Overwatch patch adds Baptiste to the game along with some armor and hero changes

News by Stephany Nunneley-Jackson Former News Editor

Published on March 19, 2019

The next Overwatch hero, Baptiste, is live for all platforms alongside the latest patch.

Announced in February, Baptiste is the latest support hero to be added to the Overwatch roster, and the combat medic has an assortment of devices and weaponry to help keep allies alive and eliminate enemies.

Baptiste’s Biotic Launcher fires a three-round-burst that rewards accuracy and recoil control with significant damage output. His alternate fire lobs grenades that heal allies near the point of impact.

Regenerative Burst allows him to activate a surge that heals himself and nearby allies over time. He can also toss Immortality Field to prevent allies from dying.

His Exo Boots provide him with the ability to jump over obstacles and clear long distances. His ultimate, Amplification Matrix, doubles the damage and healing effects of friendly projectiles.

Overwatch's new hero comes with a new patch, which also tweaks the abilities of many other characters: Ana, Doomfist, Hanzo, Lucio, McCree, Mei, Moira, Orisa, Pharah, Soldier: 76, Sombra, Torbjorn, Widowmaker, and Wrecking Ball.

You can look over the patch notes below.

Overwatch patch 1.34 - March 19

General Updates

Armor

Beam-type damage is now reduced by 20% when hitting armor
- Mei: Primary Fire
- Moira: Alternate Fire, Coalescence
- Symmetra: Primary Fire, Sentry Turret
- Winston: Primary Fire
- Zarya: Primary Fire
Damage over time effects are no longer mitigated by armor
- Ana: Primary Fire
- Ashe: Dynamite
- Hanzo: Dragonstrike
- Mei: Blizzard
- Moira: Biotic Orb
- Widowmaker: Venom Mine
- Zarya: Graviton Surge

Developer Comments: The damage taken by armor from damage over time effects, such as Widowmaker’s Venom Mine, and beam weapons, like Symmetra’s Photon Projector, varied greatly. Now it will be more consistent and predictable.

Damage Boost

Damage boost is now applied when a projectile is fired rather than when it hits a target

Knockback

Knockback distance is now more consistent
Heroes that are flying can now be knocked back and slowed

Sound

A new sound plays when you land a hit while damage boosted
A new sound plays when you land a hit, but it doesn’t do any damage

Hero Updates

Ana

Nano Boost - Heal reduced from 300 to 250

Doomfist

Rising Uppercut: Cooldown reduced from 7 to 6 seconds
Seismic Slam: Cooldown reduced from 7 to 6 seconds

Hanzo

Sonic Arrow: Detection radius increased from 7 to 9 meters

Junk Rat

Frag Launcher: Impact damage increased from 40 to 50
Rip-Tire: Cost increased by 10%

Lucio

Amp it Up:Speed Boost’s amplification reduced from 70% to 50%
Cross Fade: Speed Boost’s effect reduced from 30% to 20%
Sonic Amplifier: Soundwave now counts towards Offensive Assists
Wall Rider: Speed buff increased from 20% to 40%

McCree

Fan the Hammer: Damage reduced from 55 to 50
Deadeye: Damage per second increased from 275 to 550 after locking onto targets for 1.5 seconds

Mei

Endothermic Blaster: Primary fire damage increased from 2.25 to 2.75 (45 to 55 damage per second)
Ice Wall: Health reduced from 500 to 400

Moira

Biotic Grasp
- Heal over time duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds
- Total healing increased from 50 to 65

Orisa

Fusion Driver: Movement speed penalty while firing reduced from 50% to 30%

Pharah

Rocket Launcher: Minimum explosion damage increased from 16.25 to 20

Reaper

The Reaping: Healing received from dealing damage reduced from 50% to 40%

Soldier 76

Pulse Rile: Damage increased from 19 to 20
Sprint: Delay before you can fire the weapon after using Sprint reduced from .5 to .3 seconds
Tactical Visor: Can target RIP-Tire and Immortality Field

