Turn Shield Bash into a cripple

General Discussion
1

Instead of full-on stun it only deactivates movement abilites like Graviton does. Maybe 1,5 or 2 seconds duration (more or less depending how it works out). Genji and Tracer are still reasonably countered since they cant jump all over the place anymore and the rest of the roster can actually enjoy playing Overwatch again. Exactly how it’s gonna be balanced is up for debate. Maybe decrease the cooldown or extend the range in exchange, who knows. But imo getting rid of hard stuns will have a positive impact on both the game as well as it’s playerbase.

If thats too much, alternatively they can try around with Shield Bash being a root. Meaning you are locked in place like Junkrats trap but not hard stunned.

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2

This is one of the smartest posts I’ve seen in a while.

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3

I don’t think shield bash needs a change.

I wouldn’t mind this, but my concern is…being close-range to Tracer who can still shoot you is still incredibly dangerous. :confused: That’s her strongest range lol.

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Brig still has a shield? And if they cant use blinks and dashes anymore then it shouldnt be to difficult to keep your shield pointed towards them.

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5

I like this idea, a lot. Gives you at least a fighting chance, but you’re still at a disadvantage. And it’s still a big counter for who she was seemingly meant to counter (instead of tanks like Rein)

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6

Then what is the point of shield-bashing them if you just leave them there without killing them?

O_o

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I hope that is meant ironically.

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Dangerous for most characters… not for Brigitte. Even if you miss the whip shot follow-up and keep your shield down, Tracer’s still going to be dead in a second and can’t kill you without perfectly tracking your head at point-blank (which no one can consistently do).

If you don’t whiff, she’s dead instantly.

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9

No?..

She’s a strong counter against two of the most mobile heroes in the game. If you bash them and it has a Graviton-like effect (which I’m assuming you’re implying that they can still shoot), then what is the point of doing that to them if you can’t follow up?

If you attack, you’d be lowering your shield, right?..and you’re in their effective range to take massive damage. If you keep your shield up, then…well, what was the point of doing it if you didn’t follow up?

I mean, genuine questions here. I’m not 100% on board with the change but want more information. No need to approach it with snark and sass. :roll_eyes:

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I really don’t think Brigitte stun is all that egregious. Its now on a relatively high CD, short range, and real easy to see coming.

Why does it seem like she’s the scapegoat that people target for other problems, or much larger problems within the game that transcend a single characters ability…

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I mean, so long as it does the same damage, the combo to kill Tracer still exists. She shouldn’t be able to kill you faster than you kill her, even if you end up messing up the combo.

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Sounds good to me.

Allows Brig to combo Tracer, without forcing players to lose control/agency of their character for a whole second.

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Thats the thing, you can still follow up. Just like before. They cannot blink nor dash (in case of root not even move with wasd) so you can still use your other abilities just like before. It just takes more skill because they might move a little. Not to mention a hero as easy as Brigitte shouldnt be able to reliably blow up a high skill hero like Tracer all by herself in the first place. And yes, Genji can technically use defelct to negate most of that combo, but again, Brigitte shouldnt counter him all by herself anyway. Combo her lockdown with a teammate shooting him from a different angle and voila, dead Genji.

Brigitte has 250 HP of which 50 are armor (Tracer deals 0 dmg against armor), she can very much survive half a second of close range combat with either of them. And if she is already low HP then it only makes sense that shes forced to get back behind her shield after using the cripple.

14

I like the idea of a cripple effect very much and would love to see it on way more abilities in place of stuns. Main tanks won’t be affected for the most part and still get to do their job, whereas highly mobile heroes are up a creek if they’re out of position.

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Junkrat trap like stun would allow her to do her job while being less obnoxious for tanks. I like the idea.

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Pretty sure people would hate a Junkrat-esque root much more than a half a second stun, in the end…

But what numbers are you imagining here? I feel like everyone is imagining different things -

  • Would this cripple last 5 seconds? Half a second?
  • Will forcing a Tracer to wait half a second to spam dash/recall be a good trade off?
  • What would happen to the rest of the roster like Rein that don’t depend on mobility? Should she just never use that skill on them, outside of damage?
  • If it lasts a few seconds then can it, like normal MMO cripple abilities, drastically slow their movement too? Would people rather a forced Mei slow over a quick stun?
  • What do you imagine her playstyle being after this? Is this just to make the people that don’t like stuns happy? Would you compensate Brigitte in any way or no?
  • Would you personally rather an instant Junkrat trap root over a quick stun?
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Not even that much.

Kinda like a Junkrat trap, that still allowed you to walk and jump.

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I’ve been begging for a cripple effect in the game, since… I don’t know, Season 5? Idk why they didn’t just do this for Brig. It also acts an answer to Nanoblade which, outside of a solo shatter or miraculous sleep, doesn’t really exist rn.

Basically a cripple would disable everything a root can but you are still able to move. 2s might be a good place to start as far as duration is concerned.

A root would kinda suck though. Imagine stopping Rein pushing for free.

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Increase the duration to 1.5 seconds to compensate and we’ll talk

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And what stops them from killing you? Nobody likes Brigitte, but it’s better than having a Tracer or a Genji dashing around without a worry.