Roadhog

Roadhog
"I'm a one-man apocalypse."
Real Name	Mako Rutledge
Age	48
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	Enforcer (formerly) Bodyguard
Base	Junkertown, Australia (formerly)
Affiliation	Australian Liberation Front (formerly) Junkers (formerly)
Voice	Josh Petersdorf (English) Frédéric Souterelle (French) Renzo Ferrini (Italian) Naomi Kusumi (Japanese) Miguel Ángel Ghigliazza (American Spanish) Pedro Tena (European Spanish)
Cosmetics	Cosmetic page
Quotes	Quotation page
Role	Tank
Health	600 (Open queue) 750 (Role queue)
Character Video

Roadhog is a Tank hero in Overwatch.

Summary

Roadhog uses his signature Chain Hook to pull his enemies close before shredding them with blasts from his Scrap Gun. He’s hardy enough to withstand tremendous damage, and can recover his health with a short breather.

Official tips

• Roadhog is a very sturdy tank that can take heavy damage and heal himself.
• Use Chain Hook to pull vulnerable heroes close then blast them with your Scrap Gun.
• Whole Hog can push the entire enemy team away from a map objective in addition to dealing damage.

Abilities

This page is a candidate for deletion. Reason: "The PTR is used less often now and the wiki has a hard enough time staying updated as is."

For differences on the Public Test Region, see Roadhog/PTR.

Scrap Gun

Type

Weapon (Primary Fire)

Effect Type

Shotgun projectile

Roadhog's Scrap Gun fires short-range blasts of shrapnel with a wide spread.

Damage:

1.33 - 6 per pellet
66.66 - 150 per shot

Headshot:

✓

Rate of fire:

1.3 shots per second

Bullets per shot:

25 pellets per shot

Ammo:

5

Reload time:

1.5 seconds

Projectile speed:

57 meters per second

Example Video

Scrap Gun

Type

Weapon (Secondary Fire)

Effect Type

Linear projectile
Shotgun projectile

Alternatively, it can launch a shrapnel ball that detonates farther away, scattering metal fragments from the point of impact.

Damage:

50 per shot
1.33 - 6 per pellet

Headshot:

✓

Rate of fire:

1.3 shots per second

Bullets per shot:

1 projectile per shot
25 pellets per shot

Ammo:

5

Reload time:

1.5 seconds

Cast time:

0.167 seconds fuse

Max. range:

9 meters

Projectile speed:

57 meters per second

Example Video

Take a Breather

8 seconds

Type

Ability

Roadhog restores a chunk of his health over a brief period of time.

Healing:

300 health

Dmg. reduction:

50%

Cast time:

0.5 seconds
2 seconds total animation

Duration:

1 second

• Details

Ability details:

• This is a channeled ability; Roadhog can only move while it's being used, and stuns can interrupt the healing effect.
• The entire animation of Take A Breather lasts 2 seconds, during which Roadhog is immobilized; the part where healing takes place only lasts 1 second.
• Take A Breather can be used to animation cancel Roadhog's reload animation and shave half a second off his reload time.

Example Video

Chain Hook

8 seconds

Type

Ability

Effect Type

Linear Projectile

Roadhog hurls his chain at a target; if it catches, he yanks them into close range.

Damage:

30

Headshot:

✕

Max. range:

20 meters

Projectile speed:

40 meters per second

• Details

Ability details:

• Chain Hook cannot pull friendly targets.
• Chain Hook can be used to interrupt channeled abilities, including Ultimate abilities. For example, hooking a Pharah while she is using Barrage will cancel her Ultimate, wasting the effect; while hooking a Reinhardt in the middle of using Charge will cancel his charge, and will not allow him to inflict his Pinned effect.
• The damage of Chain Hook is inflicted the instant it lands. If this damage is enough to kill the target, the hook will return instantly to Roadhog without holding him in place as it usually does on a hit.
• Hooked targets are released if they leave Roadhog’s line of sight before being pulled.
• Line of sight checks on Roadhog's position, not his hook.

Example Video

Whole Hog

Q

2000 points

Type

Ultimate Ability

Effect Type

Rapid fire shotgun

After cramming a top-loader onto his Scrap Gun, Roadhog pours in ammo. For a short time, he can crank out a stream of shrapnel that knocks back enemies.

