Overwatch patch 1.34 has gone live on the PTR, which most notably brings us Baptiste – the combat medic who serves as the latest addition to the game’s roster of healers. We got an early look at Baptiste’s abilities ahead of today’s launch, but you won’t have to wait to see what it all entails for yourself.
The latest new Overwatch hero might just be the GOATS-buster fans have been looking for, and his kit looks to be an interesting blend of DPS and healer – the sort of hybrid hero Blizzard has hinted toward in the past, and that we’ve previously seen in action with characters like Brigette.
Besides Baptiste, there are a tonne of balance changes for other heroes. Perhaps most notably, Wrecking Ball’s Roll no longer cancels Adaptive Shield, which should help to make the tank quite a bit, well, tankier. Soldier: 76 gets a positively massive damage boost – 19 to 20 – though, less sarcastically, his reduced Sprint delay and ability to target RIP-Tire and Immortality Field gives him some important new options.
OVERWATCH PATCH 1.34 RELEASE DATE
Patch 1.34 is out now! The patch was pushed live on March 19. Get stuck in and enjoy the new hero, or sample the many balance changes that have been made (see below for a full breakdown).
Baptiste
Overwatch patch 1.34 new hero: Baptiste
Baptiste is a battle-hardened combat medic who wields an assortment of experimental devices and weaponry to keep allies alive and eliminate his 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.
With Regenerative Burst, Baptiste activates an intense surge that heals himself and nearby allies over time. When danger is near, Baptiste can toss out his Immortality Field to prevent allies from dying. Baptiste moves around the battlefield with Exo Boots , jumping over obstacles and clearing distances that would stop other heroes. Baptiste deploys his Amplification Matrix as his ultimate, which doubles the damage and healing effects of friendly projectiles.
Hero changes
OVERWATCH PATCH 1.34 HERO UPDATES
ANA
Nano Boost
- Heal decreased to 250 from 300
Developer Comments: Giving Nano Boost an instant heal effect enabled players to survive longer and made Ana’s ultimate valuable. However, it needs to be slightly less effective for refilling large health pools.
DOOMFIST
Rising Uppercut
- Cooldown decreased to 6 from 7 seconds
Seismic Slam
- Cooldown decreased to 6 from 7 seconds
Developer Comments: Reducing the downtime of Doomfist’s abilities should make his gameplay feel more fluid.
HANZO
Sonic Arrow
- Detection radius increased from to 9 from 7 meters
Developer Comments: Because of how dense the environment is on some maps, the Sonic Arrow can feel ineffective in some areas. Increasing Sonic Arrow’s detection radius should make it more effective.
LUCIO
Sonic Amplifier
- Soundwave now counts towards Offensive Assists
Developer Comments: The knockback on Lúcio’s Soundwave is a great tool for pushing enemies into situations that get them killed, so they should be rewarded an offensive assist for doing so.
MCCREE
Fan the Hammer
- Damage decreased to 50 from 55
Deadeye
- Damage per second increased to 550 from 275 after locking onto targets for 2.5 seconds
Developer Comments: 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.
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
Developer Comments: Increasing the damage of Mei’s primary fire should make her Freeze and Icicle move combination more potent. Making the pillars on Mei’s Ice Wall easier to destroy means less waiting for the wall to disappear on its own and more opportunities to counter it.
MOIRA
Biotic Grasp
- Heal over time duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds
- Total healing increased from 50 to 65
Developer Comments: These minor changes make Moira’s passive healing effect on Biotic Grasp slightly more effective when topping off an ally’s health.
ORISA
Fusion Driver
- Movement speed penalty while firing reduced from 50% to 30%
Developer Comments: As a defensive tank, Orisa can have trouble pushing forward with the team. Allowing Orisa to move faster while firing should make it easier to apply pressure on the enemy team and use her barrier in proactive ways.
PHARAH
Rocket Launcher
- Minimum explosion damage increased from 16.25 to 20
Developer Comments: This change sets the Rocket Launcher’s minimum damage to where it was before we rebalanced its direct impact and explosive damage in a recent patch.
SOLDIER: 76
Pulse Rifle
- Damage increased from 19 to 20
Sprint
- Delay before you can fire the weapon after using Sprint decreased to 0.3 from 0.5 seconds
Tactical Visor
- Can target RIP-Tire and Immortality Field
Developer Comments: This change should potentially allow Soldier: 76 to kill an enemy hero one shot sooner. Reducing the time between when you use Sprint and when you can fire should make the ability more fluid and responsive. Giving Tactical Visor the ability to target Junkrat’s RIP-Tire and Baptiste’s Immortality Field drone is a quality of life improvement, since these are both critical targets.
SOMBRA
Hack
- Cooldown is reduced by half when hacking a health pack
Developer Comments: The cooldown on Hack often made it feel less effective to target health packs instead of players. This will make both health packs and players viable targets for hacking.
TORBJORN
- Base health increased by 50 armour (250 maximum health)
Overload
- Armour gain decreased to 100 from 150
Developer Comments: Torbjörn’s survivability was a bit low, so we’ve shifted some power from his Overload ability to his base health.
WIDOWMAKER
Infra-Sight
- Reveals enemy health bars
- Now canceled on death
Developer Comments: 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.
WRECKING BALL
Adaptive Shield
- No longer cancels Roll mode
Developer Comments: This will make Adaptive Shields a more powerful survival tool, since being forced out of Roll mode left Wrecking Ball more susceptible to fire.
Bug fixes
Overwatch patch 1.34 bug fixes
As ever, plenty of bugs are getting squashed in the latest Overwatch patch. Read on for a full list:
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
HERO GALLERY
- Fixed a bug where, if switching between Junkrat Skins, one of the bombs on his vest would spin
MAPS
- Fixed a bug where the winning team’s hero lineup wouldn’t display correctly on Hollywood
- Fixed a bug where the sounds coming from the Nous vous surveillons apartment weren’t playing in Paris
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
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
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