After a week of teasing, the 27th hero for Overwatch has officially been unveiled! And just like everybody and their jetpack-wearing cat figured out, the newest addition to the roster of Blizzard’s competitive multiplayer game is Brigitte Lindholm!
The daughter of Overwatch weaponsmith Torbjörn and goddaughter of German knight (and no. 1 David Hasselhoff fan) Reinhardt, Brigitte was introduced during the Honor and Glory animated short in which we see that she has grown up to become Reinhardt’s squire of sorts, traveling the world with him and keeping his armour in peak fighting shape. However, as Brigitte’s own new animated short explains, she decided that instead of just supporting heroes, she could become one herself.
Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan also delved into Brigitte in further detail in a new developer update, revealing that the new hero will be a hybrid support/tank. Kaplan stressed though that she is primarily a support, even though she has tanking characteristics like a barrier shield, similar to Reinhardt’s but only big enough to protect her and maybe one teammate directly behind her. This shield can also be used in her Shield Bash ability which is a lunging attack that also stuns an enemy. Her primary weapon is a Rocket Flail – taking another cue from Reinhardt with his Rocket Hammer – which is a melee weapon, but one which has a fair bit of range on it. She can extend that range with her Whip Shot ability which sends the flail flying out to do damage and provide a knockback effect on enemies.
As for her support features, she has her Repair Pack ability, which provides her with a soft-lock targeted heal ability that gives teammates a huge chunk of health back. If the target is already at full health, or the healing being applied exceeds their max health, the additional healing gets converted into bonus armour on a brief cooldown. As Kaplan points out, this could be very handy for buffing a teammate who is about to engage in a big fight or saving somebody under fire.
Where she really shows off her support role though is through a passive ability she has called Inspire, which pumps out a large healing aura around Brigitte every time she hits an enemy with her Rocket Flail/Whip Shot. So basically, the more she attacks, the more she supports her team, which might make her incredible for being in the centre of a team during a coordinated push. Adding to this, her ultimate, Rally, gives a massive radius marker around her similar to Lucio, and any teammates within the radius gain armour that persists even after Rally has ended, while Brigitte herself also gets a movement speed buff to let her get to her teammates quicker. The Rally itself is signalled by loud horns being played, so when you hear those, get to Brigitte’s side.
Personally, I’m absolutely loving how Brigitte looks and sounds. She’s essentially a Crusader from a Diablo, so Blizzard was basically sticking to their roots! As somebody who primarily plays Mercy or Reinhardt, Brigitte is absolutely perfect for me as she’s the combination of both approaches and I cannot wait to try her out myself. At the time of writing this, my Overwatch PTR is currently updating so that I can have a go with her myself. Until then, you can check out the guys from Your Overwatch with some hands-on time.
Last Updated: February 28, 2018
