The first post-launch character coming to Overwatch is Ana, a support hero who uses her sniper rifle to heal her allies, Blizzard Entertainment revealed today. Blizzard describes Ana as a "battle-scarred veteran who supports her teammates from a distance using a unique and highly specialized collection of weapons."

Ana's primary weapon is her Biotic Rifle. The gun fires long-range darts that heal her allies and deal damage to her foes. She's also equipped with a Biotic Grenade. As seen in her debut gameplay video above, Ana's Biotic Grenade, like her rifle, heals teammates and damages enemies caught in its small area of effect. For a brief period, the grenade also boosts all incoming healing for allies and prevents enemies from being healed — bad news for opposing Roadhog and Soldier: 76 players.

She'll also be armed with a Sleep Dart, which can knock enemies unconscious for a brief period. As seen in the above, expect many an ultimate ability to be summarily shut down by quick-thinking Ana players.

Ana's own ultimate, Nano Boost, sees her fire a dart at an ally and grant them faster movement, increased damage and improved resistance to incoming attacks.

In addition to showing how Overwatch's new character plays, Blizzard also delves into her backstory in a new origin video.

Players who've been following Overwatch's lore likely already know that Ana is the mother of another playable character, Pharah. Ana also has close ties to other Overwatch veterans, including Gabriel "Reaper" Reyes and Jack "Soldier: 76" Morrison, which Blizzard teased last week.

Ana clearly has some history with an Overwatch character, rival sniper Widowmaker, who appears responsible for the loss of her right eye. We'll have to wait for the release of Ana and all the colorful dialogue that characters exchange during the game to learn a bit more about her relationships with the rest of the cast.

Blizzard will release Ana and other additional characters for Overwatch for free.

For a closer look at Ana, check out a batch of screenshots in the gallery below.

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Ana gameplay