Believe it or not, Blizzard can put out a patch on a day that doesn't start with T: Ashe is now available to play on the Overwatch PTR according to a comment on /r/Overwatch by Lead Software Engineer Bill Warnecke.
Blizzcon is all wrapped up and one of the announcements to come out of Blizzard Entertainment's premiere convention was the 29th Overwatch hero. Ashe is the leader of the Deadlock gang and an old friend of McCree. You can hear Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan talk about the details of Hero 29 in the latest Developer Update which was just released a few hours ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Pm1AK7QBw
You can now play the newest woman to join the cast of Overwatch on the PTR. PC Players need to simply change their region to Public Test Realm and let the game download as normal. Hop in and have some fun!
Ashe is a character firmly slotted into the Damage category. The Viper is her lever-action rifle that can be fired quickly from the hip or aimed down the sights for more precision and higher damage. Her Coach Gun lets her push away enemies or boost herself to greater heights. Her third core ability is Dynamite, a bundle of explosives that blows up after a short time or when it's shot by the silver-haired gal. Aside from its initial damage, it also sets any surviving enemies on fire for a short period.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about her is her Ultimate B.O.B. B.O.B. is Ashe's Omnic butler and bodyguard. Using her Ultimate will send him charging into battle, knocking the first enemy he hits into the air. (If your quarry dodges, he'll stop running once he hits a solid object.) After that, B.O.B. will stand in place and open fire on the enemy. He doesn't just act like a big beefy turret - he more or less counts as a 7th player, being able to be nano-boosted, slept, damaged, healed, or eliminated. B.O.B. can even capture a point all by his lonesome self - at least until the Ultimate runs out and he despawns.
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As with most new heroes, Ashe will debut with four Legendary skins - two sets of two color choices. The Gangster and Mobster Legendaries has our heroine and her robot buddy dressed up like, well, mobsters. Alternatively, the Jungle and Safari skins have our girl nicely kitted out for a trek in the wilderness. B.O.B. even gets an adorable little safari hat. Beautiful.
Ashe's animated short co-star Echo was recently confirmed to not be Hero 30, although she will be making her into the game at some point in the future. You can try Ashe out right now on the Overwatch PTR. Be sure to check out her Hero page to see her abilities in detail and to read up on her backstory.
Did you get a chance to play Ashe at Blizzcon? What's your favorite thing about this gunslinging gal? Let us know in the comments below!
