November 13, 2018 Ashe is now live in Overwatch.
Ashe made a spectacular debut as Overwatch’s 29th hero during the BlizzCon opening ceremony, making her presence known in a new animated short. Now she’s available in the live game, no longer limited to the PTR. She’s the game’s 16th damage hero, and her ult is one of the most unique in the game – it summons Bob, a robotic companion who basically serves as a seventh hero for your team.
If her rivalry with McCree in the short didn’t make it clear enough, Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe is a gunslinger from the American southwest who heads up the Deadlock Gang. Her attempted train robbery is also apparently the cause of the wreck by the diner on the Route 66 map.
Ashe’s primary weapon is The Viper, a Winchester-style rifle that has two firing modes. The semi-automatic option gives you rapid fire at high spread, while aiming down sights lets you take careful aim if you don’t mind giving up speed.
She’s also equipped with the Coach Gun, a sawed-off shotgun sidearm that deals a lot of damage and knocks enemies back. It also knocks Ashe back, which gives her a unique mobility tool – think rocket jumping, but with a shotgun.
Ashe can toss Dynamite as a sort of time-delayed grenade. The initial blast does a lot of damage to enemies, and it sets them on fire for bonus damage over time. You can also shoot the Dynamite to set it off early for more control over when it detonates.
Bob, Ashe’s derby-clade robot enforcer, was already a fan-favourite by the end of the animated short, and he serves as her ultimate ability: B.O.B. – Blizzard refers Bob as Bob and the ultimate as B.O.B. so we’re all obligated to go with that style. In any case, Bob rushes out and knocks your foes into midair while using his arm cannons to put out suppressing fire.
Blizzard notes that Bob will go wherever you direct him, so you’re best served by pointing him at troublesome groups of enemies. Just be sure not to send him careening off a cliff.
During the Overwatch panel at BlizzCon, Blizzard described Bob as a sort of seventh hero for your team – he can receive buffs from other members of your team and can even capture points. (Maybe he’ll be willing to get on the payload when nobody else will.)
Overwatch patch 1.30 includes a number of other significant updates besides the addition of Ashe, and you can follow that link for details on all of them.