Why Tanks don't feel like Tanks

General Discussion
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This is just my theory on this, but I have a perspective on this topic.

Tanks are only as Tanky as shields and supports allow them to be. The only two Tanks that really go against this grain is Wreckingball and Roadhog. Both of these two are considered more fun, and I believe that is due to their self sustain being in their own hands.

Whereas, other Tanks all have a minor form of self sustain, but they are trapped behind mechanics that fundamentally make the game less fun. Shields, grasp, DM, etc. There is no reward for shooting most of these.

Why does this affect the supports? Well, if your healing is off for even a moment on main tank? You get erased. The means that you yourself are not Tanky, the healing is tanking the damage.

I have many ideas on how to address this, but I want to save that for the discussion. Simply put, Tanks survival is too heavily weighed on the healing and less on their own self sustain.

High healing is only needed… because of Tanks and their lack of ability to sustain themselves to a reasonable degree. Burst is then needed to melt through the healing. You see the cycle I feel like we are entering here.

Tanks aren’t fun “because they’re tanks and no one will ever like them” which is the most ridiculous argument. They aren’t fun because there is no sense of autonomy. They live and die by the grace of the healers and less because they are Tanks.

Tanks like Ball and Hog are fun and played for a reason. Hell, the Tanks that have minor self sustains like Zarya, D.va or Winston are still more fun than… Orisa, or new Sigma (Thanks in part to clunky design), or Reinhardt. Healing has been addressed, so has damage to an extent. But Tank are still suffering and it’s sad.

Of course letting Tanks have more self sustain means healing over-all might need to drop and certain abilities in the support line need to be looked at (Immo field, come on, it’s a Tanking ability) But something has to budge.

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In the current state of the game if you wanna play main tank, you gotta play it hugged to environmental cover. Even for D.Va you gotta do that.

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Exactly and this isn’t what the role was meant for. This is what supports and DPS should do. Tanks are meant to be the space makers and damage takers. Right now? It’s hard to say they are very good at either without needing the never ending crutch of mass healing and Immo field.

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i disagree with putting orisa in the non fun category. to me she feels the most like an actual tank and can pull off some great moves. i honestly agree with the rest though, some great points made

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Well, add the fact that there are tank busters in the game, so if you fall back or hide on cover, they just come in (or take LoS of you) and bust you.

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I enjoy her.

But she’s kind of been relegated to an off-dps of sorts. She can’t really sustain herself even through that massive healing, and her personal sustain is heavily based on making sure another main tank is around.

Exactly. It’s insane. Echo is a prime example of how they just casually added a high DPS spam hero that Tanks cannot touch? Then said, “have fun dealing with that”

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Well, I also understand that if Tanks are capable of touching and counter-playing every DPS move, DPS would become irrelevant, then they’d buff DPS into power-creep too to compete with that and another cycle goes on.

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That is part of what makes the game a system though. If all tanks kinda live easier, we dont need 2 supports actually. That isnt half bad though, nerfing sub healers heal wont matter much. (but that also brings a question who is main and who is sub. Or worse, maybe we will have double main support meta goats). Another change that brings is dive buff. Diving main support would matter more, and tanks can do that easier with better sustain.
I am not sure what comes after that.

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I think tanks feel like tanks. How could they not?

Even the weakest tank has 400hp and a 200hp self bubble
You have at the very least triple the health pool of the rest of your team. You just have to use it wisely, because walking into damage will still get you killed

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That’s because the game lacks a path of counter-play of styles. It always become about mirror matches, like “what’s the most buffed or least nerfed best combination?”, then people play that mostly, with just minor swaps here and there.

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No tank is fun unless they are overpowered we know.

