In Overwatch there are still complaints. The latest patch hasn’t really helped Reinhardt – even though it was supposed to.
If there’s a drama in Overwatch that has gained as much attention as the story about Roadhog’s hook and his nerf, it’s Reinhardt and his abilities.
Actually, the current patch 1.13 (PC) and 2.15 (PS4, Xbox One) was supposed to fix many problems with Reinhardt. And it did. During the charge, it now happens less frequently that opponents are “pushed aside” when they should have been hit frontally and taken with the ability. In this regard, the ability has become significantly more reliable.
Reinhardt has lost “Wumms!”
However, some new characteristics have crept into the patch that were not mentioned in the patch notes. Reinhardt’s charge behaves significantly weaker in many cases now compared to before the changes. Specifically, there are two behaviors that are now different for Reinhardt than before.
- If Reinhardt grazes an opponent with the charge without already “transporting” someone, those opponents are not pushed aside.
- Reinhardt can no longer charge through various destructible objects as long as he is not pushing an opponent around with him. This applies to street signs, but also to handrails.
These two points are a thorn in the side for Reinhardt fans. Because they mean that you have to “clean up” the map first if you want to use a charge effectively.
On Reddit, many players wish for Reinhardt’s charge to be reverted to the state before the patch. Although sometimes you missed a player who was right in front of you – at least you weren’t stopped by every street sign or charged through a whole group of opponents without effect.
Whether these changes to Reinhardt were intentional or just a mistake by Blizzard has not yet been clarified. Fans are hoping for an answer from Jeff Kaplan or Scott Mercer in the coming week.
However, there is a positive aspect to the situation. Now the whole “Let’s demolish everything on the map before it starts” actually has a strategic benefit.
Another thing that has been nerfed: Defenders are now more frequently at a disadvantage!
