Right now, he’s pretty terrible.
Completely destroyed by a good portion of the roster, Worst hero in GM. Only problem is, in lower ranks he’s decent.
My opinion:
He should be ONLY SLIGHTLY moved away from the “tank buster” role, in exchange for a stronger kit. For example, reduced spread, possibly reduced shadow step CD, in return for very slightly reduced damage. His spread is simply too big.
Make him an assassin
When I saw him in the first cinematic trailer that’s what I thought he would be. He has the whole dark cloak, hidden in the night vibe going on. He could have smoke bombs or release smoke from himself or something.
Shadow step kinda fits but it’s too bad to use for ambushing.
I’d definitely say give him a tighter spread, and maybe a little more range on it too. I wasn’t around for soul orbs, but that seems like a cool mechanic to bring back. I’d also make his shadowstep faster, though not any quieter.
Oh, and he has a grenade launcher (arcing projectile w/ splash damage) as an alt fire, so he’s not useless during the poke phase.
Reduce his spread
Completely agree with everything you guys said!!
I’d love to see any of these changes implemented.
straight up get rid of Shadow Step and replace it with anything. Pretty much anything is better than Shadow Step
I think shadow step has a place in the game, (as a reaper main).
Though it could use some adjustments possibly.
Reminds me of when Sombra’s uncloak audio was really loud. “I WAS HERE ALL ALONG!” Good memes from that time.
They were great and fit his character well.
I dunno about a grenade launcher, but I would like to see alt-fire addition.
I was thinking the same thing. Some kinda visually ominous cloud smoke or something. Would be kinda cool. Teammates could briefly not be visible to Widow or w/e if they were in it.
I am a Reaper main in diamond (KOR server). Any buffs to ma boi will make gold and below players scream for nerfs.
Don’t want that to happen.
I can definitely understand that (looooool)
So that’s why I was thinking reducing his ability to “tank bust”.
Possibly less spread, less dmg?
Change his weapon to work similar to Roadhog
Basically having a longer range shot
His primary would likely need to be changed to compensate
Elaborate, please?
Would you mean he would have a projectile primary fire? I definitely wouldn’t want that.
Those feel gross, and they only work against tanks. Makes him more of a tankbuster.
I think Reaper is pretty sufficient now that shields and healing have been hit. He is a very integral component of deathball type comps that rely upon close range fighting. No other DPS has as much reliable raw output and bulk.
I’d say rebalance Tanks, and move Mei to the Tank role, then see where “Mr. TankBuster” is at.
Ooh, I’ve been thinking about this for a while!
Right now, Reaper is caught in a limbo state between two playstyles — flanker and tankbuster. Which one is he supposed to be?
If he’s a tankbuster, why does his weapon do nothing against armor? And if he’s a flanker, why is he so loud?
Back when OW was released, I think the devs envisioned reaper as a silent, methodical wraith of an assassin, slower than Tracer or Genji, but more lethal. You’d have to constantly watch your back, for fear that he’ll appear behind you and kill you before taking your soul and hovering away 
But the truth is, Overwatch is just too fast-paced for that. Tracer and Genji can just dash into the backline, get a kill, and get out, essentially doing Reaper’s job better.
So over time, I think his niche has moved more to the tankbuster role. I have a whole post about this, I’ll pull it up later 
Reaper is mostly fine, he just needs a straight buff that the community will actually let him keep.
I just want them to be like the other roles
I love that idea!!!
Idk why people even call him a tankbuster tho. He sucks against armor
I agree with your post except this part. I don’t think he should be a tank buster, we all know how much people complain when that happens lol…
I dunno, I agree? I kinda disagree? Lol.
I think his playstyle is slightly flawed and could use a few adjustments, though I think a straight buff (that the community would accept) would also be good.
Personally, i think he needs smoke grenades (for the poke stage)
Probably a projectile, but it wouldnt have the same dmg his primary has
The change is mainly to give him some range and reduce his effectives against tanks (Which is really high)
Even in his weakened state Reaper STILL destroys every tank, they literally have 0 chance against him. You can’t make space for your team, hell you can barely peel as if you try to help your DPS or Support out you’re just a nice fat stack of healing for him, you’re better off staying away. The only tank that can help is D.Va and even she can only give 2 seconds of help before he just turns on her and heals up.
Lifesteal was one of the stupidest ideas they ever had for any hero. The orbs had to be actually earned with a kill.