Overwatch 2’s brand-new Support hero, Illari, joins the fight with a rather unique detail. Beyond the intricacies of her kit, the character model itself involves plenty more than first meets the eye.
With the launch of Season 6: Invasion, Overwatch 2 has officially entered its second year. And with the anniversary comes a range of new content including the first batch of PVE Story Missions, a new core game mode, and of course, a new hero as well.
Illari joins the mix as the game’s 10th Support hero, following on from recent additions Lifeweaver and Kiriko. Boasting a unique kit that blends damaging abilities with friendly healing powers too, there’s plenty for newfound Illari-mains to wrap their heads around.
Though looking past the new slate of abilities, it appears Illari’s very character model features a uniquely hidden detail, one that changes her appearance depending on where she’s standing on any given map.
while playing ILLARI, step in the shadows and walk outside the sun in any map and see if you notice anything "interesting" Started as a random idea I threw in one of our meetings and boom our incredible team made it happen ! custom sun shader ☀️#illari #overwatch2 pic.twitter.com/8dfHvO8GEp
— Rakan Khamash (@RakanKhamash) August 10, 2023
Some eagle-eyed players may have spotted it already, but Senior Character Artist Rakan Khamash revealed the subtle detail for all to appreciate soon after Illari’s debut.
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It turns out, the character’s appearance changes ever so slightly if she’s hidden from direct sunlight. Should Illari be out in the open, her character model appears as normal. But step into some shade and her design pivots to a new enlightened look.
Given Illari is uniquely powered by solar energy, when not in direct sunlight, the hero seemingly burns through some of her stored energy. As a result, an element embedded on her forehead begins to illuminate, as do her earrings.
Step back out into the sun and these very subtle tweaks disappear. It’s a nifty detail Khamas claimed was a “random idea” in a meeting one day that turned into a real thing thanks to the “incredible” dev team.
For the first few days of Illari’s release, expect to see plenty of Supports on your teams dipping in and out of shadowy areas to try and spot the changes for themselves.