Hi-Rez Studios officially revealed Vatu, Paladins new playable champion, last night. Aside from a short teaser, the developers also revealed the abilities and details of the character as well.

Although some would call it the free-to-play version of Overwatch, Paladins has been growing continuously over the last few years and now has pretty distinct characteristics compared to the similar rivals of its genre.

Hi-Rez Studios never has never slowed down on bringing new content to Paladins. Each season, a new champion joins the game's roster, and last night we got to know the latest addition, Vatu.

When is Vatu Joining the Paladins Servers?

As revealed in the teaser trailer, Vatu will join the Paladins roster in May 2021. Check out the first trailer of the champion down below:

What Are the Abilities of Vatu?

Vatu is a stealth-based champion that uses shadow as a weapon to eliminate his enemies. Below, you will find full details about the character:

Role:

  • Flank

Health:

  • 1900

Weapon - Kunai:

  • Launch 3 Kunai in an arc from your hands every 0.9s, dealing 300 damage per kunai. Has a max Ammo count of 5 and is fully effective up to 75 units.
  • Final Sight:
    • Reset the Cooldown of Ambush after falling to or below 10|10% Health.
  • Memento Vivere:
    • Increase your maximum Health by 40|40.
  • Shadow Garrote:
    • Generate 5|5% Ultimate charge after hitting an enemy with your Ultimate.
  • Tranquility:
    • Increase your base jump height by 30|30%.

Alt-Fire - Shadow Bombs:

  • Throw out 3 explosive projectiles that stick to their target and explode after 0.3s. Each explosive deals 10 damage on hit and an additional 200 damage in a radius of 10 units on an explosion. Has a range of 150 units before auto-exploding in the air.
  • Assassin’s Tools:
    • Reduce the damage you take by 6|6% for 2s after activating Shadow Bombs.
  • Outnumbered:
    • Generate 1|1 Ammo after hitting at least one enemy with Shadow Bombs.
  • Shadow’s Gaze:
    • Heal for 40|40 for after activating Shadow Bombs.
  • Shattered Worlds:
    • Reduce the Cooldown of Shadow Bombs by 8|8 after earning a Killing Blow or Elimination.

Ability 1 - Ambush:

  • Teleport next to your target, dealing 200 damage. This ability can be re-fired a second time within 4s on a different target. Damage hits in a 20-unit radius and is fully effective up to 10 units. Teleport has a range of 85 units.
  • Gathering Shadow:
    • Reduce the damage you take by 5|5% for 2s after Ambush ends. This applies to each Ambush in the chain.
  • Infiltration:
    • Heal for 70|70 after activating Ambush. This applies to each Ambush in the chain.
  • Retribution:
    • Increase the Radius and Effective Radius of the damage from Ambush by 15|15%.
  • Shadow’s Perch:
    • Increase the range of Ambush by 10|10%.

Ability 2 - Dash:

  • Quickly dash 40 units in the direction you are moving, reducing the damage you take by 60% during the dash. Has 3 charges.
  • Contemplation:
    • Heal for 100|-7.5 every 0.5s for 0.5|0.5s after activating Dash. This effect stacks.
  • Deadly Dash:
    • Generate 7% Ultimate charge after activating Dash once every 60|-8s.
  • Extraction:
    • Increase your Movement Speed by 5|5% for 2s after Dash ends.
  • Nightwatcher:
    • Reduce the Cooldown of Dash by 0.5|0.5s after hitting at least one enemy with Shadow Bombs.

Ultimate - Nightfall:

  • Activate to start charging up. Reactivate to dash forward extremely quickly through enemies, dealing 800 damage and stunning enemies hit for 1.25s. Distance increases with charge duration. You are immune to Crowd Control while charging. The minimum charge is 0.5s, the maximum charge is 2s, and will automatically fire after 3s. Cannot be canceled.

Default Talent - Omnipresence:

  • Your Ambush gains an additional charge and can now be used on allies.

Level 2 Talent - Unerring:

  • Increase the explosion radius of Shadow Bombs by 5 units and they now home to enemies.

