Overwatch pros explain why Doomfist nerfs are a ‘death sentence’
Blizzard - OverwatchWhile the controversial DPS hero was once a staple throughout competitive Overwatch, a number of current and former pro players have outlined the latest set of nerfs as an outright ‘death sentence’ for the character.
Doomfist is capable of deleting a large majority of heroes from the map incredibly quickly due to his powerful arsenal of melee-based abilities. From Seismic Slam to Rocket Punch, he has long been an unstoppable force in Overwatch able to find eliminations before enemies can even react.
A recent set of balance updates have adjusted the damage-dealing character however, and a variety of Overwatch veterans and experienced Doomfist players, are complaining that the hero is now far from ideal.
Blizzard - Overwatch
The latest alteration to the hero came with Patch 1.44 in a January 9 PTR update. Increasing the cooldown time of his Rising Uppercut ability from 0.2 to 0.5 seconds, the hero has become somewhat less mobile.
Unable to get in and out of fights as rapidly now, veteran players have been criticizing the most recent patch and slamming the Doomfist nerf. “Why would you make it so the most fun hero in the game is now un-fun?” popular Twitch streamer and now-Philadelphia Fusion player Philip ‘ChipSa’ Graham questioned.
“You nerf one of his abilities so bad that you just can’t play him. What makes Doomfist fun is the fluidity of his movement. Flying around the map and doing these sick combos. You can’t do this anymore now because your uppercut f***s you.”
The Doomfist expert added that“if you play against any hero in the game that can do damage…uppercutting is going to get you killed and it’s really sad.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, former Houston Outlaws DPS star Jake Lyon explained how the latest Doomfist changes come as a result of Blizzard wanting to balance the game for more casual players.
“It’s literally for noobs. It’s a classic ‘for noobs’ change,” he stated during a January 13 stream. “The noobs are like ‘ahh Doomfist. He’s too scary’…well let’s make him f***ing stun himself. Problem solved,” he joked.
Jake explained how the adjustment “is incredibly bad for competitive play.” Taking away Doomfist’s ability to enter a fight with ease and pull off a swift combo, “is a great way to ensure [he] is CRUSHED at a high-level of play.”
Adding a self-stun to a hero whose entire premise is about combos and speed (Doomfist PTR nerfs) is incredibly bad for competitive play. TIME is the resource that is most affected by player skill, taking that away directly is a great way to ensure DF is CRUSHED at high level play
— Jake (@jakeow) January 11, 2020
With this supposedly being the final patch to hit the PTR prior to the Overwatch League starting, there’s a good chance that Doomfist is relegated to a niche pick moving forward, if the changes stick.
While Doomfist has been the primary talking point as a result of recent nerfs, Patch 1.44 also impacted the likes of Mei and Hanzo to offset the current state of Damage-based play in ranked and competitive play.