Damage:

5000 over the duration

Headshot:

✓

Rate of fire:

7.5 shots per second

Bullets per shot:

12 per shot

Cast time:

0.5 seconds

Duration:

6 seconds

Move. speed:

2.5 meters per second

• Details

Ability details:

• RoadHog passively generates 1% Ult Charge every 4.00 seconds.
• Roadhog cannot control his firerate or use any other abilities during the ultimate; the Scrap Gun simply fires even without a button being pressed.
• Scrap Gun ammo is ignored by this ultimate - it can be activated with an empty Scrap Gun, and the ammo count will be the same when the ultimate ends.
• While the ultimate is in use, Roadhog's bullets will have red tracer lines on enemy vision.

Example Video

Strategy

Roadhog has a unique Tank playstyle that's focused on singling out vulnerable enemies and yanking them in for the slaughter with his Chain Hook. His Scrap Gun gives him powerful short to medium-range damage, while Take A Breather allows him to remain a persistent threat, even without a friendly Support. However, his lack of any kind of barrier makes him a lackluster pick when your focus is on protecting your teammates. He functions best as a flanker, where his chain can catch enemies unawares and kill them before they can react. With his large heal on a medium cooldown, he can operate for long periods of time away from his team.

Weapons & Abilities

• Scrap Gun: Roadhog's primary weapon. The primary fire is a shotgun, suitable for dealing damage at close range. The secondary fire shoots out a projectile which, after traveling a short distance, explodes and shoots out a cone of pellets, much like his primary fire. If the projectile impacts an enemy or solid surface, it will not explode.
  • The secondary fire allows Roadhog to fight at medium range effectively. You should make sure you're at the minimum range needed for the projectile to explode successfully, as the projectile itself deals less damage than the pellets.

• Chain Hook: When activated, Roadhog fires a hook at his crosshairs that travels out to a long range before returning back to him. If the hook strikes an enemy, it will pull that enemy back to Roadhog, as well as stunning them for a brief period of time. Solid surfaces and barriers stop the hook entirely.
  • Chain Hook allows Roadhog to drag enemies up close to where his Scrap Gun is most effective. Combining Chain Hook with your Scrap Gun's primary fire and a melee attack is a devastating combo, allowing Roadhog to kill softer targets instantly.
  • While Chain Hook is generous when it comes to the gaps that you can pull an enemy through, enemies can still be stopped from being pulled to you if a sufficiently high wall is in the way.
  • Targets are pulled to a location 3.5 meters away, which some hero can survive from your Scrap Gun due to their small hitbox. Try to move closer once you get a hook, and doing a combo to finish the target.
  • Certain opponents such as Reaper and Mei can use their invincibility abilities after being pulled to avoid your Scrap Gun/melee combo if you're too slow. Either force your opponents to use these abilities by damaging them with your Scrap Gun before pulling them in with Chain Hook as a finisher, or aim for the head.
  • Use the environment to your advantage - a good example would be scoring an easy kill by reeling someone into the hole on the Well section of Ilios.

• Take A Breather: When activated, Roadhog will inhale from a special canister, restoring 300 Health. This is a channeled ability; Roadhog can take no other actions when it's being used, and stuns can interrupt the healing effect.
  • Use Take A Breather whenever Roadhog has been damaged and you are out of sight of enemies, as he's helpless while using it.
  • Take A Breather can be safely used in combat when you're against one or two opponents, especially certain low-damage targets like Winston, Symmetra or Lúcio, as they don't have the burst damage needed to kill you while you're immobile.
  • If you feel at risk of being focused down in a team setting, Take a Breather can keep you alive whilst teammates deal with the problem, or your hook cooldown comes off.
  • Take care when using Take A Breather at low health; the healing starts 0.5 seconds after using the ability, during which he can be finished off easily.
  • If you're trapped in Mei's ultimate, quickly activate Take a Breather to restore health before the freeze kicks in (Takes practice)
  • A good way to bypass the inability to move would be to activate Take a Breather while falling from heights, cutting down to 2-3 seconds of the animation while making yourself a harder target to hit.

• Whole Hog (Ultimate): Roadhog's Ultimate ability. When activated, Roadhog begins to fire a broad cone of pellets in front of himself for a few seconds, dealing damage to enemies and knocking them back. Roadhog can still move while using Whole Hog, but he cannot use his normal weapons or abilities. This Ultimate is channeled, and can be interrupted by stuns.
  • While Whole Hog doesn't deal a lot of damage outside of close range, it is very effective at disabling and disrupting an enemy team.
  • Being knocked back significantly can disrupt the ability of an opposing team to fight back, and makes it almost impossible to push further engagement on Roadhog. This can be exploited further by Roadhog by avoiding the temptation to focus fire, and instead treating the knockback inflicted as soft crowd control, tagging as many targets as possible with it to cripple their ability to fight back. It can also be used to sweep enemies away from objectives.
  • To maximize damage, try to position yourself so that enemies are knocked back into walls or corners, as this will greatly increase the overall damage that you're able to do.

