No new hero in Overwatch has found their place from the very first moment. This also applies to Brigitte, the new healer who has been playable in Overwatch for a week now. The support players from the professional teams have tested and rated her.
The balance in Overwatch is subject to constant change. Whether these changes arise from adjustments to existing heroes or patches with newcomers, they require an adjustment.
With Brigitte, a hero has been added to the game who has the potential to restructure the entire meta. On the other hand, she has weaknesses that could prohibit just that. The professionals Boink (Houston Outlaws), Closer (London Spitfire), and Verbo (LA Valiant) have played her and given their opinions.
What can Brigitte do?
Brigitte complements teams with a whole range of features. She supports with a healing aura and armor, which is especially beneficial for fragile flankers like Tracer when applied before an attack. However, her greatest strength lies in countering certain heroes.
She is strong against all dive heroes! Her abilities suggest that she was designed specifically for this. With her Whip Shot, she can disrupt coordinated attacks from Winston and D.Va. Her Shield Bash stuns opponents for one second, which is particularly helpful against flankers like Tracer and Genji.
By using her shield, she gets a third-person perspective – like Reinhardt. This allows her to look around corners and intercept flankers. Especially Tracer, she counters effectively, as she can take her down instantly with a combination of Shield Bash, a regular attack, and a Whip Shot.
She can also go excellently against Reinhardt. The range of her Whip is greater than that of Reinhardt’s hammer, and her attacks penetrate his shield. Her Shield Bash also hits him through his barrier – and can temporarily deactivate it, for example, to support the detonation of D.Va’s mech.
What can’t Brigitte do?
As useful as her abilities may sound, Brigitte also has her drawbacks. Her place in a composition is very specific and requires a certain setup. She harmonizes best with other tanks like Reinhardt and Zarya, but she is not suitable for strong dive compositions.
In general, she is best suited for stationary and defensive strategies. In this, she also needs protection and support herself, as she is vulnerable to Junkrat and Pharah. Both heroes can bypass her shield and eliminate her very quickly, as she has no way to heal herself when she cannot attack anyone.
This is also one of her biggest issues. As a main healer, she is unsuitable; she can only take the position of a support healer. Her selection options are limited, and she is not suitable for every situation.
What is her place in the game?
Brigitte fulfills the same role as Zenyatta and Lúcio. In a composition with two healers, she would replace one of those two. The situation decides then which of the heroes is the best choice for the moment.
However, she potentially opens the possibility of completely new compositions of three healers with two or three tanks. Professional Boink sees her place most likely in such a composition, which would be suitable for special situations like defense on King’s Row.
How strong her influence will really be remains to be seen. However, the professionals agree that she has a very good balance and can improve significantly with more practice. She could bring movement into the meta; her healing aura just needs to be slightly reinforced.
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