Moira

Moira
"Science will reveal the truth."
Real Name	Moira O'Deorain
Status	Active
Age	48
Nationality	Irish
Occupation	Geneticist Minister of Genetics
Base	Dublin, Ireland Oasis, Iraq
Affiliation	Blackwatch (formerly) Talon (council member)
Voice	Genevieve O'Reilly (English) Déborah Perret (French) Alexandra Lange (German) Li Shirong (Mandarin (China)) Fu Chi-huei Mie Sonozaki (Japanese) Lee Mi-na (Korean) Magdalena Cielecka (Polish) Isis Koschdoski (Brazilian Portuguese) Esther Solans (European Spanish) Marcella Silvestri (Italian)
Cosmetics	Cosmetic page
Quotes	Quotation page
Role	Support
Health	200
Character Video

Moira is a Support hero in Overwatch.

Overview

Moira’s biotic abilities enable her to contribute healing or damage in any crisis. While Biotic Grasp gives Moira short-range options, her Biotic Orbs contribute longer-range, hands-off damage and healing; she can also Fade to escape groups or remain close to allies in need of support. Once she’s charged Coalescence, Moira can save multiple allies from elimination at once or finish off weakened enemies.

Abilities

Biotic Grasp

Type

Weapon (Primary Fire)

Effect Type

Beam

Using her left hand, Moira expends biotic energy to heal allies in front of her.

Headshot:

✕

Healing:

70 per second, then lingers to heal 35 over 2 seconds

Ammo per shot:

12.5 energy per second

Ammo:

160 biotic energy

Cast time:

0.08 seconds for heal

Duration:

2 seconds (remainder)

Max. range:

15 meters

• Details

Ability details:

• Passes through allies and enemies, but not enemy barriers.
• Like Projectile, there is travel time for the spray to reach its destination.
• Collision against map geometry and enemy barriers is pinpoint, much like Reinhardts Fire Strike.
• Causes a heal over time that begins upon the last application of the spray healing. This allows Moira to heal without expending resources.
• Regenerates 3.84 biotic energy per second while inactive.
• Needs at least 8 biotic energy to activate.

Biotic Grasp

Type

Weapon (Secondary Fire)

Effect Type

Beam (no target indicator, soft lock-on)

Her right hand fires a long-range beam weapon that saps enemies’ health, healing Moira and replenishing her biotic energy.

Damage:

50 per second

Headshot:

✕

Healing:

24 per second (self)

Ammo:

∞

Max. range:

20 meters

• Details

Ability details:

• Like Targeted line of sight to an enemies center of mass is required to initiate and maintain the attack.
• Like Beam Biotic Grasp is unaffected by Deflect, Defense Matrix, and Kinetic Grasp.
• Self-healing and damage are completely separate. Altering the damage does not affect the self heal.
• Generates 21.875 biotic energy per second. When combined with the passive regeneration, this becomes 25.715 biotic energy per second (or 16% per second).

Biotic Orb

E

8 seconds

Type

Ability

Effect Type

Projectile

Moira launches a rebounding biotic sphere; she can choose between a regeneration effect that heals the allies it passes through, or a decay effect that deals damage to enemies.

Damage:

50 per second, up to 200

Headshot:

✕

Healing:

65 per second, up to 300

Cast time:

instantly + 0.4 s. recovery

Duration:

7 seconds, or until depleted

Max. range:

4 meters (damage orb)
5 meters (healing orb)

Projectile speed:

20 meters per second
5.5 meters per second while tethered

• Details

Ability details:

• Bounces off walls.
• Pierces barriers, but does not target enemies through them.
• Damage Orb does not affect enemy objects.
• If amplified, only the rate of damage/healing per second is increased, not the total amount.

Fade

LSHIFT

6 seconds

Type

Ability

Moira's movement speed increases while making her invulnerable to damage.

Duration:

0.75 seconds + 0.05 s recovery

Max. range:

15 meters (max)

Move. speed:

+250% buff

• Details

Ability details:

• Makes Moira invulnerable and invisible. She can still pick up Health Packs.
• Cleanses Moira of status and damage over time effects.
• Can be used to escape abilities such as Graviton Surge or Gravitic Flux.

Coalescence

Q

2800 points

Type

Ultimate Ability

Effect Type

Beam

Moira channels a long-range beam that heals allies, damages enemies, and bypasses barriers.

Damage:

70 per second

Headshot:

✕

Healing:

140 per second
50 per second (self)

Cast time:

0.5 seconds

Duration:

8 seconds

Max. range:

30 meters

Move. speed:

+50% buff

• Details

Ability details:

• Moira passively recharges her biotic energy three times faster while using Coalescence.
• Passes through enemy barriers.