General Strategies

• Roadhog is an unusual Tank. While he has a lot of personal survivability thanks to Take A Breather and his massive base Health pool, he has nothing like Reinhardt or Winston's barrier, making him poorer at protecting his team from damage. In fact, playing Roadhog as a "tank" per se will help the opposing team achieve victory faster, as unlike the other tanks, he does not possess a way to prevent damage from occurring in the first place; every time he takes damage and heals it back up, he's feeding the enemy more ultimate charge. His real value comes from his ability to single out and kill valuable targets like Mercy or Bastion with his Chain Hook, as well as being able to protect his team from flankers like Genji more effectively than other tanks. Consider playing Roadhog in combination with another Tank so that you cover each other's weaknesses, and treat him like an up-close Defense assassin.

• Chain Hook is a core part of Roadhog's gameplay. The standard combo is to pull an enemy with Chain Hook, then use your Scrap Gun's primary fire to the chest of your opponent so all the pellets hit , followed up immediately with a melee attack. If done quickly enough, Roadhog can instantly kill most enemies who are at or below 200 Health. This is an effective strategy for taking out valuable targets like Mercy or Zenyatta, as well as countering normally agile characters like Tracer or Pharah. Landing Chain Hook on Bastion in Sentry-mode will force it back to Recon and leave it vulnerable even if you're immediately slain. Note that Chain Hook's stun starts as soon as it impacts an enemy, so you'll have less time to execute your combo successfully against certain targets if you pull them from medium or long range.

• An advanced Chain Hook combo is to first use the Scrap Gun's secondary fire, then use Chain Hook immediately after you've fired (as Chain Hook can be activated even when your gun is firing). Follow this up with the standard primary fire and melee attack. This is useful on soft targets who have extra Health from Torbjörn or Symmetra.

• Chain Hook can also be used to interrupt players, cancelling channeled abilities, including some Ultimates. Examples include Reinhardt's Charge and Pharah's Barrage, both of which will be stopped mid-effect if the hero is Chain Hooked. Other fire-and-forget ultimates like D.Va's Self-Destruct and Junkrat's RIP-Tire can also be hooked, potentially saving teammates.

• Don't get too cocky when using Chain Hook. Try to pull targets into a relatively safe position that's protected from enemy fire, as Roadhog is immobile while pulling an enemy and an easy target for their allies.

• The Scrap Gun's secondary fire can deal devastating damage when used correctly. The pellets fired by the projectile come out in a much smaller cone than the Scrap Gun's primary fire. Firing this projectile at an opponent's head can instantly kill softer targets if all of the pellets are headshots, and even bodyshots can be deadly if all of the pellets hit. Remember that the secondary fire needs to travel a minimum distance before it explodes.

• It can be difficult to tell when it's the right time to use Whole Hog. Its main purpose is to push back or separate an enemy team; look for opportunities where you can split an enemy team in half with its knockback effect. In an enclosed space, it can also be used to push enemies into a corner, leaving them helpless as you juggle them in the air. It can even be used to knock enemies into open pits, instantly killing them. Keep in mind that enemies like McCree and other Roadhogs can interrupt the channeled effect, so be wary of using Whole Hog while they're around.

• Whole Hog is countered effectively by Bastion, who ignores the knockback when deployed as a turret, and by shields, which can often endure its low damage and protect allies enough to focus down Roadhog, who gains no durability when using the ultimate, and becomes even slower, making him an easy target for focused fire.

Story

"I'M A ONE-MAN APOCALYPSE."

7'3" (221 cm) tall, and 550 lbs (250 kg), Roadhog is a ruthless killer with a well-earned reputation for cruelty and wanton destruction. He remains silent most of the time. He wears a mask with "hogrogen" inhalers, which contain a pressurized chemical mixture that helps counteract the effects of radiation exposure.

Background

Roadhog's mugshot

After the Omnic Crisis, government officials gifted the Australian omnium and the surrounding area to the omnics that had nearly destroyed their country, hoping to establish a long-term peace accord. This arrangement permanently displaced Mako Rutledge and a large number of the Outback's residents, a scattered collection of survivalists, solar farmers, and people who just wanted to be left alone.

Furious over the loss of their homes, Mako and others turned to violent rebellion. They formed the Australian Liberation Front and struck against the omnium and its robot population to take back the lands that had been stolen. Events continued to escalate until the rebels sabotaged the omnium's fusion core, resulting in an explosion that destroyed the facility, irradiated the region, and littered the Outback with twisted metal and wreckage for kilometers around.

