Overwatch 2’s newest hero, the water-bending support Wuyang, is set to launch in just a few weeks, and he’s got the game’s community of support players excited for his prospects.
I had the privilege of sitting down in a group interview session with several OW2 devs, including senior game producer Kenny Hudson, to learn a bit about the Chinese hero’s backstory and inspiration, but also see his kit and how he plays ahead of his hero reveal this weekend.
Here’s a quick peek at Wuyang’s kit and what he offers as a healer:
| Ability | Description | Input |
|---|---|---|
| Xuanwu Staff (Primary Fire) | Fire a damaging water orb. Hold to control its trajectory and empower its explosion. | LMB |
| Restorative Stream (Alternate Fire) | Place a passive healing stream on an ally. Hold on the target to manually heal at an improved rate, consuming resource. | RMB |
| Guardian Wave | Send a water wave forward that increases the amount of healing received by allies and knocks back enemies. | E |
| Rushing Torrent | Ride water to move faster and jump higher. | LShift |
| Tidal Blast (Ultimate) | Protect an ally or yourself with water that detonates after a short duration. The explosion knocks down enemies and massively heals the host target. | Q |
Restorative Stream and Guardian Wave are Wuyang’s healing abilities, along with his Tidal Blast ultimate. Hudson said that, using Guardian Wave, Wuyang pairs well with Ana to boost her healing, and also gives a “double healing boost” alongside her grenade. He also said that Lúcio combos well with Wuyang thanks to their speed boosts working in tandem.
Since Restorative Stream is a passive heal, similar but different from Zenyatta’s orb (you do not need line of sight to heal), Hudson says that he enables dive heroes like Doomfist to do their thing in the backline while Wuyang chips away at enemies with his primary fire. He specifically shouted out Reaper as a prime candidate for the heal, too, “to teleport, especially with the ult, is really cool.”
That primary fire, Xuanwu Staff, is unique in that its “cornerstone mechanic” allows you to water-bend or control its trajectory when you hold down the fire button, dealing more damage and adding a bit of splash damage “like a Pharah rocket,” while Restorative Stream’s passive healing allows you to be a bit more active.
Guardian Wave may be Wuyang’s bread and butter, though. Sending out a wave of water on the ground, the projectile will offer buffed incoming healing to friendlies while also knocking back enemies, making it a strong ability to throw into crowded teamfights.
When it comes to countering Wuyang, Hudson said that crowd control abilities will be his “Achilles heel,” like getting slept out of his ultimate, making Ana a nightmare on top of her anti-heal, nullifying him almost entirely.
Wuyang seems as though he may have decent escape-ability from dive heroes, though, with Guardian Wave pushing foes away and Rushing Torrent giving him a means of running away from any hero on his tail. But when it comes to dueling, his primary fire, as it stands, does not do too much damage. Still, a ranged assault may be your best bet.
Without any hands-on time ahead of this weekend’s trial, it’s tough to judge for myself how Wuyang plays, but OW2 players can try him themselves from Aug. 14 to 18 ahead of his release on Aug. 26.
