The 22nd 'Overwatch' hero is Ana, a long-distance healer
Healing is a lot more fun when you get to shoot stuff, too.
That's the appeal of Ana, Blizzard's newest Overwatch hero. A founding member of the titular group who's been out of action for the past seven years, Ana is set to return with her handy Biotic Rifle.
The scoped weapon is a multifunctional support tool, with any shots fired restoring the health of allies but dealing damage over time to enemies. Ana is the second Overwatch hero to tote around a scoped weapon on the battlefield, after Widowmaker.
In addition to her Biotic Rifle, Ana also carries around a sidearm that fires Sleep Darts. It's not clear how long the effect lasts, but it should give her the breathing room to get away when the enemy team presses too close. Ana's offensive specialty is damage over time, so she's probably not very effective in close quarters.
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When she needs to heal a crowd, Ana has the ability to toss out a Biotic Grenade. Its blast area is relatively small but heals any ally caught in the blast while also temporarily boosting the efficacy of healing from any source.
The Biotic Grenade also has offensive utility, damaging foes caught in its blast. More than that, it also temporarily prevents them from being healed. These grenades could be especially effective against Lúcio's passive healing.
When all else fails, Ana can always turn to her ultimate ability, Nano Boost. It temporarily turns teammates into super-soldiers, boosting their speed, damage and damage resistance. From the look of the video above, Nano Boost is a targeted ultimate that may only affect one ally -- though it's not clear.
Ana lacks the mobility of fellow sniper Widowmaker, who uses a grappling claw to reach elevated positions. That falls in line with the new hero's healing limitations, since she'll need to move around more to keep allies in view.
Blizzard hasn't confirmed a specific release date yet for Ana, but she should be coming to all versions of Overwatch as a free addition before the end of July.
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Topics Blizzard Entertainment Esports Gaming
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
