Overwatch 2 Drops the Number — But Adds Story, a Cat with a Jetpack, a New Villainess…
Blizzard hosted an Overwatch Spotlight — a stream dedicated to the next year of updates for Overwatch. Remember the '2' in the title? Forget it: the game is being upgraded so significantly that the developers have decided to drop the number from its name.
Story and Year Structure
Blizzard remembered that it once intended to enrich the Overwatch world with story content and presented a whole bundle of narrative events.
- According to a new animated short, the new heroine Vengeance overthrows Doomfist as the leader of the Talon organization, thereby becoming the game's main villain.
- The entire upcoming year of updates is named after this plot twist — Reign of Talon.
- Season numbering is being reset: the next one won't be Season 21, but a season with the cumbersome name "Reign of Talon. Season 1: Conquest" (S1: Conquest).
- Blizzard promises that the entire "Reign" year will be a full-fledged story — with a beginning, middle, and end. The year is divided into six seasons, and each season the story should progress — through in-game events, trailers, stories, and comics. All of these will be available in a special story section within Overwatch.
- Current story events will be emphasized with map changes and new voice lines. Furthermore, special events will take place: for example, in the first season, there will be a competition between supporters of Overwatch and Talon with unique rewards for each side (players will be allowed to switch sides).
- In 2027, the next story chapter will begin — again starting from Season 1.
New Characters
During the year, Overwatch will add not three characters, as before, but ten at once. Moreover, five of them will be released on February 10th — in the upcoming first season.
- Domina. A Talon member and Vice President of Vishkar Industries — the corporation where Symmetra works.
- Role — Tank, similar in gameplay goals to Sigma.
- Primary weapon — "Photon Magnum." It fires charging beams.
- Abilities — a semicircular barrier where enemies can break individual sections; a charge that deals area damage and restores shields/health to Domina; a push that stuns an opponent if they hit a wall.
- Ultimate ability — "Panopticon." It traps enemies in a special barrier that disables their damage and healing, and after a while, it explodes.
- Emre. A former Overwatch agent who faithfully followed the organization's ideals but changed greatly after its dissolution and joined Vengeance.
- Role — Damage, similar to a classic soldier but with increased mobility.
- Primary weapon — a rifle that fires three-round bursts. Can activate a scope that reduces spread but does not reduce mobility.
- Abilities — grenades and a secondary weapon in the form of a pistol with explosive rounds. When using it, Emre gains life steal, as well as increased speed and jump height.
- Ultimate ability — "Protocol Seizure." Emre soars into the air and gains a third weapon — a grenade launcher.
- Mizuki. A member of the Hashimoto clan, a Japanese ally of Talon.
- Role — Support with an emphasis on aggressive gameplay.
- Primary tool — a healing aura, similar to Lucio. However, Mizuki's aura is enhanced when the hero heals allies with other abilities or deals damage.
- Weapon — a "Spiritual Glaive" projectile that bounces off walls.
- Abilities — "Kasa Healing," which heals a chain of three allies; "Katasiro Return," which increases speed and allows teleportation to the point where the hero began using "Katasiro"; a chain that slows fast enemies and grounds flying ones.
- Ultimate ability — "Kekkai Sanctuary," which creates a protective zone. It absorbs enemy projectiles from the outside and heals allies inside.
- Anran. The older sister of Wu Yan, who joined Overwatch hoping to change the world for the better.
- Role — Damage, who relies on mobility and flanking maneuvers.
- Primary weapon — a fan that sets opponents on fire. If an enemy is ignited, the alternate attack fans the flames — causing them to deal double damage.
- Abilities — a fiery dash that pushes enemies away and damages them; "Dancing Flame," allowing teleportation between nearby enemies and damaging them again (with each "Flame" hit, the invulnerability window is extended).
- Ultimate abilities — if the heroine is alive, she soars into the air and delivers a fiery area strike; if the heroine is dead, she can explode and resurrect immediately in battle. Anran will be available to try in a few hours — the character test drive will run from February 5th to 10th (i.e., until the end of the season).
- Cat with a Jetpack (yes, that's her name!). Little is known about her history — at some point, a stray cat simply appeared at the Overwatch base in Gibraltar.
- Role — Support, who is always flying in the air.
- Key ability — "Lifeline," which allows allies to latch onto the cat and fly with her.
- Weapon — medium-range projectiles that heal allies and damage opponents.
- Ultimate ability — like "Lifeline," but for enemies: the cat can snatch an opponent and, for example, drop them off a cliff.
Gameplay and Interface Changes
- Showed a teaser for two new maps for core modes.
- Roles in the game are being overhauled: each of the three roles will have sub-roles with their own passive abilities.
- Damage heroes will be divided into Recon (can see low-health enemies through walls if they've damaged them) and Flankers (health packs restore