Initial thoughts about Mauga

General Discussion
1

First off, the stuff I think most people will agree on. His secondary fire should have a critical hit marker and sound effect when triggering critical hits on body shots. His E, Cardiac Overdrive, should apply some kind of effect to the player’s model to make it more apparent that it’s active. The little timing bar is nice, but it feels underwhelming and is hard to keep track of mid-dual minigun rampage.

Next is the more… opinionated stuff. Mauga’s too effective against tanks, and not effective enough against squishies. His dual guns shred large hitboxes like paper, but the large spread makes them much less efficient against small targets. This itself isn’t an issue, but combined with the fact that his only sustain is reliant on dealing damage and he’s a tank, and I’m not a fan.

The hindered effect is too powerful and too polarizing to put on his ultimate. One some heroes it disables all of their abilities for up to 10 seconds, on other heroes it doesn’t effect them at all. I think Cage is doing too much, and this is the first thing that they should consider removing. Confining heroes to a small space is already very effective enough against mobile heroes.

Finally, a bit of a lessor note about Cage. It’s going to be used to stagger heroes for a stupid amount of time. I have no idea how you would fix this, but I’m getting annoyed just thinking about it.

3

Using both guns at once jacks up the spread massively, and should really only be used when you’re practically point blank, or unloading into a barrier you’re trying to break. If you want more control over your damage, you’re going to spend more time alternating between the two, especially on squishy harder to hit targets.

Like if you’re trying to kill a Lucio above you, you’re much better off alternating, even at point blank. Accuracy is rewarded. But if you’re squaring up with their tank, you can L/R away.

If he’s poking, he likely doesn’t need the healing from his E, since he’ll be fine with a support behind him. But when he’s in the middle of everything, he absolutely relies on his E to keep him alive, because he’s the slowest hero in the game, the easiest to hit, and if he gets 'nade or discord on him, the easiest to kill.

Which brings me to my main complaint: how incredibly easy it is to shut him down. I’m sure people will figure out ways around this, but even Hog lasts longer on the field than Mauga, since Hog’s heals are on-demand, AND he’s actually faster moving around. And the hook is still good when you can land it. Mauga just does damage. A lot of damage. But just damage.

Overrun is super risky to use unless you’re chasing a kill or going after a single enemy out of position, or using it to fall back behind cover yourself.

I don’t like his ult. You absolutely cannot just use it out in the open because all it takes is another barrier behind him between him and his supports and he is absolutely toast if he’s in there with multiple enemies. I’ve found I have to use it like I’m using Bap lamp, hiding it around a corner so I can dance around LoS while I’m in there, OR to keep the enemy from capping a point. Maybe I’m using it wrong, but at the moment, it’s often a death sentence.

I’d need to see what the pros do with him. But despite my reservations, he’s incredibly fun to play. I love his energy, he makes me laugh, and it’ll be fun to have his character on the field, even if not his abilities.

4

sound very reasonable to me ?

you use both guns at close range, and alternate between the 2 guns at long range.

cage 3 or more people in and Mauga will be mince meat. 500 bare hp + 150 overhealth isnt gonna help him stay alive for long. and he also doesnt have any effective AoE so best case scenario is mauga survive after feeding the enemy team a Le_sserafim bundle worth of ult charges

5

im sure most people would agreed that Mauga is quite underpowered for now. Real fun to play tho

6

I’m seeing more mauga players using cage to block off choke points to the enemy team.
and this bugs me lots.

7

oh so it’s used like Lifeweaver Tree?

8

I understand how his kit functions, but it doesn’t change what I’ve said. His damage is low when firing singular guns, especially since its backloaded. His lifesteal is incredibly weak against low health targets.

This is a skill issue. You shouldn’t be engaging in 1v3 fights with an ultimate and expect to win. Also he has 650 health.

9

IMO his cage should be a tad bit bigger, Mauga himself takes about 50% of the space already.
I also think he should get overhealth based on the number of enemies he catches inside it, as well as have an animation when he uses it. So far it looks instant and there’s no way of telling at all.

10

As a support i hate him, not sure if i’m just unlucky but most mauga i get seems to completely forget how to dodge bullets or use cover and eat every single shot in existance.

11

Honestly I think Mauga plays a lot like a Brawl/Rush tank. If you think of playing him like Rein where you’re using cover to close the distance on a target then it’s much better to play him. I’m rarely exposing myself to more than 3 enemies max anyways to minimize taking on unnecessary damage. Once you implement this, it’s much easier to stay alive, even with a non-ideal support duo like Mercy Illari.

His guns gets rid of the biggest weakness of brawl/rush tanks though, which is range. Rein, JQ, Ramattra have basically near to no effective range, but Mauga can definitely be a threat at range, however, you need aim to do that. Mauga is probably among the most aim intensive tanks with Doomfist and Ball(sort of, I know). I don’t think his damage is low, but it definitely requires you to hit the headshots and have good tracking to do anything meaningful. And your entire playstyle is to move from cover to cover, minimizing incoming damage while trying to isolate one or two targets to unload both guns on.

But yeah, people are definitely on the adrenaline rush with his dual miniguns, I mean who wouldn’t be you almost want to feel like you’re an invincible juggernaut. But his gameplay is much more thoughtful than just hold W and left click (cough cough Orisa cough). I think players will be surprised with the amount of depth he has, both playing him and playing with him on other roles.

12

You’re definitely right, most Mauga players I’ve went up against end up face tanking everything and never disengaging. I’ve won almost all of my matches as him just because I know cover exists, don’t charge in 1v5, and track important cooldowns. It’s the first day though, so cut them some slack.

13

yes, 500 base hp and 150 overhealth, as i said. but thats not the point, he doesnt have any armor or shield