You have to hand it to Overwatch, they really do make releasing new heroes exciting!
The lore and backstory that they introduce with every new character is always so deep and so much fun to enjoy – and it makes me REALLY wish they could make some kind of story mode because hot damn some of these reveal videos have more fleshed out stories than some of the full games released nowadays. Anyway… Leading up to the initial reveal video, we had a letter “leaked” from Talon (the “evil” bad guy faction in Overwatch) that seemed to hint at a new character being introduced: a combat medic named Jean-Baptiste Augustin. Turns out, that was 100% correct, and Overwatch’s 30th hero, Baptiste, has been officially revealed as a combat medic from Haiti who defected from the evil corporation that contains folks like Reaper and Doomfist to live a life of mercenary vigilante justice mixed with, I don’t know, helping people I guess? He’s out there “fighting for a better world – for some that means a bandage, for others a bullet”, so it doesn’t sound like he’s FULL on Overwatch good guy, but clearly not digging the Talon bad guy business.
(Blizzard/Activision)
With his full kit being revealed in another short video on Blizzard’s twitter, and on the Blizzard PTR forums, this morning, he’s going to be another healing/DPS hybrid in the support role – but instead of being the long-range hybrid the way Ana is, or the tanky hybrid the way Brigitte is, it appears he’s going to bring his own hybrid flavor to the table – and that flavor appears to be lots of damage! He’s got a pretty standard three round burst “Biotic Launcher” that seems to hit pretty damn hard for a primary attack, with the secondary attack that lobs healing grenades. He also has a pretty potent AOE healing ability with “Regenerative Burst” that not only puts a decent healing over time effect on his allies but on himself as well. He’s a powerful defensive ability with his “Immortality Field”, which prevents allies within the area of effect from dying for a period of time (this is going to be RIDICULOUSLY strong, and I’m honestly surprised this isn’t an ultimate ability). His passive ability, “Exo Boots” allows him some really strong mobility, as he can run and jump over obstacles and long distances – not quite Pharah or D.Va levels of mobility, but pretty dang close. Finally, we’ve got his “Amplification Matrix” ultimate, which is the true DPS/Healing Hybrid ult, as he places a barrier on the ground that doubles the damage of any projectiles that his allies shoot through it, while also doubling any healing that goes through it as well. I have to say, this kit seems pretty insane on paper, and it’s clear he’s going to fit right in with aggressive team comps, while also meshing quite well in comps that need to turtle up and play D.
It’s always great to see support roles get some love, as I’m usually out there picking tanks and healers, and I feel like Baptiste is going to be a phenomenal addition to the roster – and with his powerful skillset, my hope is that this rad combat medic will bring some much-needed variance to a somewhat stagnant metagame at the moment. He looks rad, he sounds rad, and I can’t wait to play him!
