Can't decide which hero to "main" in Overwatch 2? If this is truly a tough decision, try out Echo. She's got her own identity, of course, with great DPS chops and some aerial maneuverability. But it's her potential to be any other character in the game that is the selling point.
As a result, very few teammates truly dislike having Echo with them in Overwatch 2. When she's not dealing damage and killing opponents once they hit half-health or less, she's deciding which enemy has the best skills to use against their own team.
Playstyle
At first, Echo plays very similar to Pharah. Fly up in the air, deal some damage, and send out a beam if anybody gets low on health to finish them off. Land in safety, then prepare for the next flight. Shoot often, if for no other reason than to charge up her ultimate.
When her ultimate is up, she can turn into a version of an enemy teammate, complete with all of their moves. Do whatever damage can be done in the form. When it's over or Echo reaches zero health, return to the process of dealing damage from about and checking to see if any elite tank units have gotten low on health.
Abilities
Tri-Shot
- Fires three shots at once in a triangle pattern.
Even gamers new to the franchise already know that splitting shots usually means things get worse as the range gets longer. However, Echo's shots do only slightly separate from afar, giving her a nice medium range of accuracy for her Tri-Shot.
Sticky Bombs
- Fire a volley of sticky bombs that detonate after a delay.
The sticky bombs are similar to the Tri-Shot in terms of range. Their damage is high, but Echo needs to aim carefully, otherwise opponents will just run away. When in doubt, aim this at a mass of bodies or the tanks and hope to get a bit lucky.
Flight
- Fly forward quickly and then free-fly briefly.
Flight has a quick dash applied to the beginning of this ability, handy for escapes or for a quick reposition. Afterward, she gets a few seconds to fly around in any direction she'd like before descending. The cooldown is such that Echo can't spend all of her time in the air, but she can string together these jumps somewhat quickly.
Glide
- Hold jump to glide while falling.
This is most often used when descending from Flight but it's also handy for a normal jump and a slow descent from a high building or platform.
Focusing Beam
- Channel a beam for a few seconds. Deals very high damage to targets under half health.
Those who get killed by Echo likely get victimized by this ability. The beam is between a short and medium range, putting Echo in danger, but it's often worth the risk after dealing damage with the Tri-Beam and Sticky Bombs. The less health they have, the faster the enemy dies. The beam requires only fractions of a second to kill a non-tank target. Tanks aren't too much better off.
Duplicate
- Become a copy of the targeted enemy hero. They can't swap heroes for the duration.
Players may wonder why replacing Echo with another hero is so great. If Echo is good, why be somebody else? It's a fair point, but it should be noted that this will give Echo the full amount of health of any duplicated hero, replacing both the enemy's health and Echo's health with a full bar. After the effect ends or the health bar is depleted, Echo then becomes herself again, starting over at full health.
Tips & Tricks
Get to know counters well. After unlocking all of the heroes, play around and understand which heroes are best against other heroes. After seeing the enemy team composition, choose a few priority targets to turn into, not just the closest random enemy after the ultimate is ready.
Echo should be a hunter for half-health enemies. Given the strength of her Focusing Beam, even if she dies, she can take at least one opponent with her. Until then, shoot early and often to get the charges going on her ultimate ability.
Combos
- Roadhog
When it comes to getting enemies down to half health or less, Roadhog is a natural. His hook combo can almost kill a full-health enemy outright, but it comes up just short. Echo's ability will make very short work of any unfortunate victim hoping to survive the encounter.
- Zenyatta
As one of the game's best support heroes, Zenyatta can reach Echo with healing even if she's flying or in danger. Not many other support heroes can join Echo on her journey. Also, the Orb of Discord gives Echo an easy target and helps her take high-health opponents down to half.
- Junkrat
Junkrat is constantly applying grenades that, while hurtful, are usually less than fatal. Usually teams won't mind taking the damage and healing from these shots. But Echo can swoop in and get a kill that other allies can't quite take advantage of.
- Hanzo
Being a sniper, Hanzo is going to be shooting high-damage shots with alarming regularity. If he doesn't land a headshot, it probably won't kill the target. That is unless Echo knows the target and swoops in to finish it off. Hanzo can assist further by revealing this target's location.
- Wrecking Ball
As Wrecking Ball creates havoc behind the lines, Echo is suddenly not the prime focus for opponents anymore. With him in the mix, counters that can ordinarily take Echo out of the sky will be getting bumped and jostled around.
Advantages & Counters
Against heroes like Symmetra and Torbjorn, Echo outranges both them and their turrets, so she's a great pick. An enemy Wreck Ball brings the party to Echo, allowing her to take out a tank from the safety of the backlines. Moira can get blasted away before she has a chance to blink away once she gets low enough on health. Finally, Roadhog's health pool saves him from some of the game's best DPS characters, but not Echo.
As a flyer, be wary of Cassidy, Hanzo, Widowmaker, Soldier: 76, Sojourn, Bastion, or other enemies that hit with precision. Baptiste is an annoying support unit for Echo as he can make allies immortal for a moment, even when they are low on health. Lastly, Sigma's lobs are high enough to hit Echo as she flies, so keep away from him.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.