• News

Overwatch PTR Patch 1.34 adds 30th playable hero Baptiste

The latest Overwatch PTR patch adds new hero Baptiste, while making some noteworthy changes to a handful of other heroes and Overwatch as a whole.

Ozzie Mejia

February 26, 2019 12:00 PM

1

The turnaround between the latest tease for the next Overwatch hero, the official reveal of the next Overwatch hero, and the next Overwatch hero being playable has proven remarkably short. It feels like just yesterday that Blizzard revealed Haitian Medic Baptiste as Overwatch's 30th playable character. That's probably because it was yesterday. But yes, Baptiste is now playable on the game's Public Test Region and those players looking for a different kind of medic may want to check him out.

Here's Baptiste's full array of abilities:

• Biotic Launcher: Baptiste fires a three-round-burst firearm with the left mouse button (LMB). Accuracy is essential, with this weapon able to deal significant damage. It also has a RMB alt-fire that shoots off a projectile that can heal allies when fired near their location.
• Regenerative Burst (Left Shift): Baptiste fires off a burst of energy that heals himself. It can also heal nearby allies.
• Immortality Field (E): Baptiste tosses down a device that prevents nearby allies from dying. This device can be destroyed by enemies, so make sure to protect it.
• Amplication Matrix (Q): Baptiste's Ultimate projects a matrix that doubles damage and healing output from allies, provided they fire through it.

Baptiste also brings along a passive ability that allows him to jump higher by holding down the Left Control key prior to his leap. He may not be able to fly like Mercy, but he can get some serious air.

As is the case with anything that makes its way through Blizzard's PTRs, Baptiste and his abilities are subject to change. Depending on player feedback, any one or more of his moves might get tweaked prior to full release. Anyone running the Overwatch PTR on PC can get some practice with this new character right now. Those running the console version or anyone looking to wait for the full release will likely not have to wait long. Baptiste is coming soon to the full version of Overwatch.

But Baptiste isn't the only major addition to the PTR. The PTR patch is also introducing changes to armor. Damage over time effects are no longer affected by a character's armor. Damage boost is being changed to apply when a projectile gets fired, rather than when it hits a target. And knockback will now apply to flying heroes, as well.

Some of Overwatch's existing heroes have been adjusted. Ana's Nano Boost heal has been reduced to 250 from 300. Doomfist has seen his Rising Uppercut and Seismic Slam cooldowns reduced to six seconds. Hanzo's Sonic Arrow has been slightly buffed. Soldier: 76's Tactical Visor can now target RIP-Tire and Immortality Field. Blizzard has similarly adjusted other characters, but it's McCree and Widowmaker who may be the recipients of some of the most eye-opening changes.

McCree

• Fan the Hammer: Damage reduced from 55 to 50
• Deadeye: Damage per second increased from 275 to 550 after locking onto targets for 2.5 seconds

Blizzard explanation: After reducing armor's effectiveness for all heroes, Fan the Hammer doesn't need to deal quite as much damage. Increasing Deadeye's damage after being locked on for a bit makes it more effective when attacking high health, static targets (like barriers) and heroes with over 600 health. It will not impact how dangerous this is for heroes under 600 health.

Widowmaker

• Infra-Sight: Reveals enemy health bars. Now canceled on death.

Blizzard explanation: Infra-Sight had no counter to its effect, so it now ends when Widowmaker dies. To balance out its higher risk of use, Infra-Sight now reveals enemy health bars to Widowmaker's team.

Again, these are all subject to change before hitting the game proper. Those looking to get a preview of what Overwatch may look like soon can jump into the PTR right now. The full PTR patch notes are up on the Blizzard forums.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?