Wrecking Ball

Wrecking Ball
"Do not anger the hamster." "Weapons linked." "Engaging." "Control link established."
Real Name	PH Hammond
Status	Active
Age	14
Occupation	Mech Pilot, Mechanic
Base	Horizon Lunar Colony (formerly) Junkertown (formerly)
Affiliation	None
Voice	Hammond: Dee Bradley Baker Wrecking Ball: Jonathan Lipow
Quotes	Quotation page
Role	Tank
Health	500 (Open queue) 650 (Role queue)
Armor	100

Wrecking Ball is a Tank hero in Overwatch.

Overview

Wrecking Ball’s tinkering capabilities and iron-clad mech make him a formidable tank hero, capable of bowling through the front line of the opposition and causing mayhem in the back line. His primary weapon, Quad Cannons, are two sets of twin machine guns that shred enemies caught in their crosshairs. No team is too much for Wrecking Ball to engage against with his Adaptive Shield, which generates more health based on the number of enemies nearby. This shield makes him incredibly difficult to kill when he bulldozes into the fray and, once he starts to get low on health, also provides him the endurance to escape. The Rollability allows Wrecking Ball to withdraw the mech’s robotic limbs, transforming it into a ball with increased movement speed. No obstacle can stand in Wrecking Ball’s way when he uses Grappling Claw, a short-range ability that grips the environment, letting him swing across terrain gaps or around corners to smash enemies. Grappling Claw also allows Wrecking Ball to reach top speed and ram into foes, dealing destructive damage and knocking them back. While airborne, the mech’s Piledriver ability causes Wrecking Ball to slam down from the air and knock his enemies off their feet.

When Wrecking Ball is at his strongest, he can use Minefield which flings mines onto the ground that deal a considerable amount of damage to enemies unfortunate enough to trigger them.

Abilities

Quad Cannons

Type

Weapon (Primary Fire)

Effect Type

Hitscan

Automatic assault weapons.

Damage:

5 per shot

Headshot:

✓

Rate of fire:

25 shots per second

Ammo:

80

Spread angle:

~2 degrees

Grappling Claw

Type

Secondary Fire

Launch a grappling claw to rapidly swing around the area. Enables high speed collisions to damage and knockback enemies.

Duration:

1.5 seconds (after release)

Max. range:

18 meters

Area of effect:

6 meters

Move. speed:

20 meters per second

Cooldown:

5 seconds

• Details

Ability details:

• Attaches to a surface, allowing Wrecking Ball to swing around the point of contact.
• Grappling Claw's radius is capped at 6 meters when rolling away from the point of tethering. However, it is possible to exceed this limit by grappling to the surface from further than 6 meters away.
• If cast in Quadruped mode, Wrecking Ball enters Roll.

Roll

1 second

Type

Ability

Transform into a ball and increase maximum movement speed.

Damage:

~50 (when at high speed)

Move. speed:

10 meters per second

• Details

Ability details:

• Can be cast while in midair.
• Can reload while in Roll.

Piledriver

10 seconds

Type

Ability

Effect Type

Melee Area of Effect

Slam into the ground below to damage and launch enemies upward.

Damage:

100

Falloff range:

10 damage per meter

Area of effect:

10 meters

• Details

Ability details:

• Bound to Crouch/Toggle Crouch.
• 10 meter minimum cast height.

Adaptive Shield

15 seconds

Type

Ability

Create temporary personal shields. Amount increases with more enemies nearby.

Health:

+100 barriers, +100 per enemy within radius

Duration:

7 seconds

Area of effect:

7 meters

• Details

Ability details:

• If cast during Roll, Wrecking Ball is forced into Quadruped mode.

Minefield

Q

1400 points

Type

Ultimate Ability

Deploy a massive field of proximity mines.

Damage:

130 per mine

Health:

~50 per mine

Duration:

20 seconds

Area of effect:

6 meters

• Details

Ability details:

• Deploys 15 proximity mines around him, each exploding on contact with an enemy.
• The mines are arranged in a circular pattern of 1/6/8 mines per circle.

Story

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. As an unexpected side effect, several of them exhibited exceptional growth in physical size and brain function. While most of the test subjects were gorillas or other primates, there were some exceptions, including a hamster named Hammond.

Before the base's fall, Hammond escaped from his cage. Dr. Zhang noted his absence, but few within the base gave it much heed. Hammond possibly escaped into the base's ventilation system, as in the same timeframe, Flores noted strange noises coming from the system.

Like the others, Hammond's intelligence grew, and he became more curious about the world around him. Much to the puzzlement and amusement of the scientists, Hammond would frequently escape into different parts of the moon base. Though they'd always find him and return him to his cell, they never figured out the true purpose behind his nightly escapades. What they didn't know was that Hammond was busy teaching himself the skills of a mechanic, which would soon come in handy.

In time, Hammond became good friends with one of the gorillas, Specimen 28.

Hammond then seemingly engineered an escape pod using his hamster ball, a claw arm, and a wench, piggybacking on Winston's shuttle to flee the moon.

The colony was eventually thrown into chaos when some of the gorillas rose up against the human scientists and took control. Not all of the animals participated, however, and Specimen 28, taking the name "Winston", was making a plan to escape to Earth. Hammond sensed his opportunity. He built an escape pod and secretly hitched it to Winston's craft as the gorilla blasted off. As the two entered Earth's atmosphere, Hammond's pod broke off; while Winston landed at Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Hammond landed in a different location: the wasteland of the Australian Outback, on the outskirts of Junkertown.

Years later, Lucheng Interstellar was able to retrieve information from Horizon's still-operating monitoring system. Hammond was noted to be missing from the base.

He made a name for himself amongst the Junkers in the Scrapyard by piloting his own mech, Wrecking Ball, eventually being crowned champion.

Hammond modified his escape pod to enter the lucrative mech battle arena of the Scrapyard. Working his way up the ranks, "Wrecking Ball" went from contender to champion and had fun winning numerous times, though the pilot's identity remained a mystery to all. Gathering his winnings, Hammond was able to upgrade his mech enough to survive the dangerous trek out of the Junker-controlled Outback.

Now free to travel and do as he pleases, Hammond is exploring the world and finding new adventures along the way.

Trivia

• As of the release of the 1.25 Patch, a new room was added to Horizon Lunar Colony besides Winston's room with the text "Specimen 8" written on the door, confirming that this was Hammond's room.
• Hammond's name and species can be a joke related to Top Gear/ Grand Tour's Richard Hammond, who is sometimes referred to as "the Hamster". Its also notable that both drive fast vehicles.
• The number 8 is painted on its chassis, referencing Hammond's official designation: Specimen 8.
• An Overwatch tweet was released containing a video that featured several posters on a wall, one of which was a Horizon commercial displaying most likely a chimpanzee or a similar specimen flying in space. This led to speculation that this was teasing Hammond as a playable hero.