I’d say it’s long overdue at this point. It was announced like 7 or 8 months ago if not sooner and what has happened since? Basically nothing has been said except that they’re looking at Shadowstep and buffing him against non-tanks. I know it was announced around the time they mentioned reworks to Cassidy’s grenade (his second or third rework on it), Pharah, and I think Hog and Ball. I might have the timing wrong on a few of them.
But let’s look at him right now. Ever since he got his life steal, he’s gotten almost nothing but nerfs, and several weren’t even direct nerfs to him which is the best part.
- Got his damage nerfed due to the original dps passive, which no longer functions that way, so this nerf is no longer justified.
- Wider spread.
- The increased hp from season 9 was mostly meant to address burst damage and counteract the bigger bullet sizes. Yes, he’s hitting a few more, but still a net nerf. On that note, I’ve seen more than a few posts saying he didn’t get the HP increase he was supposed to.
- Reworked dps passive counters his passive. I don’t know, never checked how that math is calculated. Is it 15% (20?) off of his 35%(?) life steal, meaning his passive is only healing for 28% of the damage done? Or is it a flat 15-20% off, bringing his passive heal down as low 15% life steal? Idk.
- Buffing armor, a direct nerf to one of the VERY few things he’s good for against tanks, which have gotten numerous buffs that hurt his potential as a tank buster.
So what the hell is going on? He has the kit of a flanker with the stealth capability of a tank, and one of the roles he’s always been best known for keeps becoming harder and harder either due to buffs to such targets. Really, the only buffs he’s gotten that I can think of since OW2 launch are a small buff to his spread and one or two to his SS, the former being the only thing to actually help him kill squishies a little easier.
Seriously, at least what is the current goal? Because he keeps getting worse and worse due to changes that aren’t even directed at him most of the time and at this point, I’m thinking his rework has probably changed similarly to how Sombra’s did at first. He’s probably going fully in one direction or another either as a tank buster, flanker, or probably even reworked into a tank. I wouldn’t be surprised.
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I play a lot of reaper and he isnt bad but he isnt great. Im pretty sure they lowered his spread which is why he can do decent damage at mid range now. The armor changes really hurt him I think which I think was by design because the devs want him to be a backline stomper instead of a tank buster. I find the best way to fight the backline is to TP in the mid fight and try to take out the support when their off cooldown or when your team gets a pick for easier kills.
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Basically how I play him. I try to avoid armored tanks unless I can get behind them while they’re distracted and go around to shred supports instead. Every map has a few good TP spots, some of them you just need to get creative for. More than once have I jumped off a ledge to TP behind a guy and kill him while we’re both one shot from death.
reaper just needs better mobility and he’s golden honestly
He’s my backup dps atm cos he can survive dive tanks and peel against them. once you get through the armor it’s a lot of damage
He pairs really well with Juno too due to the speed boost ring and ult
They don’t need to change too much, just make his mobility less clunky and slow
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He’s pretty strong this season and last. If I were the devs I’d be hesitant about introducing a rework to a character as strong as reaper is now. Maybe they’ll hold off until they screw up a few more patches and he falls down the rankings a bit.
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I’d rather the rework soon considering how every time he does good isn’t because of changes directed to him. He’s had more QOL changes than anything, meanwhile, so many other characters keep getting buffs that make his role harder or they get nerfs that help him indirectly in those matches.
I think ult cancel is a must in any rework.
There are so many times you solo ult and just want to stop and get out.
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Increase it’s range, his movement speed, or let him focus all the damage in one direction. Any of those would do wonders.
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I mean he is a good pick right now. With improvement to Shadowstep he would become a great pick. I’m not sure why would buff him further.
They said rework right probably make changes to tp and give him a right click I think on cd.
Most of their reworks are change a mode or movement and then give a throwable.
The only information they’ve given on his rework was between february and March if not further back all they said was they were looking into his TP and making him more effective against squishies/ non-tanks. All they’ve done in that regard so far was like 1-2 minor buffs and tightening his spread a little.
That’s not a rework and those buffs simply aren’t keeping up with all the buffs others keep getting or the nerfs he keeps getting, directly or indirectly. And considering how much Sombra’s rework changed after just as long, there’s a good chance it’s plans have changed significantly as well. Sombra’s originally was going to remove either her cloak or her TL, not only did they keep both, but they SIGNIFICANTLY buffed her offensive capability. The only nerf she got was losing her passive that let her see low HP targets through walls, which I’d say was definitely a good trade.
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Sombra added the Rona cube. That’s a new asset. Reaper is missing a button. That’s a new asset. It apparently takes them like a year to do these things. So, it is not Goofcon 5 until a full year passes to be perfectly honest. It feels bad, man. But it is what it is.
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I believe the first mention of Reaper’s rework was over a year ago at this point. It was mentioned before Hog and Sombra had their reworks. Since then we had Ball, Pharah, and Cass all get reprioritized ahead of his. Even Lifeweaver got some significant changes before Reaper did. They do not care for Reaper or Reaper players and it is plain to see.
Yep. Should’ve been:
- 150 → 200 OR 150 → 180
- 200 → 266.66 OR 200 → 240
- 250 → 333.33 OR 250 → 300
A flat increase of 50 is not effective the higher the starting number is.
After they shoe-horned him into that role. He was versatile before in OW1, but they removed so much from his kit that he became useless at anything other than shooting the fattest target on the screen to survive.
It wasn’t even a buff. It was a revert to what he had in OW1 except now he no longer has the damage that he used to.
They also said he has nothing on his right-click and they were looking at that.
Forgot that detail about his spread, so yeah, he’s gotten almost nothing but nerfs since he got life steal, and probably half of those nerfs due to later changes are no longer valid. I mean, back before S9 for example when Ashe could OHK Tracer, if they nerfed her crit damage to 125 so she couldn’t do that, then after S9, there would’ve been no logical reason not to revert it for the simple fact she wouldn’t have been able to anyway after the HP changed.
They need to decide what they actually want Reaper to do.
Tank buster? Buff his damage and/ or life steal, which should’ve gotten buffed anyway to counteract the DPS passive.
Flanker? Improve his stealth and movement.
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Maybe make his wraith be able to fly up a bit kinda like Juno’s jump, a limited height based on the starting position or something.
then give sym the ability to shoot expecto patronum at him.
hers is obviously a charging bull
man that character could be one of the most creative ones in gaming.
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People shouldn’t be able to track Reaper so easily while he’s in wraith form.
And remove the stupid random debuff of having loud footsteps because “dAnGEroUs.” Like if Hanzo and Pharah are silent, Reaper should be too.
It would definitely help. Honestly, that’s something that kind of bugs me in this game with characters, it’s when they contradict themselves. Take Cassidy for example, a revolver that does full damage up to 20 or 25 meters, but his alt fire and his other abilities don’t really make sense to use beyond close range. Of course, in his case, I believe he just needs Deadeye to be reworked, but otherwise, like I said, contradicting kit.
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