The Overwatch development team revealed that a new hero named Echo will be coming to the game in the near future. Echo is the 32nd hero to be added to the Overwatch roster.
Here’s everything we know about who Echo is, what her abilities are, and when she’ll be released.
Background
Echo is a highly evolved artificially intelligent omnic who’s the passion project of Overwatch scientist Dr. Mina Liao. We were first introduced to Echo in the Reunion cinematic when McCree demanded a crate from Ashe and the Deadlock Gang. Ashe ordered B.O.B. to open the crate, revealing Echo’s omnic body.
At the end of the cinematic, McCree placed a chip into her chest, activating her and revealing her face. McCree called Echo his partner, revealing their close relationship. She’s clearly been gone a long time since she was surprised that McCree lost an arm.
Echo’s creator, Dr. Mina Liao, is a scientist who helped develop omnic technology at the Omnica Corporation before the omnic uprising. She was an advocate for omnic rights and held a highly pro-omnic philosophy, believing them to be fundamentally alive and entitled to rights and freedoms.
“I can only hope that [Echo] can change the conversation: That people can understand that the potential of artificial life is so much greater than whatever we have to gain by treating them as our property, or our servants,” Dr. Liao said in a personal log. “There is so much to do, but I have to try to show the world a better way, before it’s too late.”
Dr. Liao was invited to join Overwatch during the omnic uprising by Captain Jack Morrison (Soldier 76), who asked her, “who better to help fight [the omnics].” The creation of Echo was apparently funded and supported by Overwatch.
Dr. Liao called Echo her “life’s work” and said that Echo was “her legacy, her promise, her echo.” It seems that Dr. Liao died in some sort of lab explosion, but Echo continues to change the world in her absence.
Echo’s hero abilities
Jeff Kaplan hopped on TimTheTatman’s stream to show off some Echo gameplay on March 19. Echo is a 200 health Damage hero with a focus on mobility and projectile weapons.
Her damage abilities, combined with her flight and glide abilities, make her a highly mobile damage factory. In addition, her ultimate will likely be one of the most powerful abilities in the game. Of course, all of this is subject to change while she’s being tested on the Public Test Region server.
Trishot
Echo’s primary ability fires three projectiles at once. Each projectile deals 17 damage, which means if you land all three projectiles, you’ll deal 51 damage per shot.
Sticky Bombs
Echoes secondary ability fires six stick bombs that deal five damage on impact and an additional 31 damage upon exploding. They explode one second after landing.
Flight + Glide
Echo’s left shift ability allows her to fly for three seconds in any direction. She uses the space bar to slow her descent, similar to Mercy, but with more horizontal movement.
Focusing Beam
Echo’s alternate ability fires a 20-meter beam for several seconds, which deals 50 DPS normally and 200 DPS to targets under half health. The increased DPS figure also applies to barriers.
Ultimate – Duplicate
Echo’s ultimate ability allows her to duplicate an enemy hero and play as that hero for 15 seconds. Throughout the duration of the ultimate, the duplicated hero will have 650 percent ultimate generation, allowing Echo to quickly build and use the duplicated character’s ultimate. Her ultimate has the slowest charge rate of any ultimate ability in Overwatch, according to Kaplan.
Kaplan indicated that the Overwatch development team isn’t sure when Echo will release. For PC players dying to play Echo immediately, she’s now available to play on the PTR.
This article will be updated if more information about Echo becomes available.
