Assassins are specialist units of Talon. They appear at set intervals throughout Overwatch Retribution and Overwatch Storm Rising.

Summary

Assassins are encountered in Retribution and Storm Rising, appearing as the next special unit after the Sniper. They are characterized by manic, unhinged laughter, and appear as females with light armor and a pair of wrist blades.

Story

Like the Enforcers, Talon's assassins possess enhanced speed, stealth, and balance and have proven extremely elusive, as their movements are near impossible to track.^[1]

Tactics

Assassins appear in set locations throughout the scenario. Their attacks are heavily choreographed, and they are by far the easiest enemy the player will face. They will cling from wall to wall, blinking between walls three times before leaping to the ground, then dragging their blades along the ground as they charge towards a player. Once she reaches her target, she will stun them indefinitely until either her target dies, or an ally knocks her off. This can be accomplished with a melee attack.

Assassins are the last priority in a fight and can mostly be ignored. They are not a threat until they reach the ground, at which point either a Flashbang or a Swift Strike will disable them and force them to retreat back to a wall. When interrupted, they will stand still momentarily, giving the players time to finish them off.

As with other Talon enemies, Assassins are improved at higher difficulties, generally reacting and acting much more quickly than on lower difficulties. They also appear more often at higher difficulties.

Trivia

• The Assassin's abilities are inspired by early iterations of Genji, who at one point could cling to walls and had an ability that allowed him to trip an enemy and then instantly kill them with a sword strike if another enemy didn't interrupt the attack.^[2][3]
• In the Retribution trailer, the Assassins visibly leap from wall to wall, but in game they blink with an animation and sound effect similar to Tracer.
• The Assassins have a similar effect to enemies in other PVE shooters, such as the Hunter from Left 4 Dead or the Cloaker from Payday.

Gallery

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References