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Renew your bikes for MonitoringSeason 3: In the Tiger’s Den. The new season of Blizzard’s hero shooter adds the dual-wielding, motorcycle-riding crime lord Omnic to the roster of damage heroes, as well as a new map for the game’s hybrid mode, set in the hero’s hometown. We’ve got the usual array of new season items, including the Battle Pass and Legendary Outfits, but let’s be honest, everyone’s talking about the motorcycle.
New Hero: Shion
Shion is a leader in the Japanese Hashimoto crime clan, and it looks like she and her motorcycle are about to make a big impact on the Overwatch roster. Her primary fire fires a blast from one of two semi-automatic pistols that deals instant damage (scanning hits), and her alternate fire allows her to charge up shots to fire them in a quick, X-shaped blast. The longer she charges, the tighter the spread becomes, encouraging players to plan their shots more skillfully rather than using it as a panic button.
She also has a dash ability that provides extra health, and the ability to jump on a motorcycle and zoom mid-match. You can jump in the air on the bike and aim it at enemies, and it explodes when you hit them. This requires a lot of movement, and is designed to help Shion close the distance and maintain her ideal close to medium range.
Shion’s final grants her three charges to use in one of two ways. She can either rush forward and unleash a barrage of bullets or she can discharge a bullet vortex where she stands. I like the dynamics of this build, as it allows you to close the gap on distant but immobile enemies, punish anyone caught close by, or a combination of both.
Shion’s abilities made her a deadly and mobile winger.
In a small group interview with media via Discord, senior game producer Kenny Hudson demonstrated Shion’s abilities at the training range before taking questions alongside narrative lead Miranda Moir.
Hudson said the team “wanted to lean more towards heavy action” and acrobatics when they were designing Shion’s playstyle. It’s described as a build-your-own-character combo that allows players to experiment with alternating shooting, dashes and motorbikes to find a rhythm that suits them. He cited John Wick and other action films as a major inspiration for the hero.
I’m a little concerned that Shion fits into the same high-action, high-explosive style that has made Vendetta a threat for months. Her ability to trade and get back into the fight faster than her victim can look strong on paper. However, the Champion Balance team has been very good at fine-tuning new champions on the fly this year, so if something goes egregiously wrong, I expect them to make quick adjustments.
An exciting addition, but the other roles need more love
There’s a mobile hero with a gun right in my path, so based on that and my general enjoyment of cyberpunk-themed things, I’m looking forward to trying out Shion this season. But I’m also disappointed that we got another damage hero. addition Five new heroes in the first season He was exciting and fair in all roles, but outside of that, the new champions veered heavily into the damage role over the past year.
The last new solo champion 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 support after that, but it’s frustrating to see the role that already has the most character options 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 into the hands of Hashimoto’s leader, Shion, on the new Neon Junction map.
New Map: Neon Junction (Hybrid)
I might be more excited for Neon Junction than I am for 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 has a much different vibe than what we got before. But beyond all that, this is the first mixed mode map we’ve gotten in four years.
Hybrid, for my money, is the best game mode. Attacking or defending the initial capture point generally requires a different kind of teamplay than pushing or holding off a payload, and doing both in one map is a fun and dynamic experience. But for some reason, we haven’t gotten new hybrid maps since Midtown and Pariso were released Monitoring 2 In 2022. I’m glad we’ve finally corrected this issue.
Maybe Elari’s new legendary appearance will help her forget her tragic backstory?
Other new things
Legendary skins: Ascendant Phoenix Illari skin, Tokyo Rebel Hanzo weapon skin
Illari channels the power of the sun into a new legendary guise that grants the Inti Warrior’s support hero a flaming appearance of rebirth.
Meanwhile, Hanzo gets a weapon skin that summons holographic dragons while securing eliminations.
Now Hanzo’s dragons can devour people even when his ultimate power is not charged.
Super skins
There’s a new sixth type of skin, and the first new addition since Legendary Skins: Super Skins add unique audio and visual effects, similar to Legendary Skins, but without the need to unlock different levels. The first two skins are Nyan Cafe Kiriko and Nyan Cafe Sierra. Ashe, Orisa, and Reaper also get legendary Nyan Cafe skins in the store.
Kiriko probably had too many legendary skins so the developers had to invent a new rare skin for her.
Community shaped events
For two weeks starting on June 30, a select number of heroes will receive beta reworks led by content creators and former Overwatch pros. Reinhardt, Baptiste, Ash, and Sombra will receive some temporary balance adjustments that will change their playstyles.
Most of these things make sense to me – Reinhardt and Baptiste felt a bit dated in the 5v5 era, and Sombra seems to be in constant need of a rework. Ash is the surprise here. Last year’s perk system gave her some useful upgrades without her win rate reaching amazing levels. I’m interested to see what Apply, a former Overwatch League pro, has prepared for her.
