Doomfist has arrived, much earlier than even we predicted (and people thought we were being overly optimistic). Now playable on the Overwatch PTR, the elusive, villainous hero is finally within our grasp. There’s no word yet on when he will leave the PTR, but from what we’ve played so far, he’s everything people wanted and more.
While Doomfist’s primary fire is ranged, his three main abilities are all melee-focused. First, he has a Rising Uppercut that damages and throws both Doomfist and his target high into the air. Second, Doomfist has a Rocket Punch that darts him forward dealing damage and knocking back targets he hits. Thirdly, he has a Seismic Slam that will launch him forward and then smash the ground, dealing light damage and briefly bouncing the target(s) off the ground. Finally, Doomfist’s ultimate ability launches him up into the air, where he has a few seconds to target an AOE on the ground before firing down, dealing massive damage.
We went hands on with these four abilities, and these are our biggest takeaways:
Doomfist’s Mobility is Unrivaled
Doomfist is clearly made to be able to close the gap and deal massive melee damage with his abilities. He has a built-in wombo-combo, where he can leap in with Seismic Slam, Uppercut the target into the air before throwing out a Rocket Punch while both targets fall. This makes him devastating up close. That said, it also makes him Ovewatch‘s new most mobile hero.
As you can see in the video above, you can use that same wombo-combo to get anywhere and everywhere. He can jump up to high ledges, leap across large gaps and span massive distances in just a few button clicks. Combine his mobility with his passive shield gain, and he could be very hard to kill, indeed.
Where as Tracer can cover just as much distance, she doesn’t have the ability to gain height. Genji can also go high and wide, but not as far, with just the double-jump and dash combo. No, Doomfist is the new head of the mobile Overwatch heroes. If we could all get together and decided to call him D-Mobile, I’d be cool with it.
Without Shields, He’s Very Vulnerable
It’s easy to forget, given Doomfist’s skill set, that he’s not a tank. He can become a tank, sure (we’ll get to that shortly), but from the start he has but 250 heath with no additional shields. This puts him right there with both Mei and Reaper. What do they both have in common? They can be taken out in one hit by a good sniper.
Yes, while the PTR servers are ever-populated with Doomfist picks, they’re also big on Widowmaker and Hanzo. Especially when Doomfist flies into the air and starts falling down, his path is easy to predict, and easy to exploit.
Also, any solid DPS should be able to out-range him and take him down quickly. Solider, McCree, and, of course, Pharah, should all be able to get the upper hand on Doomfist before he can even think about an uppercut. That’s why:
Doomfist Needs a Good Healer (Perhaps Mercy)
Doomfist has a passive ability that can turn him into a tank (told you we’d get there). Every time he hits an enemy with one of his abilities (not his primary weapon fire), he gains 30 shields, for a maximum for +150 shields. That puts him at a decently tanky 400 health.
The only problem, as we’ve discussed is getting close enough to people to make that happen, and surviving once you are there. In the PTR, it’s difficult to judge how Doomfist can reasonably perform in a normal game setting, because players on the PTR don’t care about team composition at all. Bottom line, though: Doomfist needs a healer, preferably a Mercy.
Mercy would be able to give him sustained healing so he can survive long enough to get in the faces of enemies and build up his shield. Similarly, if a cocky DPS should decided to move in on Doomfist, he’ll be able to shut that down quite easily with the sustained, targeted healing that Mercy offers.
There is no word on when Doomfist will be brought to the normal servers. Right now, none of his skins, emotes, or anything else cosmetic are showing up on the PTR, but we’ll update you all when they do.
