Rev up your bikes for Overwatch‘s season 3: Into the Tiger’s Den. The new season of Blizzard’s hero shooter adds a dual-wielding, motorcycle-riding Omnic crime boss to the damage hero roster, as well as a new map for the hybrid game mode, set in the hero’s home turf. We have the usual suite of new season stuff, including a battle pass and mythic skins, but let’s be honest, everyone’s talking about the motorbike.
New hero: Shion
Shion is a leader in Japan’s criminal Hashimoto clan, and she and her motorcycle seem poised to have a big influence on Overwatch’s roster. Her primary fire shoots a burst from one of two semiautomatic pistols that deal instant (hitscan) damage, and her alternate fire allows her to charge up shots to release in a quick, X-shaped burst. The longer you charge, the tighter the spread, encouraging players to more skillfully plan their shots rather than use it as a panic button.
She also has a dash ability that provides overhealth, and the ability to just hop on a motorcycle and zoom around in the middle of a match. You can jump into the air on the bike and send it flying toward enemies, exploding as it hits them. That’s a lot of mobility, which is designed to help Shion close the distance and maintain her ideal close-to-mid range.
Shion’s ultimate gives her three charges to use in one of two ways. She can either dash forward and release a hail of bullets or she can unload the bullet vortex where she stands. I like the dynamics of that design, allowing you to close the gap against distant but immobile enemies, punish anyone caught nearby or a combination of both.
Shion’s abilities set her up to be a lethal and mobile flanker.
In a small group interview with media over Discord, Senior Game Producer Kenny Hudson showed off Shion’s abilities in the practice range before taking questions alongside Narrative Lead Miranda Moyer.
Hudson said the team “wanted to lean more into heavy action” and acrobatics when they were designing Shion’s play style. He described her as a build-your-own-combos character who lets players experiment with alternating gunfire, dashes and motorcycling to find the rhythm that works for them. He cited John Wick and other action movies as major inspirations for the hero.
I’m a bit worried that Shion fits the same high-mobility, high-burst pattern that made Vendetta a menace for several months. Her ability to trade and return to the fight faster than her victim seems strong on paper. That said, the hero balance team has been pretty good about quickly tuning new heroes this year, so if something’s egregiously off, I expect them to make swift adjustments.
An exciting addition, but other roles need more love
A mobile hero with a hitscan weapon is right up my alley, so based on that and my general enjoyment of cyberpunk-themed things, I’m looking forward to trying Shion this season. But I’m also disappointed that we’re getting yet another damage hero. The addition of five new heroes in season 1 was exciting and equitable across all roles, but outside of that, new heroes have skewed heavily in the damage role for the past year.
The last individual new hero in the tank or support roster was Wuyang, back in August of last year. We’re expecting a new tank hero in season 4 and back-to-back supports after that, but it’s disheartening to watch the role that already has the most choice of characters get five of the eight newest heroes. Tank players have only gotten one new hero since 2024, and support players still only have 14 options, compared to 24 in the damage role with the addition of Shion.
Reinhardt falls to the Hashimoto leader, Shion, on the new Neon Junction map.
New map: Neon Junction (hybrid)
I might be more excited about Neon Junction than I am about Shion. (Don’t tell her I said that.) The art style is fun, and even though we’ve had other maps set in Japan, Tokyo is a much different vibe than we’ve gotten before. But beyond all of that, this is the first hybrid-mode map we’ve gotten in four years.
Hybrid is, for my money, the best game mode. Attacking or defending the initial capture point generally requires a different type of team play than pushing or stopping a payload, and getting to do both in one map is a fun, dynamic experience. But, for some reason, we haven’t gotten new hybrid maps since Midtown and Paraiso launched with Overwatch 2 in 2022. I’m glad we’re finally rectifying that problem.
Maybe Illari’s new mythic skin will help her forget about her tragic backstory?
Other new stuff
Mythic skins: Ascendant Phoenix Illari skin, Tokyo Rebel Hanzo weapon skin
Illari is channeling the power of the sun into a new mythic skin that gives the Inti warrior support hero a blazing rebirth theme.
Meanwhile, Hanzo gets a weapon skin that summons holographic dragons as you secure eliminations.
Now Hanzo’s dragons can consume people even when his ultimate isn’t charged.
Ultra skins
There’s a new, sixth type of skin, and the first new addition since mythic skins: Ultra skins add unique audio and visual effects, similar to mythic skins, but without needing to unlock different levels. The first two skins are Nyan Cafe Kiriko and Nyan Cafe Sierra. Ashe, Orisa and Reaper are also getting legendary Nyan Cafe skins in the shop.
Maybe Kiriko had too many legendary skins so the devs had to invent a new rarity for her.
Community-crafted events
For two weeks starting June 30, a handful of heroes are getting experimental reworks led by content creators and former Overwatch pros. Reinhardt, Baptiste, Ashe and Sombra will get some temporary balance adjustments that change their play styles.
Most of these make sense to me — Reinhardt and Baptiste have felt a little outdated in the 5v5 era, and Sombra seems chronically in need of a rework. Ashe is the surprise here. Last year’s Perks system gave her some useful upgrades without rocketing her to shocking win rates. I’m interested to see what Apply, a former Overwatch League pro, has cooked up for her.
