It's easy to create a hero for Overwatch, right?
How many people have suggested a new hero kit or a way for the developers to fix an unbalanced hero? Plenty. And even though some of the suggestions are indeed great and well thought, most of them fail to certain points.
I will try to walk us through a hero design. I won't suggest that my design will be the best but bear with me. This is about the journey, the thought process that is needed to create a kit that would fit to the gameplay of Overwatch and how it can be an organic part of the game.
Let's start from the background of the character. Most of the heroes are related to an organisation, a motive and a place. I won't get into the rabbit hole with all the possibilities for a hero that was already teased or we've seen his/her artwork. For the sake of it, I would just suggest a character of Greek origin as I'm familiar with the culture and the background. Ilios is also a map that's not tied with a hero so far. What are some characteristics of the Greek nation? Well, bankruptcy and an unwillingness to pay taxes. But who would want a broke and tax evading hero? I know that some of us would but let's think of something that actually makes sense. Now, there are two Greek archetypes that would fit in the game. An Hoplite and an Amazon. I would suggest that if we want a truly Greek hero, an Hoplite would fit better. Amazons are indeed part of the Greek mythology but they are almost never of Greek nationality. So let's stick to an Hoplite.
Obviously he'll have his base of operation to Ilios. He could be part of ancient sect that protects the artifacts and the temples of the island. A religious ancient sect that worships the Sun. And don't forget that Ilios (ήλιος) is actually the greek name of the sun. Now that Talon is trying to steal the artifacts that are resurfacing on the island, the protector comes out to defend his heritage. That's not the best lore ever made but it has the necessary conditions that are needed. Organisation: ancient, religious sect. Motive: to protect the relics and place of his ancestors. For altars and homes (Υπέρ βωμών και εστιών) is still a part of Greek ideology during wartime.
And how would he look like? He has to look different from other heroes with a distincted silhouette that would be easily recognised from the players. Here's a picture of how Hoplites looked like. Heavy armor, the iconic helmet, a spear and the most important thing of all, the shield. The shield was the main weapon for an hoplite, heck, the shield (όπλον) gave the name to the unit itself. How would it translate into Overwatch though? Easily, I say. We can have a powersuit that would cover the whole body, something like Phara wears. A cape, red like a Spartan or white like an Athenian, a big shield and a helmet with white eyes (think Batman the Animated Series) that would make the Hoplite easily distinguished from the other heroes.
There is also another purpose that a silhouette should provide to a player. With just a look, a player should tell what does the hero does. A cyber ninja? That's a damage dealer. A fat, tall fella with a shotgun and a hook? That's a tank. The same should apply for our new hero for the sake of clarity. A full armored guy, with a shield screams tank. Not that there are no characters in video games that have a shield and they are not a tank. Think of Cassia from Heroes of the Storm and Pantheon from League of Legends. They both have a shield but they are not tanks. That's why the Hoplite should be bulky, his armor should be made to look heavy so the player could tell by a glimpse that this hero, is a tank.
Now let's talk about his kit and what his abilities would be. We decided that he'll be a tank, so what does a tank do? They protect their teammates. And how do they do that? Are all the tanks the same? No, and that's the hard thing about creating a kit for a video game. The abilities of a tank should have some similar attributes for the heroes of that classification but two tanks should not be similar. They should have a different purpose, they should have distincted weaknesses and strengths. Let's talk about our limitations and attributes that a tank should have and the logic behind designing a tank for Overwatch. First of all, he should be tanky. Not only with a big health pool but also with a mitigation system, either shields or self heals. Secondly, tanks are about crowd control and displacement. A tank should be able to either make a pick of an enemy hero (think Roadhog hook) or he could peel for his teammates (like D.Va's knockback). Finally, there should be another limitation about creating a hero and that limitation is the design of the maps. The maps of Overwatch are designed in a way to have a specific place for all different characters to shine. Widowmaker should have a sniping point to grapple to. There should be walls so Pharah can jump over and flanking routes for Tracer or Genji. Offensive heroes need a cover and Defensive heroes need choke points. So, with all of those things in mind let's talk about the abilities and role of our new hero.
