Ashe and Bob are the new 29.5 Overwatch hero, and now she (and Bob ofc) is available on the PTR. I played her a lot, and now can draw a comprehensive picture of her abilities, skill-cap, boosting perspective and much more. Also, I have found a nice video where Polygon analyzing Ashe and her abilities.

Ashe – First impression

So let us start immediately – meet the new Overwatch hero, Ashe. It is almost impossible to pick her in quick matches on the PTR, so most of my impressions are built during 6×6 Ashe confrontations. It is quite hard to master hero, but you could already know it. I doubt that you already looked a ton of gameplay videos from BlizzCon 2018.

First of all, I want to bring some bad news, for those who are waiting for the new sniper. Ashe is not a sniper in the traditional sense. Damage is not as great as Hanzo or Widowmaker deal, the range is much shorter (some kind like Soldier 76 has). And the most important thing – she has an impressive arsenal of tools to contest points in a close range, so you just can not stand in the back, firing enemies with your scope.

Ashe – abilities

Her firings are quite similar to Ana’s biotic rifle fire rate (damage is much higher though). With primary fire Ashe shots projectiles, but if she activates her crosshair then her attack type changing to the hitscan. But keep in mind that Ashe reloading her gun without haste.

Dynamite and ultimate, Bob, are perfect instruments to quickly get on the point and deal a ton of damage to the enemies that are gathering on a contested point. The amount of damage from Dynamite is really impressive, so never hesitate to use it. If you see that it off of the cooldown, do not waste any second and threw it towards the enemy. So if you prefer to play Ashe as a classy sniper you will lose a lot of opportunities to deal a ton of damage in a wide AoE sphere. It would be great if you learn how to explode dynamite in the mid-air, so practice a bit in a training mode, before you are willing to play as her.

Ashe is extremely vulnerable in the close range combat, but she has a coach gun, that knocking enemies and you to the different locations. The coach gun is a great escape tool, but it could be used as an initiation tool, but be aware and never forget about your inability to fight in the close range.

Bob, to be honest, look too powerful. It is like Torbjorn’s turret but with a ton of HP. He charges to a point, knocking everyone on his way and then stays on the point and shoots everyone on his sight. Never forget that he could be nano boosted, healed and empowered by any damage amplifications (like Orisa’s ultimate or Mercy’s blue ray). Ashe’s ultimate has a very high impact on a game, so always try to combine it with other ultimates. In the bad case, you will miss a major opportunity that leading to the winning. But if you send Bob into a fight in the perfect moment, he will clean and protect the point, and you will feel like a superstar.

Conclusions – Ashe is a worthy hero for boosting?

To be honest, I don’t feel like Ashe is my type of hero, but I’m glad that Blizzard extending the hero-list. She has impressive tools, powerful gun and great ultimate, but if she will desolate your team, you will know that it is not her inherent strength, just your team made some mistakes. I personally would not use Ashe in overwatch boost, because I prefer more unusual heroes, like Doomfist or Genji, but overall, she is looking damn good.