Blizzard has formally unveiled Overwatch’s 30th hero, the previously teased Haitian combat medic, Jean-Baptiste Augustine, AKA Baptiste (aged 32).
Baptiste first shoved a toe into the limelight last week, when Blizzard teased the new character by way of a missive from terrorist organisation Talon. Baptiste’s origin story trailer then revealed he became an orphan during the war known as the Omnic Crisis, and fell in with military group the Caribbean Coalition. Eventually, his skills on the battlefield caught the attention of Talon, an organisation Baptiste would go on to desert – all of which brings us more or less to the present, ready for his Overwatch debut.
Despite what his soldier origin story might suggest, in-game Baptiste has all the characteristics of a support-healing hero – albeit one with a more aggressive edge. His primary mode of fire comes via a three-round burst gun known as the Medic SMG, which remains relatively accurate during firefights, despite its recoil. The Medic SMG also features hitscan (which is to say, its bullets have no travel time), making Baptiste the first hitscan support healer in Overwatch.
