New Overwatch 2 patch nerfs Roadhog’s hook one-shot combo into the ground

What you need to know

• A new Overwatch 2 patch has gone live, nerfing Roadhog, Orisa, Kiriko, and Sojourn.
• The biggest change is the death of Roadhog’s infamous Chain Hook and Scrap Gun one-shot combo, as Blizzard has reduced the Chain Hook’s pull distance and the damage of both the hook and the Scrap Gun itself.
• Orisa’s Fortify health bonus was also reduced in an effort to make her less tanky, while Kiriko’s Healing Ofuda recovery time was increased to encourage players to use her Kunai more.
• Sojourn’s Railgun energy gain has been reworked, giving her a flat 5 energy per hit instead of a varying amount based on damage done. This change makes it impossible for characters like Mercy to speed up her energy gain with damage boosts.

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Throughout most of Overwatch 2 Season 2, Roadhog has become a dominant character in competitive play. While he lacks the protective utility that most tanks bring to the battlefield, his high health, self-healing, and ability to one-shot most non-tank heroes with his Chain Hook and Scrap Gun combo make him an unstoppable force in the current scrappy and deathmatchy meta. Developer Blizzard previously confirmed that a nerf to the character was coming, though players weren’t sure what direction the studio was going to take with it. We know now, though, as the long-awaited Roadhog nerf has finally arrived in a balance patch.

Blizzard has ultimately chosen to nerf Roadhog’s Chain Hook and Scrap Gun combo into the ground, identifying its ability to kill most Overwatch 2 heroes in one hit as a major problem. While Roadhog’s Chain Hook will still forcibly reposition targets, he won’t be able to do nearly as much damage as he could before. The damage, recovery time, and reload speed of his Scrap Gun been reduced (it did gain one extra shot in the magazine), and hooked players will land a full meter farther from Roadhog than they did before the update. Chain Hook itself now only does 5 damage instead of 30 on impact, further reducing the combo’s burst damage potential. 

Blizzard believes that while Roadhog won’t be able to one-shot opponents anymore, his Chain Hook will still be a powerful utility that can secure eliminations if Roadhog’s teammates follow up on opportunities to kill the people he hooks. The developer says that now, Roadhog’s effectiveness will be more dependent on hero matchups and how hooked characters can respond after getting pulled.

The update also included some additional hero changes, including nerfs for Orisa, Kiriko, and Sojourn. Orisa, like Roadhog, has been a supreme pick in most Overwatch 2 ranks due to her insanely high survivability and her ability to stun and reposition opponents with her Energy Javelin and Javelin Spin skills. Blizzard has reduced her Fortify’s health bonus from 125 to 75 in an effort to make her less oppressive and easier to take down. Kiriko, meanwhile, has had her Healing Ofuda recovery time increased from 0.85 seconds to 1 second, reducing the speed of her healing output and making it more beneficial to weave Kunai throws between healing casts.

The tweak to Sojourn is definitely a shift down in terms of overall power, though the change made will be beneficial in some situations. Blizzard has reworked the way gaining energy for her Railgun’s secondary fire works, making her primary fire give a static amount of energy per hit rather than a varying amount based on how much damage each hit does. This makes it impossible to improve Sojourn’s energy gain with abilities like Mercy’s Damage Boost or Zenyatta’s Orb of Discord, reducing the uptime of her Railgun sniper shots. However, it buffs Sojourn’s ability to build up charge when shooting heroes that have damage-reducing Armor. Her primary fire damage has been reduced from 10 to 9, though.

If you want to see the changes in full, we’ve included all of the update’s patch notes below.

Overwatch 2 Patch Notes: January 24, 2023

Hero Changes

ORISA

• Fortify
  • Health bonus reduced from 125 to 75

ROADHOG

• Chain Hook
  • Impact damage reduced from 30 to 5
  • The enemy final position distance from Roadhog after being pulled increased from 3 to 4 meters
• Scrap Gun
  • Damage per pellet reduced from 6.6 to 6
  • Recovery time reduced from 0.85 to 0.8 seconds
  • Reload time reduced from 2 to 1.75 seconds
  • Maximum ammo increased from 5 to 6

SOJOURN

• Railgun
  • Energy gain is no longer based on damage done by primary fire. Each primary fire hit against an enemy player now grants 5 energy
  • Primary fire damage per projectile reduced from 10 to 9

KIRIKO

• Healing Ofuda
  • Recovery time increased from 0.85 to 1 second

Bug Fixes

GENERAL

• Fixed an issue with the “Winged Sandals’ weapon charm’s ‘How to Unlock’ text
• Adjusted footstep audio mixing to make enemy footsteps more audible.

HEROES

• Lucio
  • Fixed an issue with Lucio’s Hermes skin exhibiting incorrect physics
• Reinhardt
  • Fixed an issue with Reinhardt’s Hammer appearing deformed during the Sweethardt emote
• Sojourn
  • Fixed an issue where Sojourn’s Cyber Detective Skin would fail to load
• Wrecking Ball
  • Fixed an issue with Adaptive Shield where it could be incorrectly applied before the cooldown was complete

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Overwatch 2 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. It’s arguably one of the best Xbox shooters available, and since it’s free-to-play, it doesn’t cost anything to check it out. Alternatively, players can purchase the Overwatch 2: Watchpoint Pack that provides access to a Premium Battle Pass, 2,000 Overwatch Coins, and a bundle of unique Legendary skins.