PTR Brigitte is finally perfect

General Discussion
1

Hello Brig main, whom clicked on this topic to tear into me and laugh as you accuse me of being utterly brainless. Take a read.

I have been playing Overwatch since the beta free weekend, and I have played QUITE a bit over the years. I ave also listened to Seagulls video about the current state of Overwatch, and while I disagree with some of his points, there is one that really resonated with me. The feeling of frustration with this game, due to Hard Counters. I have been playing for years, and have never felt the burnout I have felt through season 13. I was unable to put my finger on the exact issue, but Seagull did, quite well.

I have heard a lot of complaining recently about Brigitte’s shield bash nerf, and how she is now “useless” because she cannot “Kill the lowest HP hero in the game”. I want to clear something up really quick: being able to guarantee a 100%, one-touch, insta kill, on a low HP hero, is NOT simply being able to “kill the lowest HP hero in the game”, it is rendering that hero (Tracer) ACTUALLY useless in a game against Brigitte.
Brigitte is her “Hard” counter because she could eliminate tracer without a fraction of skill involved. Brigitte can still kill tracer, if she waits out recall, accepts help from a teammate, or simply uses the shield bash, and continues to pressure her. You will most likely survive against that tracer. Just because you cannot remove her from the game with 2 clicks, like you could before, does not make your beloved support/dps/tank useless, it simply makes tracer (among other heroes) more fairly matched against a hero who would previously cause her to be killed without a single chance to fight back, regardless of skill.

Whether the HUGE dmg reduction was called for or not, it is the change we got. The stun is absolutely instant, without a single visual warning or trigger, therefore tracer’s simply couldn’t be played into a brig comp (every comp lately). I agree brig should be able to hold her own against flankers, but being able to insta-win against them, should never have been her purpose. She deserves as edge (which she has built into her kit) but she never deserved to be a one-shot machine. HARD COUNTERS ARE BAD FOR OVERWATCH, they make the game unbearably frustrating.

During the reigning tracer meta, tracer was HARDLY played very well in my ranks (Gold-Plat) and I never felt compelled to run the pro-scene’s compositions. NOW, everyone plays with a brig, and without her, you are rolled (Often). Brig is way too low skill, and if you don’t believe me, just look at the sheer number of people who are upset by her dmg nerf. She is played across the board, in all areas of ranked.

As for playing brig on the PTR, which I did recently, I can say she feels more balanced than ever. I can still stun and knock away flankers, and provide space for my backline, and with a few more seconds of pressure, I can still take out these low HP heroes, because my kit causes them to be so bashed around, they escape or die if they try to kill me. (Brig has a shield for goodness sakes).

Bottom line: I feel like a healer/tank support class now, instead of being a tanky shield, with 70% kill participation and gold healing. This nerf is perfect. Thank you blizz.

Edit: My spelling is not fantastic apparently, lmao. Had to fix.

48 Likes
2

I agree but you’re lowkey a DPS main aren’t you. :joy:

30 Likes
3

I gotta corret you on the insta stun.

brigs face and upper lip in particuallr tense up and her ponytail moves back

– #symmainknoledge – (back in the days of turret blocking some symmetras (like myself) would use turrets to block her bash, its hard to do but half of it is predicting it and while brig is there with her sheild up it gives you plenty of time to set up turrets)

4

I play a pretty even split between tank/dps. But I am not very pleased with how attracted I have been to playing Brig lately, BECAUSE of her easy-roll playstyle. I am not immune to playing OP heroes, and one-shotting tracers DID feel good. But only when I was playing comp, and using brig to climb. (I am excited to stop doing that)

3 Likes
5

I remain open to how the nerfs will play out but I feel 5 damage was too punitive. 20-40 damage and you still would not be able to one shot.

Also you keep using this word “skill” in a way that I find disquieting. Overwatch was never meant to be some twitch shooter like CS GO, mechanical skill was never intended to be the be all end all of the game.

18 Likes
6

Well, it is a game with a competitive mode, and to me that should reward higher skill. I am sure there are people who agree with me.

7

Shield Bash is about the same length as 1 blink. I’m sorry someone countered Tracer if Tracer screwed up. That’s just unfair.

