Chapter 420: Original Hero Dragon Girl Ao Wei
Soon, the line drafts and detailed settings for each hero were completed, and various map scenes were also in production.
Currently, Chen Mo’s team had already developed two VR games, and the mechanics of related skills had been laid out by *League of Legends* as a foundation. It could be said that making *Overwatch* presented no major difficulties. The only challenge was that the team had never worked on an FPS game before, but that wasn’t an insurmountable problem.
For the first version of *Overwatch*, Chen Mo planned to create 23 heroes, 22 of which were the original heroes from *Overwatch*, up to Ana.
Additionally, Chen Mo intended to create an original Chinese-style hero: Dragon Girl Ao Wei.
In *Overwatch*, the brothers Genji and Hanzo were heroes with a Japanese background, using the imagery of a ninja and a ronin, respectively. However, the element of the “dragon” was assigned to these two Japanese characters.
Of course, Chinese dragons typically have four or five toes, while the Shimada dragons are standard three-toed dragons, matching the basic characteristics of Japanese dragons, indicating that the two are different.
Still, no matter how you look at it, incorporating dragon culture but giving it to Japanese characters instead of Chinese characters was indefensible in Chen Mo’s view.
So, Chen Mo decided to add an extra hero to the 22, Dragon Girl Ao Wei, as a supplement.
Ao Wei’s backstory was set as the last descendant of the Chinese dragon clan. Her body had already decayed, but her soul remained trapped in an altar at the bottom of the sea. A Chinese scientific expedition team ventured into the depths of the East China Sea, and the explorer Ao Wei dove to the seabed, reclaiming the divine dragon power of her past life.
Ao Wei was a dual-form hero, able to freely switch between two characteristics: Assault and Support, known as [Thunder Form] and [Rain Form].
In Thunder Form, Ao Wei’s basic attack was to quickly throw a bolt of lightning at the target, stacking a [Thunder Talisman] mark on the enemy. When the marks stacked to a certain number, the enemy would be temporarily paralyzed, with reduced movement speed. If the enemy used a cold weapon as a melee weapon, it would also briefly lock their basic attacks.
The special attack in Thunder Form created a thundercloud in a small area, dealing continuous damage to nearby enemies and continuously stacking the [Thunder Talisman] mark effect. Using it again during the duration would trigger a thunderstorm and detonate all marks.
Ao Wei’s two special skills were [Cloud Ride] and [Weave Mist].
[Cloud Ride] made Ao Wei’s movement speed faster and allowed her to fly freely, even ascending straight up and down to reach taller buildings. It had a short duration and a cooldown.
[Weave Mist] created a cloud of mist that enveloped herself, temporarily granting damage reduction and switching forms.
In Rain Form, Ao Wei’s basic attack was to quickly throw a stream of water at the target, restoring a small amount of health to allied heroes and stacking a [Rain Talisman] mark. Only effective healing could stack the marks. When the marks stacked to a certain number, the ally would receive a burst of healing and a temporary movement speed boost.
The special attack created a rain cloud in a small area, providing continuous healing to allies within range and continuously stacking the [Rain Talisman] mark effect. Using it again during the duration would trigger a healing rain, detonating all marks.
Ao Wei’s ultimate ability was [True Dragon Form]. In this form, Ao Wei transformed into a divine dragon spirit, significantly increasing her health. She could temporarily soar through the air and traverse any terrain (but not burrow underground).
In Thunder Form, Ao Wei’s entire body would be wrapped in lightning, dealing continuous damage to nearby enemies. In Rain Form, Ao Wei would provide continuous healing to nearby allied units.
Additionally, during the ultimate’s duration, Ao Wei could choose to instantly consume all her dragon god power, creating a thunderstorm or healing rain over a large area (depending on the current form).
Since the “Dragon Girl” image was already widespread in domestic games, the character design was not difficult.
Ao Wei’s appearance shared similarities with the Dragon Girl from *Dou Zhan Shen*: a long black ponytail, a pair of dragon horns on her forehead, and a red thunder mark.
She wore a black veil covering her face, and her clothing was primarily black, clean and sharp, adorned with golden dragon scales.
Moreover, Ao Wei’s design would inherit the consistent traits of female characters in *Overwatch*—namely, very alluring chest and hips.
Additionally, in both forms, Ao Wei’s appearance would change slightly. In Thunder Form, the main color was black, with lightning effects swirling around her body. In Rain Form, the main color was white, with water flow effects swirling around her.
At the same time, Ao Wei’s voice lines included some Easter eggs related to Mei and the Shimada brothers.
If Ao Wei became a teammate of the Shimada brothers, she would say: “Treasure the dragon god power in your hands; it is meant to protect this world.”
If Ao Wei killed the Shimada brothers, she would say: “The dragon god power that drifted to foreign lands can never defeat the orthodox.”
Furthermore, since Ao Wei and Mei were both Chinese heroes and members of the scientific expedition, they had a very close relationship. In addition to dialogue Easter eggs, there was a hidden Easter egg: when Mei had Ao Wei’s Rain Talisman effect on her, her Cryo-Freeze would have a longer duration.
Ao Wei’s inclusion was also meant to give domestic players an explanation. Blizzard’s *Overwatch* gave the dragon imagery to Japanese characters. If Chen Mo copied that directly, he might be harshly criticized by some domestic players.
…
As the year-end approached, no new games were released, and players generally had more free time.
The *League of Legends* World Finals from October to November had generated a huge wave of buzz, but after the finals, *League of Legends* entered a period of stability.
Starting in November, there were basically two major events worth looking forward to in the gaming industry: the game exhibition in January and the annual game awards ceremony before the Spring Festival.
For most players, they didn’t care much about the annual game awards ceremony, nor which game won. However, the YouPlay exhibition in January was a hot topic of discussion among many players.
“Are you going to YouPlay this year?”
“Yeah, it’s probably the last big event before the Spring Festival, right? Why wouldn’t I go?”
“This year, I feel like there aren’t any games that are particularly exciting.”
“True, the games that Dizhao Interactive and Chanyi Interactive released this year weren’t that interesting. But let’s go check it out anyway. Maybe there will be some games launching next year that we can try out?”
“Chen Mo should be at this exhibition too, right? This year, *League of Legends* has completely dominated the PC side. Thunder Interactive is practically a giant in the domestic market now.”
“But what is there to show at the exhibition? *League of Legends*? We’re tired of playing it at home. Do we keep playing it at the exhibition?”
“Uh, let’s go see. Maybe Chen Mo has made some new game.”
“That’s unlikely. He was busy with the finals for so long. It’s only been a little over two months until January. What could he have made?”
“Even a demo would be fine. Or we could play the new games from Dizhao and Chanyi. That’d be good too.”
“Yeah, let’s go check it out together then.”