Ana Amari: Sniper of Life and Death
Ana Amari was one of the first agents of the global peacekeeping organization known as Overwatch. She was their finest sniper, which earned Ana the respect and admiration of her comrades. Her most avid supporter was, of course, her young daughter Fareeha. However, as the years passed, Ana slowly became disillusioned by her task of saving lives at the cost of others. The life of a sniper also put a strain on her relationship with her daughter. It all came to a head when Ana failed to take out an enemy sniper, costing her comrades the mission and, nearly, her life.
Ana was presumed dead by her comrades. She eventually recovered after years of being hospitalized. Estranged from her beloved daughter, and with nothing but her trusty rifle and chemical arsenal as companions, she has returned as a bounty hunter. She’s ready to track down dangerous quarry and bring them back dead or alive… and perhaps patch things up with Fareeha.
Mending from far away
Ana has a unique set of skills that allow her to support her team both in terms of damage and healing. This makes her an interesting addition to the Overwatch lineup on top of creating a new breed of sniper.
The Biotic Rifle allows the grizzled sniper to take out enemies from afar or top off ailing allies from a safe distance. Unlike most rifles in a sniper’s arsenal, the Biotic Rifle cannot land any headshots. It can, however, heal any friendly hero within the triangular reticule of the scope; a small area of effect that can help sustain multiple heroes. This makes it possible for Ana to mend the wounds of flankers and assassins, even as they jump and blink around their foes from far away.
Amongst Ana’s handy chemical arsenal is the Biotic Grenade. The grenade is also capable of healing allies and damaging foes within the bomb’s blast radius. Friendlies caught within the AoE will receive a buff that doubles the potency of all healing effects for a short duration. Enemy heroes, on the other hand, will receive a debuff that negates their healing for the same duration. Because this ability is powerful, the developers gave it a fairly long cooldown period. Use this sparingly!
Part of being a bounty hunter is having the option of taking in your marks alive. In such scenarios, Ana can deploy a pistol that fires a Sleep Dart to knock out a target for a brief time. This unique disabling ability allows Ana to temporarily take out tanks from the fight so the her team can focus on the squishies behind. The Dart can also interrupt high-value targets from using or completing their ultimate abilities; saving the lives of her comrades or turning the tide of a fight. The Sleep Dart, we note, also has a substantial cooldown and must be used wisely.
The Nano Boost is Ana’s ultimate ability. With a dart fired from her left forearm, the sniper gives the friendly hero a massive boost in in damage, speed, and durability for a short period of time. The character preview shows it turning a Reinhardt into a walking wrecking ball, capable of taking down high-health or armored heroes with a swing of the Rocket Hammer.
