I see a lot of people playing Brigitte on the PTR and having no idea what her abilities are for, and when they don’t get to play her, they aren’t working with their Brigitte.
First, playing as Brigitte.
Her primary fire does low damage. 35 damage per swing, 0.67 swings per second. Low AF. However, it does cleave through enemies, and will hit enemies through barriers. Generally, you will be using this to output consistent, close-range damage and proc your passive.
Her shield is easy to forget, but it’s one of the most valuable tools in your kit. It’s easy to get into the support mindset of “I’m taking damage, time to dodge/run away/self-heal”. Brigitte isn’t about that. Use your shield. Tank that damage and stay in the fight. It can block everything Reinhardt’s shield can, including most ults. This shield is one of Brigitte’s greatest strengths; she doesn’t have to die in the midfight.
Shield Bash is basically Flashbang. Use it as such. Look for opportunities to interrupt enemy abilities or stun enemies who get too close. It’s also your only form of repositioning, so in an emergency, you can use it to dodge abilities your shield can’t block, like Rocket Punch or Dragonstrike. It has a 5-second cooldown, so use it liberally, but don’t spam it on cooldown. Use it to stick to enemies and punish mistakes.
(Side note: as you’re rolling out from spawn, you can use this to get to the point faster. Quickly press your alternate fire and Shield Bash to dash forward. Work on minimizing how long your shield is out, since you are slowed while it’s out.)
Repair Pack is your primary healing tool. It has a 6-second cooldown, and heals targets for 150 HP after a short delay. Any extra healing after the target is fully healed is halved and overhealed as armor, which lasts for a short time. It has ~30m range. Target priority is key. You don’t need to aim this ability, but knowing who to use it on can make all the difference. As a rule of thumb, use Repair Pack on the ally who is fighting the enemy. If you have an ally who is injured, but safe, while you have an ally who is near-full health but dueling an enemy, give it to the ally who is fighting. The healing and armor will help them win the duel. If no one is in danger, target the allies with the lowest health to maximize your ult charge gain.
Whip Shot does triple-duty as your poke, burst damage, and peel tool. Unlike your primary fire, this does not go through barriers. When the two teams haven’t quite clashed, use Whip Shot to poke and proc your passive, netting you some sweet ult charge. It has a 20m range, so you can do this from quite far away. It does 70 damage and cancels your primary fire, so you can burst enemies down quite handily.
If a Tracer is giving you trouble, Shield Bash her into primary fire, then instantly Whip Shot to kill her before she can Recall. So satisfying.
If you’re good at landing it, try using Whip Shot to knock enemies away from your vulnerable allies or knock them off the map. It’s a pretty hard skillshot to land, but it’s very effective at stopping heroes like Winston from engaging.
Finally, her ult, Rally. Rally is not a reactionary support ult, like Sound Barrier or Transcendence. Don’t use it in response to a Grav. Instead, think of it more like an extended Amp It Up. You can give your teammates a ton of sustain in the middle of a fight, soaking up enemy damage and providing your team with more HP than the enemy. Use it to engage or sustain your team before they’ve taken a ton of damage. The armor does stick around, so don’t be afraid to use it before or after a fight to armor your team up and start building towards another Rally.
Next, playing WITH Brigitte.
Stop playing snipers, oh my god. Snipers have the least possible synergy with Brigitte.
For DPS, opt for frontline heroes that can deal heavy damage to barriers. Soldier, Junkrat, Sombra, or even Bastion are great partners for Brigitte. Don’t pick a sniper.
For tanks, choose tanks that are on the frontline and deal good damage. Roadhog, Orisa, and Zarya are awesome choices.
If you’re playing a second support, go for a healer that makes up for Brigitte’s inconsistent healing. Brigitte is an off-healer, so Mercy, Moira, and Ana are good picks. Ana especially would probably appreciate the flanker control Brigitte provides. Lucio is also a good partner for Brigitte, since he can give the team a defensive ult and keep Brigitte on the frontlines.
You can assume the enemy will also have a Brigitte on the PTR, so knowing how to play against her is useful. Don’t play a sniper. Hanzo straight-up can’t one-shot Brigitte, and she’ll most likely use her shield to block sniper shots anyway. Snipers are not useful against Brigitte.
Doomfist is a great counter to Brigitte. Bait out her Shield Bash, and you can demolish her with your combo.
Brigitte is very ability-dependent, so getting Hacked is virtually a death sentence for her. Sombra is a great pick, especially with her latest buffs. Remember that Hack will not stop Brigitte’s passive, so she’ll still heal while fighting you. Watch out for her stun.
Brigitte can’t block Reinhardt’s swings or Fire Strike, so you can deal with her if she gets too close. She’ll probably try to stun you to let her team follow up, and she can block Earthshatter, so focus on taking her out or stunning the rest of her team.
Brigitte can’t do anything about Bastion. Mow her down, shield and all.
Due to her lack of range, Pharah is a great choice for dealing with Brigitte. She can’t really do anything about you, and you can land rockets to either side of her shield to poke her down.
Overall, focus on keeping your distance and poking. Brigitte needs to engage to heal poke damage, so staying back and farming ults is pretty easy. Keep a barrier between you and her to keep her from proc-ing her passive, and focus her other, squishier allies. She can’t do much by herself, so isolate her from her team or kill her team around her.