One week with Overwatch’s new Offense hero Doomfist

The 25^th character to join the ranks of Overwatch is none other than the gauntlet-wearing supervillain, Doomfist. The release of this hero has been speculated in forums and teased way back in February when Orisa was released. Doomfist’s gauntlet was even stolen from the payload in Numbani – which led many players to wonder why they still had to fight to escort a hollow payload.

Jokes aside, there have been mixed responses since Doomfist’s release. A large part of the community was expecting fan-favourite Terry Crews to join the voicecast of Overwatch. This was not the case, despite months of campaigning and Crews himself producing a hilarious online video pitching himself for the role. Granted, Sahr Ngaujah, the chosen voice actor does do justice to Doomfist character. So, we can only hope that there will be room for Terry Crews in another role in the Overwatch universe.

I have been playing with Doomfist on Overwatch’s public test region for a while now, and it’s easy to see how Doomfist fits into the current meta comprising of dive heroes.

Doomfist’s kit comprises of largely melee skillsets. His “cybernetics make him a highly mobile, powerful frontline fighter”, the official description reads. This means that players using him should always be constantly in the fray, and dealing targeted, up-close damage. Coupled with his low cooldowns and swift casting, Doomfist is a blast to play. His combo-based playstyle brings something fresh to Overwatch, and his character concept looks like something straight out of Street Fighter V.

Doomfist’s primary attack is the Hand Cannon, a weapon comprising of four shots that fire projectiles one at a time or in a single blast. His secondary attack is the Rocket Punch, where he charges forward at extreme speed and delivers a devastating blow that knock backs his opponent and deals extra damage if the enemy is hit into a wall (similar to Reinhardt).

Doomfist’s abilities are most useful when performing crowd control. One would be his Rising Uppercut, which tosses his enemies into the air also allows him to perform a high jump. His Seismic Slam smashes into a target area, displacing his enemies towards his team. Lastly, his ultimate is Meteor Strike, where he leaps high into the air and drop into a target radius, dealing massive damage. In addition to that, Doomfist has a passive ability called The Best Defence…that gives him 30 shield points on top of his 250HP for every enemy hit by any of his abilities (excluding primary attack). This gives him a very important survivability edge, despite his large hitbox.

However, the downside of a melee skillset means that Doomfist is vulnerable against most long-ranged heroes such as Widowmaker or Pharah. If he does not close distance fast enough, or have no close defensive support, he could be picked off relatively easy. All in all, Doomfist can be part of a successful team composition, provided his teammates can protect him long enough for him to deal massive damage.

I am also excited to see how the character will continue to be balanced in PTR and how the character might factor into competitive meta compositions in the near future.