Stylosa reveals exclusive unused Overwatch Abilities for Echo
Nesskain/Blizzard EntertainmentPractically everyone that’s able to access the PTR is currently trying out Echo – but she could have easily been a very different hero, according to a new video from Overwatch YouTuber ‘Stylosa.’
Before Echo was officially revealed, practically everyone was convinced she would join the game as a Support hero, which obviously isn’t what happened.
Even though she’s definitely a DPS, Overwatch’s newest addition could have had a much different kit than the one developers finally decided to go with.
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Currently, Echo shoots her primary fire out of the fingers on her right hand, but Stylosa shared official Blizzard concept art that shows devs had originally planned to give her palm projectiles or an arm cannon, sort of like Iron Man.
As Stylosa pointed out, though, we got our first look at Sojourn – who has an arm cannon herself – at BlizzCon 2019, so maybe developers took the idea from Echo, originally.
Echo, or the character that would become her, has been included in concept art since before Overwatch was even called Overwatch, and was originally intended to be a support hero before devs changed their minds.
Even after they decided to make her support, developers still had to narrow down what abilities she would use and how they would look when animated.
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One of the most interesting abilities that didn’t make the cut was named “Images,” and it was an ultimate where Echo made a mirror image of herself that followed and copied her actions on a three-second delay.
Another great one was “Wing Boomerang,” where she literally formed her wings into a boomerang and tossed it at enemies.
These attacks not making the cut is a shame – but what if we told you Echo was originally supposed to have a laser that shot out of her face, too? Well, it’s true.
Literally called the “Face Laser,” this ability might have been similar to her focus beam, but would shoot out of her head instead of her hands – truly a missed opportunity.
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Developers have obviously been working on Echo in earnest since at least 2018, when she was introduced in the “Reunion” cinematic at BlizzCon – but how many different iterations of the hero they’ve gone through is impressive.
It doesn’t seem to have taken players as long to figure out how to take advantage of Echo’s kit, though, and devs have had to put out a PTR update for the hero already.
