Why Brigitte is not OP
So I’m starting this thing where instead of making unconstructive 1 sentence posts moaning about a certain topic. I am going to go into a lot of detail of my opinions on a certain hero. I’ve already done Mercy and Reaper threads delineating what I think should change etc.
My Reaper thread
My Mercy thread
Now I think it’s time for Brigitte. Like Mercy and Reaper, she’s a hot topic right now and the community is pretty split over her. I just want to state here that I am a Brigitte defender, I do not think she is OP. But instead of just screaming at you hoping it will somehow change your mind, I am going to tell you exactly why I personally do not think she is OP.
Again, like my other posts, I want to keep this thread civil, constructive and friendly. Let’s begin.
Now, starting with her abilities.
Inspire (Passive)
I’ve seen the argument that her passive is way too strong quite a lot, and to be honest. A small tone down wouldn’t be bad. But I don’t think it is nearly as bad as people say. Nowhere close to OP. The AoE radius is 20 metres. Now, compared to Lucio’s 12-metre radius I can see why you may think this is OP. However, you have to remember that this only lasts 5 seconds. And only heals when Brigitte is hitting someone.
Let’s put this into context. That means Brigitte must be fighting someone in order to output AoE healing. In the majority of scenarios, the other player(s) will also be fighting back. Meaning she and her teammates are most like taking damage as well.
Again, Brigitte does 16hp/s and Lucio does 16.25hp/s. Now that doesn’t seem like much of a difference. But again, her passive only last’s for 5 seconds while Lucio’s is permanent. Brigitte must wait 1.5 seconds in order to reactivate her passive, meaning there is a 1.5 second + period in which Brigitte is only healing with her repair pack. Which is not very strong, nor reliable.
Rocket Flail
Again, this is another big complaint I see from a lot of people. But let me just explain. First of all, it is a melee weapon. Melee weapons have very limited range, however don’t require as much aim. Every 3 seconds, Brigitte can output a max of 105 damage using only her rocket flail. To put that into comparison, Winston’s tesla cannon does 180 damage every 3 seconds. Brigitte has a max range of 6 metres, while Winston has a max range of 8. So why aren’t people complaining about Winston?
Reinhardt is another melee hero. He outputs roughly 202 damage every 3 seconds. (If you want me to be precise, it’s actually every 2.7 seconds). So I don’t understand what the problem is with her flail. Reinhardt has a slightly smaller max range of 5 metres, but his damage output justifies that. Brigitte’s weapon is a lot worse than Winston’s and Reinhardt’s (2 considerable non-aiming heroes).
I won’t compare them to any hitscan/projectile character as that argument is obvious enough.
Repair Pack
Now I don’t see many complaints about this ability because it is pretty balanced. Brigitte does 150 health and a max of 75 armour (only if the target is on full health). This ability is a projectile meaning it has a travel time and a considerably long one tbh. The cooldown is 6 seconds, with a duration of 5 seconds for additional armour.
If anything, I think this ability needs to be buffed. It would make her more of a healer in my opinion.
Whip Shot
This ability is complained about by some people. So if you’re one of those people, this is for you. Whip shot does a max of 70 damage with a cooldown of 4 seconds. Now let’s compare that to Ana. Ana has a max damage of 70 every 0.8 seconds with her rifle. They both require aim to use (Ana considerably a lot less if scoped). So why aren’t people complaining about Ana’s rifle? May I also remind you, whip shot has a max range of 20 metres. While Ana’s rifle doesn’t have a max range.
I think people just need to realise how weak Brigitte is when you compare her to other heroes.
Barrier Shield and Shield Bash
Now I know her shield just got nerfed, which I am completely fine with. However, people are saying that it needs to be nerfed more. Brigitte’s shield only consistently protects herself. I don’t think anything else really needs to be said about her shield health as it’s really not an issue.
Now onto her shield bash. Probably the most hated ability in all of Overwatch. Brigitte’s shield bash does 50 damage max. Now you can argue that Mccree’s flashbang only does 25 damage. However what you must know is that Brigitte’s ability is a lot different to Mccree’s. Mccree’s is a flashbang, not intended to do damage. Brigitte’s is a bash. Intended to deal a lot of damage. And let’s be honest, 50 isn’t even that much. It has a max range of 6 metres, which is easily avoidable. Making her almost useless. And if Brigitte uses her bash to get closer to you, she’s just wasted it. Now she has to wait 7 seconds to get it back again. I repeat, 7 seconds. Now I think 7 seconds is fair. I don’t think it should be lower, but most certainly not higher. Brigitte’s stun lasts for 1 second. Mccree’s lasts for 0.7 seconds. But Hanqz, I thought you were defending Brigitte?
I am, don’t worry. Brigitte cannot headshot. And has a very low damage output. The reason Mccree’s flashbang is on a longer cooldown and shorter stun duration is because he can literally headshot his target. Enough damage to kill any 250hp target. Brigitte has to keep hitting her target for a while to even get close to killing them.
So no, in my opinion Brigitte’s shield bash is not OP. Far from it. It is pretty balanced as it is, and can only really succeed with your team following up on it, or if you are in a 1v1 duel situation. (Which you should not be, in that case it is not Brigitte’s fault it is yours). May I also add Brigitte must have a shield up to be able to use this, meaning the ability cannot be used when her shield is broken. Unlike Mccree.
Rally
Rally is a pretty weak ultimate. Most of the time, especially in pro play it is used before the next big fight, not during. It has a massive charge requirement of 2250. That’s more than both Zenyatta’s ult and Zarya’s! I find that absolutely insane. How could anyone complain about that? The 2 best ultimates in the game have a minimum of 200 less charge required than Brigitte’s.
Another reason Rally is not OP is because of the new Torb rework. I mean, it is basically directed towards Brigitte. He will absolutely melt her and her team now. Nerfing Rally would be a big mistake.
So there is why each individual ability is not OP. I just want to talk about fighting her now. You should never be fighting a Brigitte close up. Yes, okay if you’re a tank you may have no other option. But then what is the point of Brigitte if everyone can just escape her? That’s like a Widow but she can only kill when up close. Why should Brigitte be the only hero in the game that can do nothing?
You can’t literally expect never to do. She has to do something. It’s like taking Roadhog’s hook away. Anyway, now onto positioning. You absolutely should not be close to her if you cannot take her on. If the Brigitte is flanking (which is basically the easiest way to die as Brigitte), then tell your team and destroy her. It’s incredibly easy to kill Brigitte once she’s focused down. You would focus a Mercy/Ana down, why can’t you focus Brigitte down?
I think it is entirely the player’s fault if they are getting close to Brigitte. I play a lot of Tracer and I know not to get too close. Make the counted, become the counter. Brigitte is terrible against projectile/long ranged heroes. And there are quite a lot of those to chose from.
I just want to note that all the comparisons I have used in this post are in no way trying to bash that particular hero for being OP. For example when I was talking about Mccree. Because they are not.
I have probably missed a lot, but I got tired from all the typing so I just concluded the post at the last point I could think of. And apologises in advance for any spelling errors.
Thank you for reading.
