Not since Chirico has a new hero in “Overwatch” taken the Quick Play wait time by storm. The wait will only get worse as trials for Juno, the game's newest support hero, continue through the weekend. Not only are people eager to play her, but she may in fact be one of the best designed heroes since the launch of Overwatch 2.
Juno is a glistening, purple-haired astronaut who many have compared to other healers like Ana, Lucio, and Baptiste. Her guns can heal and deal damage, and her two-step jump and hyper ring abilities allow her to move quickly across the map to get her team into the fight. However, when played, she is not like any of those heroes.
She is extremely mobile. This is largely due to the fact that her Glide Boost has a fairly short cooldown. She cannot leap into the air, but her double jump keeps her alive. Juno is not a killer unless she sets up her play properly with her other abilities. Instead, she is adept at keeping her team's momentum going by circling around them to catch up when there is a straggler on the opposing team or when one of her teammates needs a quick assist.
Lucio reigned supreme in this game as the only support who could quickly speed-boost her allies and get them out of dangerous situations; in Overwatch 2, healing alone is not enough to deal with the deadly offensive power of DPS heroes, especially the anti-heal debuff that their attacks apply. They are toothless. Juno was the first hero since Overwatch 1 to have a new way to move his team quickly, called Hyper Ring. It's called the Hyper Ring. She can basically throw down a giant space portal, which gives everyone on the team nitro and runs off to the front of the battle.
The Hyper Ring is Juno's signature ability and is very satisfying to use. The hyper ring is Juno's signature ability and is very satisfying to use. Its most obvious use is to surge a team toward an objective, but it is especially powerful when combined with her ultimate ability, Orbital Ray. A well-timed combo of Hyper Ring and Orbital Ray can turn an enemy team into bowling pins and your team into a giant bowling ball. Overwatch has long struggled to balance the power of Ultimates, and I think Juno's could be the way forward for future heroes. It's not simply a matter of hitting the Q as if it were a “won” button, but rather a smart combination of abilities at the right time to maximize their effectiveness.
The best “Overwatch” heroes have what I like to call a “loop” of priorities and cycle through them in every match:
Most of her abilities are not very effective on their own, so it takes a lot of It takes practice. Juno's gun is not capable of headshots, making it almost impossible to do enough damage to get a kill before the target recovers. Like Moira and Mercy, the key with Juno is to set yourself up for success before the fight goes wrong. She is a brilliant blend of strategy and payback that makes me nostalgic for the days when “Overwatch” was so slow that a hero could turn the tide of a match by making a series of smart decisions to help his team succeed.
Juno's trial will continue through this Sunday, after which she will return as a (free) hero when Overwatch 2 season 12 begins on August 20.
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