Strategy

Moira is a support hero that can easily reposition amongst her allies with her immense mobility. Biotic Grasp can heal multiple allies simultaneously, granting her higher average healing per second when compared to other supports. However, this powerful healing is limited by a resource meter similar to D.Va's Defense Matrix; this meter refills very slowly over time, but Biotic Grasp's alternate fire refills it much faster, along with healing Moira herself. Fade provides her a very strong movement tool and invulnerability that makes her very hard to lock down. Biotic Orb can allow Moira to apply both damage and healing at the same time, and is very powerful in enclosed spaces where it will not simply fly past its targets. Coalescence can both heal allies and damage enemies, but perhaps most importantly it can pierce barriers, preventing enemy tanks from blocking your ultimate with various shields. Her alternate fire gives her amazing sustain, particularly in 1v1 fights, and her Fade gives her excellent escapes, greatly aiding her survivability against enemy flankers, though she remains weak to large burst damage such as enemy Snipers or Junkrat. Her kit, though very strong, lacks the utility other healers provide, making her focused though not particularly versatile.

General Strategies

• Priorities:
  • 0. Think - the list below is not set in stone. During a course of teamfight you must make your own decisions based on the circumstances you are facing.
  • 1. Your own safety – while keeping your team alive is a reason you play healer, if you die your allies will soon follow, as they will not have a way to sustain themselves in a teamfight. Use Fade to avoid attackers and dodge lethal damage and keep your health high with the combination of basic abilities.
  • 2. Healing ally in immediate risk of dying - when one of your teammates is receiving damage very quickly or is on low health, you should prioritize healing them to prevent their death. Biotic Grasp is one of the strongest healing effects in the game, and will be able to outheal many sources of damage. Be careful with using Biotic Orb in these situations though – time that is needed to cast it and resume healing with Primary Fire may cost your ally life.
  • 3. Healing a group of allies - when multiple allies take spread damage while standing close to each other, Moira is the best healer to deal with it. The combination of Biotic Grasp and Orb healing effects will allow you to reach a short burst of a stunning 140 health per second healing. This will outpace nearly all non-Ultimate damage that enemies may throw at you. Healing in this scenario charges Moira’s ultimate at break-neck pace.
  • 4. Damaging low health targets - Moira’s lock-on Secondary Fire and damaging Biotic Orb will allow her to fairly effectively secure eliminations on low health enemies. If the target is receiving any healing though, Moira’s damage alone is likely not going to be enough to burn through their healthpool.
  • 5. Damage enemies that are not behind barriers - it will allow you to recharge your healing resource quicker, heal yourself and help your damage dealers in burning targets down. This also builds up your ultimate charge. When you are certain that the enemy will not engage in the next 10 seconds, you may also use your Biotic Orb to harass targets behind barriers.
  • 6. Damage barriers - to put it simply: it’s not your job and you are terrible at it. If there is precisely nothing else for you to do, you may attack barriers with your Secondary Fire, but it will neither heal you nor restore your healing resource.

