Lately tanks have been getting stronger and stronger with patches. Road hog ( while nerfed ) can still one shot a lot of characters. Dva has lots of burst damage when up close. Zarya deals high damage once taking enough damage. And now Reinhardt is getting a damage buff.
All in all, I’m open to tank damage buffs! Tanks do need to be oppressive and act like the big men of the team and lead the team.
But… what’s the point of DPS?
I genuinely pondered this idea for a while. If tanks have high damage while having great protection abilities, what’s the point of DPS then? When their kit focuses on damage but tanks do that while protecting.
I want to hear the communities thoughts on what DPS is supposed to be now currently. Because in all honesty, I don’t see the purpose of them.
To me DPS are versatility. Supports focus on doing just that. Supporting the team and providing healing. They do not have too much focus to deal damage all the time. At least for the main support options. Tanks to me are still designed around the idea that they can take on multiple enemy units which means also trying to stop the enemy tanks from doing stuff like taking their turf.
DPS to me becomes the versatile in between. They get the most unique tools to work with compared to any other role by virtue of so many classes. They get to assist whoever needs it. They can flank putting pressure on support. Put extra pressure on tanks. Even put pressure on each other.
It used to be that tanks were limited greatly by range, but for some reason they decided to get rid of that weakness with the additions of sigma & orisa.
This is exactly why GOATS arose. Tanks are in their effective range as good DPS as DPS. At the same time they are impervious to one-shots, while being much more durable.
Lucio’s speed boost combined with shields took care of their poor range, and as soon as the distance was closed, it was GG non-GOATS team.
The only thing preventing GOATS in the end was 2-2-2.
Taking a look at Roadhog, it really puzzles me, that a hero that has all the characteristics of a DPS also needs a one-shot combo, as well as being extremely hard to kill.
What in the world are you talking about? Sigma literally has to be very close to the enemy to do anything; range is is greatest weakness.
As for Orisa, the only ranged thing she’s good at is her gun. All of her other skills implies she should be rather close to the enemy while separating her team and the enemy with her shield.
Only Orisa’s gun gets changed and no other tank is touched. Right?
Wait, I’ll check.
Reinhardt has to be really close to do damage.
Roadhog has to be really close to do damage. Even with his hook.
Winston has to be really close to do damage.
Sigma has to be really close to do damage.
Ball has to be really close to do damage.
Oh! But Zarya
Uh
No, she’s got to be pretty close too.
When you say “close range” do you mean literally kissing the enemy like Reinhardt, or do you mean actual close range fighting like all of the other tanks have to do? Seems like Tanks already are doing exactly what you want…so there’s no issue with buffing the tanks!
Why? Tanks are greatly weak to CC, so if you want to stop them using their inherent skills, just stun them.
Also, D.va can attack with her missles and defend.
Edit: Also, what about other heroes that can defend and attack? Soldier can heal and shoot, as well as most of the supports. Widow, Ash, and Hanzo can fling themselves in the air and shoot. Torb can use something to gain enhanced speed and health, but tanks can’t defend and attack?
orisa and sigma can both attack while using their shields and both have abilities that make them immune to CC, thats literally why they’re meta, they dont suffer from other main tanks greatest weakness, and every hero needs to have a weakness to be balanced
Regardless, I added an edit there because I wasn’t expecting a response. I’ll copy it here:
Which I do think is a valid characters. Other heroes can directly heal themselves and deal damage, so why shouldn’t a tank raise a shield?
They actually do. The issue is that there’s no good way to kill a barrier and make it stay dead without Sombra. There’s dedicated shield counters, but for some reason, they’re rarely buffed.
I can beat double shield with a Bastion if I have a team willing to pocket me.
DPS heroes do considerably more damage than any tank does. People who think otherwise either do not understand how math works or do not understand that you will not get outdamaged by a tank unless he/she outskills you by a considerable margin.
Balancing between roles comes down to three major factors
numerical damage output
vs.
numerical durability (like health)
vs.
hitbox size
Overwatch has a very large disparity between both hitbox size and numerical durability on different characters. Tanks have at least twice the durability of DPS heroes, and usually MORE than twice the hitbox size.
Compare this to other games where the hitbox or health total disparity is rarely more than +/-50%
(though in many of these games, the big/tough/slow characters usually have the highest damage…)
For most ranks, the hitbox size is a considerable factor in how hard a hero is to kill, because the major determining factor in damage output is accuracy, since most players on any given hero averages less than 50% weapon accuracy.
The major limiting factor on how much damage a DPS hero can output is survivability, not raw damage output. This is especially true at high ranks when focus fire from 2-3 players allows for near instant eliminations.
Are you referring to the skill that locks him into eating everything he’s facing, has a lengthy cooldown, and doesn’t block lasers? After he blocks your CC once, if he gets to, why can’t you CC him then?
So? I can still win regardless of the double shield. In fact, there’s plenty of ways to beat double shield that no one likes to do; they’d rather be slaves to the meta.