New tank category for OW. Utility tanks

General Discussion
1

Alright so im going to get straight into the chase, heres the categories of tanks that everyone knows.

Main tanks - Slow with high survivability with low-medium damage output + shields + ways to make yourself tankier generally.

Off Tanks - Lower survivability than main tanks with higher damage output + high mobility + ways to make yourself tankier

Now, this category of tanks is one i only know from a game called Paladins

Utility Tanks - lower survivability than main tanks and lower damage output + mobility(if any at all) than off tanks, but make up for it with a ton of utility consisting of either buffs/debuffs/cc/anticc/healing or a mixture while not taking over the support role.

I give this idea of utility tanks in ow as the tank category has been suffering a lot recently due to cc and other problems, and we need more anti CC in the game, and tanks would be a perfect choice for more anti cc. plus we do need another tank.

And yes ik brigittes the closest thing to a utility tank we have.

3 Likes
2

I mean eventually sure but I think we need more main anchor tank options first. It’s hard getting a tank player that will play main tank. A team can function off one main tank but they can’t off just one off or utility tank. We need more anchors to get people interest in that anchor for the team role.

3 Likes
3

im all for main tanks, but i wouldnt mind utility tank.

4

I started a dictionary of sorts.
Do you mind contributing these ideas to it via a post?
Specifically your definitions of tanks, but anything else would be cool too.

1 Like
5

you got it, ill put it there immediately.

6

Thanks.
Lets build something as a community FOR the community.
Hows that for toxicity :smiley:

1 Like
7

caring about the community, how toxic of you

1 Like
8

They tried making a utility tank (Brigitte), but it came with the most backlash of any hero release to date. I feel like it’ll be awhile until they try again

1 Like
9

brigitte was not made as a utility tank fritz. She was made as a tanky support, theres a big difference. Yes shes the closest thing to a utility tank but she isnt one.

10

Definitely need more of this. I usually end up having to pick between Rein/Orisa most games when I tank. As much as I enjoy playing them it would great to have something different now and again. I’d definitely be excited to see how they can add another main tank that can fulfill that role but bring something different in terms of gameplay.

1 Like
11

I’d currently put these characters into the utility ‘tank’ role:

Zarya, Mei, Brigitte.

I know Zarya and Mei can get quite a bit of damage under some circumstances, but you bring all of these purely for their utility. Zarya for grav + bubbles, Mei for her walls, CC and point presence, Brig for CC, backup heals and point presence.

2 Likes
12

zarya is an off tank as her utility is only used to boost up her damage primarily, mei is definitely not a utility tank even slightly, and brigitte is close yes.

13

I disagree with that.

Zarya’s bubble is best used to prevent death from impending burst damage, such as a teammate that got hit by some sort of lethal ability (pulse bomb, sleep dart, roadhog hooks and doomfist punches), protecting a DPS player that’s vulnerable during their ultimate (Pharah and Reaper come to mind) or allowing a main tank to push in without having to worry about getting hit from all sides at once. Without that protection you might lose the fight immediately. And then in turn her charge gain from those bubbles, while it increases her damage significantly, sees the most impact by letting her team capitalize on graviton surge more often. The extra damage potential itself is icing on the cake, but she doesn’t have the mobility to attack enemies with it who don’t engage on her in the first place (unlike say, a D.va or Hammond). Using bubbles purely to charge up her damage and then not having them available when they’re necessary to keep a teammate alive is generally wrong.

As for Mei… she fits your description of a utility tank almost perfectly
Her survivability is entirely reliant on cooldowns, which makes her defenses too exploitable to be considered a main tank.’ She has some burst damage with her icicles, but her overall DPS is generally lower than that of say a Reinhardt and definitely less than D.va. She does make up for these things with a ton of utility that helps her team. She can freeze enemies to prevent them from killing her teammates or setting those enemies up for elimination. She can place walls to protect her team from ultimates, block sniper sight lines, allow her team to approach a point, reach high ground or put enemies out of position, or to split up the enemy team at chokes so your team can go aggressive to get a numbers advantage. Then lastly she has cryo to get out of sticky situations, clear debuffs and heal up a bit. The tanky part about her is that she’s harder to kill than most of the cast, like Brigitte.

14

zaryas bubble is best used as that sure, but its primarily used as a damage amplifying ability.

Mei only has CC and somewhat okay survivability.

If we are going to say mei is a utility tank, then doomfist is an off tank.

15

I’ve said this before but there needs to be a utility class. It would include any class of hero that is focused primarily on utility, like Lucio, Mei

16

i wouldnt mind this either. sombra needs to be in that role.