Roadhog’s recent buffs have made him a strong pick in the Overwatch competitive ladder at nearly every rank. His high burst damage and sustainability means that he can have a massive impact on the game without much help from the rest of his team. Like every other hero, there are special in-game mechanics and general gameplay tips that can give you the edge over your opponent. This guide will take you through five tips that will greatly improve your Roadhog gameplay.

1. Maximize One-Shot Potential

Simply hooking an enemy and using primary fire is not enough to one-shot most enemies. To ensure that as many pellets are hitting the target as possible, walk forward while your hook is pulling the target towards you. This will bring your character models ever so slightly closer together, allowing you to land more pellets from the Scrap Gun. Additionally aiming around the neck area will minimize the number of pellets missed. Following the hook-and-shoot combo with a melee will shorten the overall animation time and deal additional burst damage.

If an elimination is desperately needed to shut down an enemy ultimate or stagger an opponent, follow up the previous combo with Roadhog’s Whole Hog ultimate ability. When used at point-blank range, this ultimate ability deals massive amounts of damage. It will certainly be able to kill any squishy target and even some of the lower health tanks.

2. Know When to Take Off-Angles and Flank

Roadhog’s true value lies in his high-pick potential that results from hooking in squishy targets. In scenarios where the enemy team has a shield tank, and your team doesn’t, it’s optimal to play off-angles and flank heavily. If your team can’t win the shield war, then go around the shields to look for fight winning picks. Gauge how aggressive you can be based on the enemy composition. If they have lots of CC or high burst damage heroes, play a bit safer.

Another scenario in which playing off-angles and flanks is extremely rewarding is when the enemy team is playing heavily split. With his high hp pool, Take a Breather ability, and one-shot potential, Roadhog is one of the best 1v1 dualist heroes in the game. Capitalize on the enemy team’s positioning to get the easy picks. Try to hook targets that you can easily one-shot and avoid tanks in general.

3. Play Around Cover

Although playing around cover is an excellent tip for every hero in the game, it’s extremely important for Roadhog players, especially in this shield-absent meta. Stay conscious of your positioning and ensure you’re not taking excessive damage. Not playing around cover will put more strain on your supports to heal you and potentially make them rotate to more dangerous positions to LoS you. More importantly, you will feed the enemy ultimate charge at an extremely high rate.

If you’re poking at enemy shields, try to be visible to the enemy only when you are shooting. You can constantly peak around corners and use alternate fire, then get back behind cover during the Scrap Gun’s recovery time. By minimizing the time you are exposed to the enemy team, you are drastically increasing your survivability and will not feed ultimate charge.

4. Hide that Hitbox!

Landing consistent critical hits on Roadhog is no hard task. In the current meta, being caught out of position is especially punishing for tanks. If you get hooked in by the enemy Roadhog, and the enemy team focuses their fire on you, don’t shoot back. Face your team and run in a straight line. There are two key reasons to do this. First, movement speed takes a penalty if you are moving backward. Second and most importantly, you hide your critical hitbox. As simple as this tip is, it can mean the difference between life and death.

There are other scenarios when it’s a good idea to hide your hitbox by facing the other direction or looking straight down. If you’re caught in an enemy Mei’s Blizzard and about to be frozen, hide your hitbox so she can’t land critical hits with her alternate fire. This technique is also particularly useful when you’re trapped in an enemy Graviton Surge.

5. Take a Breather at the Right Time

A mistake that I see occur too often at lower ranks is the misuse of Roadhog’s Take a Breather ability. It’s Roadhog’s only tanking ability, and if it’s on cooldown, Roadhog can’t contest space or match enemy aggression. The ability is best saved for solo plays or when your supports can’t provide enough healing to sustain you. As I mentioned earlier, there is a time and place to take off-angles and go on flanks. Those key moments require Take a Breather to be on standby in case things don’t go as planned. Situations such as being trapped in an enemy Graviton Surge or Gravitic Flux or other high-damage ultimate also warrant using Take a Breather.

If you’re poking and playing near your team, there’s no reason to use it. Although it does provide some ultimate charge to Roadhog, it takes away the opportunity for supports to gain ultimate charge. The value that support ultimates provide is far greater from the CC and damage output of Whole Hog.

Closing Notes

The current meta can make it difficult to learn new heroes due to the lack of shield tanks. But, if you’re looking to pick up Roadhog or improve your Roadhog gameplay in any aspect, remember these five tips. If incorporating all of them into your gameplay at once is too overwhelming, do it one at a time. Good luck on the ranked ladder!