Today, Blizzard unveiled the newest hero who will soon join their explosively popular multiplayer shooter Overwatch. Her name is Ana (full name: Ana Amari), and her unique skill set provides players with another way to support their teammates. The support sniper can heal teammates and damage enemies with equal efficiency, and her specific abilities and ultimate have the chance to change the tide of battle.
According to Blizzard, Ana was one of the founding members of Overwatch, and she served as second-in-command under Soldier: 76 (Jack Morrison). She served into her 50s, but was thought to be killed by Widowmaker while participating in a hostage rescue. Instead, she lost one of her eyes and retired from combat. Escalating conflicts have brought her back into the fold, as she fights to protect her allies and the innocent. She is also Pharah’s mother, which should result in some interesting interactions when they share the same team in-game.
Ana wields a biotic rifle, which can shoot darts that either heal teammates or damage enemies over time. As previously stated, she’s a sniper, so her weapon includes a scope for precision aiming. Her two abilities are Sleep Dart and Biotic Grenade. As its name suggests, the Sleep Dart temporarily puts enemies to sleep, although Blizzard warns that damage will immediately wake them up. In her gameplay trailer, Ana uses the Sleep Dart to put McCree — who just activated his ultimate — to sleep, saving herself from certain death.
Her Biotic Grenade, meanwhile, has an area of effect in which teammates are healed and enemies are damaged. In addition, allies standing in the grenade’s AOE receive improved healing from all sources for a few seconds, while enemies cannot be healed over the same period. Because of this, her grenade sounds like the perfect crowd control weapon, and it will be interesting to see how she pairs with other support characters to take the most advantage of the increased healing aspect.
Her ultimate, Nano Boost, temporarily makes one target faster, hardier, and stronger. In the gameplay trailer, she hits Reinhardt with her ult and proceeds to watch him manhandle a Hanzo, Junkrat, and Bastion with ease. In the right hands, this ability might make the difference between a game-winning push to take the objective, and failure.
Blizzard has yet to announce Ana’s release date, though presumably Overwatch players won’t have to wait very long now that she has been officially announced. Her arrival will bring the roster up to 22 heroes, and it will be refreshing to have a new support to try — especially for players who enjoy playing as Hanzo or Widowmaker all the time. A good support (or two) can make victory much easier to reach, and hopefully Ana’s arrival will encourage more players who otherwise wouldn’t play this class to give it a shot.
To see Ana in action for yourself, you can visit her official page.
