Echo Guide: Ridiculous Movement Tech
Yesterday we got to meet hero 32, Echo. The DPS hero sports a sizeable kit with primary and secondary fire options, an ultimate and two abilities to boot. On top of that, Echo has a Mercy like passive that lets her glide in the air. As soon as pro players got their hand on the hero, clips started pouring in with all kinds of kill highlights. One piece of tech, however, stood out.
Flight (1st Ability)
Echo surges forward quickly, then can fly freely.
In order to execute this tech, you should hold down your jump key. While still pressing it down, cancel the animation of Echo’s “Flight” (LShift) ability by pressing the button quickly again during the dash portion of the ability. If you did it correctly, the momentum should carry over into your glide, giving you ridiculous pace that should let you travel large differences faster than any other hero. The tech is best used off a slight high ground to allow for constant glide time until Flight is available again but it isn’t necessarily needed.
All locations with high skyboxes and especially with architecture that hides your approach (like Illios-Well) allow for extremely powerful rollouts that can take enemies by surprise, more so if you can get a Mercy to pocket you on your approach. Using this tech as well as relatively save combos like Sticky bombs into Focusing Beam, 200hp heroes melt in an instant. Considering how strong initial picks are to a fight victory, Echo has outstanding first fight carry potential. Here’s a taste by Overwatch League pro player Hae-seong "Libero" Kim and former OW pro Ted "silkthread" Wang.
Bunnyhops in Overwatch
As if that wasn't enough movement yet, it was also discovered that Echo possesses the ability to "bunnyhop" and maintain the same momentum as during her flight while moving on the ground.
Heroes with a movement ability like Winston have always been able to perform an additional jump at the same speed of the ability, allowing them to maintain momentum and close gaps more efficiently after using skills like Jump Pack or D.Va's boosters by simply holding down your jump key. Echo brings this tech to a new level as she's not only able to maintain movement speed for one jump but all subsequent jumps if executed correctly.
To do this tech, you have to first perform the movement tech mentioned above. Once you hit the ground while still holding down your jump key, the first jump will be a giving you air time at the same speed as your flight. After the initial jump, you have to briefly let go of the key and hit it at the right time when you'd otherwise hit the ground. When performed correctly, it should look something like what Eternal Academy DPS Patiphan "Patiphan" Chaiwong does here:
Enjoy it while it lasts
Whether or not Blizzard intended this piece of tech is unknown and so is its continued existence in Overwatch. My gut feeling tells me that it will at least be nerfed in the sheer speed that Echo is able to generate. In general, we should expect considerable number tweaking for Echo, as the potential of the hero is explored by the best players in the game. Echo is currently playable on PTR so enjoy this version of her. It’s unlikely to last.
Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