Mako watched as his home became an apocalyptic wasteland, and he was forever changed.

Adapting to his environment, he donned a mask and took to the broken highways of the Outback on his ramshackle chopper. Little by little, his humanity was forgotten. The last vestiges of Mako faded away and the ruthless killer Roadhog was born.

Wasted Land

Roadhog continued to dwell in his farm, which was located on the outskirts of Junkertown.

At some point after making himself an enemy of the Queen of Junkertown (though he was still allowed inside the settlement as long as he took no weapons in) Roadhog found some Junkers attempting to scrap his chopper. He hooked one of them called Ducky, but the Junker told him he was sorry and Roadhog could take all of their scrap and weapons in exchange for their lives. Roadhog accepted, stating (inwardly) that the world deserved them, and that they could scrap every panel around and it still wouldn't get them a mile to a real city.

He headed to Junkertown and (after some thinking on how he hated it there and how the Queen and the Junkers deserve what they get) went to a Junker named Bruce. He gave Bruce the scrap and weapons from Ducky's crew in exchange for some hogrogen canisters. Bruce also told Roadhog "The world wants to forget blokes like us, Mako. Wants us to stay quiet. Don't give 'em the satisfaction."

Afterwards he headed to the bar and silently bought a beer with the leftover coins from Ducky's crew. While there, he overheard some Junkers confronting Junkrat about what treasure he'd found and also overheard him say he'd offer a friend he could trust a ten percent share. Junkrat pointed at Roadhog as he said the words. Roadhog ignored this at first while some Junkers told him to stay out of it. Junkrat offered higher percentage shares while an unnamed Junker told Roadhog to sit where he was. Roadhog then killed the Junkers threatening Junkrat.

Roadhog demanded fifty percent of Junkrat's treasure. He thought about Junkrat as the two walked away: "This idiot. He's a liar. Lies to himself most of all. But he's not the quiet type. The world deserves him. Deserves both of us. And we'll make sure they don't forget it."

On the Road

“	Well that's a fine 'how do ya do?'. What was it you think that got us the boot? The stealing the queen's cash? Blowing up her summer shack? The beatdown at the bar? Whatever it was, you really ticked off the big boss this time.	„
	~ Junkrat to Roadhog

Junkrat & Roadhog

Roadhog grudgingly agreed to be Junkrat's bodyguard in exchange for a 50/50 share of the spoils.

For some reason, Junkrat and Roadhog were kicked out of Junkertown, following a string of incidents that included stealing the Queen of Junkertown's money, blowing up her summer shack, and a bar brawl. Whatever the reason, Junkrat blamed Roadhog for it. Still, as Junkrat was well aware, there were two things that solved every problem—money, and explosives. That gave him an idea...

The pair left the Outback, and embarked upon an international crime spree leaving nothing but havoc and bedlam in their wake. They were responsible for a string of robberies, arson, murder, and other crimes stretching from Sydney to King's Row. They had a creed of "no job too big, no score too small." It is known that they performed a heist of the Banco de Dorado by digging a tunnel. While in the United Kingdom, they stole the crown jewels. Their spree of mayhem and chaos caused untold millions in property damage around the world.

British, French, and Latin American authorities offered rewards for information on the fugitives, and theorized that they were intent on crossing the Atlantic to North America. Their activities were reported on by A Moment in Crime, by which point the bounty on their heads had reached $25 million.

Going Legit

The Junkers face off against the cop bots

At some point during their escapades, Roadhog and Junkrat were offered a job by a "Suit" from Hyde Global. The Suit claimed that a factory of his in downtown Sydney had been attacked by omnic terrorists, with his workers taken hostage. The Suit told the pair that he wanted to keep the police out of it, and that there "was no-one better" at keeping things quiet than the duo. The pair accepted the job, and made their way to the factory. Their 'quiet' approach consisted of detonating explosives on the roof and entering the factory in force. They blasted their way through the factory's robots, exited, and brought the whole structure down. As Roadhog reminded Junkrat, there were meant to be hostages, except there were none. And the robots they'd destroyed weren't omnics, but cop bots. At this point the actual police arrived, but the two made their escape. Upon realizing they'd been set up, the pair headed back to see their corporate friend. They strung him up on a crane and headed off, leaving the suit to die in an explosion that consumed the entire Hyde Global building.

