2 years ago I would’ve been so salty at the thought of barriers getting weaker, but I can confidently say that I’m a much better player today because of it. I think most of the playerbase undersold natural cover and actually playing the maps because we were so used to the comfort of super bulky shields removing our problems for us. Decision making is faster when you have less time to feel safe and think about your options, and you make better decisions when your options are “find a way to not get rekt, or get REKT”
Alpha chad move for the devs to make, I tip my super cool tophat
Idk much about Orisa yet as I’ve only recently picked her up, but on my favorite Orisa maps it feels more than sufficient. I could see it being a second shorter CD maybe, but she already replaces shields faster than I thought she did
Sigma… As someone who plays him a lot, I fear the day they buff him. And I fear for my enemies who will crumble beneath me.
It over values shield break which leads to fewer DPS options. It places a higher emphasis on burst healing, or preventative/overwritten death mechanics.
A win for everyone who isn’t a tank or support player… kind of like every major change to Overwatch.
Tanks don’t need ridiculous OP shields, and neither do supports. These are my 2 most played roles, and trust me, they benefit from less shields just as much as they suffer from it. I’d argue some heroes in these roles only got better with less shields
I have a 57% win rate on Reinhardt over the course of 800 hours.
On Overbuff, when all accounts were measured, my tank performance was top 1%. I tracked the pro tank players statistical performance to match it myself and damn near did.
I disagree. All they did was balance Sigma the way he should have been from the start, nerf Orisa into uselessness, and slightly power shift Reinhardt who is now overpowered on ladder.
If you take Sigma out of the equation, shields weren’t really a problem. The other stuff is either minor or bad.
Not factoring in Sigma still left Orisa as a completely dominant force meta-wise
Adding in Sigma tipped the scales too much
If they were going to keep adding barrier tanks, softer barriers were an inevitability. The two anchor tanks we had were not very compatible, so that combo never took off. As soon as we got two anchor tanks that were compatible, it became a massive issue.
That is a very subtle way to say “deal damage as well as providing a shield.”
All Blizzard would have had to do is reduce damage as it passes through friendly shields and the problem would have been solved without needing to affect the other tanks.
Well, considering our two anchor tanks before Sigma were complete opposites, it stands to reason they weren’t problematic together.
It’s not just the attacking with shields up that makes Orisa and Sigma compatible, it’s their need and ability to stay away from the enemy.
Rein on the other hand has the need and ability to get closer to the enemy. Sigma can play similarly to this as well, which is why he also works with Rein.
Rein and Orisa though? Total opposites in their playstyles.
I’m just sayin, I don’t quite believe you’re in the top 1% of tanks when your profile says 2444 SR on tank. You emphasize the importance of barriers too much, that play style is dead and likely won’t get you above plat.
Also, no, DPS aren’t the only ones to benefit from less shields. Hog, Zarya, Zen and Ana greatly appreciate weaker enemy barriers. And if they learn to play around cover, they don’t require as much friendly shielding.
Less barriers changed how the game is played for the better.
Orisa and Sigma were the issue because they could apply instant pressure as well as defensive measures at the same time. The other tanks had to make a choice to do one or the other.
The Reinhardt 400 health nerf to shield HP was absolutely _______.
Not to mention, Orisa had no issues herself, until a mobile shield could provide secondary effect while 2 tanks were able to deal damage. If Reinhardt moved at 300% speed while his shield was up there would have been somewhat the same issue.
You cannot create heroes that step on other heroes toes. Damage is the enemy and tank shields paid the price.
Imagine if we had two Reinheardt-type characters though and they both had the 1500+ strength barriers and close quarters effectiveness. It would be the same exact problem, just on the hyper offense side of the spectrum instead of the hyper defense side.
Barriers were individually very strong, and even stronger together. However, until Sigma came around the double barrier strategy was not a good one because the tanks that could be used for the strategy worked against each other.
It doesn’t matter what you believe. The stats are there. Go check Overbuff yourself. My stats outside of deaths per game and Earthshatter eliminations were identical to the best pro tank players in the game.
As you brought it up, let’s dive in.
I play in Anchorage Alaska. Previous seasons where I played more then my placement games, I was Plat. But, when you start getting higher in rank latency becomes more of an issue. My 90 ping doesn’t go over well to ranking up. Now, I’m not going to claim I am GM material. I will say with much confidence, that given better latency Platinum wouldn’t be my limit.
Outside of double barrier, which I skipped comp during that time, that has never been a “style”. Maybe it is in your rank, wouldn’t know.
No, it really didn’t. Not for tanks outside of one who shouldn’t be a tank in the first place