Match-Ups and Team Synergy

Tank

Hero	Match-Up	Team Synergy
D.Va	While in her mech, D.Va is strong against Moira because she can destroy your Biotic Orbs with Defense Matrix and in a 1v1 scenario, kill you quite quickly with her high burst damage. Since your Biotic Grasp damage is negligible against her high HP and armour, focus on using Fade to run away if she tries rushing you; for maximum distance, use Fade at the end of her Boosters ability. Interestingly, if D.Va loses her mech, she can suddenly become very vulnerable to Moira because she only has a measly 150 HP and only her pistol to defend herself with. For this reason, if she uses Self Destruct, you can rush her with a damage orb and focus Biotic Grasp on her to kill her before she gets another mech, and then use Fade to survive the blast.	(To be added)
Orisa	Orisa is a poor target for Moira to challenge to a 1v1, because she has a lot of armour and defensive abilities to lower your damage on her, which is already quite low. Don't waste your time trying to break her Barrier or contribute damage to her unless they are low on health, and instead focus on supporting your allies here. Additionally, since Orisa's usually defend their Supercharger with their Barrier, you can use Coalescence to penetrate it and destroy the Supercharger and save your team from a lot of stress.	(To be added)
Reinhardt	Moira can't reliably apply pressure to Reinhardt with her low damage, however forcing him to turn his barrier to you for just a second can allow your team to initiate a push, so look for opportunities to distract him, though you'll rarely get much damage, let alone a kill. It's also easy to react to and dodge Earthshatter with Fade, and then use Healing Orb + Biotic Grasp or Coalescence to negate any follow-up damage on your allies when stunned. When you do have Coalescence, it can actually pressure Reinhardt significantly, as it will ignore his barrier and do considerable damage to him.	(To be added)
Roadhog	Never 1v1 Roadhog unless his time is more valuable than yours. You simply can't kill him on your own because of his one shot potential and self healing. Getting hooked is a death sentence, but if you do get hooked, hold the Fade key so that it instantly activates if you manage to survive. His Hook has the same range as your Biotic Grasp, (20 metres) so use this to space yourself accordingly and avoid it.	(To be added)
Sigma	Dodging Accretion with your Fade is very important because he can inflict fatal damage onto you should he land it. You can safely damage Sigma outside of his Hypersphere range and also through Kinetic Grasp, and this can force him to back off if he gets aggressive. An important thing to keep in mind is that like D.Va he can destroy your Biotic Orbs so be wary of using them around him. Also, Moira can use Fade to escape Gravitic Flux even if you're caught in it. If he catches some allies, make sure you go up with them and use your healing to keep them above half HP so they survive the impact and Fade before you hit the ground.	(To be added)
Winston	Winston will prove to be problematic to deal with, since his Barrier Projector blocks your healing and can therefore isolate a teammate from your support. Make sure you have line of sight with the ally he's attacking and keep healing them to keep them safe. If he's targeting you, ideally he'd use Leap to engage, in which case you can make space with Fade, but if Fade is unavailable, use a healing orb on yourself and focus biotic grasp on him; the self healing will be enough to outheal his Tesla Cannon damage.	(To be added)
Wrecking Ball	You can't keep up with Wrecking Ball, so don't waste your time trying to go for him. All you can really do is support allies he is diving, as you can typically outheal the follow-up damage from his Piledrive. If he ever dives you, a simple Fade may not always be enough to escape him. Try to do a Fade jump off of a small object to high ground so has to use multiple cooldowns to catch up, giving you more time to retreat to your team.	(To be added)
Zarya	Zarya's bubbles can protect her team from your damage orbs and cut the line of sight of your healing orbs, so be careful of using them around her. If she has a lot of energy, do not try to 1v1, because she can outdamage your self healing easily and rip you apart in seconds. You can try to pressure a high energy Zarya with Coalescence while spacing yourself out of her beam range, but be careful not to feed her extra energy. In addition, you can generally outheal follow-up damage after her Graviton Surge if it catches multiple allies, so heal them with Biotic Grasp, throw a healing orb and then use Coalescence. It should also be noted that Fade can escape Graviton Surge.	(To be added)