Return to Junkertown

“	Idiot.	„
	~ Roadhog, after Junkrat messes up

Roadhog, after Junkrat's screw-up

Their worldwide heist complete, Junkrat and Roadhog returned to Junkertown, with a hover-trolley loaded with gold and explosives. At the town gates, Junkrat laid out his plan—light the fuse, put on 'inconspicuous disguises', sneak into town, get the trolley to the queen's throne, reveal their deception, and kaboom! Roadhog had Junkrat refine the plan so that it included them escaping the detonation, and escaping with the gold at that. The plan was set in motion, only to be screwed up as Junkrat revealed their identities to the gate warden. The gates were barred shut, leaving the pair with a trolley of gold, useless disguises, and a ticking fuse. Breaking his long silence, Roadhog uttered a single word...

"Idiot."

Achievements

Name	Icon	Description	Reward
Giving You The Hook		Interrupt an enemy Ultimate Ability with Roadhog's Hook in Quick or Competitive play.	Pixel
Hog Wild		Knock 2 enemies to their deaths with one use of Roadhog's Whole Hog in Quick or Competitive play.	Cute

Trivia

Roadhog's original tattoo

• Roadhog was originally portrayed with a tattoo of an eagle and a pig in the Overwatch cinematic trailer. In his final design the eagle was replaced with a motorcycle engine and a banner with the words "Wild Hog Power."

• Roadhog wears a pin depicting Greentooth, the Polycount mascot.

• Both Roadhog and Junkrat's designs, as well as the state of Australia in Overwatch's setting, are references to the post-apocalyptic Mad Max universe.

• He is the only hero whose face is never shown in any of his skins.

• Early artwork of Roadhog depicts him possessing an actual pig visage (or mask).
• In Going Legit, he is shown using his Chain Hook to pull Junkrat away from danger.

• Roadhog is depicted as an Australian citizen along with Junkrat, but evidence exists that may point to Mako as being a Kiwi.
  • Roadhog's name, Mako, means "Shark" in the New Zealand Maori dialect. The meaning and use of Mako in his legendary skin supports this as well.
  • The legendary skins Islander and Toa are strongly linked with New Zealand over their neighbors Australia, as Toa is used as an adjective to describe "Brave/Bold/Victorious" in Maori.
  • New Zealand has the biggest population of Polynesian ethnicities which is reflected through the Islander skin that also uses a Tamoko/Tatau/Tattoo to reflect his heritage.
  • Mako can be heard in a PTR quote on Dorado as saying, "If I wanted to go to the wop-wops, I could have stayed at home." The use of "wop-wops" is strictly an informal noun in New Zealand as opposed to Australia which uses "out in the sticks" to imply that it is out in the middle of nowhere.

Patch Notes History

For more information, see Patch Notes

January 24th, 2017

Hero Balance Update

• Chain Hook
  • Targets are now pulled directly in front of Roadhog (rather than straight to him), except in cases where Roadhog drastically rotates
  • Hooked targets are now released if they leave Roadhog’s line of sight before being pulled
  • Line of sight checks (which determines if targets are hit by the hook) are now done from Roadhog’s position, rather than the hook’s position

Developer Comments

The hook should now feel more consistent for Roadhog players, but it should also feel more reasonable to his enemies, as they cannot be hooked or pulled around corners anymore.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that prevented the Roadhog bot from being able to hook players through Reinhardt’s shield

December 13th, 2016

Bug Fixes

Heroes

• Fixed a bug that interfered with the accuracy of the alternate fire for Roadhog’s Scrap Gun

November 15, 2016

Hero Balance Change

• Ultimate costs have been increased by 25% for all heroes

Developer Comment

Game-changing ultimate abilities were coming up a bit too frequently. This change helps keep them in check while still allowing them to be powerful.

October 19, 2016

Bug Fixes

Heroes

• Increased the volume of Roadhog’s “Want some candy” voice line

September 1, 2016

Hero Balance Update

• Chain Hook
  • If the hooked target isn't in Roadhog's line of sight when retracting the hook, they will be moved back to the position where they were originally hooked

Developer Comments

This change means that hooked targets will be less likely to slide along walls, potentially ending up in an odd place after they've been reeled in.

Bug Fixes

Heroes

• Fixed an issue that prevented Roadhog's chain from displaying correctly in some situations
• Fixed a bug causing Roadhog’s chain to become permanently extended if his target disconnected from the match

July 19, 2016

Hero Balance Update

• Self-healing abilities now charge ultimate abilities. As a result, some heroes’ ultimate costs have been adjusted (see below).
• Whole Hog
  • Ultimate cost increased by 45%

Bug Fixes

Hero

• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Roadhog to accidentally Chain Hook targets standing behind him

June 21, 2016

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause projectiles to hit Reinhardt instead of his Barrier Field in "High Bandwidth" Custom Games

External links

• Official Site - Roadhog
• Roadhog Guide on Icy Veins