Posted in: Blizzard, Games, Overwatch, Overwatch 2, Video Games | Tagged: Blizzard Entertainment, overwatch, Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 Goes Into A Deeper Dive For Junker Queen

Blizzard Entertainment revealed a little bit more on their latest Overwatch 2 character, the Junker Queen, with a new trailer and a blog. The blog gives a better look at everything about the character from their weapon choices all the way to their abilities that you can use in play. We have some of the info below along with the trailer but you can read the full blog here.

Carnage

Junker Queen's character has always been depicted with an axe, so that was the starting point for her design. Carnage consists of a big, sweeping swing that wounds all enemies in front of her, dealing damage to them over time and activating Adrenaline Rush. Junker Queen refers to her axe as "Carnage," further inspiring the importance of this ability in her kit. We thought her axe might work as her primary weapon, but historically, making a melee hero in Overwatch has come with its own set of challenges. For example, Genji's Dragon Blade used to be his primary weapon, but didn't translate well in-game; in the end, it was transformed into the powerful Ultimate players know today. We didn't want to take Junker Queen down a similar path, so we incorporated her axe into this ability.

The original iteration of Carnage let her throw her axe following the initial swing before recalling it back to herself with her magnetic gauntlet; however, when implemented, the practice of throwing her axe felt wrong. It led to a rigid playstyle that didn't allow for the use of other axe-based abilities while her weapon was out-of-hand, so the throw was swapped to a slash with a wound effect. The concept of throwing and recalling her weapon eventually led to her next ability: Jagged Blade.

Jagged Blade

Jagged Blade is Junker Queen's secondary fire and comes with both active and passive abilities. The active ability triggers when you press secondary fire, causing her to throw the knife in her off-hand. Her knife, which the Queen calls "Gracie," applies a wound that causes damage over time if she lands a direct hit on an enemy. Her magnetic gauntlet can recall the knife by re-activating secondary fire. Recalling Gracie will pull any enemy that's been directly hit, so be wary of your surroundings—if you're struck by Gracie, you're heading straight for the Queen. Jagged Blade isn't the first time the team has experimented with throwing a weapon. When Reinhardt was first prototyped, he was able to throw his hammer into the enemy team—an ability that was cool in theory, but awkward in practice, requiring him to go pick up his hammer to defend his team any time he threw it.

Despite not making it into Reinhardt's final kit, this prototype ability heavily inspired Jagged Blade. Throwing a weapon made more sense for Junker Queen in Overwatch, who possesses a special magnetic gauntlet that she can use to pull things around her. We didn't want the gauntlet to make her feel too mage-y or similar to Sigma, who can lift people up and throw them around. Instead, Junker Queen uses her magnetic powers to control her axe and knife as a vicious means to serve her brutal ends. To make her even more intimidating up close, Jagged Blade's passive ability wounds enemies when using Quick Melee when the knife is in her hands. These abilities that apply wounds all serve her life-leech passive, Adrenaline Rush.

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