First, he should have a mitigation system. He's a guy with a shield and that's a good way to start from. He can't be exactly like Reinhardt that has a shield that his teammates can stand behind him, our hero should be different. At this point, it's good to get a look to the lore of a character to find what kind of ability would make sense. The Hoplites were fighting side by side and their shields, were not only to defend themselves but also the guy that stood next to them. When two armies collided, the two shield walls met and the success of the army came from the people that stood their ground. But how does that translates to Overwatch? One of his abilities could be "Hold your position". The Hoplite covers himself and his teammates by creating a small barrier with his shield and at the same time he's immune to crowd control but his movement is slowed. It's not that original, right? It combines elements from both Reinhardt and Orissa. What makes it unique, is where this ability excels and that would be narrow corridors, what we call choke points. The barrier doesn't have the surface of Reinhardt's shield and won't be as useful in open spaces. At the same time, it doesn't have a health bar and it can't break by damaging it. It is limited by its cooldown so both his teammates and the enemy should play around it. By making him immune to crowd control it gives the player a choice. Use the ability for the incoming displacements or hold it for a crucial push? And that's because an ability should have a cost for both the player and his enemy and it should reward good decision making for all parties evolved.
But how he attacks? Hoplites had swords but that wasn't their primary weapon. They were using a spear to fight. Should he be throwing his spear? Probably not. At least not for his basic attacks. So let's say that we want him to use his spear as his auto attack and he's a melee hero. The problem with a spear is that you can't swing it like a hammer. A spear is for stabbing. So he has to be precise with his attacks to deal damage. Still throwing a spear was part of what a Hoplite should do during battle and that's why I believe it should be part of his kit. Heroic Throw should be his second ability, a skill shot where the hero throws his spear and if it hits a target it knock him back a little. If the target is close to a wall then the spear pins him there for a few seconds. If the target is flying, he's knocked down. That ability helps the hero with the so needed crowd control that a tank kit should have. It also enhance his niche as a tank that excels at corridors and choke points. On the other hand this ability helps him against heroes like Pharah and heroes with mobility, enabling his team's damage dealers . Still his spear throwing ability should be telegraphed with the correct animation and visual effect so the opponents could have a reasonable time to react. A tanks role should be that of a punisher for bad positioning and bad decision making but not that of an oppressor. A Tracer should be able to dodge his spear and the Hoplite should be able to then use his barrier to protect himself. There should be an action and a reaction, a skill based match up between heroes when they fight with clear strenghts and weaknesses.
Now, let's talk about the most important part of his kit, the big moment of all heroes, our hero's Ultimate Ability. The Hoplite throws his shield and if it hits a hero, it also bounces on 3 more heroes stunning them all. As the shield returns to him, the Hoplite can activate the second part of his Ultimate, where he jump in the air, grabs his shield and slams on the ground with his spear dealing damage. The place that he lands is where the first target that was hit by his shield was standing. The stun from his shield should last 2 seconds and there should be 1 more second until he lands with the second part of his ultimate. That way the enemy should have time to react to the landing and reposition. I've said previously that his kit should be accurate to the theme of an ancient Greek warrior but on the other hand, a hero that throws his shield that bounces on enemies is also a part of the superhero fantasy. Think of Captain America or Wonder Woman. To be exact, the Hoplite's Ultimate ability looks a lot like Wonder Woman's Super move from Injustice 2.
His Ultimate is also a great way to engage but further more, it's an amazing anti-engaging tool. Let's say that when the enemy divers slips towards the backline, the Hoplite can stun and reposition himself to defend his teammates. The most important thing is, that the second part of his ultimate, is also the part where the Hoplite deals a lot of damage but the downside is that he has to commit. Since he can't use it for escape, he should be sure that he wants to finish his attack or just let the stun do it's work. Now, I haven't thought a name for his Ultimate ability, so any suggestion would be helpful.
It's not only the name of his Ultimate that is incomplete. Is my Hoplite's kit totally viable and ready to get into the game? Far from it. There are plenty of rough edges in his abilities and his theme that might need some polish but as I said in the intro, this wall of text was more about the thought process behind the design of an Overwatch hero. The think is, that many of us usually forget, plenty of hero kits already exist in development. But not all of them will see the light of release to live servers. Most of them will be scraped. Some of their abilities or themes might eventually be part of another hero. It's much harder than we all think to design a hero for a game that has such high standards. I hope you enjoyed the reading.
