by JR Cook - 6 years ago     show comments

“I am Brigitte Lindholm, and I will be their shield.”

Brigitte has officially been announced as Overwatch’s Hero number 27. After days of clues, fans finally got all the juicy details on the new support hero.

Details on her weapon, abilities and ultimate from the Official Blizzard post in the Overwatch Forums:

New Hero: Brigitte

An engineer with peerless armor-constructing abilities, Brigitte Lindholm is a valiant squire who fights on the front line to protect her allies.

Brigitte’s armor engineering capabilities make her a stalwart support hero, capable of holding her ground in combat while also providing healing and armor for her allies. Her primary weapon is her heavy-hitting Rocket Flail that she swings in a wide arc in front of her to smash multiple enemies at once. Whip Shot enables Brigitte to fling her flail forward, striking enemies at a distance and knocking them backward. With each blow, Brigitte’s passive ability, Inspire, heals nearby allies over time.

Brigitte’s Barrier Shield deploys a frontal energy barrier that can absorb a limited amount of damage and protect any allies directly behind her. Once her Barrier Shield is deployed, she can use Shield Bash to lunge forward and stun the first enemy in her path. Drawing on her engineering prowess, Brigitte can create Repair Packs to instantly heal wounded allies or provide armor to teammates at maximum health. When Brigitte is at her strongest, she can activate her ultimate ability, Rally—a galvanizing call to arms that generates a substantial amount of armor for nearby allies and increases Brigitte’s movement speed so she can lead them into battle.

So, Brigitte appears to be a sort-of support/tank hybrid paladin-type character, capable of scrapping right on the front lines. Personally, I cannot wait to play her, I’ve been hoping for a tankier healer for months now.

The Overwatch Team also included a good chunk of lore for fans to go along with Brigitte:

No longer sitting on the sidelines, Brigitte Lindholm has taken up arms to defend those in need of protection.

The youngest daughter of weapons designer, Torbjörn Lindholm, Brigitte was the first of his children to show an interest in mechanical engineering. Brigitte spent much of her spare time in her father’s workshop, learning the trade and honing her skills. Her aptitude for engineering mirrored that of her father’s, but Brigitte’s primary interest was in armor fabrication and defensive systems, unlike Torbjörn, who was world renowned (and perhaps infamous) for the weapons he created.

Everyone expected that Brigitte would continue her apprenticeship and follow in her father’s footsteps. But her plans changed due to influence of another prominent figure in her life, her father’s close friend and fellow Overwatch agent, Reinhardt Wilhelm. A close friend of the family and Brigitte’s godfather, Reinhardt told Brigitte tales of heroes and chivalry as she grew up. After his retirement and Overwatch’s fall, Reinhardt declared that he would become a knight-errant on a quest to bring justice. Before he left on his adventures, Brigitte surprised him by asking to join him as his squire. Reinhardt accepted.

As a squire, Brigitte had many responsibilities, the most important of which was the upkeep of Reinhardt’s Crusader armor (a design she was familiar with as the current version was designed by her father). But more and more, she found her main job was taking care of Reinhardt himself, trying to protect him from his overenthusiasm even as his body was breaking down from years of combat.

Eventually, she realized that serving only as a mechanic wasn’t enough, and that the best way she could aid Reinhardt was to become a warrior in her own right. While Reinhardt trained her in combat, Brigitte began to build her own suit of armor in secret.

Now Brigitte fights at Reinhardt’s side to protect him, and any others in need as knight and squire journey to make the world a better place, one battle at a time.

Now that’s she’s been formally introduced, it’ll be interesting to see what she brings to competitive play at all levels, but especially the Overwatch League. The addition of Brigitte will undoubtedly affect the meta in some way, how remains to be seen.

Brigitte is currently out on the PTR, and should be added to the main game within the next few weeks.

Here’s the Developer’s Update on Brigitte: