Getting instagibbed by a single ability (or a split-second combo) never feels good, but it feels even worse when you’re playing a tank.
The core appeal of playing a tank is how durable they’re supposed to be… But when the same abilities that instagibb squishies have the exact same effect on tanks, you can’t really call them tanks anymore… And that breaks my heart.
The time it takes to kill a tank is roughly the same as a squishy, especially when headshots get involved.
I remember how tanks in Overwatch used to feel a lot more durable than they do now. It was a great feeling, wading into the fray and knowing that (as long as you managed your shielding ability properly), you were a tough mofo that wouldn’t go down easily. It was all about the power fantasy of "If you want to do X, you’re gonna have to go though ME first! Come at me bro!!"
sincerely, a frustrated tank player who just spent the last ten minutes getting blown up by mcree
This describes the tanking experience to a T. I started playing OW in December of 2019 so I’ve only known the feeling of tanks being pretty weak (excluding double barrier though as Sigma was my secondary tank choice because of how fun he was to play, not because he was broken). I think too many people wanted OW to be an actual fps and to accomplish that the tanks have to be weaker.
remember when dva’s damage was WAY less consistent, overall lower, and she had 200/400, 15m matrix and 4 sec of juice with 10 sec recharge? Those were the days…
I miss main tank dva so much I wish they nerfed her damage or ult charge instead of giving her the missiles rework
Well, you see, the community has been LOOOONG time complaining about tanks exploding in LITERAL SECONDS
The devs response? Buff 3 anti-tank heroes that were already strong enough (Torb, Cass, Hanzo), nerf Ball even more and elevate powercreep EVEN MORE by giving Rein a 200 damage ultimate.
Agree. It’s probably changed for the Greater Good:tm:, such as goats and double barrier etc, but tanks depend on external protection more often than before.
So, IMHO tanking experience has become worse, because most of them lack a way to quickly escape danger, and they no longer have the survivability to withstand the damage they take, so they need to be constantly watched by supports.
At least mobile tanks have a way to retreat when damaged, so it’s not so bad for them.
I think tanks need to be less about dealing damage and more about taking damage for the team. I’d prefer nerfing healing and tank damage across the board while increasing tank health over increasing damage to break 900 - 1600 HP shields in seconds and leaving tanks to all have less than 600 HP. I think tanking would feel better if shooting them felt like a waste of resources, so face-tanking became an effective replacement for shooting barriers. Balancing tanks and supports towards doing more damage just means tank damage get stacked on top of the DPS damage to melt other tanks faster. They don’t feel like tanks anymore, and I probably wouldn’t queue for tank (even for a free lootbox) on this balance patch.
TLDR; I play tanks to feel like Juggernaut from X-Men or Broly from DBZ, but they currently play like Yajirobe - big hitboxes and easy to kill. And no one has power fantasies of being Yajirobe
Comment I made going on two years ago now. They did reduce ult charge from shooting tanks in OW2 to make shooting them feel like more of a waste, but the shift between barrier health and tank health never came.
It could be that you’re playing too aggressively as Tank. When I play tank I don’t feel too fragile, I feel like the beefiest person on the battlefield by a longshot. If I were playing DPS or Support I would die 20x over compared to what I survive as a tank
Tanks definitely feel more fragile than in the past. Rein feels like an absolute chore to play currently, which sucks since it’s one of the only tanks I like playing.
Going against a 76, Cassidy, or Hanzo makes it feel like you have to play like a sneaky coward or get obliterated. Lord help you if they have a dmg boost on their team.
Oh yes, we could be amidst Giga Hog patch and you’d still hear “just use cover right 4head”, as if TOP500 and Pros weren’t complaining about the same thing, as if we hadn’t had any power creep in damage, massive increase in CC and player behavior… Typical forums, dismissive and ignorant of any problems not biting them immediately in the butt, “if it’s not to me, it doesn’t exist at all! And it’s their own fault for thinking it does! Brig? Just keep your distance 4head, not a problem either!”
Why do you think everyone is playing Hog and Ball right now? They’re the only tanks that can withstand the level of damage output right now. And ironically both of those tanks contribute heavily to tanks like Rein and Winston being borderline unplayable.
If you played during Goats meta & Goats wasn’t a problem it’s because you played in a rank that doesn’t play the meta. Goats was unquestionably a huge problem, it made the DPS role irrelevant. I don’t see what 2018 Goats has to do with “tanks feel too fragile”
I wish they nerfed her damage or ult charge instead of giving her the missiles rework