How many people have suggested a new hero kit or a way for the developers to fix an unbalanced hero? Plenty. And even though some of the suggestions are indeed great and well thought, most of them fail to certain points.
I will try to walk us through a hero design. I won't suggest that my design will be the best but bear with me. This is about the journey, the thought process that is needed to create a kit that would fit to the gameplay of Overwatch and how it can be an organic part of the game.
Let's start from the background of the character. Most of the heroes are related to an organisation, a motive and a place. I won't get into the rabbit hole with all the possibilities for a hero that was already teased or we've seen his/her artwork. For the sake of it, I would just suggest a character of Greek origin as I'm familiar with the culture and the background. Ilios is also a map that's not tied with a hero so far. What are some characteristics of the Greek nation? Well, bankruptcy and an unwillingness to pay taxes. But who would want a broke and tax evading hero? I know that some of us would but let's think of something that actually makes sense. Now, there are two Greek archetypes that would fit in the game. An Hoplite and an Amazon. I would suggest that if we want a truly Greek hero, an Hoplite would fit better. Amazons are indeed part of the Greek mythology but they are almost never of Greek nationality. So let's stick to an Hoplite.
Obviously he'll have his base of operation to Ilios. He could be part of ancient sect that protects the artifacts and the temples of the island. A religious ancient sect that worships the Sun. And don't forget that Ilios (ήλιος) is actually the greek name of the sun. Now that Talon is trying to steal the artifacts that are resurfacing on the island, the protector comes out to defend his heritage. That's not the best lore ever made but it has the necessary conditions that are needed. Organisation: ancient, religious sect. Motive: to protect the relics and place of his ancestors. For altars and homes (Υπέρ βωμών και εστιών) is still a part of Greek ideology during wartime.And how would he look like? He has to look different from other heroes with a distincted silhouette that would be easily recognised from the players. Here's a picture of how Hoplites looked like. Heavy armor, the iconic helmet, a spear and the most important thing of all, the shield. The shield was the main weapon for an hoplite, heck, the shield (όπλον) gave the name to the unit itself. How would it translate into Overwatch though? Easily, I say. We can have a powersuit that would cover the whole body, something like Phara wears. A cape, red like a Spartan or white like an Athenian, a big shield and a helmet with white eyes (think Batman the Animated Series) that would make the Hoplite easily distinguished from the other heroes.
There is also another purpose that a silhouette should provide to a player. With just a look, a player should tell what does the hero does. A cyber ninja? That's a damage dealer. A fat, tall fella with a shotgun and a hook? That's a tank. The same should apply for our new hero for the sake of clarity. A full armored guy, with a shield screams tank. Not that there are no characters in video games that have a shield and they are not a tank. Think of Cassia from Heroes of the Storm and Pantheon from League of Legends. They both have a shield but they are not tanks. That's why the Hoplite should be bulky, his armor should be made to look heavy so the player could tell by a glimpse that this hero, is a tank.
Now let's talk about his kit and what his abilities would be. We decided that he'll be a tank, so what does a tank do? They protect their teammates. And how do they do that? Are all the tanks the same? No, and that's the hard thing about creating a kit for a video game. The abilities of a tank should have some similar attributes for the heroes of that classification but two tanks should not be similar. They should have a different purpose, they should have distincted weaknesses and strengths. Let's talk about our limitations and attributes that a tank should have and the logic behind designing a tank for Overwatch. First of all, he should be tanky. Not only with a big health pool but also with a mitigation system, either shields or self heals. Secondly, tanks are about crowd control and displacement. A tank should be able to either make a pick of an enemy hero (think Roadhog hook) or he could peel for his teammates (like D.Va's knockback). Finally, there should be another limitation about creating a hero and that limitation is the design of the maps. The maps of Overwatch are designed in a way to have a specific place for all different characters to shine. Widowmaker should have a sniping point to grapple to. There should be walls so Pharah can jump over and flanking routes for Tracer or Genji. Offensive heroes need a cover and Defensive heroes need choke points. So, with all of those things in mind let's talk about the abilities and role of our new hero.
