Brig’s mechanics was difficult for me to learn at first, but at least she’s fun at any level. I had the hardest issue figuring out how you bash forward, but get out of trouble. Let me start by saying, there is no front line Brig. She is not a tank. She can hold space for a few seconds, but that’s only in an emergency. You’ve got to get in and get out. Learning to survive is paramount. If you die, what’s left of your team will usually die.
The most important thing to understand is that Brig can not win games by only throwing health packs. Her best healing ability is her inspire. Its a constant chore to try and hit someone with your mace, whip shot, or shield bash (if you must) to keep inspire going. The hard part is knowing when its too dangerous to get a hit in. There are two tools to get this. One is your ability to survive with your shield. Brig can take a lot of damage. Push in, hit them with your mace, and shield bash out to safety. Also, your most important long distance tool is your whip shot. People say that you don’t need aim for Brig, but this is false. If you miss your whip and its too dangerous to go in, your team isn’t getting healed until your next whip shot comes around. You should always be checking your inspire up time. If mine isn’t above 40%, i’m messing up.
Next is learning the priority for health packs. Damage and Supports usually get only one. A really low Bastion gets two. I usually give two to tanks, unless they are really bad off, then they get all three. Constantly throw them, but don’t drain yourself. Don’t waste them. Watch your people. Since packs heal over time, sometimes I throw a pack to a full health tank, Reaper or Genji if they’re about to go in. Constantly proctor inspire and top them off with the health packs.
Know positioning is key. If your tank is getting dominated by the other tank, push them away with your whip shot or get some mace hits in to win the fight. As a general rule, never shield bash a full health tank. They may be about to ult and you probably need the bash to escape. Protect your other support. If they get jumped by a Sombra, Reaper, or Tracer, It’s your job to jump in turn the fight to your team’s advantage. Knowing when to go in to brawl with a damage is difficult. If it’s safe and the fight is winnable, you’ll carry your teammates. Brig shines in overtime fights of control points or payloads. She’s healing everyone in the area while beating the tar out of them.
The hardest thing about Brig is learning when you’re gonna die. I always use the alarm of the low health gasp. I don’t watch her health much, but the shield strength is important. If you lose your shield, you lose your mobility and you become a squishy without a gun. Survival at that point is difficult, The good news is that if you can hide for four seconds, you get your shield back full strength.
The hardest part of Brig is learning the mechanics. Do I shield bash first? Do I hold up my shield? Do I attack? Do I hit them with the whip shot, mace or shield bash first? The best answer I can give is every character you’re fighting is different. Sometimes the shape of the room changes the answer. You may want to whip shot someone into a corner and then beat them up. For some characters you will have to force out an ability before you even think of killing them, or you’re guaranteed to die. For example soldier’s rocket will kill you, but if you can force him to miss, you have a long time to kill him and its even easier if you block most of his shots with the shield and beat the stuffing out of him while he reloads. When confronted face to face with a Widowmaker, she’ll wait for you to drop your shield, but if you just stand there waiting for a few seconds, you get another shield bash, then strafe to the side and mace her to death. I can’t explain every situation, you just need seat time.
For me, the scariest things to fight are Junkrat and Ana. Avoid them. You’ve really gotta understand how to deal with each tank. Rein will pin you, so never give him the lineup. Ram will punch you to death. Run away if he’s punchy. If you’re in an open area with nothing to run around, Winton will electrocute you to death. Never get in Zarya’s face unless you’ve got rally. After she breaks your normal shield, use rally to get out of there unless she’s almost dead. Sigma is easy if you know the sequence. Shield his primary and the rocks. Push him backwards with whip shot.
The best thing you can do is get seat time. I recommend play a lot of unranked. Learn how to fight each character and most importantly don’t die. If you survive, you’re team will be more likely to survive.