We have 10 tanks.
4 with shield (REHINARDT, SIGMA, WINSTON,WRECKING BALL), 1 matrix (D.VA), 1 bubble (ZARYA) , 2 that heal themselves (ROADOHOG, JUNKER QUEEN) and 2 that are dps with more life (DOOMFIST, ORISA).
Of these, actually only 2 of them have a shield that defends the allies (REHINARDT, SIGMA), 1 that with the bubble defends the allies (ZARYA) and 1 with the matrix that defends the allies (D.VA).
What should a tank do? Defend the allies.
From this we can say that the 2 that heal themselves are not to be considered tanks (ROADOHOG, JUNKER QUEEN) , the 2 dps obviously are not tanks (DOOMFIST, ORISA) , the 2 that have the shield for themselves are not to be considered tanks (WINSTON,WRECKING BALL).
Furthermore, a tank assumes that it resists a lot of damage but at the same time does little. Instead, as in the OWL, we see tanks of the range of ORISA, WINSTON, ZARYA overcoming the damage of the characters in the DPS category abundantly.
Tanks create space by demanding a reaction to their presence. This doesn’t mean they have to have barriers. It can be as simple as moving the focus of the fight away from their teammates or making the enemy use cooldowns which creates openings. Some tanks just push you out of the freaking way, there’s no one definition because they’re all different.
Tanks are just Characters with bigger Frames and higher Health.
DPS typically smaller Frames and less health
Support smaller Frames, less health and a way of healing
I don’t view the categories as anything more than this regardless of the role names. People just see the titles of the Roles and assume they do nothing else apart from their Titles. IE DPS must do the most Damage and get Picks, Tanks must make Space, Support must Heal. When really it is a collective responsibility. Other than heals really but some DPS can help with that like Soldier and Sombra.
First of all, it sounds like you want OW1 double shield meta back, which would make you the only person in the world who feels that way.
Disagree. Orisa and Doom have damage mitigation abilities. Doom gets in your face with a powerblock, blocking some incoming damage for the team, and taking the aggro for a bit. The block should probably be buffed somehow, but the point stands. Orisa has her big spin that blocks all incoming projectiles, so the vast majority of damage, for the team. She also takes the aggro for your team while using such abilities.
There’s no defending Roadhog though. He has no true capabilities of a tank. He offers no protection and has no means of damage mitigation for anyone other than himself. He also doesn’t forcibly take your attention away from his team the way Doom and Orisa do. Often it’s easier to just play around cover and kill his teammates. He’s just a DPS with an absurdly low skill curve and more health.
Junker Queen is in an awkward place, and is undoubtedly gonna be changed in the future as her pickrate falls, so I’m reserving judgement.
I don’t want the meta of ow1. I would like to understand what sense does it make to categorize characters if then it is useless. For example, how many times have you seen Orisa do 10 000 damage and Reaper 6000/7000. You could answer me by telling me that Reaper was less skilled than Orisa. But then you notice that it often happens that the squad tank does more kills and more damage. A while ago in a match the opposing team was using Rehinardt and they were losing. The tank in question leaves and someone who chooses Orisa enters. Game upset and defeat for us
And taking up space isn’t really defining a Tank character. In some games it seems that Lucio in addition to healing is able to mitigate more damage, a feeling given by the fact that we have Doomfist in the team and not being a real tank does not defend allies as D.VA or Zarya could do.
Your use of terms is strange. Wrecking Ball provides himself temporary health, which is the same as Orisa and Junkerqueen. Zarya’s bubble as well as Reinhardt/Winston/Sigma’s shields are classified as barriers. Shield is a type of health in-game that regenerates after 3 seconds without taking damage.
Ultimately what tanks have in common is big health, short range, and a defensive ability. Many tanks have a mobility ability or a defensive ability on top of that, and a crowd control ultimate.
For me they are losing the sense that characterized the characters. You tell me they have a short range in common. Orisa does not seem to me to go back to your reasoning, Zarya with the right button either. Plus, Winston and Doomfist’s abilities that allow them to jump from side to side make them anything but defensive characters.
