The new hero Echo falls in the Damage category of Overwatch. The character was revealed in a story video as an evolutionary robot “programmed with a rapidly adapting artificial intelligence.” A creation of prominent robotics and artificial intelligence scientist Dr. Mina Liao, one of the earliest members of Overwatch, Echo was created as an improvement on omnic designs. Liao programmed the robot to learn different functions and with limitations to independent decision making. Liao had also programmed Echo with “a powerful artificial intelligence” that learned by observation, and much of Liao’s behaviors, such as her manner of speech, were adopted by Echo.
Overwatch - Echo’s Abilities
Duplicate (Ultimate) – Echo duplicates a targeted enemy hero and gains use of their abilities 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. Sticky Bombs (Secondary Fire) – Echo fires a volley of sticky bombs that detonate after a delay. Tri-Shot (Primary Fire) – Echo fires 3 shots at once, in a triangle pattern.
The game’s director, Jeff Kaplan, goes over Echo in the latest developer diary which is posted above. While you wait on Echo to be added to the live game, you can participate in the Archives event which is currently running on all platforms.
