A mighty new hero is being primed for launch in Overwatch, although it can indeed be called different from most of the other characters.
Hero 28 was teased for sometime before being announced as Hammond, with most fans expecting an evil great ape.
This was based on hints from the Lunar Space Colony map, which were proved to be completely wrong.
Instead, Hammond was revealed to be a sentient Hamster, boasting a weaponised hamster ball.
And as Wrecking Ball, the little mammal will undoubtedly be able to pack quite the punch with its mechanised gadgets.
WHEN IS HAMMOND COMING TO OVERWATCH?
It should be noted that Hammond’s official name is Wrecking Ball, however, as most fans call it by the more human-sounding nickname, so will we for the rest of this article.
Hammond the Hamster is currently undergoing testing on the PC and is available to try out now.
That means fans have had been busy trying out the characters loadout, as well as getting a look at some of its unique skins.
From what we know from past character launches, it’s likely that the Hammond release date will fall in July.
Blizzard like to put a new hero into testing via the PTR for a couple of weeks before a full live server launch.
And news from the testing phase is that Hammond isn’t too severely balanced when it comes to abilities.
So if everything continues to go well, it seems likely that Hammond will be released in the coming weeks.
It might be too early to see Wrecking Ball roll onto servers this week; however, July 16, is feasible.
And if the new Blizzard creation isn’t seen by then, a release before August is still very much on the cards.
The development team don’t usually provide a detailed roadmap on their launches beforehand, so fans will want to keep an eye on the game’s official social media feeds for more information.
WHAT ARE HAMMOND’S ABILITIES?
It appears Colonel Fuzzball has been busy working on making his mech as dangerous as possible, designing a ball that transforms him from a helpless hamster into a formidable tank hero.
Wrecking Ball has two machine guns for his primary fire, with 80 ammo per clip. The damage is relatively powerful mid-range and is an excellent source of suppression fire that is not available elsewhere in the tank class.
Wrecking Ball has a fast-moving movement ability that transforms his mech into a ball that increases his movement.
He also has a grappling claw that can be attached to walls and surfaces to propel Wrecking Ball into enemies or out of danger.
Once in the air, Wrecking Ball can use his Piledriver ability to slam into the ground dealing damage and launching enemies into the air.
He also has an Adaptive Shield that will create temporary shields around Wrecking Ball, with the amount of shielding increasing based on the number of enemies in his immediate vicinity.
Wrecking Ball’s ultimate deploys a massive field of proximity mines that deal significant damage and zone out enemies from payloads or objectives.