7 Likes
8

You’re acting like tracer knows exactly when the brig is going to stun. There isnt a wind up. Also, insta killing her, when she can have no clue when the brig is going to stun, isn’t a counter. Its an unfair advantage.

9 Likes
9

Okay, but I play in low GM. Tracer was always run there. Not to mention Blizzard is destroying all of the supports one by one, making the support meta as fun as “Pick Ana or get flamed.”

10 Likes
10

While I get that tracer was a huge pick in those higher meta’s and that is an issue in and of itself, Brig is played across ALL of ranked. I am only trying to point out the widespread use, instead of only skilled use.

11

There isn’t a windup to most attacks, but good Tracers still manage to dodge most of them. Not being able to win 100% of encounters doesn’t mean your target is OP. Being shut down without completely using all of your abilities also does not mean your target is OP.

As opposed to Tracer’s “instakill” against half the cast? That’s fair?

6 Likes
12

So we’re balancing the game for the lowest common denominator. If Blizzard comes out and says that, fine, but it makes the game miserable for tanks and supports at the top.

3 Likes
13

I would like to see this happen, consistently, in any game, like it does with Brig. but ok.

Most attacks dont travel the distance of a blink, and stop your movement, while causing 50 damage either.

Youre right, but being shut down 100% of the time, IS op. Your argument works in reverse.

14

Sure and there’s more than one type of skill. Team work, co-ordination, game sense, judgement, those are all skills too. I feel like the call for mechanical skill to take precedence is self serving.

Fighting games are competitive and I never hear anyone say “Menat deserves to stomp on Ryu every time because she’s more complicated to play” or “Setsuka deserves to be the best character in Soul Calibur because her reliance on just frames and pianoing makes her require the most mechanical skil!”

MOBA’s are competitive too and I never hear anyone say things like “Meepo should be unbeatable by lower skilled heroes!”

If these guys can play competitive games without claiming that they deserve inherent advantages for playing characters that require more mechanical skill, why do so many people in the Overwatch Community feel like they do?

5 Likes
15

Man, the hyperbole in this thread is real.

8 Likes
16

Brig can only really combo an unsupported Tracer. She can’t do enough damage to anyone else that quickly, and finishing with Rocket Flail knocks them out of her engagement range.

No, but Hanzo has a 125 damage bodyshot and McCree has a hitscan 140 damage crit.

Not true - Hack can shut down Coalescence or Whole Hog 100% of the time and that’s not proof it’s OP.

1 Like
17

These are DPS heroes. Not to mention they don’t stun anybody, and require skill to aim. McCree can stun too, without windup, but like it should, that ability doesnt do 50 dmg. Because that would be insane right.

Sure, but my use of shut down, in the tracer-brig argument is in regards to killing her, not simply stopping her ability. If Sombra’s hack also stuns the target in place, and allows her next two abilities to do enough damage for a guaranteed kill, then this would make sense.

No matter how you swing it, Blizzard obviously agrees with me, because these are the changes that are being implemented, and I couldn’t be happier. Anyone with a realistic thought process on balance in this game can see brig is OP, and she makes the game less fun.

Plus, the GOATS comp she enables is trash. The fix was a tracer nerf, not a hero introduction that rendered her into garbage.

18

They could have kept the damage and removed the animation cancel for the combo.

They could have put the shield on a cooldown alongside bash to make a bashing Brig more punishable.

They could have reduce her AoE healing and ult charge, which some would argue is more problematic to Tracer than any damage.

They could have nerfed the bash distance and cooldown.

There’s like, endless things one could have changed to make 200HP heroes more viable without taking Brig’s bash damage.

Could also argue those heroes aren’t meta anyway, even if Brig presented zero damage, her existing is enough, so I feel she still problematic as much as she is in live, just worsened because she’s support and not allowed to 1v1 ever, to the point I wished they would switch her to tank category and just remove her AoE heal.

2 Likes
19

I still have an issue with the nerfs, the compensation buff to make her more of a “healer” and so minuscule it might aswell not exist. Id like repair pack nerfed a little but the cd reduced

1 Like
21

You know it’s going to be good when they immediately dismiss anyone who disagrees with their opinion.

3 Likes