Damage

Hero	Match-Up	Team Synergy
Ashe	At range, Ashe can make quick work of you with her impressive rifle, so avoid open sightlines she may be holding and try to flank. Most Ashe players panic when they are flanked and instantly use Coach Gun to create separation, however Moira can easily dodge the knockback and catch up with the Ashe through the use of Fade. Once you close the distance she will have no means to escape you, so finish her off with a damage orb/biotic grasp combo.	(To be added)
Bastion	Moira's damage is pitifully weak against a Bastion in Configuration: Sentry, and even in Recon. Bastion should be avoided as much as possible, however you can try to support your allies in defeating a Bastion with a Biotic Orb because it is mostly a team effort to defeat a Bastion set-up. You can also use Coalescence to damage the Bastion and heal any attacking allies if he is protected by a barrier as the beam will be unaffected by the barrier.	(To be added)
Cassidy	Cassidy is not an optimal target to 1v1, because he is capable of beating you within your effective ranges. At medium distances, he can burst you down easily with his Peacekeeper revolver, taking you out in 2 to 4 shots, and if you get within Flashbang distance, he can land it then defeat you with a single Fan the Hammer move. You can't really win unless he misses his shots a lot, however Cassidy relies on Flashbang quite considerably in close quarter fights, so if you can dodge it with Fade you have a setup to deal as much damage as you can while simultaneously crouch strafing to avoid headshots. Additionally, Moira's Coalescence can damage Cassidy from within his damage falloff range, where you can easily out-heal body shots and apply a lot of pressure to him.	(To be added)
Doomfist	Doomfist's shield gain makes 1v1s very difficult without the assistance of a damage orb or ally, however he can easily be evaded with Fade. In a 1v1 scenario, save Fade to dodge his Rocket Punch, as it is the only ability that can reliably one-shot you. However, you will need to create a significant amount of distance or he can simply use Seismic Slam and Uppercut to finish you off. To help with this, Fade in the opposite direction he is moving with Rocket Punch and jump at the end of the ability for that little bit of extra distance. If you are using Coalescence against a Doomfist, it is important that you strafe as much as possible to dodge Rocket Punch because the stun will cancel your ultimate.	(To be added)
Echo	Although Echo can use her Flight to stay out of your effective range, she cannot do much at that distance other than use Sticky Bombs, which you can evade with your Fade. If you are stuck with multiple sticky bombs, Fade will drop them on the ground, which is great for your survival, just be careful not to drop them on or near weak allies as you may end up killing them. Additionally, keep allies above half HP so they don't get destroyed with Focusing Beam, as it outdamages your healing output, including that of Coalescence.	(To be added)
Genji	Surprisingly, Moira is incredibly effective against Genji. You can use Fade to dodge his Swift Strike and damage him through Deflect with Biotic Orb, Biotic Grasp or Coalescence, all while being out of his effective range. In a 1v1 you can also outheal most of his damage with a healing orb as long as he's not point blank distance and bursting you down with secondary fires. You can also prevent Genji from getting a dash reset in the midst of Dragonblade by using Fade to create distance if he dashes into you. Additionally, your Coalescence healing can completely negate his Dragonblade swing damage, unless he is nanoboosted.	(To be added)
Hanzo	It is not a good idea to 1v1 Hanzo while his Storm Arrows are up, as he can easily burst you down in close to medium range. If you know it's on cooldown, you can try to dive him with a damage orb, and use Fade to move closer when he uses Leap. In close range combat with Hanzo, keep your movement erratic: strafe and crouch as much as possible to avoid headshots. Coalescence can actually protect high-HP allies from the damage of Dragonstrike, but generally it's not worth it because you can easily just move away from the dragons.	(To be added)
Junkrat	Close range fights with Junkrat should be avoided because his explosive damage can be devastating and your healing cannot reliably protect you from it. The sweetspot for fighting Junkrat is definitely mid-range, you can safely dodge direct hits and if he tries to get closer with Concussion Mine, just Fade away. If you have Coalescence, you can damage him from much further which is great because Junkrat's biggest weakness is definitely his range limits. Just be careful, he can use Rip-Tire on you during Coalescence and you won't be able to Fade to dodge the explosion.	(To be added)
Mei	Your Biotic Grasp range is longer than her Endothermic Blaster range, so you can avoid being frozen, however you should Fade out if she hits more than 1 icicle on you, because the next will be fatal. Also, Fade will reset the freeze ticks from her primary fire and Blizzard. You can also save allies from the follow-up icicle headshot after they are frozen by focusing them with heals. If they are really low, you will need to use your healing orb as well or Coalescence. And obviously, if you're ever caught in Blizzard, you can use Fade to easily escape and then use Coalescence to heal any frozen allies being focused.	(To be added)
Pharah	If Pharah is not flying high enough you can reach her with Biotic Grasp, although most of the time you should avoid trying to deal with her and leave it to someone else suitable for the job, because it's really not your job to deal with her and her high burst damage makes her a strong counter. If you have Coalescence however, it can be a serious threat to her, because your increased mobility makes hitting direct rockets hard for her and your beam has a pretty long range.	(To be added)
Reaper	Reaper will easily dispatch you in close quarters combat, so don't let him sneak up on you and keep your distance as great as you can in a 1v1, because you can focus him with Biotic Grasp while being far enough that not a lot of pellets will connect. Because he has higher health than most heroes, look for surfaces to bounce damage orbs off of to increase your DPS dramatically and take him out much quicker or force him to disengage with Wraith Form.If you ever find yourself in a close range 1v1 with Reaper, be cautious of using a simple Fade to escape, because he can then Wraith Form up to you and finish you off. If you can, try to Fade jump to high ground so he can't really chase you down.	(To be added)
Soldier: 76	Soldier is a very difficult matchup for Moira, his Biotic Field can negate most of your damage and he can easily burst you down with his rifle and Helix Rockets. If he has his Biotic Field up, Soldier should be avoided at all costs, but if he doesn't and you know this, you can try to 1v1 and save Fade to dodge Helix Rockets, but if he has good aim, prioritise other targets as you'll lose most of the time. Also, your Coalescence self-healing is outdamaged by his Tactical Visor quite significantly, so just use a Fade to break line of sight rather than trying to challenge him with your own ultimate.	(To be added)
Sombra	Moira's Biotic Grasp and Biotic Orbs do not lock onto a Sombra using Stealth unless she is already detected, so you can't really do much to help your team deal with her, however if she does try to take you on, you will have a decent advantage. You can quickly spin round and cancel her Hack attempt with Biotic Grasp and you can negate most of her damage with the use of a healing orb. However, Hack and EMP will cancel Coalescence, so be careful of using it in a massive teamfight where she can easily unstealth and catch you off guard.	(To be added)
Symmetra	Moira is fairly effective against Symmetra because you can easily destroy her sentry turrets and you can typically beat her in a 1v1 unless her beam is fully charged or she lands multiple secondary fire orbs. A good reference to know is that Moira's Biotic Grasp has about double the range of Symmetra's beam so you can force her to rely on her secondary fire orbs which are easy to dodge at a distance.	(To be added)
Torbjörn	Torbjörn is another very difficult match-up for Moira, he just has too much armour and burst damage to the point that you lose every time unless he misses most of his shots and/or doesn't use his turret. Destroying the turret is not your job at all, however if you must you can use a healing orb to heal yourself while you break it with Biotic Grasp; keep in mind, the turret is not affected by damage orbs. Don't waste your time trying to deal with Torbjörn and leave this one to another teammate.	(To be added)
Tracer	Because of Tracer's lower health pool compared to other heroes, she can be much easier to 1v1 than it may seem at first. Your Biotic Grasp also has a lock-on effect which means her mobility is not a problem in the slightest, and a healing orb can save you from getting one-clipped. In general, try to harass Tracer as much as possible, just a second or two of damage from you can force her to use her vital cooldowns to survive and make her play scared. As a final note, if you are stuck with a Pulse Bomb, using Fade will drop it on the ground, which is really good to survive, just be careful not to accidentally drop in nearby teammates.	(To be added)
Widowmaker	If Widowmaker is playing far back and outside of your Biotic Grasp range, just try to ignore her and let someone else on your team deal with her. However, if you feel like being annoying, you can throw a damage orb her way and force her out of position or she risks taking a lot of damage; either of these outcomes can keep her suspended from the action for a while while she tries to find healing. If she does ever fall in range of your Biotic Grasp she's an easy kill unless she is being pocketed by a healer, in which case leave her alone: she may actually kill you if you get too aggressive and you'll find the healing is negating a lot of your damage. If she flees to high ground with Grappling Hook, you can chase her with a Fade jump or throw a damage orb at her if it's off cooldown to finish her off.	(To be added)

