Double confirmed – Echo is now live on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch! Load additional skill modules and play the new multirole evolutionary robot damage hero. In addition, we will be launching a new Competitive Mode, Competitive Open Queue in the Arcade. We also make some important changes to Hero Pools and Map Pools systems to make both systems more straightforward and consistent.
ECHO NOW LIVE
The 32nd hero in Overwatch, Echo, a Damage category hero is now live on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch! Echo is a multirole evolutionary robot programmed with a rapidly adapting artificial intelligence and represents the cutting edge of technology. Echo was the creation of Singaporean scientist Dr. Mina Liao, who was one of the earliest members of Overwatch. Prior to joining the organization, Dr. Liao was widely considered one of the prominent experts in robotics and artificial intelligence. Below please find her abilities:
| Tri-Shot (Primary Fire) Echo fires 3 shots at once, in a triangle pattern. |
| Sticky Bombs (Secondary Fire) Echo fires a volley of sticky bombs that detonate after a delay. |
| Flight (Shift) Echo surges forward quickly, then can fly freely. |
| Focusing Beam (E) Echo channels a beam for a few seconds, dealing very high damage to targets with less than half health. |
| Glide (Passive) Echo can glide while falling. |
| Duplicate (Ultimate) Echo duplicates a targeted enemy hero and gains use of their abilities |
Check out Echo’s launch video and her Origin Story video! To learn more about Echo, visit her hero page at the following link: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/heroes/echo/
COMPETITIVE OPEN QUEUE
We will be launching a new Competitive Mode, Competitive Open Queue in the Arcade. Competitive Open Queue will run for roughly four weeks. This mode will use standard Competitive Play rules, including hero pools and one hero limit, but will have no role restrictions or role queues.
Unifying the Hero Pools
We implement a unified Hero Pool, allowing both the Overwatch League and Competitive Play to mirror each other as closely as possible and making a more consistent viewing and play experience. Here’s how this works:
- To determine a week’s Hero Pool, we’ll compile hero play rates from high-level Competitive Play matches from the preceding two weeks. Heroes with play rates above a certain threshold will be eligible to be removed; the higher their play rate, the more likely they are to be removed. Based on that, one Tank, two Damage, and one Support will be randomly removed from play. (Note that heroes will not be removed two weeks in a row.)
- At the end of each Sunday’s Overwatch League matches, we’ll announce the Hero Pool that will be used that upcoming week for both live Competitive Play and the Overwatch League. That pool will go into effect in the game Monday morning.
- This process will occur every week of the Overwatch League regular season; during weeks that there are no Overwatch League matches, the same data will still be used to determine the Hero Pool and you will find out Monday morning.
Retiring Map Pools
To simplify the competitive experience, we no longer have rotating Map Pools. Instead, Competitive Play will include all of the maps, with the exception of Paris and Horizon Lunar Colony. When we make updates to those two maps to improve their play in the future, we’ll add them back into the pool at that time. Read the blog post for more details.
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