pleasure speaking to you. =)
Hey Silent!
Thanks for the reply.
We are all in different time zones and less busy lives
Kinda of a shame that I’m on Xbox and you are PC as would have been cool to play.
In regards to Rein. Some reins are great and some I just know will get me killed.
The times I’m behind his shield and it’s. O where near breaking and he lowers it to go and have fun.
Usually 1 second later widow killed me lol.
Orisa was my second golden weapon as enjoyed her. I was a very agressive Orissa but the recent changes have changed that a bit. I don’t think she is quite as survivable as I would like with a weak shield.
I would love to play dps more but I’m not that great with aiming on xbox. I do try though and sometimes get luck lol.
I’m not usually a gamer ‘used to play WOW’
So was surprised how much I love this game. Been playing just over a year and probably played way much in spare time lol.
Brig was my first golden weapon. She is SO squishy now! A mistake can get you killed. Whereas before, if we struggled to get out of spawn I would jump on her and clear the way.
I do enjoy brig, but it can be hard to maintain inspire at times. I do ok but want to get better with her. Personally I would like repair packs to be instant burst heal, but hey ho.
I’m 39 and wish my reflexes were like my brothers lol. That said I surprised myself on Lucio yesterday with how quickly I reacted when I got knocked off edges and was able to wall climb back up in Nick of time several times.
Hammond as you said seems incredibly fun for people who get used to him.
Early in comp he jump on my team and ulted. I faded out with Moira and next thing the little rat was behind me and managed to knock me right into his bombs and killed me. Times like that I actually think fair play to him.
So mate learn to cause havoc with him and give the healers hell. Just expect the likes of brig etc to fight back. Brig quite good at annoying Hammond lol.
Anyway really nice chatting to you.
People prob wonder what I’m doing writing allof this lol
Sometimes just nice to interact with nice people.
Oh btw.
So I got hit hard in support placements and got put down to 1458 SR,‘last season high was 1800 nearly’. Anyway been working my way back up but dropped to 1320 and now back up to 1660 I think. It can be a ping pong of going up and down but had some great teams lately.
Work on getting even better with hamster mate then get him into comp and see how you get on
