<
        >

          Overwatch's Echo has gameplay, abilities revealed

          play
          Overwatch Hero 32 Echo is a DPS character (4:34)

          Echo's skills and ultimate were revealed on TimTheTatman's stream with Blizzard VP Jeff Kaplan (4:34)

          We now have further details on Echo, the newest Overwatch hero.

          Game Director Jeff Kaplan joined popular streamer Tim "TimTheTatman" Betar to dive into Echo's abilities. Echo is a DPS hero with 200 HP, with slick movement speeds and a powerful and unique ultimate.

          Echo's primary fire is a spray of three slow projectiles shot from Echo's fingers. 17 damage each, 51 damage per blast if all three connect.

          Right click is a sticky bomb shot from the palm. 5 damage upon contact, then after one second, it explodes, causing 30 damage. The bomb will stick to enemies and surfaces.

          Focus is the alternate ability (E): 20 meter range, 2.5 second duration. While it only has 50 DPS normally, when the target is below half health, the DPS skyrockets to 200 DPS. One unique trait is that effect will apply to barriers and ice walls as well as enemies.

          For movement, Echo can press shift, where she will be able to fly for three seconds. While falling, Echo can hold spacebar to slow her fall, similar to Mercy's passive ability, although her movement during her glide will be more horizontal and less vertical.

          Then, there's Echo's ultimate. If you played Mortal Kombat and remember Shang Tsung, you know this one well: Echo's ultimate is the ability to clone herself into an enemy hero for 15 seconds. She will look distinct, so enemies will know it's Echo morphed into a different hero, but in that state she has an incredibly fast ultimate regeneration. You could possibly execute several ults before time is up. On top of that, Echo's ult is a way to stay alive -- when initiated, you go back to full health. If you die within the 15-second duration, you revert back to being Echo. Jeff Kaplan noted that if there is an Echo on the enemy team, nothing happens if you try to use your ult and duplicate Echo.

          For those concerned about the hero being incredibly OP, Kaplan said not to worry, there are balancing knobs in place, as well as the hero purposely lacking a lot of defense. Kaplan said on the stream that they "wanted it to be crazy and bonkers and feels like Overwatch."

          This creates a lot of possibilities, including in Overwatch League play. Even in glimpses, we could now see top competitors play as characters we never see them play, even in different classes.

          The stream was a success, with upwards of 130,000 people watching the walkthrough live.There's no timeline on when Echo will be released to the public, although the hero is already available in the Public Test Region. It was also revealed on stream that a new assault map is coming, with no concrete timeline given.