Overwatch 2's new hero Wuyang hasn't even released yet, but he's caused quite a stir among the community with his abilities.
After Wuyang's motion comic revealed that he can summon and bend water with his staff, and his sister Anran can summon fire, OW2 players sort of blew up with a commotion about the fact that magic does not exist in Overwatch lore, as Blizzard has mentioned before.
Speaking with several Blizzard devs last week, including senior narrative designer Joshi Zhang and lead character concept artist Daryl Tan, the answer I got on this subject is definitive: Wuyang's abilities come from his mastery of tech, not magic.
"The staff and the way that the water moves is controlled by technology, so there's zero magic involved," Zhang confirmed. "I've seen a little bit of whisperings, you know, out and about, and I just wanted to help debunk. It's not magic at all."
Wuyang's water abilities include launching orbs at foes to deal damage, using water to heal his teammates or himself, summoning a wave to knock back enemies, and surfing on water as a movement boost.
The devs continued to clarify, saying that there is tech in both the staff and his glove that he uses to control the trajectory of the water through the air, "and it's something that he has to practice to master."
"His staff, right now, how we're selling it in-game visually is that it's a staff that helps him conjure up water, be it through... taking a water vapor in the air, condensing it together and like giving him the ability to manipulate it," said Tan. "It pairs together with his gloves and his gauntlet, too, and those help him manipulate the water that the staff produces and throws it out. So, I guess you can think about the staff giving him the ammo and he will be the one to use that ammo to destroy his enemies or heal his allies."
Wuyang is not just a tech geek wielding powerful machinery, though. The devs say that everything he can do is because of hard work, training, and his mastery of the technology given to him, leaning into the fact that he's also a martial artist.
"A big part of him wielding his water, it has to do with him being proficient at it," Tan continued. "So, no amount of tech can give him that proficiency if he doesn't train. So therefore on his visual design, we condensed all the tech to exist only on his gauntlet and his glove and his staff, and nowhere else on his body do we see extra tech around because we don't want that to sell the idea like, 'oh, he is only good at what he's doing because of all the tech that supports him.' Like, he's only able to do what he does because he's went through so much training and he worked really hard to get to where he got."
OW2 fans can try out Wuyang during his hero trial this weekend, and in the full game when he launches in season 18 on Aug. 26.
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