Today at Blizzcon, the Overwatch team revealed the newest hero coming to this hit multiplayer game. Named Ashe, she is the leader of the Deadlock gang and is in the Damage archetype. She appears to be a medium to long range hero and sports a plethora of unique abilities – especially her ultimate.
Here is everything we know so far about Overwatch’s newest hero, Ashe:
Ashe’s Origin Story
Outside of being the leader of the Deadshot Gang, Ashe is a woman who came from wealth. She grew up in a manor and B.O.B. was actually a butler/servant to her family. Ashe met McCree when she was young and the two ended up getting into trouble. This sparked her desire to be a criminal and make a name for herself.
Ashe’s Abilities
The Viper (Primary Weapon) – The Viper is the bread and butter of Ashe’s arsenal. This lever action rifle can be rapidly fired from the hip allowing her to suppress and quickly burst down foes. However, she can also aim down the sights for a higher damaging shot at the cost of a slower rate of fire.
Ashe is described as “weapon focused” so be prepared to get really familiar with this rifle. The Viper has a very slow reload, as Ashe has to manually reload each bullet into the gun. If you’re in a pinch, you can stop her reloading the gun and use the rounds already chambered.
Coach Gun (Ability) – The Coach Gun is a shotgun that can be used to knock back foes. She can also use this weapon to knock herself up into the air or away from people. Her Coach Gun appears to be more of a mobility tool than anything focused on killing foes.
Dynamite (Ability) – When activated, Ashe will throw out a bundle of explosives that explodes after a short time. Users can also manually shoot the dynamite to cause it to detonate early. Outside of the base explosion, opponents near the blast will be set on fire and take damage over time.
B.O.B. (Ultimate) – Need some backup? Ashe’s ultimate is B.O.B., a hulking Omnic that will be summoned into combat. He will charge at enemies and knock them high into the air for Ashe and her teammates to shoot. Additionally, B.O.B. will use his arm gun to lay down suppressive fire and damage foes. B.O.B. can also be slept, Nano Boosted, and Contest objectives.
Release Date
Sadly, no release date for Ashe was given at the Overwatch press conference. While she is playable at Blizzcon, there was no word when she’d hit the PTR (Public Test Realm). We suspect that she will be playable by the end of the month. It’s rare that Blizzard showcases a new hero and doesn’t make them playable soon after.
Update 1:
Jeff Kaplan confirmed on Youtuber TheFattenedSausage’s stream that they are aiming for Ashe to be on the PTR sometime next week. No specific day was noted.
Alternate Skins
Blizzard has confirmed that both of these skins will be available for Ashe and B.O.B. when she eventually goes live.