When new support hero Juno was first previewed at BlizzCon 2023, under the nickname “Space Ranger,” the Overwatch community was immediately obsessed. Well, some of the community was obsessed.
Fine, I was obsessed. And now the eight-month wait to learn more about her has come to an exciting end, with Juno showing up in a limited-time trial from June 19-21.
Blizzard released an announcement trailer today, including previews of her abilities. Juno’s passive ability allows her to double jump and to hover when players hold the jump input. She wields a “Mediblaster” that can heal allies or damage enemies with burst fire; a Glide Boost that gives her vertical mobility; and Pulsar Torpedoes that lock on to heal allies over time while hurting enemies. Juno also carries a Hyper Ring that gives your team a speed boost for running through, and an Orbital Ray ultimate ability that heals allies and boosts their damage (in the video, it shows that the Orbital Ray also lets Mei punch Mauga in the jaw).
New support heroes are arguably the most influential changes to the Overwatch game. The additions of Ana, Brigitte and Kiriko, in particular, drastically warped the kinds of team compositions that people played — in organized play as well as the regular match-made chaos. Support heroes typically have more utility tied to their abilities, which enables them to influence the game beyond just damage and healing. There are also fewer support heroes in the game than in any other role, with tank and damage players having about twice as many options per player as supports do, so every new support is a step toward balancing that out. Juno joins Kiriko, Lifeweaver and Illari as new supports added since the launch of Overwatch 2.
For Juno specifically, her Hyper Ring ability is a big deal because it’s one of very few abilities that can increase other heroes’ speed. Lucio and Junker Queen have abilities that amplify speed, and Kiriko’s Kitsune Rush ultimate does as well. Speed boosts are a powerful ability in Overwatch, allowing close-ranged heroes to quickly close distances or entire teams to swiftly back away from ultimates and other dangerous situations. The possibility of running Lucio and Juno as a support line and having two speed boosts available could drastically change the game.
Juno will officially join the roster at the start of season 12 on Aug. 20, but if you’re willing to brave long queue times to fight over her in hero selection, you can try her out this weekend.
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