New maps and a new hero are coming to Blizzard’s ‘Overwatch’

“Overwatch is getting a new character named Lucio, a rhythm-based hero that will add more color and diversity to the cast of the class-based title. Blizzard unveiled the character with a new gameplay trailer and screenshots on August 5 at Gamescom 2015.

The developer didn’t share a lot of details, but in the gameplay video seen below, Lucio carries a weapon shaped like a speaker called the Sonic Amplifier, which shoots bursts of energy at enemies. The Sonic Amplifier has two firing modes; one is a four-round burst and the other is a knock-back round. He also gets increased mobility with the use of rollerblades that allow him to jump and move on walls.

Lucio's skills include Cross Fade, which can either heal or boost his speed and his allies. Another skill is called Amp It Up, a buff that strengthens the range of Lucio’s attack and skills. All of his skills are fired using his speaker-like weapon.

For his ultimate ability, Lucio yells “Let’s drop the bass” before executing Sound Barrier. Upon yelling, Lucio and his teammates will get a shield that will greatly increase their survivability.

The new character was first teased last week in a blog post by Blizzard, which promoted a new musical artist. In the post, Lucio poses as an electronic music producer who is revealing the first two songs from his upcoming album called Synaesthesia Auditiva. The two tracks are available on the website of “Overwatch.”

Aside from the new character, Blizzard also announced two new maps at Gamescom, IGN reported. The first is Volskaya Industries, a large building that features offices and a giant mech factory. Players can place turrets on platforms that move around the map.

The other map, Numbani, features open streets, small interior spaces and futuristic skylines. One of the primary objectives of the map is to capture a certain payload of items. Upon capturing the payload, players will then need to escort the cache through the map.

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