Sombra

Hack
- Cooldown is reduced by half when hacking a health pack
  Changed the visual appearance to more clearly indicate when something has been hacked

Symmetra

Photon Projector: Primary Fire’s damage ramps up 20% faster

Torbjorn

General: Base health increased by 50 armor (250 maximum health)
Overload: Armor gain reduced from 150 to 100

Widowmaker

Infra-Sight
- Reveals enemy health bars
- Now canceled on death

Wrecking Ball

Adaptive Shield: No longer cancels Roll mode

Zarya

Particle Cannon: Alternative Fire’s explosion radius changed to 2 meters, regardless of energy level

Zenyatta

Orb of Destruction: Damage increased from 46 to 48
Orb if Discord: Effect reduced from 30% to 25%

Bug Fixes

Callouts

Fixed a bug where the “Need Healing” callout wouldn’t display in chat if the hero you targeted didn’t have healing abilities

Camera

Fixed a bug where, when playing certain heroes, the camera would clip into the hero when looking straight upwards

Career Stats Menu

Fixed a bug where the season labels for Competitive CTF and Competitive 6v6 Elimination didn’t display

General

Fixed a bug where damage boost stat tracking was incorrect in some circumstances

Hero Gallery

Fixed a bug where, if switching between Junkrat Skins, one of the bombs on his vest would spin

Heroes

Ana: Fixed a bug where Ana’s clothes would clip into her hip pouch while doing the Yut Nori emote
Ashe: Fixed a bug that prevented audio feedback from playing to indicate ammo was low on Ashe’s rifle if it had three or fewer bullets
Doomfist: Fixed a bug where Seismic Slam didn’t pull in enemies as intended
D.Va: Fixed a bug that made D.Va very difficult to knock back while she was firing her Fusion Cannons
Genji
- Fixed a bug that caused Genji’s Dragonblade to end before the deflect duration was complete
- Fixed a bug where Genji would be knocked back unusually far when using Swift Strike to hit Doomfist’s Rocket Punch
Hanzo: Fixed a bug where Hanzo’s leg would visibly move while he was in his Meditate pose
Mei: Fixed a bug where turrets, AI bots, and Ashe’s Bob would target a friendly Mei’s Ice Wall
Mercy: Fixed a bug where Mercy’s left knee would bend unnaturally when stunned by McCree’s Flashbang
Orisa: Fixed a bug that made Orisa very difficult to knock back while she was firing her Fusion Driver
Reaper: Fixed a bug where a button on the shoulder of Reaper’s Lu Bu skin appeared to be floating
Reinhardt
- Fixed a bug where a piece on Reinhardt’s back displayed incorrectly while using the Guan Yu skin in the Hammer Down highlight intro
- Fixed an issue that allowed Reinhardt’s Earthshatter to hit people further off the ground than intended in specific circumstances
Sombra
- Fixed a bug where Sombra’s stealth exiting sound effect wouldn’t play if an emote was used to exit stealth mode
- Fixed a bug where Sombra couldn’t quick melee while using her Hack ability
Symmetra: Fixed a bug where Symmetra would gain ultimate charge while casting Photon Barrier
Torbjorn: Fixed a bug that prevented Torbjörn from using Molten Core in custom games if Ability 2 was disabled
Widowmaker: Fixed a bug that prevented Widowmaker’s Venom Mine from damaging a hero if they triggered it at the edge of its trigger radius

Maps

Hollywood: Fixed a bug where the winning team’s hero lineup wouldn’t display correctly
Horizon Lunar Colony: Fixed a bug that caused the hanging tires near the first point to rotate a Self Destructing D.Va mech
Paris: Fixed a bug where the sounds coming from the Nous vous surveillons apartment weren’t playing

Rialto: Fixed a bug where players would fall through boats to their death

Overwatch League Skins

Fixed issues with the colors of skins for new Overwatch League teams

Sound

Fixed a bug where the elimination sound effect would play after destroying a barrier
Fixed a bug where the elimination sound effect wouldn’t play after getting a kill assist
Fixed a bug where the Deathmatch end of the game screens and the Play of the Game animation didn’t have music