Bastion

Bastion is a Damage hero in Overwatch.

Overview
Repair protocols and the ability to transform between stationary Sentry, mobile Recon and devastating Tank configurations provide Bastion with a high damage output at the cost of mobility.

Strategy
Bastion is a hero with two main forms. Its default form is a mobile bipedal form with a sub-machine gun, while the second being a completely immobile turret form. Both of these perform in unique ways, and must be utilized to their fullest. The most notable part of Bastion's kit is Reconfigure, which turns it into a stationary turret gun. This turret has some of the highest damage output in the game, being able to shred through shields and heroes alike, but it can't deal a critical shot. In tank form, while losing some damage output, it gets more crowd control ability, as the explosion of the shells fired are very large and dangerous to all enemies. However, Configuration: Sentry poses two major weaknesses to Bastion. The first is immobility, which causes Bastion to become an easy target to focus fire on. The second is a weak point that appears on its back in turret configuration. Faster heroes can easily get behind Bastion and kill it quickly with this weak point. Even though it has reasonable health and is able to repair itself in any situation, the healing ability has limits and its large frame makes it an easy target. Bastion is also relatively slow, making it easy to be outflanked by enemies.

Weapons & Abilities

 * Ironclad: Bastion's passive ability. It takes 20% reduction damage while in Sentry and Tank configuration.
 * Ironclad will take the lead in reducing all incoming damage before the armor reduces the remained outcome.'''
 * Bastion has to finish the transformation to get this passive ability. As it will still receive normal damage while transforming, try not to use it as an instant defensive against heavy damage.'''
 * Configuration: Recon: Bastion's primary form. The primary form of Bastion features a submachine-gun attached to its right arm as its weapon. The weapon fires hitscan bullets with high accuracy.
 * While the main role of this form is to find a spot to transform into Sentry, the weapon itself deals a good amount of damage; per shot, the damage is the same as Soldier: 76's Pulse Rifle, but with slightly lower range and fire rate, but smaller spread. It can kite a sniper or airborne target while keeping itself moving rather than being a stationary turret, easy to be shot down.'''
 * In the case of engaging a mobile enemy, fighting with this mode is recommended over transforming into Sentry, as it can deal a critical shot while the other cannot. Defensively, it also has a higher chance to disengage if the fight isn't in its favor rather than being stuck in an immobile form, and it does not have a weak spot on its back while in Recon, which is easy for mobile enemies to target otherwise.


 * Configuration: Sentry: Bastion's secondary form. After finishing the transformation, It will become a stationary turret equipped with a gatling gun capable of unleashing a hail of bullets. Bastion's weak point will be changed from its head to its back, which is opposite to the targeted point of view. The downside of this form is it becomes an immobile target and unable to deal a critical shot.
 * Sentry form works best on a fixed area where the enemy is likely to be in; such as choke point, enclosed spaces or a doorway.
 * Bastion will not receive any knockback from enemy attacks, like Roadhog's Whole Hog or Lúcio's Soundwave.
 * Although Bastion has Ironclad and Self-Repair to help it withstand attacks, without a Barrier from an ally such as Reinhardt, Orisa or Sigma, it can easily become a sitting duck as it draws enemy fire due to being a high-damage stationary target.
 * Be careful for flankers. Some heroes like Tracer or Genji can get behind Bastion and easily dispatch it.
 * While Sentry form has large spreading and damage falloff at very long range, it can still be useful to force the enemy to move in other ways. Keep in mind that the large spreading means it is less effective against far-away snipers.
 * Take advantage of being on high ground for this form. It can minimize enemy fire received and become a harder target to counterattack even though it can't move.
 * Some abilities can force Bastion to change itself back to Recon form, such as Reinhardt's Charge or Earth Shatter, Sombra's Hack or EMP, Ana's Sleep Dart and Roadhog's Hook.


 * Reconfigure: Bastion's transformation skill. It changes to Configuration: Sentry within 1 second, while it changes back to Configuration: Recon within only 0.5 seconds.
 * This ability can be used mid-air, so Bastion can activate this ability mid-jump from a higher ground to lower ground, ready to fire at an opponent.
 * Bastion will reload each form's weapon after roughly a second of being in the other form, generally negating the need to reload between forms.
 * Self-Repair: Bastion's method of self-healing. It will repair itself for up to 4 seconds; this can be stopped by the player at any time. It can heal 25% of its health per second, making this a powerful self-healing. Bastion can freely move and heal at the same time, and can't be interrupted by enemy attack.
 * Combining Self-Repair with the passive ability of Ironclad while in Configuration: Sentry makes it harder to take down because of the combined healing and damage reduction.
 * While being a powerful self-healing, it stills has a limit. Wasting it on non-lethal damage will leave it vulnerable to the next following damage.
 * Pairing with a healer will grant higher survivability. It can leave the main healing to the support, but in case of being heavily focused on, it can begin the Self-Repair to withstand damage while the support keeps healing it.
 * Don't get too cocky engaging a group of enemies while having only minimum charge of its gauge. Bastion can't activate the Self-Repair when the gauge is below than 20%, which leaves it even more vulnerable.


