Brigitte is the latest addition to Overwatch‘s cast of characters, bringing with her a unique style of offensive play that makes her the most attack-focused support hero yet. But how do you adequately utilize Hero 27 and her melee abilities? While a relatively accessible hero for newcomers, there’s still a lot to learn to make the most of her, so we’ve detailed them all below.
Note that this guide is only reflective of the PTR version of Brigitte, as she has yet to debut on the proper servers. This means that when she makes her way to Overwatch proper, she will be accompanied by the usual buffs and nerfs that typically take place as a hero makes their transition to the main game.
Overwatch Brigitte Abilities
Rocket Flail
Rocket Flail is a surprisingly long-range melee attack that can hit enemies from a reasonable distance. Able to clock enemies within a 5-meter radius, the flail deals just 35 HP of damage in a single hit, and can take down a 200 HP enemy in six strikes. It also heals nearby allies when dishing out damage to an enemy, a useful passive ability that encourages you to play aggressively if you want to help out your team, granting them 80 HP over a period of 5 seconds. Headshots do not deal extra damage.
Barrier Shield
The Barrier Shield is similar to Reinhardt’s, though has 600 HP and is only large enough to provide protection to Brigitte. The Shield is held directly ahead of her, though she has greater mobility than Reinhardt when she has it equipped, with her movement speed only slightly reducing.
Shield Bash
Like most stun moves, the Shield Bash is incredibly effective at completely disabling an enemy’s attacks, which can prove to be very annoying for your opponents. With a left-click, Brigitte charges ahead and stuns an enemy up to 7 meters ahead of her, along with dealing 50 HP of damage. From here she can strike away with her Rocket Flail after closing the distance.
Repair Pack
While her father deploys armor packs, Brigitte makes use of Repair Packs that directly heal her teammates similar to Zenyatta’s orbs. It has a range of up to 40 meters, so you can heal your team from a pretty lengthy distance, granting them 150 HP. If a teammate is already fully healed, they deal out 75 HP of armor instead.
Whip Shot
The move that deals the most damage, the Whip Shot deals 70 HP of damage from 10 meters away and also knocks back enemies in the process. This is an excellent move if you want to create distance between you and your opponent, and can also boop them clean off the arena if they’re close enough to an edge. Like the Rocket Flail, headshots do not deal extra damage.
Rally
Brigitte’s ultimate ability, Rally grants nearby teammates a speed boost and regenerates 45 armor per 0.5 seconds, maxing out at 150. This move covers a range of 7 meters, so teammates will have to stick relatively close to you, and it doesn’t grant a damage buff. This is most useful when trying to rush out of a tricky situation, allowing your teammates to sprint away from an enemy attack in unison.
How to Play as Brigitte in Overwatch
Now that’s the basics covered, let’s look at how to effectively play as Brigitte and maximize your contributions to your team as an unusually offensive support hero.
Flail Away
Brigitte’s Rocket Flail deals out punishment to enemies in her surrounding area, so while it’s not exactly the most powerful weapon in the game, going in alongside your team in order to confront a big group is where she’s at her most effective.
With her passively healing her teammates while they fight next to her, confrontations on control points or around crowded choke points are her specialty, with her guarding herself in times of need. She only needs to swing her Flail and connect with an enemy once to deal out the healing, so even hopping into a fight and dishing out minor damage before retreating is a reasonable strategy.
Combos
Brigitte doesn’t have the combo ability of the likes of Doomfist, but like most heroes with a stun attack, there are certain tricks she’s got up her sleeve that take advantage of an immobilized enemy. If you’re dealing with an enemy who will rightly best you in a close-quarters situation, then hitting them with a Shield Bash before knocking them away with a Whip Shot is your most sensible option. However, if you’re going one-on-one with a squishy target, then Shield Bash them and Flail away.
It’s also worth looking out for areas where you can force your opponent off the map, and follow up a Shield Bash with a Whip Shot in order to send them hurtling to their demise. It’s not the most dignified of deaths, but hey, whatever works.
Stand Back and Heal
Brigitte may be an attack-focused Support hero, but that doesn’t mean that she isn’t an adequate healer. Though she may not be able to wilfully dish out the heals as much as the likes of Mercy, Lucio or Zenyatta, her 6-second cooldown for her Repair Pack is still nothing to sniff at, and the fact that she can grant her teammates additional armor is a huge bonus.
Prior to a firefight, dishing out armor to the DPS heroes on your team is advantageous, allowing them to go in with extra health from the get-go. You won’t exactly be able to keep your team on its feet like other Support heroes, though you can be a helping hand who can rush in at a moment’s notice.
Overwatch Brigitte Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Brigitte is a strong and accessible support hero who provides a new jumping-on point for beginners or less skilled players. Her support abilities aren’t the best in their category, but having a hero who can deal a significant amount of damage along with healing is an interesting new addition to the Overwatch meta.
Brigitte is strong against the likes of Tracer, Genji, and other mobile heroes, with her able to stun them in place before dealing out damage and forcing them to retreat. She’s also useful on control point maps, with her working best when grouped with teammates as opposed to when operating alone.
Weaknesses
Opponents can flank Brigitte and she can be easily brought down when attacked from more than one angle. Her shield is pretty easy to break through if she’s overwhelmed, and while her Whip Shot can give her some distance between a single opponent, if she is swarmed then there’s not a great deal she can do to escape.
Similarly, her lack of range ensures that she can get pushed aside on larger maps, and the PTR is currently filled with Pharah and Hanzo players making easy work of her.
Predicted Brigitte Tier Placement
The PTR isn’t representative of how Brigitte will appear in the proper Overwatch servers, so this is completely speculative at this point, but based on her current build we have an idea of where she’ll end up in the Overwatch meta.
Brigitte is a counter to dive comp, with her able to disarm high-mobility heroes thanks to her stun ability and close-range strengths, while her ultimate allows her to heal teammates while also boosting their speed. As dive comp continues to be a favorite on the competitive scene, Brigitte could find herself being frequently employed by players looking to counter it, while her strengths in pushing a team forward and helping lead an attack could be lethal when paired with similar offensive supports such as Zenyatta or Lucio.
Though she has a variety of natural counters and she’s certainly not a hero that can be used in all situations, there’s a lot of positives to Brigitte, and she could be a force to be reckoned with when she leaves the PTR.
