I think sheâs going to shake up the meta like Jeff said she was.
First, her burst heal is something weâve never had before, and the overheal-into-armor capacity means she can make her target extremely tanky. This means she will be able to blunt dive pretty hard if her player is good, and Iâm very much looking forward to seeing good Brigitteâs out there.
Second, her Ult is preemptive, which is something we need more of, IMO, Most ults in the game are reactive or strategic, meaning you either use them in reaction to something specific (Zen and Lucio are reactive to damage or enemy ults, for example) or you use them and then make a decision based on weather or not they connect and/or try to combo them with another ult (comboing with a zarya ult, or a nano-blade). Brigitteâs ult, OTOH, is totally preemptive. You plan to use it ahead of time, and it really doesnât combo well with anything. It just makes your team more likely to succeed at whatever theyâre doing (the latest version of Valk is also preemptive).
Out of 27 heroes, there are now 6 preemptive ults (only about 1 in 5):
- Tac Visor
- Infra-sight
- Supercharger
- Valkyrie
- Teleporter and Shield Generator
- Rally
This is good because not everyone has the reflexes, or the time to develop the reflexes, to master reflexive ults, and strategic ults require teamwork that can be hard to come by in solo queue.
Third, because of her heal, her ult, her passive, and her short range I think sheâs going to encourage an exciting close-range meta. Even without stacking tanks, it would be fairly effective in 2/2/2 with Brigitte opposite a Moira.
Why? Because Brigitte synergises fairly well with other short-range heroes.
Rein: She likes armor, and so does he. Her burst heal will make aggressive rein charges more survivable, and her ult will make an aggressive rein that stays within 8 meters of her almost unkillable while he swings away with his hammer.
Monkey Scientist and D.Va: Burst heal to help them get back to the main healer that Brigitte is also playing bodyguard for when they dive. With Brigitte on their team instead of seeing their health nosedive youâll see it dip, then spike to +75 armor, and then spike again just before they die as they get out of dodge with monkey Scientist-leap.
Roadhog and Zarya: Lol. Just lol.
Brigitte just makes everyone around her more tanky, and that means every tank in the game will get tankier with her around. The limit to her abilities, IMO, is going to be the 5 second CD on her repair pack, which is going to restrict the number of tanks that she can break. IMO, this is why she is NOT going to break dive in favor of a 4-tank meta, even with a Moira on her team. Skilled teams are just going to watch for her burst heal to come out, and theyâre going to swap targets as well as bring along as much AoE as they can.
The DPS are interesting as well. She doesnât synergise well with long-range DPS like Soldier:76 and Widowmaker because they operate at ranges that make her worthless. So, picking Brigitte when youâve got Soldier, Widow, and Phara on your team is tantamount to throwing the game (likewise, picking any of them when your support lineup is Moira + Brigitte is also throwing).
However, for the restâŚ
Doomfist: He likes it when things get chaotic and close range which is where Brigitte can wade into the fight and swing her flail around like mad. These two are going to work well together in teamfights. When doomfist is off on his own trying to flank, OTOH, not so much. Brigitte + Doomfist will work if Doomfist is working as part of a dive comp and is imply initiating into the teamfight from a flank. If heâs playing a hard flanker-assassin, youâre better off going Zen.
Genji: See Doomfist.
McCree: He loves the ranges that Brigitte is good at, and can still throw down at much farther ranges. Heâs overall shorter range than soldier:76, but he needs to be in flail range to make his flashbang work, and being able to double-down on short range stuns should make any mccree salivate. Connect yourself to your Brigitte at the hip, and try not to throw your stun out at the same time she shield bashes.
Reaper: Yes plz. Heâs going to be a nightmare with a friendly Brigitte keeping him up, and her ult will turn him into the left hand of Satan on the point.
Sombra: Sheâs a flanker assassin. Theyâre not going to get along too well unless you completely change up how you play her and try to do more team-fight support. The upcoming nerf to hack interruption should kill any idea that these two should ever be on the same team.
Tracer: Another hard flanker. They donât belong on the same team.
Bastion: Damage reduction + 500 dps + burst healing + shield bashâs stun + an extra 600 health shield in an emergency? This is going to be an annoying pair.
Hanzo: Meh. Weâll see how he operates after scatter arrow is removed and they finish balancing him.
Junkrat: See McCree. Just replace all instances of âflashbangâ with âtrapâ.
Mei: Yup. Girl power.
Torbjorn: I would have expected these two to work better together, but as far as I know her ult doesnât stack with his armor packs. So they could actually work against one another. I donât know that for sure though.
Support-wise, youâre going to want to match Brigitte with a main healer like Mercy, Ana, or Moira. Because Brigitte is short range, youâre probably going to use her more often than not with Ana or Mercy. However, in certain comps that revolve around Moira (like the Slambulance or other tank-heavy comps) Brigitte is going to fit right in.
Thatâs what I think sheâs going to do from a teammate perspective.