Overwatch’s new ability shifting hero Echo will be the final new character for the original game

With an announcement just earlier this week that Overwatch’s 32nd hero Echo will be added to the game very shortly, Blizzard was very quick to follow up on what exactly the intelligent AI will be able to do in the team-based competitive shooter. While we still don’t know how she’ll affect the game in any meaningful way, we do know that she’s classified as a Damage character. Which means that she’ll be the one racking up all the kills and going on about how important she is to the team. Using energy-based attacks, Echo’s primary fire is the Tri-shot, a triangular blast that’s fired from her hands. But that’s just what left clicking does…what are her abilities?

Echo will reportedly be able to lob sticky bombs around the map, all of which function and detonate on a delayed timer. While they’ll certainly take some skill to figure out and use effectively, they’ll be excellent for zoning the enemy and breaking up team fights. Players who know what they’re doing will probably even be able to lock down whole segments of the map, making the area of denial potential for Echo even greater. Her other ability is a Focusing Beam which is exactly what it sounds like. A focused beam of energy that deals a load of damage for the few seconds it can stay active. Oh, and her passive ability is Glide which is exactly what you think it is.

Yet what’s most fascinating about Echo is her ultimate ability. Duplicate allows the hyper-intelligent robot to take on the role of a hero on the enemy’s team and use all their abilities for a short period of time. This means that Echo can essentially fill whatever role is most lacking depending on certain situations. Need a healer in the middle of an important team fight?

Echo can take on the form of Mercy. Need a tank to provide some cover during the follow-up fight? Yep, Echo can steal all of Reinhardt’s abilities and provide some shields. The possibilities are endless. The only downside? Whoever Echo is duplicating gains their Ult charge way faster. It’s reportedly possible for Road Hog to pop off his ultimate ability twice in the time it takes for Echo to use Duplicate on him. There’s always a risk involved.

It has also been confirmed by Jeff Kaplan, game director of Overwatch, that Echo will be the final hero added to the original game before the team turns all it’s attention to Overwatch 2. “Yes, currently Echo is the last hero coming to standard Overwatch,” Kaplan said to IGN Nordic and Benelux.

The focus for the next couple of heroes will be on Overwatch 2.

Guess that means that Overwatch 2 might be closer than we all expected considering that we still don’t have a solid release date for the highly-anticipated sequel which will be adding actual story elements to the Overwatch universe.

Last Updated: March 20, 2020