Overwatch Reveals New Hero Sigma’s Abilities and Gameplay

After revealing the name and design of the mysterious Hero 31 to be Sigma, as well as his origin story, Overwatch has now revealed the new hero’s abilities in addition to offering a first look at him in action. As it turns out, Sigma is basically a gravity-wielding tank, putting him somewhere in the vicinity of previous heroes like Orisa or Reinhardt.

Sigma’s abilities and gameplay were both revealed today as part of a birthday celebration stream hosted by former competitive Overwatch player Brandon “Seagull” Larned and featuring Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan. After initially streaming the first look for a little bit, Larned and Kaplan took a quick vote and ultimately ended up opening the PTR (Public Test Realm) for more folks to join in on the fun. As of writing, Larned and Kaplan are still playing as Sigma on the PTR and dealing gravity-based damage to anyone that dares step in their way.

Here’s Sigma’s abilities and their corresponding descriptions, courtesy of Overwatch‘s updated listing of heroes on its website:

HYPERSPHERES

Sigma launches two gravitic charges, which bounce off walls and implode after a short duration, damaging enemies within a sizable radius.

EXPERIMENTAL BARRIER

Sigma propels a floating barrier to a location of his choosing. He can dismiss the barrier at any time.

KINETIC GRASP

Sigma freezes incoming projectiles in midair, converting them into shields.

ACCRETION

Sigma gathers a mass of debris and flings it at an enemy to knock them down.

GRAVITIC FLUX

Unleashing his full powers, Sigma takes flight, lifts enemies in a targeted area, and launches them into the sky before slamming them back down.

Here’s how Overwatch describes Sigma, who has both the Tank role and a three-star difficulty rating, on its website:

“Sigma is an eccentric astrophysicist and volatile tank who gained the power to control gravity in an orbital experiment gone wrong. Manipulated by Talon and deployed as a living weapon, Sigma’s presence on the battlefield cannot be ignored.”

Are you excited to play Sigma? What sort of team competitions are you looking forward to running with him? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up on Twitter @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!

Overwatch is currently available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Sigma, its newest hero, is available on the game’s PTR. You can check out all of our extensive previous coverage of the title right here.