Earlier this week, Blizzard unveiled Overwatch’s 30th hero, the Haitian combat medic Baptiste who after being orphaned in the Omnic Crisis joined up with the villainous mercenary company Talon until a crisis of conscience led him to defect. Now, Game Director Jeff Kaplan is back with a new developer update to delve into the nuts and bolts of the new addition, who is currently playable on the Overwatch PTS.
For the “combat” part of Baptiste’s combat medic kit, he comes equipped with the Medic SMG, “a mid-range submachine gun that shoots three-round bursts” that Kaplan describes as “very tactical.” While Baptiste is almost certainly capable of dishing out some solid damage of his own, his kit really shines in a healing and support role. His gun’s alternate fire lanches a biotic grenade that delivers an AoE heal to nearby allies upon impact, and his primary ability, Regenerative Burst, is a PBAoE HoT that affects Baptiste as well as any allies in his vicinity.
He’s also capable of granting himself and his teammates immortality, albeit temporarily, through the use of his Immortality Field, and his ultimate allows him to create an Amplification Matrix that boosts the power of allied gunfire that passes through it. He’s also got a nifty passive ability in the form of his Exoboots, which allow him to charge up his jumps by crouching, giving him an impressive vertical leap that should provide him with a little extra mobility (or, if things go sideways, an escape plan). To hear all about Baptiste’s abilities, you can check out the full video just below, or you can just jump right into the Overwatch PTS to take him for a spin yourself.
