Though a vast majority of Overwatch fan art focuses on the game’s existing hero roster, every once in a while a creative player shares a concept for a fully original hero. This is exactly what happened recently, as one clever member of the Overwatch community shared a design for a Support hero named A.R.C.
While a fan concept leading to an actual hero is highly unlikely, the design does drive home the idea that Overwatch needs more Support heroes. With over half of the game’s hero roster being damage-focused, and only seven Support heroes to choose from, fans have wanted to see some new life added to the role for years now. A new Support hero could push some players to fill non-DPS roles, making wait times less problematic. It would give Support players more options, too, and according to Redditor DankeyKang42, A.R.C. Is exactly what the game needs.
The Overwatch hero concept sees the character’s body covered in Power Cells, with a wrist-mounted Pulse Blaster on one arm and an Electrostim launcher on the other. A futuristic helmet is also worn by the Omnic, with the fan’s specially made lore claiming that nobody knows the hero’s true name. The character is entirely focused on upgrading their own abilities, meaning they will work for Overwatch or Talon as long as they are offered parts or credits for their services. Alongside this neat backstory, the Overwatch fan fully details their character’s abilities.
A.R.C.’s Ultimate ability is Rolling Thunder, which works like the Reinhardt ability Earthshatter. While it provides a brief stun to enemies caught in its path, while also dealing a small bit of damage, its main role is to provide extreme healing for allies. The Covalence ability allows A.R.C. to make a beam that heals and boosts A.R.C. and the ally that the beam is connected to. Electrostim is a device that can be tossed onto teammates, providing damage, movement speed, and defense. A.R.C. can attach it to themselves as well, which is a neat touch that makes the ability more flexible.
The hero’s primary fire is the Pulse Blaster, which is a fully automatic and hitscan weapon that excels at medium range. Their secondary fire is Electroscan, which allows ARC to see the health, Ultimate charge, and cooldowns for the teammate or enemy being targeted. The Overwatch fan went above and beyond when designing this ability lineup, as they included images and quotes for each ability. They also gave A.R.C. 200 HP, which is split between 100 shields and 100 health.
For those interested, several hero interactions and bits of dialogue for A.R.C. were shared in the Reddit thread, which can be viewed here. Considering all the effort that DankeyKang42 put into their concept, they deserve all the praise they have gotten thus far.
Overwatch is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Reddit