Double confirmed: Echo is officially live on the PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch versions of Overwatch! Load in additional skill modules and play this multirole, evolutionary robot damage hero. Besides Echo going live, Overwatch also sees the launch of a new Competitive Mode, Competitive Open Queue in the Arcade, as well as changes to Hero Pools and Map Pools systems to make them more straightforward and consistent. Check out Echo’s launch trailer below!
Echo is the 32nd hero in Overwatch, the cutting edge technological creation of Singaporean scientist, Dr Mina Liao, one of the earliest members of the organization. See below for Echo’s abilities and learn more via her Hero page:
Abilities | |
Tri-Shot (Primary Fire)
Echo fires 3 shots at once, in a triangle pattern. |
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Sticky Bombs (Secondary Fire)
Echo fires a volley of sticky bombs that detonate after a delay. |
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Flight (Shift)
Echo surges forward quickly, then can fly freely. |
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Focusing Beam (E)
Echo channels a beam for a few seconds, dealing very high damage to targets with less than half health. |
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Glide (Passive)
Echo can glide while falling. |
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Duplicate (Ultimate)
Echo duplicates a targeted enemy hero and gains use of their abilities |
Arcade will now have Competitive Open Queue, running for roughly four weeks. Standard Competitive Play rules apply, including hero pools and one hero limit, but will have no role restrictions or role queues.
The unified Hero Pool implementation will allow both the Overwatch League and Competitive Play to mirror each other as closely as possible for a more consistent viewing and play experience. How it works:
- To determine a week’s Hero Pool, we’ll compile hero play rates from high-level Competitive Play matches from the preceding two weeks. Heroes with play rates above a certain threshold will be eligible to be removed; the higher their play rate, the more likely they are to be removed. Based on that, one Tank, two Damage, and one Support will be randomly removed from play. (Note that heroes will not be removed two weeks in a row.)
- At the end of each Sunday’s Overwatch League matches, we’ll announce the Hero Pool that will be used that upcoming week for both live Competitive Play and the Overwatch League. That pool will go into effect in the game Monday morning.
- This process will occur every week of the Overwatch League regular season; during weeks that there are no Overwatch League matches, the same data will still be used to determine the Hero Pool and you will find out Monday morning.
Competitive Play will now include all maps, with the exception of Paris and Horizon Lunar Colony. Once the maps are updated, they will be added back into the pool. Details here.