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You are right, tanks are more fun to play when they have some form of self sustain. Hog, ball and even zarya happen to be the most fun tanks in the game. Thats because these characters focus more on dealing damage, getting kills and unleashing powerful ultimates to get a ton of value. These tanks are all basically oversized DPS and they have good enough self sustain which is why they are the most fun. Lets face it, the game is more fun when you are getting kills or doing something impactful in which you can actually feel it. Does anyone truly feel they are making an impact playing mercy? Does anyone feel they have good impact when playing rein and having to focus on managing his shield rather than getting kills?

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Yup.

Tanks shouldn’t flatten the DPS that contests them, rather at least be able to deter them. But with Echo and other flying threats? Unless you really like melting the moment you move anywhere that isn’t behind a wall as D.va? There is no option there.

Then it becomes a “everyone deal with this while I watch and melt from the unfathomable damage. Healers, NEVER STOP HEALING ME”

I think the best answer I have for this? Supports would need to lean into their utility rather than healing. You’d pick for what else they can do rather than, “oh this is enough healing to walk forward an inch”

Not what I said and never will be. Stop trying to put words in my mouth.

Well yes actually. Damage boosting, Valking, GA management and Rez all arew massive ways to feel the impact on her. Doing damage and reverting it isn’t the only thing.

People don’t want Brigitte to lose bash because timing that cooldown and stunning a key cooldown is impactful and fun. See what I mean?

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Mercy is for those players who like to play for keeping your teammates alive and being like a “team manager”, it’s a passive playstyle that some may like, not the majority of OW’s playerbase of course.
Mercy fun part is that you can do it with mobility. Now, being a stationary pocket really is a lackluster.

For Mercy the positive feedback is better noticed/delivered because you can see your teammates on your screen, you hear the sound of the healing and stuff. People thank you for rezzing them and stuff

For Rein the positive feedback is poorly noticed, your teammates are behind you (as you think they might be) and you block stuff, but no one is gonna be like “thank you for blocking D.Va’s Bomb” and stuff.

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I kinda feel slight impact when good blocking is done, or survive a heavy attack even if that is because a support ult. Mostly DVA DM make some fun impactive blocks.
I did imagine making a tank that use Deflect as a weapon skill. Would be pretty fun.

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This is probably a post-Blizzcon issue, considering the Devs will likely address the direction of the game/sequel during the event, making this criticism somewhat pointless, but it seems to me that the general direction and pacing of the game has crept too much towards that of a traditional FPS (as per Jeff’s thinking an inclination) and less towards that of a Team Objective Shooter.

The problem is that the MORE that happens, the more that heroes typically suited to that kind of game will excel. Hitscans and fast projectilers are already shredding ladder. A McCree or an Ashe can kill a Junkrat before the first one of Junkrat’s bombs has reached them–even at mid-distance.

The quirkier and more abstract a hero is, the less chance they have of fitting in with the new direction. Many heroes will be left behind if Overwatch 2 drags the game into something it was never designed to be–and somerhing that MOST of the heroes were never designed for.

So…

… Do the developers change what Overwatch IS, and thus have to change HOW many heroes play. Or do they stop this SICK OWL PRO TWITCH CLIP 1000MPH CLIP-IT MADNESS (Sponsored by Cheez-it Grooves) and re-learn why Overwatch was fun in the first place?

Maybe for as long as Tanks and Supports exist in concrete roles, Overwatch will be impossible to ‘fix’.

Perhaps the direction of the game is 36 DPS heroes with mild hybrid PHEV flavouring to make them different enough from one another.

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Perhaps they should reduce Tanks’ HPs and give them more meaningful damage and better self sustain abilities (for player agency reasons) to get closer to DPS playstyle. Forget about protecting teammates, each one with your own protection and minor team defenses to spicy it up in some clutch moments. Maybe make them all have 250-400 hp (like Mei, Reaper, Doomfist, Bastion, Torb, Zarya, Sigma…)

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Because of damage creep. Echo can kill 600 hp in 1.7 seconds. Good luck.

I agree with OP

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You can make space and use environment to be safe wdym

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I mean, you also have a much larger hitbox.

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