First, he should have a mitigation system. He's a guy with a shield and that's a good way to start from. He can't be exactly like Reinhardt that has a shield that his teammates can stand behind him, our hero should be different. At this point, it's good to get a look to the lore of a character to find what kind of ability would make sense. The Hoplites were fighting side by side and their shields, were not only to defend themselves but also the guy that stood next to them. When two armies collided, the two shield walls met and the success of the army came from the people that stood their ground. But how does that translates to Overwatch? One of his abilities could be "Hold your position". The Hoplite covers himself and his teammates by creating a small barrier with his shield and at the same time he's immune to crowd control but his movement is slowed. It's not that original, right? It combines elements from both Reinhardt and Orissa. What makes it unique, is where this ability excels and that would be narrow corridors, what we call choke points. The barrier doesn't have the surface of Reinhardt's shield and won't be as useful in open spaces. At the same time, it doesn't have a health bar and it can't break by damaging it. It is limited by its cooldown so both his teammates and the enemy should play around it. By making him immune to crowd control it gives the player a choice. Use the ability for the incoming displacements or hold it for a crucial push? And that's because an ability should have a cost for both the player and his enemy and it should reward good decision making for all parties evolved.
But how he attacks? Hoplites had swords but that wasn't their primary weapon. They were using a spear to fight. Should he be throwing his spear? Probably not. At least not for his basic attacks. So let's say that we want him to use his spear as his auto attack and he's a melee hero. The problem with a spear is that you can't swing it like a hammer. A spear is for stabbing. So he has to be precise with his attacks to deal damage. Still throwing a spear was part of what a Hoplite should do during battle and that's why I believe it should be part of his kit. Heroic Throw should be his second ability, a skill shot where the hero throws his spear and if it hits a target it knock him back a little. If the target is close to a wall then the spear pins him there for a few seconds. If the target is flying, he's knocked down. That ability helps the hero with the so needed crowd control that a tank kit should have. It also enhance his niche as a tank that excels at corridors and choke points. On the other hand this ability helps him against heroes like Pharah and heroes with mobility, enabling his team's damage dealers . Still his spear throwing ability should be telegraphed with the correct animation and visual effect so the opponents could have a reasonable time to react. A tanks role should be that of a punisher for bad positioning and bad decision making but not that of an oppressor. A Tracer should be able to dodge his spear and the Hoplite should be able to then use his barrier to protect himself. There should be an action and a reaction, a skill based match up between heroes when they fight with clear strenghts and weaknesses.
Now, let's talk about the most important part of his kit, the big moment of all heroes, our hero's Ultimate Ability. The Hoplite throws his shield and if it hits a hero, it also bounces on 3 more heroes stunning them all. As the shield returns to him, the Hoplite can activate the second part of his Ultimate, where he jump in the air, grabs his shield and slams on the ground with his spear dealing damage. The place that he lands is where the first target that was hit by his shield was standing. The stun from his shield should last 2 seconds and there should be 1 more second until he lands with the second part of his ultimate. That way the enemy should have time to react to the landing and reposition. I've said previously that his kit should be accurate to the theme of an ancient Greek warrior but on the other hand, a hero that throws his shield that bounces on enemies is also a part of the superhero fantasy. Think of Captain America or Wonder Woman. To be exact, the Hoplite's Ultimate ability looks a lot like Wonder Woman's Super move from Injustice 2.
It's not only the name of his Ultimate that is incomplete. Is my Hoplite's kit totally viable and ready to get into the game? Far from it. There are plenty of rough edges in his abilities and his theme that might need some polish but as I said in the intro, this wall of text was more about the thought process behind the design of an Overwatch hero. The think is, that many of us usually forget, plenty of hero kits already exist in development. But not all of them will see the light of release to live servers. Most of them will be scraped. Some of their abilities or themes might eventually be part of another hero. It's much harder than we all think to design a hero for a game that has such high standards. I hope you enjoyed the reading.
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