Blizzard Entertainment officially unveiled the 24th new hero for their popular online hero shooter Overwatch. Orisa is a giant four-legged robotic defender built by 11 year old tech genius Efi Oladele. Efi’s story was teased two weeks ago. Many suspected that Efi’s role would be the architect of the new hero – they were right!
Orisa is a tank hero. She has elements of Zarya (range), Reinhardt (shield) and D. VA (mini-gun). Her primary weapon is the Fusion Driver. Like D.VA, Orisa slows down when firing but it has more distance and good range and accuracy. Her alternate fire launches a slowing grenade that pulls enemies in when it detonates. It can be detonated remotely, giving you a weaker but more frequent version of Zarya’s ultimate ability.
As a tank her abilities are both defensive. Fortify simply boosts her defense and makes her unstoppable for a few seconds. She can also throw out a Reinhardt-like wall to shield teammates.
Supercharger is her ultimate. She deploys a device that fires a buffing beam at nearby allies, increasing their damage. The device is clearly visible and can be destroyed by the enemy.
Philosophically, Orisa is meant to occupy a similar role to Reinhardt as the core protector of the entire team. Game Director Jeff Kaplan describes her as an anchor tank in the latest Developer Update: “We wanted another tank that teams can build around. We hope that in Orisa there’s now another option to a low-mobility tank but a high amount of protection.”
Orisa charges in as the sixth tank to Overwatch’s character roster. It (she?) is the third hero to be added post-launch, and the first tank hero. If you view Orisa as female, that makes Overwatch 3-for-3 on post-launch women heroes. Diversity in character roster remains one of Overwatch’s strongest selling points. It’s also a darn good game.
Season Four of competitive play also begins with this patch. New changes include skill rating decay and spawn timers for defense. Read more on Blizzard’s post.