Support

Hero	Match-Up	Team Synergy
Ana	If you're going to attack Ana with Moira, you can bait out her Biotic Grenade as it is fairly obvious when Ana is going to use it (looking at the ground & moving toward you). It is then very easy to finish her off unless she gets some well placed shots. Try to save Fade for dodging Sleep Dart or Biotic Grenade, though if only dodging one, make sure you move further away so it is easier to dodge Ana's other projectile ability.	Ana's Biotic Grenade combined with Moira's Coalescence equals a lot of healing, and can even negate a NanoBoosted Genji's Dragonblade.
Baptiste	When battling Baptiste, you need to wait out his Immortality Field as you will not be able to destroy it in time with Biotic Grasp. Once his Immortality Field is down, he is a free kill for Moira.	(To be added)
Brigitte	Never let Brigitte get close to you, always keep your distance & focus on healing instead of going after her, as you can easily outheal her damage. If she can't get close to you, it's a free kill.	(To be added)
Lúcio	You can easily burn down Lucio with Biotic Grasp, though you shouldn't throw a Damage Orb at him as he can quickly speed away. Make sure to not use Coalescence if you know he has his ultimate, as it will nullify your damage. Once he has used his ultimate, wait a few seconds before casting a Damage Orb & Coalescence to burn down any enemies near you, and to keep your team alive if needed.	(To be added)
Mercy	If the situation allows it, make Mercy your primary target with your Biotic Orb, Biotic Grasp, or Coalescence, as she is easy to burn down with these abilities, unless she is flying around with a Pharah or Echo. Moira is a very effective hero against Mercy.	(To be added)
Moira	Always use Coalescence AFTER the enemy Moira, this will ensure you have more heals and a better chance at winning, though this may not be possible for every situation if a teammate is in trouble (e.g. in a Graviton Surge). For 1v1, you will want to stay in an area where you can reliably bounce your Orb while moving randomly to reduce damage dealt to you & the enemy Moira's healing. Healing orb is favoured over Damage Orb, but this can make the 1v1 last a long time. Once the enemy Moira casts Coalescence, use your Damage Orb & Coalescence to quickly burn her down.	(To be added)
Zenyatta	Since Zenyatta has no mobility you can easily burn him down with Biotic Grasp & Damage Orb, but be careful as he can easily kill you with a few well placed shots. Save your Fade to remove his Orb of Discord then resume attacking him - he will be forced to reapply the Orb of Discord which will slow him down slightly.	(To be added)

Story

"Science will reveal the truth."

Equal parts brilliant and controversial, scientist Moira O'Deorain is on the cutting edge of genetic engineering, searching for a way to rewrite the fundamental building blocks of life. Though O'Deorain will go to any lengths to make scientific breakthroughs, her work is still unknown to most of the world. But now that she has been freed from all constraints, it is only a matter of time before everything changes.

O'Deorain presents herself as being calm and logical, though in truth, she enjoys her science more when playing with hapless test subjects.

