Overwatch 2 players praise Illari’s exciting implications for future lore

New Overwatch 2 support character Illari has refreshed what some players described as “stale” lore and brought new hope to fans for more invigorating content to come.

Illari was released as one of Overwatch 2’s most exciting changes in Season 6, alongside new PvE content and a sweep of balance changes.

Following the disappointing launch of Lifeweaver, who was significantly underpowered and proved difficult to adjust, Illari has provided players with exciting and varied abilities for both damage and healing.

Alongside exciting gameplay, players were also impressed by the character’s lore. One popular Reddit post noticed that “Illari’s origin story had 0 mentions of existing heroes/villains, factions, organizations, which was extremely refreshing.”

Illari is the first new hero ever to not have a connection to existing heroes/factions. That’s great imo.
by u/Bhu124 in Overwatch

How Illari’s origin story breaks the mold

All the other characters in Overwatch, even the most recent character Lifeweaver, had major connections to existing heroes in the Overwatch world. One Redditor noted that this made the world feel “shallower/ smaller than it should be.”

Illari is connected to a new group, the “Inti warriors”. Her tale leading up to being introduced to the competitive shooter spoke of a catastrophic disaster. She was so powerful among the Inti that in a ceremonial show of power, she accidentally erased all of the other warriors.

Now she brings her menacing solar rifle and capability to wield the sun to the Overwatch battlefield.

Fans loved this lore change-up. One player described Illari and her lore as “one of my favorite characters in a while.”

Players believe this could signal for more refreshing characters to come and open up Overwatch to a variety of new factions and realms, and several of them voiced their support for Blizzard exploring different areas of Overwatch’s world.

Illari has certainly shaken up the Overwatch community. You can read more about how some believe that the support is more of a damage character, and others believe she is straight-up overpowered.