 * Configuration: Tank (Ultimate): Bastion's Ultimate form. After it has finished the transformation for 1.5 seconds, it changes itself to a tank model and replaces its previous weapon with an explosive cannon, which deals heavy damage and creates a strong knockback around the blast.
 * Bastion has no weak point and benefits from Ironclad in this form, making it strong against direct fire from enemies.
 * While losing some damage output in comparison to Sentry form, Bastion gains crowd-control ability in return from the explosive cannon.
 * It isn't recommended to use this form when the enemy still has a barrier. Alone, Reinhardt's Barrier Field is capable of withstanding most of its shells. It is encouraged to use the ultimate after its teammates destroy the barrier or separate him from covering his teammates.
 * The cannon shell can be used to propel Bastion upward when fired at the ground while jumping, creating a rocket jump method. With surprising vertical movement, it can propel itself high enough to shoot down any enemy who is behind a barrier or is on higher ground for a brief moment.

General strategies

 * Bastion is played best when you mix both configurations together. It should be noted that Recon Configuration's submachine gun is a highly accurate weapon with reasonably high damage. Do not be afraid to change back into Recon in order to run to a better spot, but try to do so behind cover.
 * You should also know how to correctly utilize Bastion's Self Repair. It is a powerful self heal, healing at the rate of 25% per second, lasting until cancelled or out of charged. While you can repair yourself in any situation, the healing has a charge limit. Staying in front of focused fire from enemies would be unwise as the healing rate is not fast enough to compensate for the high rate of receiving damage.
 * Bastion works incredibly well with heroes who provide it with survival capability, such as Reinhardt, Torbjörn and Symmetra.
 * A common tactic for Bastion on Payload modes is to pair with Reinhardt and Mercy; the barrier combined with Mercy's damage amplifier will boost both Bastion's damage output and defensive capability while setting up on a payload.
 * Carefully consider where to place yourself in turret mode. Change positions often (when you can safely move), especially whenever you feel that the enemy knows your location or is forming a strategy against you. Try to use the element of surprise to your advantage. Bastion does especially well in narrow corridors and unexpected positions.
 * Bastion excels at destroying slow-moving and/or high-health targets, such as Winston, Roadhog, unshielded Reinhardt, and a flying Pharah; however, in some situations you should prioritize killing high damage dealing enemies, such as Reaper or another Bastion.
 * When in turret mode, Bastion's weak point is behind it, and can be seen from almost any angle except from directly in front of it. Be vigilant for flankers, but try not to expose your weak point to the frontline while dealing with them.
 * Bastion can go down relatively quickly when faced with focused fire from the entire enemy team, especially if they have high damage output. Prioritize taking out high damage output enemies as quickly as possible, or retreat.

Story
Once a frontline combatant in the devastating Omnic Crisis, Bastion has all but lost its combat programming and now explores its surroundings, fascinated by the world and its inhabitants.

Though Bastion's new nature is gentle, its core combat programming takes over when the unit senses danger, utilizing its entire arsenal to eliminate anything it perceives as a threat. This has led to instances of conflict with the few humans it has encountered, and it tries to avoid populated areas in favor of the wild, uncharted regions of the world.

Background
Originally created for peacekeeping purposes, Bastion robot units possessed the unique ability to rapidly reconfigure themselves into an assault-cannon mode. But during the Omnic Crisis, they were turned against their human makers, forming the bulk of the omnics' rebel army. Following the resolution of the crisis, nearly all of the remaining Bastion units were destroyed or disassembled. To this day, Bastion units still symbolize the horrors of the conflict.

The Last Bastion
Bastion was programmed with the mission to attack Stuttgart alongside many other Bastion units, but it was severely damaged during the fight. It lay dormant in the Black Forest near Eichenwalde, forgotten for over a decade.

