Overwatch developer Blizzard Entertainment is still working to get Roadhog’s hook just right.
A new build will hit the Overwatch public test realm “very soon,” according to Overwatch principal designer Geoff Goodman. The game’s last PTR build went live on Jan. 5 with major adjustments to Roadhog’s hook, but some fans felt Blizzard took things too far in the opposite direction.
It seems like Blizzard agreed. Hook 2.0 made it pretty easy for some targeted players (cough, Lúcio) to break free from a Roadhog hook by darting behind walls or into doorways. And that’s good—Roadhog shouldn’t be able to hook enemies through all objects. Someone sticking out from behind a light pole, though? That should be fair game, and Blizzard is trying to fix that.
“[We] added some more line of sight checks towards the left/right of a potential hook target,” Goodman wrote. “This means it should be easier to hook someone who is sticking halfway out of a doorway, or behind a thin pole, etc.” These checks are used in the persistent line of sight check, too, so enemies that dash behind a light pole or a tree stump—and are still visible to Roadhog—won’t break free anymore, he added.
Enemies hooked and stunned by Roadhog will also be “heavily” slowed, even while in the air. “This means if someone is strafe jumping away from you and you land a hook, they are a lot less likely to slide out of line on sight, breaking the hook,” Goodman said.
Roadhog’s last adjustment is a bug fix that will no longer allow players to hook an enemy and pull them behind Roadhog if he spun around before landing the hook.
Sombra and Ana’s changes are slight, but should make some players happy. Ana gets a tiny nerf to her biotic grenade, reducing its duration from five seconds to four seconds. This is added on top of the healing percentage nerf Blizzard deployed last week. The developer is offering a slight buff for Sombra, reducing her hack cooldown from 12 seconds to eight seconds.
So hop on the PTR, folks—it’s the only way Blizzard will know if these changes are working or not.
