Players have been playing as Overwatch’s new hero Orisa on the playable test realms and the early returns have been interesting.
Orisa is the fourth tank introduced to the game and this could cause the biggest shakeup yet.
Let’s take a look at what she can bring to the game.
Orisa is not a traditional tank in sense that she won’t usually be in the thick of things soaking up damage but instead she’ll throw shields down for teammates to seek shelter.
She does have a big body so she could soak up damage just by being in the way. She has a four-legged chasis so there’s no mistaking her for another hero. Her health only sits at 250 and she has 250 armor so she isn’t quite tanky as Roadhog, but she has ways to overcome that.
Her primary weapon is called the Fusion Driver and it carries a 200 round clip and headshots will do deal double damage on opponents. She has a long range so players could sit back and cause heavy damage if that’s how they wanted to play.
Her secondary fire is called Halt! and it acts as a mini version of Zarya’s ultimate where it sucks players into a space for a few seconds. It can even pull enemies off a ledge.
Her tank skill is the ability to lay down shields for friendlies. She can place the them at range so it isn’t like Winston’s shield where you have to be right there when you place it. The barrier looks similar to Reinhardt’s shield but isn’t mobile. The barrier has 900 HP so it can take a fair amount of damage before going down.
Her fortify ability, seen in the top GIF above, has the ability to block all crowd control effects, even a charging Reinhardt.
Orisa’s ultimate ability is Supercharger. When it’s ready, she it down and it provides all nearby team members with a damage boost. Position of the Supercharger is important if you want to get the most out of it. The Supercharger needs to have line of sight with your team in order to give them the buff. The ultimate lasts for about 10 seconds and can be destroyed by the enemy team.
As it stands right now, she is a mix of an offense and tank character. Landing headshots with her can be satisfying and she can deal a lot of damage in a hurry if you’re able to pull said headshots off. Her range gives her an advantage over the other tanks since D.Va isn’t very viable anymore. However, most people aren’t looking for their tank to play like that so it’s unlikely that’s where she’ll find her place in competitive play.
