[9], Due to Wrecking Ball having two sets of voice lines (one for Hammond's squeaks, another for the mech's translation), Blizzard had to rework the system that characters would use at the start of matches to account for Wrecking Ball's lines. His high dependency on his abilities and mobility makes him a sitting target when they are being limited or disabled. He went missing just before the apes rose an uprising against the scientists, attached his pod with Winston's and traveled to Earth, Junkertown is Wrecking Ball’s new home. Quad Cannons automatically reload if Wrecking Ball is in Roll mode. [7] The colony was eventually thrown into chaos when some of the gorillas rose up against the human scientists and took control. This page was last edited on 17 September 2020, at 08:22. [16][1][12][2] In the game's story, Hammond is a hamster and one of the test subjects at the Horizon Lunar Colony, given heightened intelligence by the human scientists, from which he gained a liking for mechanics. Deploys 15 proximity mines around him, arranged into three rings of 1/6/8 mines. [7] One track was for a demolitionist character which would ultimately become Junkrat. Getting. His high speed also allows him to disengage fights quickly. Mines emit a high-pitched noise to nearby enemies. [18] This also enables the player using Wrecking Ball to pull off previously unused flanks on certain maps, which some gaming journalists expect to affect the metagame of Overwatch. He modified the escape pod to become a battle mech, through which he competed in Junkertown's robot combat arena under the ring name Wrecking Ball, becoming its champion. Wrecking Ball rolls faster when going downhill. Roll and Adaptive Shield help to survive and disengage. Developer Comment: Wrecking Ball has a very active playstyle, but it often felt difficult to make good use out of his ultimate. These shields do not give the enemy team ultimate charge, meaning Wrecking Ball can engage without the fear of charging enemy ultimates. As an unexpected side effect, several of them exhibited exceptional growth in physical size and brain function. Due to its low damage, fast fire rate, and relatively low ammo, it is meant for short engagements. [2][3], Hammond does not speak human languages, however the Wrecking Ball mech translates his voice into English. At this point, the groups working on these two tracks came up with the idea of making a robotic hamster to be combined with the spherical tank idea, playing off the idea of a hamster ball. Both work best when moving around, thus is different from the standard stand and plant tank. Wrecking Ball can contest the objective, damage and knock back enemies, and build ultimate charge while doing this. [6] Writer Arnold Tsang said that the idea came from two different tracks of thoughts when they were designing the first set of characters of Overwatch. Use Grappling Claw and Piledriver to roll through masses of enemies to quickly gain ultimate charge and scattering the enemy team. A Wrecking Ball funko pop figurine (based on his biohazard skin) will go on sale at the October 2019 NYCC. [19][20] PC Gamer described the character as the game's most inventive. If Wrecking Ball uses Minefield while in the air, the mines become more spread out and more area is covered. [6] They were able to revisit the robotic hamster idea, but to fit into the Horizon setting, made the hamster a living creature - one of the Horizon test subjects with boosted intelligence - and gave him the spherical mech to pilot. By attaching to a pillar or even the payload, terrain permitting, Wrecking Ball can swing indefinitely. While designing Wrecking Ball's legendary skins, because the hero concept was already quite different from the other heroes in the game, they decided to ground his default legendary skins in the existing Overwatch story, with his Junker skin reflecting his time as the Champion of the Scrapyard and his Lunar skin reflecting his time as an experimental test subject on the Horizon Lunar Colony.[8]. The dual machine guns deployed in walker mode provide a hitscan-ranged att… While most of the test subjects were gorillas or other primates, there were some exceptions, including a hamster designated Specimen 8,[4] but whom the staff named "Hammond". Overwatch's Latest Hero Is Wrecking Ball, A Hamster In A Mech, Developer Update | Introducing Wrecking Ball | Overwatch, NEW DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT POSSIBLE FATE OF HORIZON LUNAR COLONY, Wrecking Ball Live-Drawing & Art Discussion, https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/9g801z/til_if_you_play_the_ow_theme_on_dorados_bells/, NYCC 2019 Exclusive: Biohazard Wrecking Ball, https://overwatch.gamepedia.com/Wrecking_Ball?oldid=118414. As Wrecking Ball was designed to fare well in clusters of opponents, the design team ultimately went with shields boosted in accordance with the number of nearby opponents. By jumping off the payload, Wrecking Ball gains enough height to use Piledriver. Minefield is extremely valuable while in overtime since it can deny access to the objective. Working his way up the ranks amongst the Junkers, the competitor known as "Wrecking Ball" went from contender to champion and had fun winning numerous times,[10][11][4] though the pilot's identity remained a mystery to all. Wrecking Ball is one of the heroes of Overwatch. As much fun as he had, Hammond never considered himself to be a Junker. Wrecking Ball's large hitbox makes him susceptible to all stun abilities. Knock back and damage is only applied when Wrecking Ball is powered-up (shown via a "fireball" effect). (a nil value). He built a makeshift capsule and secretly hitched it to Winston's craft as the gorilla blasted off. Enough of Wrecking Ball's physics were conducted server side for consistent behavior for all players. Coincidently, Richard Hammond's fellow host, The "Hamster Ball" spray shows him spinning in a ball like Sonic from, The "Hoard" spray is very likely a reference to, The "Pilot" spray is likely a reference to. Both are very Crowd Control-focused heroes. Goodman said that Wrecking Ball is still fragile, as if the character is trapped or slowed, it becomes very easy to take down. Enemies are launched into the air, making them easy targets for Quad Cannons. Wrecking Ball’s automatic assault cannons tear apart threats at medium range. He can do so at will by switching between walker and ball mode as the situation changes. He is a resourceful tinkerer with remarkable mechanic skills, who is rolling around the world seeking out his next challenge to overcome. Blizzard then received an audition tape from Dee Bradley Baker, a voice actor well-known for his work doing animal sounds, and Blizzard changed direction to incorporate Baker's lines. [12][2], Within gameplay, Wrecking Ball's Grappling Hook ability was described as a positive addition to the game by gaming journalists. Despite more enemies generating more shields, Wrecking Ball is much more susceptible to damage. The colony was eventually thrown into chaos when some of the gorillas rose up against the human scientists and took control. Wrecking Ball transforms into a ball, increasing his maximum movement speed. In one of the many experiments carried out at Horizon Lunar Colony, animals were given genetic therapy to assess their adaptation to extended periods of habitation on the moon. [22][23], While many journalists were struck by the outlandish premise of a hamster commandeering a mecha robot,[17][14][24] the character's introduction was well-received by the game's community. First two shots have perfect accuracy; bullet spread reaches max at 20 shots. Affected enemies are knocked into the air, and they lose air control for 0.5 seconds. Wrecking Ball also has an "Adaptive Shield" ability, which adds temporary shields based on the count of nearby enemies. Coordinate with your team when using Piledriver, as it can deny friendly ultimates (such as Earthshatter) if mistimed.