New Hero: Introducing Moira
by JR Cook - 6 years ago show comments
Moira is the latest addition to the Overwatch heroes roster, and she is described as a geneticist as brilliant as she is ambitious. Moira is a sinister-themed support class that shifts between healing and damage-dealing for team Talon.
Moira Gameplay Trailer and Mechanics
- Biotic Grasp: Moira uses her bare hands to siphon enemy health and deal damage (right), or to heal her allies (left).
- Decay (Right Hand): Moira’s main DPS ability, this beam shoots out in similar fashion to Regeneration. It deals damage to all enemies it strikes, provides a weak self-heal for Moira, and quickly recharges her energy meter.
- Regeneration (Left Hand): Moira’s main healing ability, this beam heal spreads a short distance in front of her. It pierces through allies, healing all team members it touches, but it quickly drains her energy meter. This meter regenerates slowly, but builds quickly when charged from Decay.
- Biotic Orb: Moira launches an energy orb into the room before her. The orb will bounce off walls and ceilings, and also comes in Regeneration and Decay. Biotic Orb works great in cramped quarters and indoors, where it can strikes as many enemies or allies as quickly as possible before dissipating.
- Decay (Right Hand): Moira launches a dark ball of energy which damages all enemies which it strikes with tendrils of power. It will expire after it burns through a pre-determined amount of damage potential.
- Regeneration (Left Hand): Moira launches a light ball of energy which heals all allies it comes near, operating the same as the Decay version. It will expire after it burns through a pre-determined amount of healing.
- Fade: Moira’s mobility ability, Fade increases her speed immensely for less than a second, causing her to disappear and reappear where the ability ends. This intense speed boost is similar to Reaper’s Wraith Form, but more limited.
- Coalescence: Moira’s Ultimate Ability, Coalescence shoots a long beam from both hands, combining her healing and damaging powers into one. This immense beam will heal allies it strikes and damage enemies it touches. (It’s also great for corridor fights!)
Moira Animated Short, Backstory, and Development Art
Equal parts brilliant and controversial, scientist Moira O’Deorain is on the cutting edge of genetic engineering, searching for a way to rewrite the fundamental building blocks of life.
Over a decade ago, O’Deorain made waves when she published a controversial paper detailing a methodology for creating custom genetic programs that could alter DNA at a cellular level. It seemed like a promising step toward overcoming diseases and disorders and maximizing human potential.
Dissent among her peers soon followed. Many considered her work to be dangerous because of its perceived ethical shortfalls, and O’Deorain was even accused of having the same unchecked desire for scientific advancement that some believed had caused the Omnic Crisis. In addition, other geneticists were unable to reproduce the results of Moira’s research, which further called her discoveries into question. Instead of kickstarting her career, her paper seriously damaged her reputation.
She received a lifeline in an offer from an unlikely source: Overwatch’s covert ops division, Blackwatch. She continued her work in the shadows while developing new weapons and technologies for the organization. Her employment was a closely kept secret, until it was uncovered during inquiries following the Venice incident. Many high-ranking Overwatch officials disavowed all knowledge of her affiliation with them.
After Overwatch was disbanded, O’Deorain was forced to turn to unconventional sources of funding. This time, she was invited to join the scientific collective that had founded the city of Oasis. Yet some have whispered that the shadowy Talon organization had already been supporting her for years, aiding her experiments in exchange for utilizing the results for their own purposes.
Though O’Deorain will go to any lengths to make scientific breakthroughs, her work is still unknown to most of the world. But now that she has been freed from all constraints, it is only a matter of time before everything changes.
Moira Hero Skins
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- Oasis
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- Glam
The “Oasis” skin is based off of Moira’s relationship with the ministers of Oasis, who contracted her to head their genetics research and development. The “Glam” skin is just a fun 70’s culture theme, with crazy makeup, a zany hairstyle, popping colors, and lava lamp-styled tubes.