O'Deorain has a negative view of Overwatch, claiming that it was responsible for stifling scientific advancement for decades. She has no interest in global conquest, but is willing to work with those who might have such a goal. Her intellectual pursuits are driven by her interest in humanity. She is a geneticist first and foremost, and that's the scope of her ambition. With very flexible morals, O'Deorain prefers to focus on her research and has no patience for those who urge caution or restraint. She is uncaring of the goals of those she allies with, provided that they continue to fund her research.

Her right hand is heavily scarred; it has been speculated that it is a result of experimentation or a genetic anomaly.

Background

“	We are bedevilled by the mysteries of creation. Science can reveal the truths that lie behind these many questions. What we learn can unlock the true potential of humanity.	„
	~ Moira O'Deorain

O'Deorain conducts her research

Over a decade ago, O'Deorain made waves when she published a controversial paper detailing a methodology for creating custom genetic programs that could alter DNA at a cellular level. It seemed like a promising step toward overcoming diseases and disorders and maximizing human potential. Dissent among her peers soon followed. Many considered her work to be dangerous because of its perceived ethical shortfalls, and O'Deorain was even accused of having the same unchecked desire for scientific advancement that some believed had caused the Omnic Crisis. In addition, other geneticists were unable to reproduce the results of Moira's research, which further called her discoveries into question. Instead of kickstarting her career, her paper seriously damaged her reputation. Overwatch was among those who condemned her research, and in O'Deorain's own words, tried to silence her.

O'Deorain experiments on Reyes

She received a lifeline in an offer from an unlikely source: Overwatch's covert ops division, Blackwatch. She was personally recruited by Blackwatch's commander, Gabriel Reyes, who wanted someone who could help advise him on matters pertaining to genetics. She continued her work in the shadows while developing new weapons and technologies for the organization. Freed from her shackles, her genetic research greatly accelerated. She had interactions with Blackwatch members Jesse McCree and Genji Shimada, all of whom had their likes and dislikes pertaining to each other. Among her experiments was one done on Reyes himself. Her experiments on Reyes gave him super-human abilities, causing his cells to regenerate and decay at a hyper-accelerated rate. Her employment was a closely kept secret.

Retribution

“	So much for keeping a low profile.	„
	~ Moira

O'Deorain inside Rialto

Eight years before the present day, O'Deorain took part in a Blackwatch mission to Rialto to apprehend Antonio Bartalotti, an Italian businessman with links to Talon. The team consisted of herself, Reyes, Shimada, and Cassidy. The Blackwatch team arrived in a Venice safehouse and set up survaillance on the manor. They found Talon soldiers patrolling the grounds. When night fell, they infiltrated the manor. They made their way through its interior, killing and/or incapacitating numerous Talon guards. Upon reaching Antonio's office, they found him there, not surprised to see them. Nor was he intimidated, as he pointed out that Overwatch abducting a "respected businessman" would be a public relations nightmare. Furthermore, even if they did take him, his "friends" would have him released within a week. After some thought, Reyes said "you're right" and shot Antonio, the force of the blast sending him through his office window. It was the shot that stirred the hornet's nest, alerting Talon to their presence, leaving them with "Plan B"—fight their way out. In the ensuring battle, O'Deorain told Reyes that he'd done the right thing, and that he shouldn't apologize.

Despite numerous Talon soldiers attacking them, the team successfully exfiltrated the site. However, the events revealed the existence of Blackwatch to the world, resulting in political and public fallout. In the inquiries that followed, O'Deorain's research was uncovered. Many high-ranking Overwatch officials disavowed all knowledge of her affiliation with them.

New Employers

“	We stand on the brink of a breakthrough in human evolution. I've dedicated my life to unraveling its secrets. I take risks that others would consider to be unwise for I do not share their caution. Overwatch held back the pace of scientific discovery for decades. They believed my methods were too radical, too controversial. They tried to silence me. But there were others in the shadows, searching for ways to circumvent their rules. Freed from my shackles, the pace of our research hastened. Together we delved deeper into those areas forbidden by law, by morality, and by fear. New patrons emerged who possessed an appetite for my discoveries. And with this knowledge, what new world could we build...	„
	~ Moira O'Deorain

Overwatch HQ was destroyed in the fight between Reyes and Jack Morrison. Reyes barely survived the ordeal, and was saved by O'Deorain, who injected him with an amplified version of the substance she'd injected him with years ago. She claimed that he'd been close to death, and had no alternative when it came to saving his life. Whatever the truth of the claim, Reyes was alive, albeit in a state of agony.