Level 8 Talent - Enveloping Shadows:

  • Reduce the Cooldown of your basic abilities by 15% after hitting an enemy with at least one Kunai. This can activate only once per throw.

Cosmetics:

  • Duty – LIMITED
  • Sorrow
  • Golden Vatu

Paladins Shadow Update Notes

Balance - Champions

  • Androxus:
  • Quick Draw (AOC)
    • NEW: Hitting a player with Revolver Heals you for {scale=15|15}.
  • Furia:
  • Talents
    • Exterminate
      • Reduced additional Damage 100% ➡️ 75%
  • Grohk:
  • Abilities
    • Healing Totem
      • Cooldowns now occur simultaneously
  • Grover:
  • Abilities
    • Whirlwind
      • Activating Whirlwind will now expend 20% ultimate charge instantly, and then drain the remaining over its duration. Players will retain any remaining ultimate charge if they die, or cancel the ability before it finishes.
      • 100% Ultimate charge is still required for activation.
  • Talents
    • Deep Roots (AOC)
      • Reduced maximum bounces 5 ➡️ 3
  • Kinessa:
  • Cards
    • True Grit (AOC)
      • Hitting an enemy with a fully-charged Sniper Mode shot Heals you for {100|100} ➡️ {50|50}.
  • Lex:
  • Cards
    • The Hunted (AOC)
      • You gain {10|10}% ➡️ {5|5}% Lifesteal against your Retribution target.
  • Octavia:
  • Marksman Rifle
    • Using Designated Sights
      • Reduced Damage 500 ➡️ 425
      • Reduced bullet spread and recoil
      • Reduced damage falloff at extended ranges
  • Hipfire
    • Increased Damage 200 ➡️ 250
    • Increased Accuracy 89%➡️ 94%
    • Increased damage falloff
  • Tiberius:
  • Abilities
    • Heavy Blade (AOC)
      • Reduced Slow 50% ➡️ 30%
      • Reduced Slow duration 3s ➡️ 2s
  • Zhin:
  • Talents
    • Guillotine
      • Reduced Damage 25% ➡️ 20%
      • Removed Ultimate charge rate increase.

Bug Fixes - Champions

  • Grohk:
  • Fixed an issue where Shock Pulse would bounce to other enemies off of an Ethereal target.
  • Grover:
  • Fixed an issue where Crippling Throw with the Deep Roots talent would bounce to other enemies off of an Ethereal target.
  • Imani:
  • Fixed an issue where Imani dying while her Ultimate was active displayed bad information in the Kill Feed.
  • Fixed an issue where Frost Bolts with the Splitting Ice talent would bounce to another enemy off of an Ethereal target.
  • Lex:
  • Fixed an issue where Lex could not reroll a target he killed in a 1v1 game properly after they respawned.
  • Fixed an issue where The Law would not hit enemies in front of Lex if he was slightly obscured by cover.
  • Moji:
  • Fixed an issue where the Greater Good card would not activate on use of her Familiar Spit when the enemy had the maximum number of Magic Marks if it killed the enemy.
  • Octavia:
  • Fixed an issue where the reticle in all Marksman Rifle scopes was not completely centered on screen when using Designated Sights.
  • Fixed an issue where the Golden Marksman Rifle would not play Golden VFX when Octavia killed an enemy with that weapon equipped.
  • Fixed a typo in the Air Supremacy card text.
  • Yagorath:
  • Fixed an issue where Khan throwing an Overpowered enemy at a Planted Form Yagorath would incorrectly knock back Yagorath.
  • Fixed an issue where Cooldown Reduction would not reduce the cooldown of Trail of Acid.
  • Fixed an issue where Corvus and Talus could teleport out of Devour with their respective teleporting abilities in certain circumstances.

Bug Fixes - General

  • Updated the Shooting Range Champion selection screen to allow for all 49 Champions to be selectable in the Shooting Range.
  • Fixed an issue where players could not load into the Match Lobby when queuing for the Test Maps in the Custom screen.
  • Fixed an issue where the Countdown time for region unlocks on the Trials screen did not display properly on Consoles.
  • Fixed an issue where selecting the Event Pass Level reward in Trials linked to the incorrect page with bad UI.

Paladins is now available for free on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.