Overwatch 2’s Space Ranger is called Juno and you can play her this weekend

Blizzard has revealed Overwatch 2’s 41st hero, Juno, and players won’t have to wait long to get their hands on her. 

The new support character, originally codenamed Space Ranger at BlizzCon 2023, will be made available this weekend as part of a limited-time hero trial that’ll run from Friday, July 19 to Sunday, July 22. After that, she’ll go away until Season 12, where Juno will be made available permanently on August 20.

This follows a recent Overwatch tradition of giving players time with a hero before they launch. This started with Mauga, continued with Venture, and now, will solidify a tradition with Juno. 

These trial periods are great as players get to try the new hero, and Blizzard’s Team 4 gets to see the character in a live environment, making adjustments to their power depending on if they land too strong or a little underwhelming. 

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Juno though, is her zippy, and movement-focused kit. 

Juno looks to be a healer all about movement

Thanks to a gameplay trailer released as part of her reveal, we also have a good idea of her abilities. It appears that Juno is going to be a pretty mobile support, able to float around, glide, and even speed up her team. 

Her primary weapon is a Mediblaster. It appears to be a hybrid burst pistol that heals allies and damages enemies when shot. She also has a Glide Boost, which gives her a small burst into the air. It appears Juno can then glide around from there. 

Another one of her abilities is the Pulsar Torpedos. These lock on to all enemies and allies, sending auto-aiming torpedoes that damage enemies and heal allies. 

Her other ability is Hyper Ring, which allows her and her allies to pass through, giving them a speed boost. Interestingly, she is paired with Lucio in the trailer too. It’s not clear if you went through the Hyper Ring and used Speed Boost at the same time if those abilities stack, but if so, expect to see teams absolutely zooming around maps. 

Her ultimate, Orbital Ray, takes a page out of Gears of War’s Hammer of Dawn by creating an enormous beam from space. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to blow up entire cities this time around.

However, interestingly, it seems to both potentially damage enemies and boost her allies in some manner. Her teammates get blue auras, which is new for Overwatch 2. The color is closely associated with Nano-boost though, so it is reasonable to guess this will somehow enhance teammates.

Overall, her kit looks quite fun, and mobility is always a fun avenue for heroes in Overwatch 2. Blizzard will have a tightrope to walk balancing Juno’s abilities that both heal and damage, as that’s a lot of health manipulation at once. However, test weekends are meant for finding anything that’s egregious, so hopefully, she arrives in Season 12 nice and balanced.