What Happened?

The dust has barely settled since Jeff Kaplan and Blizzard released the Developer Update about 2-2-2 Role Queue coming to Overwatch proper in the near future. The feature currently resides on the Player Test Realm and there’s an amazing article on the system and how it will work here. 

As for today, let’s talk about the hero which highlighted all of the power creep present in the game and alongside Lucio and Zarya ushered in what will forever be known as the GOATS meta. 

To balance the game around locked roles, each hero needs to be viable in their roles as one of two available slots. Symmetra, Orisa, Ashe, Hanzo, Doomfist, Reinhardt, Tracer and Wrecking Ball all received balancing in some fashion. None of those changes however have nearly the implications as the Brigitte changes. Take a look at the changes below. 

What Do They Mean?

Inspire healing 130 over 6 seconds gives Brigitte 21.67 healing per second. Therefore, the Swedish support can continually pump out aura healing to her team. Halving her self-healing however makes her more reliant on her team and tanks than her initial and current state where she can exist independent of her team and be a threat on her own. 

Repair pack having three charges buffs its impact in team fights without removing the ability for counter play. Brigitte currently swings team fights with her instant burst heal. The recipient, now healed, is still in a fight against foes who are now on the back foot. Enough focus fire or burst damage can now effectively bring down a hero. Removing the one-and-done nature of her ability gives Brigitte the option to heal more than one teammate in committed fights.

Whip shot received a speed increase and reduction of recovery frames but the notable change to everyone was lowering the health of Brigitte’s personal barrier. In other words, going from 500 to 200 makes Brig significantly less threatening. She has enough shields to help her position in poke, deal with flankers and quickly boop someone away if pushed too aggressively. She can also more reliably proc Inspire if no one is nearby without being vulnerable for as long.

Impact

In ranked games Brig will be a suitable healer alongside Moira, Ana, Mercy, Baptiste, and even Lucio in the correct context. Squishies love getting overhealing and Tanks appreciate getting healed up from taking attention and damage as they take space. In the semi-pro and professional scenes, Ms. Lindholm can more effectively negate or deter would be divers and flankers. While she can’t sit in the flanks and take duels against a majority of the cast, she can come in clutch more often to sustain her backline partners and allow her team’s added sustain to push back against dives. It will be interesting to see how the pros use her and how her role will evolve as the game grows. If major changes occur during her time on the PTR The Game Haus will keep you updated.

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