Unleash Your Inner Demon with Reinhardt’s Mythic Weapon

news.blizzard.com:

Now you can burn through the competition with the Bound Demon Reinhardt Mythic Weapon Skin, available in the Mythic Shop. A first of its kind, the Bound Demon Mythic Weapon Skin comes alive as you battle through the front lines. Burning in the blackened steel of an ancient hammer, this Bound Demon awaits a powerful warrior to wield its might. Whether charging into battle or holding the line with every swing, the Mythic Bound Demon Reinhardt Weapon Skin will react to your every attack.

Some of the Overwatch 2 designers that helped forged this fiery weapon shared with us a bit of the process taking it from concept to modeling, to rigging and animation, and finally to the incredible visual effects that you’ll see in your games.

What were your goals when creating the concept for the Bound Demon Mythic Weapon?

Angela Song (Concept Artist): Our initial thought was to have the theme be magma, but once I started concepting, I decided to add a creature to make the weapon fiery and alive. Eventually we landed on Bound Demon, a cursed axe that glows with hellfire. The reactivity of the weapon echoes the demonic entity awakening and gaining power as you feed it more kills throughout the game.

When it comes to the 3D modeling, how much work did it take to get the look of the weapon just right?

Ryan Savas (Senior Hard Surface Artist): On the 3D modeling side, it was a constant back-and-forth between Tech Art, Animation, Concept, and VFX. We iterated a lot on how to make the weapon feel just as cool for the player as it does for their opponent, and seeing it come together week after week was incredible.

Each team was trying to maximize the awesomeness of this axe from the second they caught wind of it, and it was amazing to be part of that experience. Seeing a model I made become a roaring inferno of magma and fire was incredible. The team really knows how to breathe life into everything we make!

Rein’s Mythic weapon has a fun weapon flourish animation that comes with the Reload.