Orisa is the newest addition to the roster of playable heroes in Blizzard's "Overwatch." The new character is a unique-looking robot that can tank in the game. She was released on the playable test realm (PTR) just this week.

In developing the new hero, "Overwatch" writer Michael Chu shared that Orisa is an "alternative Reinhardt." The team wanted to create a new character that let them explore new designs and theories.

Kotaku notes that this coincides with Blizzard VP Jeff Kaplan's statement who said that they wanted a new female "Overwatch" character with a new design concept far removed from the current robots that are already in the game.

With regards to Blizzard piecing together a backstory for Orisa, they added in the 11-year-old robot genius Efi. They needed someone to pin the new hero in the game's world and that is exactly why they thought of Efi. Chu adds that adding the child prodigy made it easier for them unlike other "Overwatch" characters like Sombra.

Some of Orisa's abilities are similar to current characters that are in "Overwatch." According to her official profile, her "fusion driver" canon is a lot like Bastion's. Her "Halt" is also similar to Zarya's gravity bomb ability that can slow down enemies. Her other abilities include fortify, halt, protective barrier and supercharger.

Besides adding Orisa to the PTR, Kaplan and the entire "Overwatch" team are working hard to make Bastion playable again. GameSpot reports that they made new changes to the hero by decreasing the damage he gets in Sentry form from 35 percent to 20 percent. A new patch for the game is currently in development but some of the changes can be felt as it can be tested through the PTR. There is no word yet for when the changes will go live in the game.

Are you excited to play "Orisa" when goes live in "Overwatch" soon? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

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