With each new hero, Overwatch stretches the limits - and the imaginations - of what is possible in the team-based shooter. Some go as far as introducing entirely new mechanics that effect even those who don't play the hero. Ana's grenade, for example, had to add an indicator on a players' health bars to show whether they had been positively or negatively effected by its blast.
Echo is no different; from her versatile movement to high damage output - not to mention her ultimate - she is going to change the way every hero in Overwatch is played. Let's break down her moves and provide some tips on how to use them.
Echo's primary fire is the "Tri-Shot." It's a sort of a robotic version of Genji's "Shuriken" secondary fire, shooting out 3 projectiles at once in a short spread. "Tri-Shot's" blast is more of a triangle pattern than the arc of "Shuriken," meaning it works better at a further range. There are 15 shots per magazine, meaning Echo also doesn't have to reload as frequently as her cyborg ninja ally. "Tri-Shot" deals a significant amount of damage, so it can function as both a poking tool and a means of finishing off low-health heroes in the back line.
But what if a hero dives back behind cover? Echo has an answer for that. Her alternate fire "Sticky Bombs" is perfect for getting an easy kill on a hero that peeks a corner - even for just a second. With this move, Echo fires a volley of bombs that detonate after a short delay. The player can adjust their aim as they fire, increasing the spread of the bomb's placement. Bombs can also be stuck to shields and the environment, the perfect set-up for when an enemy is trying to dash through a choke point. With a short 6 second cooldown, it should become a crucial part of any Echo main's kit.
One of the first things players will notice about Echo is that she can fly. But there's a huge difference to the way that she takes to the skies than Pharah or Mercy. With her "Flight" ability, Echo surges quickly forward in a horizontal arc. The player can then control her position in the air freely for 3 seconds, navigating her to high ground, or taking her around tight corners. The ability is on a 6 second cooldown, making it slightly more difficult than Pharah to stay in the air constantly, with the trade-off being a lot more horizontal capabilities. Luckily her passive, "Glide" gives her some extra air-time: holding jump gives her some additional lateral control and takes her to the ground slower.
Echo's kit already feels like one to rival her fellow DPS. She's pretty much a dream flanker, in the guise of Tracer, Genji, or Doomfist but with the mobility of Pharah. But her utility can extend to the front-lines too. Her ability "Focusing Beam" is perfect for melting shields, if you can use it right.
With "Focusing Beam," Echo channels a beam for a few seconds, not too dissimilar from Moira's ultimate in appearance. However, instead of healing and damaging, Echo's blue beam works as the ideal finishing move. It does relatively low damage on enemies with full health, but when an enemy is below half health, the damage is greatly increased (around 4 times its base damage). This principle also applies to enemy shields, meaning that once you see a barrier begin to crack, the beam is mere seconds away from breaking it fully.
"Focusing Beam" lasts around 2 seconds, and its high-damage trade-off is that it makes Echo relatively immobile. Sure, she can shoot it from the air - along with any of her attacks - but she moves much slower once she activates the ability. If she finds herself in a tricky situation using it, the attack can be cancelled by activating it again. This 8-second cooldown ability is great for pushing chokes with the team or chasing that Winston who jumped away when low on health. Like all beams in the game, it goes through D.Va's "Defense Matrix," and cannot be reflected by Genji.
Echo's most unique and nuanced ability - the one that essentially is her namesake - is her ultimate: "Duplicate." When activated, she is able to select from any hero on the enemy team and become them for 15 seconds, gaining use of all of the character's abilities.
The targeting works similar to Ana's Nanoboost ultimate ability, except in this instance, Echo selects from the enemies on the battlefield, not her allies. Once she confirms her choice, she quickly transforms into the hero, bathed in a blue light. This move is distinct from the Spy in Team Fortress 2, because Echo is not "fooling" the enemy team into thinking she is on their side. She announces her duplication and the mimicked version of her hero of choice is obvious.
Of course, this ability comes with a lot of caveats and raises numerous questions. An Echo cannot duplicate an enemy team Echo (though the question there becomes "Why would you?"). An enemy cannot change heroes in the spawn room if Echo has duplicated them. If Echo is killed as the duplicate, instead of dying, they simply go back to being Echo - at full health (not whatever health they were before they activated the ultimate). If Echo is hacked by Sombra as a duplicate, she remains that character but is unable to use their abilities. But one question remains: why swap to another hero when Echo herself is so powerful?
Well, there's one part of "Duplicate" we saved for last - and it's certainly the best part. When Echo is a duplicated hero, her ultimate regeneration is significantly increased (in the market of 10 times the regular rate). This means that Echo can get the ultimate of the hero she switched to within those 15 seconds, easily. From Zarya's "Graviton Surge" to Reinhardt's "Earthshatter," these are some team-fight-changing ultimates that appear in a number of seconds. All it takes is a couple swings of Reinhardt's hammer and a well-timed "Fire Strike" and the tide of the battle can completely change.
Echo will be sure to change the way that Overwatch is played, both at casual and high-level play. It will become increasingly more important to be able to flex roles and with certain compositions, dive may even see a return to the meta. Only time will tell.
Overwatch is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.