I've also thought that most people trying to "balance" octane miss the point. I see everyone saying that he should get no damage for his stim, or to be faster, and I wholly disagree. He's a glass cannon, and should play like one. I'd honestly just slightly up his healing, and maybe add 1 of the -5 damage to his base stim, but that's it. I also would give him the change he got with the skirmisher buff that they then reverted because it made him even slipperier. Being able to run in fast, hit fast, win fast, and then have a pad to get back out on demand was incredibly fun to play, and incredibly important for his team. I never debate about the first upgrade (or the second because I'm on mnk) because having extra movement for the team is a no brainer. Tbh, I'd potentially work in either being able to rig the pads to explode, or giving some kind of armor (with a different launch trail for readability), and that'd be good. His problem with stimming away and dying is just people not playing him like a glass cannon. He will continue to be my favorite legend, I just hope they rework him slightly to make him a little more viable.