‘Overwatch’ Update: Reinhardt bug introduced in latest patch acknowledged by Blizzard

According to many Overwatch players, Reinhardt’s abilities have been behaving inconsistently for quite some time — but after feeling like their cries were falling on deaf ears, Blizzard has finally responded. “We’re looking into reported issues with Reinhardt,” Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan wrote on the official forums. “Thanks for your patience.”

What’s wrong with Reinhardt’s abilities, anyway?

It seems that many players are dissatisfied with the way Reinhardt’s charge ability interacts with its targets. In many cases, players feel like their charge has been dead on, but instead of pinning the target, they simply get flung to the side, as though Reinhardt had barely brushed up against them.

Here’s an example of that behavior, where an enemy D.Va flies off to the side instead of getting pinned against back wall.

Players are also reporting that Reinhardt’s ultimate ability, earthshatter, sometimes travels through an enemy Reinhardt’s shield. However, discussion on /r/Overwatch indicates it’s possible these reports are actually an observation of a separate, but equally troubling problem: That the gameplay effect of earthshatter seems to occur a fraction of a second after the visual effect. In other words, enemy Reinhardts are lowering their shields slightly too early, which is causing them to get knocked down despite thinking they they had blocked it.

We’ll keep you updated as Blizzard reports its findings.

More Overwatch news and updates

For more on Overwatch, check out the rest of what Mic has to offer. Here is an intro to the cute, new “Wholesome Overwatch” subreddit, a look at some gorgeous Overwatch-themed PS4 and Xbox One controllers, a cool Easter Egg in the new Horizon Lunar Colony map and a criticism of Blizzard’s failures in its design of Symmetra.