One day, Ganymede started to build a nest on Bastion's right shoulder, and discovered its visual sensory screen. Ganymede roused the unit by pecking on the screen. Bastion awoke remembering its directive -- Stuttgart. It began to make its way to the city, while admiring the beauty of the forest around it and forming a bond with Ganymede, offering an appropriately-sized twig for the nest. However, a woodpecker's drilling startled it, reminding it of gunfire, and it reconfigured itself into an assault-cannon and began to fire wildly, scaring off Ganymede and destroying the forest around it. Recomposing itself, it found Ganymede's ruined nest on the ground, realized what it had done and sadly continued toward its destination.

In the meadow between the forest and Stuttgart, Bastion was looking back at the forest as it walked forward, and stubbed its foot on a destroyed Bastion unit, discovering it as one of dozens of other destroyed Bastion units scattered about the meadow. Bastion knelt beside the unit, its head torn open and memory components exposed, and accessed the fallen unit's last memories. Suddenly, Bastion was reliving the war, and saw its fellow Bastion units fighting German soldiers before being wiped out by Balderich von Adler. With new clarity as to its purpose, Bastion reverted to its combat protocol and again marched toward Stuttgart, ready to attack the city. Ganymede found it and landed on it, offering a twig in friendship, just as Bastion had done earlier. Bastion struggled with itself, and finally became peaceful again, placing the twig onto its shoulder, turning away from Stuttgart and back to the forest with Ganymede on its finger.

Binary
"Bastion on the loose? Or just another false alarm? Teen lovers' run-in with death machine! A terror from the past returns!"

- Swedish headlines on Bastion's sighting

After Bastion's reactivation it was spotted in Sweden by some teens, who got scared when they sighted Bastion, as they thought that it would attack them. As the city's population assembled to discuss what to do, Torbjörn arrived, claiming that he could help with the issue, and asked for the citizens to stay in a safe place; however, a police officer was sent with him after they do some research on the stranger. He set up a trap for the omnic in a form of a ball-shaped rope bomb and his turret, but then Ganymede showed up and flew on top of the rope bomb, which startled the police officer, prompting him to fire his machine pistol, scaring away the omnic and Ganymede, which surprised Torbjörn as a Bastion unit normally couldn't be scared away.

Later on, he found the omnic near a beaver dam, and threw the ball near Bastion, but the omnic gave him a bunch of twigs as a response along with some beeps, making him realize that something is different with the unit. Soon after, the commando unit of the police started to attack Bastion, but it got away before they could do anything other than angering Torbjörn. After failing to restrain him, he detonated the rope bomb and left his attackers tied to the trees.

After restraining his opponents, Torbjörn went off in search of the omnic, and found it observing a flower. Speaking to the omnic, he declared to come in peace and promised not to hurt the omnic; Bastion offered him the flower as a sign of peace, and the duo continued on together.

Upgrades
Bastion ended up living with Torbjörn, and received new upgrades from the engineer. Among them was new armor.

Blizzard World
Alongside Tracer, Winston, and Torbjörn, Bastion watched an ad for Blizzard World.

Trivia

 * Configuration: Recon used to be called Configuration: Assault.
 * Configuration: Sentry used to be called Configuration: Siege. Also it had a 1000 HP front-facing barrier and Bastion had a rotation limit of 60 degrees in frontal cone.


 * A Bastion portrait is available in StarCraft II for those who purchased the Origins Edition.


 * The Eichenwalde map contains multiple Bastions, dead, the aftermath of the Eichenwalde battle as seen in The Last Bastion short.


 * The units at the Eichenwalde map are labeled B73, and where Bastion's hand and repair would be is another recon gun.


 * While other omnics such as Zenyatta and Orisa have been shown to identify as male or female, Bastion is so far the only playable omnic confirmed to be genderless and is referred to with 'it' pronouns in official material.


 * Bastion appears in LEGO Overwatch in the game's first set.

Development

 * Bastion's original Ultimate ability was a remote mine that could be driven like an RC car before burrowing into the ground. This was later changed to Configuration: Tank because Remote Mine didn't feel like it fit the character. A similar mechanic is currently used as Junkrat's RIP-Tire.


 * Bastion's Iron Clad ability used to reduce damage by 35%, allowing it to survive Tracer's pulse bomb with 40 health (If on full health), which very few heroes could do. As of Patch 1.9.0.1, it was changed to the current 20% and the Pulse Bomb now does 235 damage to Bastion; a Bastion at full health still cannot survive, and before their reworks, Torbjörn's Armor Pack, the extra health from Symmetra's Shield Generator, and Briggite’s armor were the only things that could save him.