Competitive players get hands on Overwatch Hero Ashe early

Overwatch players in competitive play now have access to the game’s full 29-hero roster.

Having been revealed at BlizzCon, Ashe arrived on the live servers on November 13 following a brief stint on the PTR.

As with all new heroes, she remained locked out of the competitive playlist initially. From November 27, however, Ashe is now available to play.

• Read more: Overwatch player demonstrates clever Ashe trick to survive D.Va’s self-destruct

Blizzard’s policy with major new content has generally been  to leave a little bit of a gap between full release and addition to competitive play, allowing players to get some hands-on time and Blizzard to identify any lingering bugs before shaking up the game mode where results are most important.

The length of the delay period has been adjusted several times, in some cases – as with hero 28 Brigitte being as long as an entire competitive season. 

Now, however, Blizzard seems to have settled on two weeks as a happy medium between not disrupting competitive play too much and still keeping the competitive playlist feeling up-to-date with the broader state of the game.

Ashe’s Coach Gun has a lot of uses, both knocking enemies back and sending Ashe flying in the opposite direction.

Ashe has proven hugely popular since her announcement, both in her own right and for the inclusion of B.O.B., her sidekick and ultimate ability, who was an immediate fan-favorite upon his reveal.

• Read more: Overwatch League post-Season One transfer list *updating*

In the two weeks she’s been available on the live servers, players have already discovered a variety of clever tactics to get the most out of her abilities, from earning early ultimate charge to escaping D.Va’s self-destruct, and even how to tell exactly when her hip-fire recoil resets.

These nuances are the sorts of things that Ashe players will be looking to take advantage of to find an edge in competitive play now that she’s available on the ladder.