The subsequent hero coming to Overwatch is D.Mon, the second playable member of Korea’s MEKA Squad. Like her teammate and Overwatch ally D.Va, she’s a former esports champion and a mech pilot.
However D.Mon was deliberately created to be distinct from her bestie D.Va — she’s designed to satisfy the traditional “sword and board” fantasy archetype, and attracts inspiration from the Armored Core video games and Gundam anime, Blizzard mentioned in an interview earlier this week.
Whereas D.Mon (Yuna Lee) and D.Va (Hana Tune) will little doubt draw comparisons as mech-based tanks, it’s clear that Blizzard desires the 2 heroes to be distinct of their persona and play fashion. If D.Va is the extra aggressive, front-facing star of the MEKA Squad, D.Mon is the one exhibiting workforce management and willingness to step right into a assist or tank place.
D.Mon’s gameplay package
D.Mon’s package feels extra impressed by one other tank on the Overwatch roster: Reinhardt. In mech type, D.Mon’s major assault is a Plasma Sword that she will swing left and proper to slash at enemies. Her offhand assault offers her vary, because of a shoulder-mounted Fusion Repeater that fires in brief, correct bursts. D.Mon may pull up a protect, although it seems to primarily serve to guard her, as a result of its narrower width. D.Mon additionally has a horizontal sprint that’s ruled by a gasoline meter, letting her glide across the battlefield like an Armored Core mech.
Rounding out her package is Surging Strike, which requires holding up D.Mon’s protect after which utilizing her major hearth to dash-attack and knock again foes. Her final, Restrict Break, lets D.Mon cost up her sword to strike a number of enemies, making use of a debuff just like Zenyatta’s Discord skill. D.Mon additionally beneficial properties overhealth after activating Restrict Break.
Like D.Va, D.Mon will eject from her mech — generally known as “Beast” — when it is irreparably broken. D.Mon can combat in pilot type, snatching the Fusion Repeater off of her mech and lugging it round like a minigun. After a short cooldown interval, D.Mon can recall her mech, although the way it returns to her is sort of totally different from how D.Va’s “Toki” slams down from above. Beast as a substitute reforms round D.Mon, dramatically piecing itself again collectively and knocking again any foes close by.
D.Mon’s design
Overwatch hero producer Kenny Hudson says that Blizzard designed D.Mon to increase the sport’s melee tank choices.
“Reinhardt has been an insanely enjoyable character for 10 years,” Hudson mentioned, “and we needed to do one other sort of tackle that and provides these gamers who prefer to play up shut and private with their tanks extra [heroes] to select from.
“D.Mon’s going to have the identical counters as Rein or Doomfist, or these different sort of melee tanks, the place verticality goes to be the counter. However you are going to have actually good horizontal motion and the flexibility to flank a bit, nonetheless be in entrance, however take up extra bodily house and possibly set the principles of engagement a bit extra with D.Mon. We actually needed to discover, , what occurs while you give a melee tank a bit bit extra mobility…”
D.Mon’s arrival within the story of Overwatch comes because the narrative strikes to Busan, which is below assault from the Junkers — Junker Queen, Wrecking Ball, Junkrat, and Roadhog — below the orders of Talon chief Vendetta. That may transfer the story of the MEKA Squad and D.Va and D.Mon’s relationship ahead.
“Since D.Va left, [the MEKA Squad] have been making an attempt to navigate adjustments inside their construction: Who’s main? How are they going to combat the Gwishin? Issues like that,” mentioned narrative designer Eleni Rivera. “So we get an opportunity to see D.Mon take management [of] the MEKA Squad.”
D.Mon’s persona
With the addition of D.Mon, we’re sure to get much more perception into D.Va’s persona and the state of their friendship, and the bigger MEKA Squad.
Rivera mentioned it was a welcome problem for the workforce to adapt an present character — D.Mon’s been seen in previous narrative material, like Overwatch comics — for the roster.
“The problem was not essentially creating a brand new character, however How will we increase on her, actually make her dynamic and never simply one-note? After which additionally differentiate her from D.Va. When it comes to [demeanor],” Rivera mentioned, including that D.Mon “carries herself with composure — she’s like this untouchable, cool ice queen. She’s additionally a giant fan of Gundam. She likes to take a seat in her room and construct and tinker away. She’s obtained that competitiveness about her, as a result of she is a gamer.”
“I prefer to joke round that when you have a streamer who has their digital camera on, she’d be the streamer with, like, the digital camera on her fingers — solely exhibiting her gameplay fashion, and that is it. She’s not going to have herself on display. She enjoys a little bit of taunting, scary, to actually get her workforce to maneuver and to get the enemies a bit scared.”
D.Mon is coming to Overwatch with season 4, which launches on Aug. 11. She’ll be the sport’s 53rd hero and its fifteenth tank.