O'Deorain, now a member of Talon

After Overwatch was disbanded, O'Deorain was forced to turn to unconventional sources of funding. This time, she was invited to join the scientific collective that had founded the city of Oasis, and was selected to be their Minister of Genetics. Yet some whispered that the shadowy Talon organization had already been supporting her for years, aiding her experiments in exchange for utilizing the results for their own purposes. By the time of Doomfist's return to Talon (or after his return), O'Deorain apparently had a seat on Talon's inner council. O'Deorain's goals of pushing forward human evolution meshed well with Talon's, and she found a patron for her research in Doomfist.

Achievements

Name	Icon	Description	Reward
Antipode		Hit 7 targets simultaneously with Moira's Coalescence in Quick or Competitive play.	Cute
Simple Trigonometry		Fully deplete both types of Moira's Biotic Orb without dying in Quick or Competitive play.	Pixel

Trivia

• Moira is Hero 26 and the fifth new hero added to the game.
• Moira is an Anglicisation of the Irish name Máire, ultimately derived from the biblical Mary, as well as a Greek name meaning "fate." O'Deorain is an Irish name meaning "descendant of the exile."
• Moira was first shown to players as a member of the Talon Inner Council in the comic Doomfist: Masquerade, but was not given a name or speaking role.
• The day before her reveal, a research paper labeled "Draft: Repairing Degenerative Genetic Structures" was added to the Oasis map, hinting at Moira's occupation and involvement with Reaper.
• There is a story behind Moira's decrepit right hand, hinted to be the result of coming into contact with an anomalous genetic experiment, however, it seems it still doesn't hint at explanation how those genetics are able to allow plasma production in a biotic system.
• Excluding Mercy, who uses both hands to hold her healing staff, Moira is the only Support Hero to heal with her left hand. This references her twisted nature because the left side is traditionally associated with evil, while healing is beneficial.
  • Moira's right hand is ghoulish and damaged, and her right eye is red, referencing evil creatures depicted with red eyes.
• Moira is the second hero after D.Va who can perform the "Quick Melee" attack with both her hands, chosen randomly.
• Moira has two different eye colors, the right one being red and the left blue. She may be heterochromatic (born with two different eye colors), or she could have suffered from one of her experiments on herself.
• Moira's Blackwatch uniform and skin are based on her earliest concept art, which in turn resembles the clothing worn by Mercy.
• Moira has some backstory with Mercy, as one utilized technology developed by the other.
  • Moira and Mercy have complementary sprays, both called "Sigil". When placed together, they form the complete Overwatch sigil and position Moira and Mercy back to back. This shows that they are at odds.
• In the 2018 Summer Games event, Moira received a skin called "Éireannach", which means "Irish Woman" or "an Irish person."
  • The Irish flag appears over her right breast on this skin.
  • The Éireannach skin replaces Moira's left blue eye with a green eye probably for color scheme reasons.
• Oasis University had a special interaction between Reaper and Sombra when on the same team that teased Moira's release. Sombra asked him "What are we doing here boss?" and Reaper responded to her with "I am here to visit an old friend."
• The Blackwatch outfit/skin for Moira was first shown in the Retribution comic.
• It is confirmed by Michael Chu that Moira's third-person "Naruto run" and Ultimate Ability are anime references, as well as some of her sprays. "Naruto running" is also an Internet meme.
  • Moira's Ultimate Ability is probably a reference to Dragon Ball Z.
• Moira's "Facepalm" spray could be a reference to Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. A still of him "facepalming" is a rather common Internet meme used to respond to stupidity.
• It is revealed in the Retribution event that Moira likes to dress up and enjoys art.
• Moira is from Ireland's capital, Dublin, as is her voice actress, Genevieve O'Reilly.
• Moira's favorite drink is Irish coffee. She is holding a steaming mug of it in her "Toast" victory pose.
• Moira's shortened nails on her left hand could also hint that Moira is left-handed.
• Moira's "Good news, everyone" voice line is a reference to the science fiction animated sitcom, Futurama.
• Moira's "Glam" and "Moon" skins are both possible nods to english musician David Bowie. The face paints featured especially support this.
  • The Star on the Glam skin could be referencing Bowie's Blackstar record. The album cover of which also has a picture of a star.
  • The Crescent on the Moon skin as well as the name itself, could both be referencing his 1983 Serious Moonlight tour.

Development

Early concept art of Moira.

Early concept art of Moira.

Moira's early ideation began with a combination of both gameplay and story ideas, stemming from strong player demand for a new support healer. Their initial goal was to introduce a shady, morally ambiguous healer to contrast with the existing "benevolent healer" archetypes already in the game. The developers wanted her to have connections with various groups in the Overwatch setting. Initial concepts gravitated towards a set of designs with a mysterious androgynous appeal, with the first iteration being outfitted with a set of four mechanical tentacles. Feeling that the tentacles would be difficult to incorporate into gameplay, they progressed to a more conventional, toned-down design with a two-handed spray cannon and began incorporating scientific apparatuses such as tubes and cannisters into her look, but felt that her silhouette became too similar to Zarya's.

