Overwatch’s new hero is Orisa, and she’s already on the PTR

Overwatch’s 24th hero is here: Orisa is now playable on the Overwatch public test region.

As it turns out, Efi Oladele, Numbani’s 11-year-old genius inventor, was building Overwatch’s newest hero. Oladele created Orisa from the discarded OR15 robots that used to protect the Numbani International Airport. When Doomfist attacked Numbani, they were all destroyed. Everyone gave up on them—except Oladele. Using technology she gathered around Numbani, Oladele gave Orisa life.

Orisa is a tank hero who’s primary weapon is the fusion driver, which game director Jeff Kaplan described as a “projectile-based machine gun.” She’ll move slower when it’s being operated, but it has a longer range than many other tank heroes. Her alternate fire ability sends out a pulse, much like Zarya’s graviton surge, that’s able to pull targets into its radius for a short period of time. “It’s like a mini graviton surge that she can use more often,” Kaplan said. It’ll be ideal for repositioning her targets for ideal team fights. It’ll also be helpful for lining up critical shots, Kaplan added.

Her tank ability, fortify, makes Orisa bit tougher, reducing damage taken while preventing Orisa from being knocked around by other heroes—say, by Pharah or Roadhog’s ultimates.

Her most defining ability, however, is her protective barrier. Like Winston’s barrier bubble, Orisa’s barrier has a decent range. It’s about half the size of Winston’s bubble, the half dome can be thrown out wherever she aims it.

Orisa’s ultimate ability, supercharger, damage boosts any allies in the item’s line of sight. Enemies can destroy the supercharger, so it needs to be protected. Blizzard is calling her an “anchor tank,” like Reinhardt. She’s a hero that teams can build and position around, unlike tanks like D.Va and Winston who rely on mobility.

Unlike other new Overwatch heroes, Orisa is a completely new character in the universe. She doesn’t have the same sort of established history as Ana or Sombra had—that’ll be explored as players get to know her. Orisa is the hero of the future.