When you understand that the role of a tank is not to defend their team but to create space for their team to have lanes to engage the enemy, then you’ll start to see how the different flavors all fill the same job.
Whatever gave you the notion Sigma shields allies? He may do so, but his shield is flexible, it can be used personally, on a team or to shield from specific angles only, like from Widows vantage point. Its not in the slightest similar to Rein’s shield.
Another point (and to me this is a big one) - how does Winston shield himself and not you?
Winston can def shield the team to protect from attacks, and he can shield the enemy so they can’t attack your guys, or he can put the shield a little up front where he stands and bubble himself but this also protects his backline, as obviously (unless heavy flanking) the shield stands in the way of enemy fire. You don’t actually have to staned in the dome to be shielded. And any Winston forcing himself for a dive while his team is flanked heavy must be bad at the role in general…
Even more astounding is your presumption that D.Va shields teams while Winston does not. In most games you will observe D.Va has far less dmg mitigated than Winston. And as D.Va players tend to commit to deep diving + Defense Matrix only works on what is in front of her, the shield rarely helps their team - it’s a personal tool.
Last thing - Tanks fight for space, distract or disorganise enemy gameflow, protect squishes and set-up kill opportunities. They do not (or should not) assume they have dmg resistance and do little, and certainly they are not supposed to carry the kills. If the chance is there - sure. If not, don’t push it to deep. Keep the enemy scared to enter your domain. Move with your Team.
Ok, thats ok for me, if i see in this way. So, tanks is not tank but penetrators. But they have too much life if they are supposts to not defend but penetrate
Retracted that rude opening statement from my above post. I see you are new and the thing you are asking is genuine, so sorry about that. But everything else what I wrote is verified.
I don’t agree with jaxtaro that Tanks don’t protect. They do, they HAVE to. Many people play bad tanks simply because they forget about their backliners, most significantly their healers. In OW2 especially - if you consistently leave your Support at the mercy of enemy DPS, you are cutting yourself from help later on. Most tanks cannot carry, unless the enemy is extremely bad at their game.
But it is true that Tanks fight for space for their team to be able to move around and work their magic.
Again - disrupt the enemy play, be a threat to them so they don’t enter your position, even chase them a bit if you have a tank with good mobility (but not too deep! this is important!); chip down their health or put them in a tight spot so that your DPS can use that chance to finish them; and if youre team is getting harassed by the enemy, jump in and take a bullet for them/shield them - they will heal you in return (probably…)
Stop comparing tanks in a FPS hero shooter to tanks in MMOs or MOBAs. This is not the case. Tanks are completely fine as they are right now. People enjoy them and besides DF all tanks are played regular and build different comps.
People need to accept that the new tanks are kind of the raid bosses in the games now. You cant 1v1 them and expect to win. Especially with both supports alive.
Also the damage number being higher mostly comes from the fact that they live longer and die way less than DPS and stay in the fight longer.
Another point: the only problem currently with OW2 is that some DPS heroes are over tuned.
Orisa and Zarya have potential to deal damage at higher ranges, but not particularly well.
As for the defensive thing, the wording is important. A tank specifically has a defensive ability. This is the only thing Blizzard has outright said tanks should have themselves.
If your tank has most dmg it can mean a lot of things - one of which is you don’t do enough for your team, just try to get solo kills.
Tank MAY have biggest dmg in your team, but the key factor is - he should not, or does not need to. If he has it’s either a problem with his DPS or with the Tank itself.
And him not having “gold” dmg is not always a problem, depending on the given situation. Does not mean he’s bad at his role, because thats not what his role is about.
Your Icon and the stuff you wrote make it clear your a Rein main - and they usually tend to say silly stuff like that.
Essentially, they need to be the ones who can survive a little while in the open, which is why the role requires a hefty defense. I would argue that many of them do entirely too much offense relative to their survival and CC mitigation.