Thumbnails exploring different looks and weapons for Moira, including one inspired by the Omniblade (far right).

At this point they produced a number of thumbnails to experiment with different weapons and costumes while retaining her gaunt, androgynous appearance, with several that wielded various clawed gloves and gauntlets, as well as a concept inspired by Sombra's original Omniblade design, incorporating baggy sleeves and throwable syringes. The latter design also introduced the idea of a duality between her left and right hands, with one used to deal damage and the other to heal. Elements from these thumbnails were pulled together to create her final design, incorporating the earlier scientific details with a color-changing liquid to differentiate her healing and damage dealing abilities.

Banshee Moira concept art

Moira Oasis skin concept art

Moira Glam skin concept art

Moira Ice Empress skin concept art

Moira's initial gameplay design involved her having a large health pool, which she would spend as a resource to heal allies while draining health from enemies, but it proved to be too difficult to balance. Early inspiration for her abilities may have been drawn from Overmind, a hero created for the original Prometheus pitch. In her final design, she instead uses separate Regeneration and Decay versions of her abilities, with her Biotic Grasp: Decay ability leeching health from enemies and enhancing the effectiveness of her Regeneration abilities. Because she is one of the few characters in the game to have both hands visible on the screen at all times, great care was taken with her animations to convey how these different abilities worked and reflected her design and personality. Her Fade ability was also designed to be similar to Reaper's Wraith Form, showing that the two characters are connected. The original version of her ultimate ability was a transformation that involved biotic energy swirling around her and gave her a beam that could both heal and damage, but as the beam was the most interesting aspect of the ability they decided to make it her ultimate's sole focus.

Merchandise

• The Blizzard store lists a Moira T-shirt for both Men and Women.
• The Blizzard store lists Overwatch Magnet sets, series 4 includes Moira's icon.
• Funko made a Blackwatch T-shirt for the 2018 Archives event, Retribution, which lists the members including Moira O' Deorain.
• The Blizzard store has an Ultimate Moira Hoodie available.
• Cute But Deadly Series 5 has a Moira figure to collect.
• Funko made a pop figure of Moira in 2019.

Balance Change Logs

Patch

Description

6 Jan 2022

Fade

• Can now jump much higher while using this ability

5 Aug 2021

Biotic Grasp

• Self-healing increased from 20 to 24 health per second

Developer Comment: Moira has recently been underperforming a little bit. This increase to her self-healing with Biotic Grasp will help improve her survivability while in range to recharge her healing resources.

3 Jun 2021

Biotic Grasp

• Resource regeneration is now three times higher while channeling Coalescence

Coalescence

• Ultimate cost increased by 17%

Developer Comment: Many channeled ultimate abilities automatically reload the heroes weapon as they're locked out from reloading for a short time. The new regeneration rate will refill about half of Moira's Biotic energy resource over the full duration of Coalescence. This doesn't fully refill Moira's energy from empty as it would be unfortunate to lose that portion of her gameplay if players were able to fully cycle between ultimates with healing alone.

22 Apr 2021

Biotic Orb

• Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds

Developer Comment: Moira has been underperforming in the support role even in team compositions and metas where we’d expect her to excel. Reducing the cooldown of Biotic Orb is a significant increase in Moira's potential to quickly adapt to many situations.

19 Nov 2020

Biotic Grasp

• Healing resource consumption rate lowered from 14 to 12.5

31 Aug 2020

Biotic Grasp

Healing

• Lingering heal reduced from 4 seconds to 2 seconds (Total healing from 65 down to 35)
• Healing per second increased from 65 to 70
• Healing resource consumption rate increased from 11 to 14 (27%)

Damage

• Attach angle reduced by 37%
• Healing resource gain rate increased by 50%

19 May 2020

Biotic Orb

• Damage radius reduced from 5 to 4 meters
• Projectile speed increased from 16 to 20
• Projectile duration reduced from 10 to 7 seconds

10 Dec 2019

Biotic Grasp

• Healing reduced from 4 to 3.25 (80 HP/s to 65 HP/s)

15 Oct 2019

Biotic Grasp

• Self-healing reduced from 30 to 20 health per second

19 Mar 2019

Biotic Grasp

• Heal over time duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds
• Total healing increased from 50 to 65

9 Aug 2018

Biotic Grasp

• Passive energy regeneration rate increased from 2 per second to 2.4 per second

10 Apr 2018

Biotic Grasp

• Transparency increased the closer you are to a target

Coalescence

• Now becomes more transparent the closer its visual effects are to a player’s camera

Fade

• Transparency increased the closer you are to a target

16 Nov 2017

New Hero: Moira (Support)

External links

• Official Site - Moira