600 HP meat shield that feeds enemy ult. Meanwhile Hammond has shields that don’t grant any ult charge for them shooting.
Hog lacks the consistent damage power to be a threat in most team comps. He is paired best with Orisa in the off-tank position because of the halt-hook combo and the consistent damage Orisa puts out amplifying Hog’s.
Zarya already pairs better with Reinhardt and D.va pairs better with Winston. Hammond’s role is still up in the air, with some teams playing him as a main tank.
His only true utility is his hook on an 8 second cooldown. If he misses, then no value. Compare that to an Ana nade, hack or discord that is likely to find value or in the case of Ana, provide multiple benefits.
Should hook’s cooldown be reduced to 6 seconds if it doesn’t connect?
I never agreed with the original nerfs to his alternate fire, but understood why his primary was nerfed. However, by nerfing his alternate fire yet again on PTR, I feel he takes yet another undeserving hit. This is also a nerf to Orisa as the two as often paired, as noted above.
In fact pro-player Taimou has said: Roadhog is underpowered but he works due to Orisa enabling him. https://twitter.com/DF_Taimou/status/954679597752246272
His ultimate leaves him pretty vulnerable and can be stopped by any CC ability. I’d argue that Pharah’s barrage gets better value despite leaving her in a similar situation to be focused.
With inconsistent damage, only 5 shots in his gun before a reload, an 8 second cooldown on hook and “tanking abilities” that involve feeding ult charge, I feel he’s not in a good place.
Here’s my solution:
Hook gets put on 8 second cooldown if it connects, 6 if it doesn’t.
Increase alt-fire damage slightly OR add 2 additional shots to his gun.
To compensate for these offensive buffs, I’d say reduce his self-heal to 200 OR lower his damage reduction to 35%.