Graffiti – Tracer
Seeing as how she’s Overwatch’s poster child, it’s a bit disappointing that Tracer doesn’t seem to have an impressive collection of skins in the game. For the most part her skins range in quality from okay to pretty good. but nothing seems to do her fun-loving personality any real justice. Fortunately, things changed when her Graffiti skin was introduced as a part of the Overwatch Anniversary event.
This skin reimagines Tracer as a graffiti artist and even replaces her pulse pistols with her new “tracemakers,” which are one of the best features of the entire skin. Her new spray paint-fueled pistols simply look amazing and work well with her gas mask and oversized hoodie to bring the entire graffiti artist theme together. Tracer always deserved a skin that looked urban and hip, so it’s about time she finally got it.
Grillmaster 76 – Soldier: 76
This year’s Summer Games event gave Soldier: 76 a particularly impressive skin that really captures the essence of how the Overwatch community views him. Long before this skin existed, fan art and community forums tossed around the idea that Soldier: 76 was the resident dad of the group. Blizzard tapped into this perception by adding a fun Halloween spray that featured Soldier: 76 slumped in a rocking chair and a voice line where he instructed kids to get off his lawn.
This all pales in comparison to the sheer levels of dad-ness present in the Grillmaster 76 skin. Complete with socks and sandals, a grilling apron with tons of utensils hanging from the front, and typical dad sunglasses, this skin is packed with personality. Perhaps the best features, however, come in the form of the various voice lines that are altered when wearing the skin and the salt shaker detail on Soldier’s assault rifle that is deemed “a salt rifle.” It just works on so many levels.
Alpine: 76 – Soldier: 76
Soldier: 76 is another hero that seemed to be an Overwatch poster child yet didn’t have any really great skins. While the Grillmaster: 76 skin did a wonderful job of creating a fun version of the Overwatch agent that captured the community’s perception of him, Soldier: 76 still didn’t have a skin that just made him seem like a cool hero.
While his Evil Kenevil skins were fun, it still seemed like opting for one of the more standard skins was the best way to go if you wanted a version of Soldier that felt more serious. This makes Alpine: 76 such a welcomed addition to his collection of skins. This Winter Wonderland skin makes Soldier: 76 look like some sort of cool android who stepped out of your wildest sci-fi dreams. It’s finally another more serious skin for him that captures the side of his personality that tends to read a bit cold at times (no pun intended).
Lifeguard – McCree
If there was an award for an Overwatch skin that sparked the best reaction from the community, Lifeguard McCree would definitely be a key contender. McCree’s raspy voice and nonchalant attitude gave him a very serious persona that is a harsh contrast to the version of him we see in the Lifeguard skin.
McCree loses all the cowboy apparel for swimming trunks, a flare gun, water bottles, and a belt that reminds you he’s taking a break from being bad in exchange for being safe. The new look for McCree caused quite an uproar in the community as players reacted to his exposed, surprisingly slender legs and the fact that Overwatch’s resident sultry-toned cowboy was now shirtless. The best final touch comes in the form of the beachball that replaces the usual tumbleweed when McCree activates his ult.
Winged Victory – Mercy
Mercy was already gifted with the best skin of 2016 in the form of Witch Mercy, but 2017 marked another great year for Overwatch’s resident guardian angel. The Summer Games 2017 event introduced the Winged Victory skin for Mercy, which reimagines her as a Grecian goddess. Just like her Halloween Terror Witch skin, Winged Victory has a level of detail that you can’t help but applaud.
Whether you’re taking a close look at her headpiece or spending time admiring the new additions to Caduceus Staff, you’ll find plenty of nice touches that really bring this skin together. The highest praise, however, has to go to whoever set off on a mission to make the first pair of completely open foot high heel sandals and actually made it work.
Oasis – Symmetra
After Symmetra received an entire rework to her kit, Overwatch players started utilizing her more and more. More players using her meant that more were now eager to get their hands on a new Symmetra skin. Overwatch’s developers promised that Symmetra fans would be pleased in 2017, and they certainly lived up to their promise.
Symmetra received a stunning skin called Oasis during the game’s anniversary event and it’s by far one of the best skins in the entire game. It has a look that is sophisticated, elegant, and futuristic while also giving a lovely nod to Symmetra’s cultural background. Oasis has plenty of details to admire and a color scheme that feels fittingly regal for this particular character.
Cultist – Zenyatta
Zenyatta is a bit spoiled in the skin department, as this is one support hero who has plenty of amazing skins to choose from. Admittedly, Zenyatta’s base character design from is so impressive that it’s probably easy to come up with new ways to make him look even more impressive. One of his best new new looks comes in the form of the Cultist skin.
This skin features a beautiful rich purple and green color scheme, eyeballs on his orbs that actively blink, a set of tentacles that have their own constant movement, and a heavy chain wrapped around Zenyatta’s waist to underscore the idea that he is now a creature who has broken free of its restraints. The skin reimagines Zenyatta in such a new, fresh light that if he weren’t floating through the air it would be almost impossible to identify him. The skin also comes with new voice lines that move Zenyatta away from his usual messages of peace and tranquility.
Rime – Sombra
The Overwatch team was pretty busy ahead of the holiday season and it shows. The Winter Wonderland event introduced an impressive collection of new skins that all seemed particularly detailed and well thought-out. Perhaps the most impressive of these skins was Sombra’s.
The Rime skin turns everyone’s favorite hacker into some sort of half-human, half-ice dragon attack hero with a touch of Halle Berry in there just for good measure. The actual icy fog pouring off of her in this skin is just another nice touch that Blizzard has never forgotten when it comes to their ice-themed skins. Rime is simply another skin packed with small, meaningful detail that really pulled an entire concept together beautifully.
Snow Owl – Ana
The best designs in Overwatch are ones with interesting aesthetics, great detail, and the ability to capture the personality of our favorite heroes in a way that is immediately recognizable. Snow Owl gets an A+ in all these categories. The very concept of a snow owl skin for the Winter Wonderland event is a nice touch but to assign this skin to Ana, the wise and watchful eye over the Overwatch team, was a brilliant decision.
The skin features a beautiful owl design for the helmet while also adding large talons to Ana’s feet. The owl-inspired details continue unto the sleeves and tail of her coat and even appear on as a new design featured on the side of her sniper rifle. As if that wasn’t enough, turning Ana around will reveal a piece of armor crafted to look like an owl resting on her back. It could sound like a bit of owl-overload but when you actually lay your eyes on the design itself, it feels sophisticated and well-balanced.
Dragon – Symmetra
The Overwatch team didn’t stop with one jaw-dropping skin for Symmetra. They decided this support character was worthy of having two of the overall best skins in the game. Overwatch’s Halloween Terror event introduced yet another jaw-dropping skin for Symmetra. This time Symmetra joins Dr. Junkenstein’s crew as an evil dragon who is also so sexy that you aren’t sure if you even want to fight her anymore.
The new design for Symmetra’s head is easily one of the best parts of the entire skin. There is such a clean transition from where Symmetra’s face ends and the dragon detail begins that allows her to keep the dragon aesthetic without losing any of the regal beauty her character is supposed to have. The placement of the wings around her waist is another beautiful touch. Combined with the texture on her skin, the new coloration of her eyes, fiery details along her chest and arms, Symmetra’s Dragon skin is easily one of the most impressive and captivating skins in the entire game.
