With three more hours logged as Reinhardt I will list what Blizzard changed and how it feels.
Hammer Swing:
What Blizzard changed - Nothing
How it feels - On release of the game Hammer Swing was criticized heavily. Players were often getting hit when they thought they should not and the hit registration didnât quite match up to the knock back. I believe Hammer Swing was codded originally as client side hit detection. If it was Reinhardt would be included in the âfavor the shooterâ mechanic. After the 2017 anniversary event Blizzard seemingly re coded it to server side, which is why they had to increase the swing timer to match up the hit marker and the knock back. My personal belief is this should be reverted to client side.
Fire-Strike:
What Blizzard changed - Nothing
How it feels - Fire-strike feels like it has always felt. The hit box hasnât changed nor the damage or damage potential. An observation I made a while ago seems to be persistent. Fire-Strike has a wonky hit box where you can dodge one and get hit by another one by the same Reinhardt player even though you were in the same spot as Fire-Strike passes you. This of course could be due to latency and I have no idea how to fix the issue, if there is one.
Charge:
What Blizzard changed -
BUG FIXES
Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that allowed Reinhardt to pin targets that were behind him when using Charge
Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardt from pinning some targets when he turned during Charge
How it feels - With the exception of the fix where Blizzard implemented more checks the server was making to see if Charge was successful (which they then reverted), Charge feels exactly like it has always felt. Looking closer at this one âpin targets that were behind himâ In over 2000 games I have only had this happen when I used charge twice. Though, twice is enough to know it needed to be fixed. As far as I can tell it was, but with only 3 hours of play time since the patch it will take much longer to see if it is in fact fixed.
Earthshatter:
What Blizzard changed -
Developer Comments Weâve given Earthshatter a complete overhaul to combat inconsistencies with its performance. These changes will make Earthshatterâs behavior more predictable and effective.
Earthshatter
Now consistently hits enemies near walls
No longer hits enemies that enter the damage cone after the âwaveâ has passed that area
No longer damages enemies behind barriers blocking it, even if the barrier is later dropped or destroyed
Always travels up inclines and around the payload
BUG FIXES
Reinhardt
Fixed a bug that allowed Reinhardt to use Earthshatter while standing on an enemyâs head
Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented Reinhardtâs Earthshatter from hitting enemies standing on a payload
Fixed a bug that prevented Reinhardtâs Earthshatter from traveling up certain inclines
How it feels:
It feels oh so good! Realistically now Earthshatter is the most reliable part of Reinhardtâs kit aside from his shield. Offensively ES hits everything itâs supposed to. Very few times will you have to question yourself as to whether someone was standing in ES or not. Does latency still come into play when using Earthshatter? Yes, I had a Moira fade out of an ES I threw out, and it looked as though she was hit. This one instance doesnât really bother me though because 1. It was a close call, and 2. The rest of her team was hit. Defensively, from my 3 hours testing it, there are no bugs in regards to getting hit by ES through, or around, or under your shield. It may have some issues here and there but overall I would cal this skill âFIXEDâ.
Conclusion:
With Earthshatter in its current form, with its reliability, my opinion is that Reinhardt is more dangerous now then he has ever been. A good Shatter will demoralize a team and if it connects they will be expecting another. Counter switching happens much earlier then it previously did. If you donât have a shield to contend with Shatter, you will after your team gets wiped the first time.
Obviously this is my interpretation. We may have to wait a while longer to see if other Reinhardt players see the same thing, or as I eagerly await see other things I missed.
As far as Charge is concerned. I would guess Blizzard is reluctant to make changes to Charge because if it was as reliable as Shatter is now it may place Reinhardt on Doomfistâs level of 1 shot potential. Yes, Doomfist can use his more often, but if Charge had the hit detection of Shatter Reinhardt would be next up in the shoot for the forums to complain about.