Overwatch’s newest hero is here, and after we teased his arrival last week, Twin Galaxies is in the arena to bring you all the information you need to know about Baptiste’s abilities. An extensive look at how Baptiste may change the face of the Overwatch League’s current meta is coming soon, but for now, let’s take a look at the hero’s skills, what they do, and how to use them.
Note: all abilities are designated in their default key-bindings.
Supportal Combat
The addition of Baptise to the current Overwatch lineup is refreshing in the same way that Brigitte was. Supports are notoriously reactive roles, and the addition of some pretty crucial gameplay techniques and offensive capabilities makes Baptiste skirt the line between DPS and Support a little bit more than others. We can't wait until we get the chance to see players like ArK show off their Baptiste skills in the Overwatch League, but until then, let’s take a look at his entire skillset.
Left Click
Baptiste’s Biotic Launcher medic rifle is an extremely versatile weapon (take that Widowmaker), and has two main abilities. The left click with the launcher fires a burst of three damage dealing rounds and is Baptiste’s only offensive ability in his kit. Watch yourself though, it’s got some recoil, and if you don’t compensate for that kick-back during a firefight, you’re going to miss some shots.
Right Click
The same Biotic Launcher has a right click ability as well. When playing as Baptiste, the right click on his main medic rifle will lob out a healing grenade that explodes on impact and heals all allies for a particular amount (not specified) of health that are within the slash zone. Think of it as a health water balloon.
Shift
Unlike many of the other support heroes in Overwatch, Baptiste spent a lot of time fighting for himself during the biotic war, which is why hitting your shift key will drop a regenerative burst that heals yourself and all allies within the rather small zone. This is a perfect tool for disengage burst healing and has a fairly short cooldown.
Crouch - CTRL
Baptiste also has some pretty great movement tech involved with his playing. Thanks to a pair of robotic boots, holding crouch will build up a charge, and upon jumping (with the space bar), will launch Baptiste into the air a specific height depending on how long the crouch is charged. Playing around with the ability in the PTR, it seems like at max-charge, Baptiste’s jump is roughly the same height as Pharah’s launch. This makes it easy to get to high ground, where Baptiste really shines.
Utility - E
The controversial, yet developer-approved immortality field is Baptiste’s utility ability. Pressing ‘E’ will throw down a device that deploys a blue cylindrical field. When inside this field, the last like 10% of the heroes health cannot be taken. It’s not a shield from damage, merely a halt on dying. It is important to note that the immortality field generator can be destroyed by enemy heroes.
Ultimate - Q
Baptiste’s ultimate ability, and probably the most elite-level gamechanger, is the Amplification Matrix. Pressing ‘Q’ will bring up a placement interface (much like Mei’s wall) and when you hit left click the wall will appear. This wall is a thin illusion that, when projectiles are fired through it, doubles the damage they deal. The healing effects of companion heroes are also doubled. It’s important to note that this effect only changes projectile weapons. The Matrix has a very short life-span, but can be used in high-tier plays to completely change the outcome of the game.
Blizzard launched the Baptiste Patch around 12:00 PM PST today, so everyone should be able to update their game and see Baptiste at the time they read this.
