The new hero Baptiste is live on the test server of Overwatch. His position between healer and DPS and his very specific kit have already sparked discussions about his impact on the meta. Will Baptiste be able to change anything?
This is what Baptiste can do: The abilities of the new hero revolve around switching between healing and damage. His weapon is a burst rifle with an under-slung healing grenade launcher.
He has the ability to make his teammates invulnerable and increase the healing and damage of the projectiles of all team members. You can find Baptiste’s abilities in detail in our patch notes.
This is why Baptiste could end GOATS: Baptiste’s offensive abilities all promote an aggressive playstyle. Both his high damage from his rifle and his mobility from his super jump give him good opportunities to disrupt opponents.
However, the most important aspect of his kit is his ultimate ability, the amplification matrix. The matrix amplifies any projectile it passes through and doubles its damage or healing.
As a result, the healing of heroes like Ana or Moira is increased, and they would form an alternative combination to the GOATS composition of Lúcio and Brigitte, as the website Dotesports highlights.
However, the matrix also increases the damage of all heroes’ abilities, such as Junkrat’s. Even hitscan heroes benefit from the matrix and could become more useful again due to increased critical hits. Widowmaker can take down a Roadhog instantly with a headshot through a matrix, for example.
Since Baptiste can double the damage of many offensive heroes, they could become viable again. Unlike the current GOATS meta.
His life-saving field could also contribute to weakening GOATS. GOATS primarily relies on combining a second ultimate with Zarya’s graviton bomb to wipe out the team.
If Baptiste places his invulnerability field at exactly the right moment before the opponents can destroy it, he saves the entire team from death. Combined with a strong group heal like Zenyatta’s Transcendence or Ana’s biotic grenade, the fight is as good as won.
This is why Baptiste could also strengthen GOATS: However, some fans fear that Baptiste’s defensive abilities could do exactly the opposite. Some fans on Reddit are already discussing whether Baptiste, with his life-saving field, would complement a static GOATS composition.
There are also considerations that Baptiste would simply take Brigitte’s place in GOATS. He would roughly fulfill the same role. One fan even created a humorous animation about his impact on the meta.
Even the professionals of the Overwatch League are still unsure. While the manager of the Houston Outlaws according to unikrn agrees that Baptiste will shake up the meta, professional LiNKzr is not so sure.
The DPS player of the Houston Outlaws says:
I like Baptiste. I still think 3/3 will roll over him. We’ll see.
What is the problem with GOATS?
Currently, the defensive tank and healing meta named after the former pro team “GOATS” is causing a lot of dissatisfaction in the community. In the Overwatch League, GOATS has even led to a team being booed.
The problem is that it lacks dynamics. Since it consists only of three tanks and healers, there are hardly any spectacular kills or tricky plays from good DPS players. The whole gameplay is static and revolves around two tightly grouped teams facing each other.
The biggest action occurs when one of the two Zaryas has charged her ultimate and has been able to use it well. The team with the better ultimate wins and marches on until the next team fight.
For most viewers, this is unimaginably boring. Many also find playing GOATS frustrating since not much happens. Blamed for the whole mess that has been ongoing for a long time is according to former pro Seagull, the hero Tracer. Whether Baptiste can fix this remains to be seen.
What do you think, will Baptiste strengthen or drive away GOATS?
At least the initial reactions to Baptiste are already quite positive:
