Blizzard has officially unveiled Overwatch 2’s next support hero as Juno, a bubbly astronaut healer who will be playable in a limited-time “hero trial” that starts on July 19—that’s tomorrow—and runs until July 21 on all platforms.
Juno will be accessible in all game modes except Competitive during the trial period, and will also be available in the No Limits mode in the Overwatch arcade, which will enable everyone in the game to play as Juno instead of racing to pick her first.
Details on the new hero’s abilities haven’t been revealed at this point but today’s trailer showcases some highlights: Juno’s Mediblaster weapon, which seems to heal or harm depending on who it’s aimed at, her Glide Boost ability that looks like a limited form of flight (or maybe just a really floaty jump), Pulsar Torpedoes that seem to be a high-powered, multiple-target version of the Mediblaster, and the Hyper Ring, a sort of gateway that makes everyone who runs through it go really fast.
The big finish comes in the form of Juno’s Orbital Ray (presumably her ultimate), a blast from a distant space station that appears to apply a significant buff to Juno’s allies, and debuff to her enemies.
As for Juno herself, that too remains a mystery for now. As noted by Polygon, Blizzard began teasing the character in June with the addition of an empty escape pod in Overwatch 2’s Dorado map that seemingly carried a mysterious “Space Ranger” back to Earth. An encoded message being transmitted by the pod included the line “J has landed,” which some took to be a reference to Jiayi, an old friend of Mei. But Juno’s apparent youth may mean, as others have speculated, that she’s actually Jiayi’s daughter.
We’ll find out the truth soon enough. Blizzard said a proper breakdown of her abilities, and presumably her backstory, will be shared on Friday along with the Overwatch 2 patch notes.
