We speculated that the next hero heading to Overwatch would be Echo but what we did not expect was the role she fits in (she's a damage dealer). While her ultimate is game-changing and her kit freshens things up, a much larger undertone is obvious.
Echo is Overwatch's next hero and probably the last hero before Overwatch 2 if you're willing to believe Game Director Jeff Kaplan. Her release and announcement created some excitement but also a wide range of resentment as the game struggles with a drastic power imbalance in its roles and classes.
What's going on?
Overwatch at the moment is having class identity issues in that, overwhelmingly, there are more damage types classes in the game than there are support and healing roles. The community has previously voiced their opinions on the lack of available support heroes that then exploded when Overwatch decided to ban two supports in the newly announced Hero Pools, which left many players unhappy.
What frustrated people more was that Echo went through a variety of redesigns before being the Echo we see now on the public test realm, which had some of the community ask: Why not have her as support? Her ultimate, "Duplicate" allows her to target an enemy hero, gaining their abilities and ultimates. With this ultimate in mind, you can be sure players will not intentionally be using it on say, a Mercy or Lucio as often as they would Soldier 76, Reaper or Hanzo.
Why is this so problematic?
Should Echo truly be the final hero to be added into the game before the release of Overwatch 2, this will cause multiple problems on many fronts. First and foremost, the game will continue to struggle with class imbalances. If these imbalances are not addressed by Blizzard Entertainment shortly, we could be seeing players stop playing altogether in favor of Overwatch 2, which would not surprise me at all.
Blizzard Entertainment is committed to an upcoming roster of changes and balances, noting multiple support and tank classes in the works for Overwatch 2. That's great but it leaves Overwatch in this continuous cycle until the next game is released and knowing the internet and its community, I can only imagine that its patience is going to run out sooner rather than later.
Was another DPS hero needed?
To answer the question here, no. Right now, the community, competitive and professional play would be much better with a support hero taking the number 32 slot. A new hero is always welcome in Overwatch and I love her origins, abilities, and play style, but I feel that her release could have been moved over to Overwatch 2 and another support character released instead.
What are your thoughts on Echo entering Overwatch? Should she have been released for the second game? We're curious to hear your thoughts over on our Facebook page.
