Nerfing a character, especially a beloved one like Pathfinder, is almost certain ﷽t🎉o cause a portion of any gaming community to revolt.
Season 5 started today and with it came a huge number of game changes. There's a new Legend, huge map changes, a new PVE game mode, and some balance changes to various weapons and characters. Some of the♔se changes, like Mirage's new ability to turn invisible while rezzing teammates, are welcome updates that help to bring weaker Legends up to par.
On the other hand, there is one significant nerf that has players, especially those in the pro scene, ಌin a total huff: Pathfinder's grappling hook cooldown has been increase🀅d from 15 to 35 seconds.
Pathfinder is one of the original and most popular Legends thanks to his insane mobility and the essential ability to find out where the ring is moving. Most pro team✱s run Pathfinder because he has incredible support abilities and he can instantly flank enemies by grappling over their heads, onto the roof of their buildings, or behind their cover.
Adding 20 seconds to the cooldown of his grapple is signifi🙈cant, as it more than doubl𝕴es the time between uses. Of course, Pathfinder mains are absolutely devastated by this news.
Some pros are going so far a🅷s to claim they're retiring the character.
Many believe this nerf ruins the character. Considering his kit is all about mobility, some would argue that taking any mobility away destroys the utility of the chara𝓡cter.
It will take some weeks for the meta to shake out, considering there are so many changes to the characters and weapons, but it's likဣely that all the fuss being made about Pathfinder will blow over. Pathfinder isn't going anywhere and the nerf doesn't ruin the character.
Yes, doubling the cooldown of his grapple is a big deal, but it isn't going to hamstring anyone but the most aggressive players. For traversal, positioning, and regrouping, a 35-second cooldown still means the tactical ability will refresh when you need it most, it just means you can'🍷t spam the ability aimlessly anymore.
It also means 𝔍those high flying acrobatic Pathfinder pros won't be able to traversal the battlefield as effe🗹ctively during the fight, but they'll still be able to zip into position at the opportune time.
Of course, the pros aren't picking Pathfinder solely bec𒁃ause of the grapple. They rely on his scan to find out where the circle is going, and that isn't going away. Players may be disappointed to see P𒊎athfinder get balanced this way, but there's no reason to think he's dead.