BACKGROUND LORE

"These are perhaps the most unique element of Overwatch forces, and considered a relic of the 7 Hour War, although that is not to imply that they are any less effective than their more human counterparts. They are unique in the fact that unlike other Synthetic elements of the Combine, they act as foot-soldiers. They have also gained a reputation of being incredibly hardy and replaceable, due to lacking the same weaknesses of their human counterparts.

However, a serious flaw within the OSE design is that they are incredibly limited in terms of critical thinking. While they perform orders effectively, they are incredibly ineffective when not given clear direction, and need a guiding, human, hand in order for them to adapt to more abstract orders. This reason is more than likely why they haven’t replaced the Transhuman Arm.

Recently, there have been developments of experimental OSE models in order to address this weakness, however the components required and the procedure necessary have proven to be too resource-inefficient to justify mass-production, relegating instead to acting as leaders of OSE squads instead of a base template.

It’s been noted that OSA units such as OSS and OSE lack mental functions and the brainpower to perform simple tasks and puzzles. A notable example of this is the experimentation with OSA units as excursion volunteers, to examine and detail the destruction of the Sector 4 Canal System. An OSE was given the duty to bring back rocks and soil samples to the scientist team outside of the exclusion zone. As the OSE struggled to obtain a rock sample, it went rogue and started to tear off Combine Control elements from his system. Ranger units providing overwatch dispatched the OSE with 1 anti-material round. It’s been noted the stem of this anger was due to the fact OSE and OSS units have no fingers or tendrils to grab objects, just claws made specifically for weapon wielding. Research is ongoing to alleviate such software and hardware issues." 

• Official CvR Lore Document

"The OSE (Overwatch Synthetic Elite) used to be the front-line combine unit during the 7 hour war due to their powerful exterior shell and weapon combination, however, once the war had been won the main forces of the OSE's had been pulled out, along with most other Synthetic Unit, leaving only a fraction of OSE's behind to guard earth as the OTA units were in production. Now a day's an OSE is a rare sight on the battlefield but still powerful nonetheless."

• Analysis by C2 Vodka Defender Elksta

HOW TO COUNTER

• The ASh-12 does a lot of damage but has a slow RPM, and OSE are restricted to this weapon as they are unable to use inventory items.