Why is Octane still so bad?

@Bean2kay9  I do agree to a certain extent.

However its more often the player controlling octane that brings little to the team,the rare occasion you do get a good octane is usually a pretty good game in my experience lol.

A little more team utility in his abilities would be nice though.

Honestly, Octane is currently my favorite legend, since I solo queue pubs and I like to go for high kill games. I did get to Diamond with Octane in raked as well, though. The most useless legend for me is Wattson. She's great for people playing scrims and tournaments, but her abilities are quite useless in solo pubs.

What I like about Octane is that he is the fastest legend in the game. Sure, other legends have some movement options as well, but Octane can keep spamming the stim button to outrun and outmaneuver (by constantly repositioning quickly) everyone else. In ranked, this meant that I could escape teams of sweats who were determined to hunt me down across the map after instantly wiping my lower ranked random teammates. In pubs, this means that I get to ongoing fights faster, so I wouldn't miss the 3rd party opportunities, and it also means that I can quickly get away from bad fights or reposition myself from the low ground spot to a god spot on the high ground (this is where the buffed launch pad is often very useful). The fast movement also means that if I drop near enemies, I can reach the good loot first and possibly turn around to find unarmed targets to shoot at. Octane can rapidly cover large territories to pick out the best loot.

As for bringing value to the team, it depends on how you use it. When your teammates like to run in separate directions on their own then Octane can rapidly catch up to them when they run into enemies. If the teammate is down, you can throw him the launch pad, so he can jump to a safe location where he can be revived. If the teammate has been eliminated then Octane is one of the few legends who could pull off a heroic banner rescue from under the enemy's nose (sure, Crypto drone is the safer option, but I still prefer to have a high mobility legend in the game). The launch pad is also great for launching your teammates onto various rooftop spots where you can take some free shots at the enemy and indoors you can put the launch pad in front of the door to make any surprise attacks more difficult. Also, you can throw the launch pad under a door to launch off an enemy who is blocking it on the other side :D

The only thing that is an issue for me with Octane is that he doesn't exactly have the smallest hitbox, so more bullets will hit you, but then again he has automatic healing, so you can heal while running or fixing armor and it's also good when you're out of syringes (that came in handy when ratting out in ranked as well, especially since the automatic healing is silent).

If I see my teammates picking Octane, I'm thinking "good, at least he has options to get out of bad spots." If they pick someone else like Lifeline or Caustic for example then what will they do when we inevitably get third partied (evidently this game is all about 3rd partying) ? If a full squad ambushes one of those legends then what will they do, other than scream for help before getting instantly wiped?

@Romet6 This is why I love hearing from people that main a Legend. I was only aware of two of the uses for Octane and you listed off at least half a dozen.

For me this issue is that Octane doesn't have a clear role on a squad. The value of having a Pathfinder or Wraith is strong team mobility. Caustic and Gibraltar have strong abilities in combat. Bloodhound and Crypto are amazing scouts and Octane... No clear value.

However Romet6 has shown us the versatility of his kit and the value he can have with some creativity. Octane isn't weak he's just a more difficult Legend to pin into a role.

If they were going to buff him I'd hope for a boost to his overall mobility. Maybe eliminate/minimize the stun from falling so he can start running sooner. Possibly decreasing the health drain on his stim. 

@Zamaha400  yeah, the usefulness of a legend comes down to what your goals are and what kind of enemies you're facing. Certain legends are necessary in a particular tournament setting, others may become viable when playing ranked with a good premade squad, but may become a bad choice if you're solo queuing. I would say that Caustic and Gibraltar are good when you have a reliable team and you're holding hands throughout the match. However, if you get separated and run into enemies then the lack of mobility and a large hitbox will put you into a difficult situation.

Pathfinder used to be my main for a long time and is still among my favorite legends, because of the mobility and it is good that you can zipline your team into better spots, but some of these spots are now reachable with Octane's double jump as well. Meanwhile, Wraith's portal has been nerfed, so it's not as good anymore. It's still very useful in competitive games though.

Octane is best suited for casual gaming when you can't count on your team. Instead of having to complain about how bad the random teammates are, you can just pick a legend that does well on it's own. Octane is fine for breaking down squads alone. You knock one, then stim run behind corner to pop a battery and then launch back in to knock the person reviving and finish the squad with a standard 1v1 fight (Pathfinder can do something similar). But the key thing is that you can get lots of free kills from 3rd party scenarios, so you can have a match with good numbers with or without a team.

Octane is in a great place right now in my opinion. if you dont be aggressive non stop on him then he is being played wrong. Those normally who say a class needs buffs (Not meaning you( typically dont even play the legend to its fullest potienal, I can easily average 1k to 3k a game on him anywhere from 2-13 or so kills , He is very fun very viable and in a great spot. 

I'm a Lifeline main but I play with a friend that mains Octane.

I usually take on the leading role in the squad (mostly duos) and in a way use my squad as an extention of my own abilities.

Playing as Lifeline I'm limited to being a strong support character to my team when things go sour. Using my squads abilites when I feel it would be of use in our favour helps the squad breathe and focus on wiping enemies while I do most of the organizing and structuring of play.

Back on topic, I feel like Octanes ultimate has saved us a few dozen times to make him a valuable choice for the sort of playstyle that me and my team often have.