As the Lunar New Year winds down, Overwatch gets ready to add to it's roster.
Overwatch surprised players on Wednesday by dropping hero 27 onto the PTR.
Brigitte Lindholm is entering the action, presenting a unique playstyle for future players. While she will be officially categorized as a support hero, Brigitte has traits not unlike a tank.
Like we predicted earlier this week, Brigitte has a flail-like melee weapon that has both decent range and a knockback ability. But that’s not all. Brigitte has several abilities, but is only a one-star hero according to difficulty.
Here’s her bio from the Overwatch website:
“Brigitte specializes in armor. She can throw Repair Packs to heal teammates, or automatically heal nearby allies when she damages foes with her Flail. Her Flail is capable of a wide swing to strike multiple targets, or a Whip Shot that stuns an enemy at range. When entering the fray, Barrier Shield provides personal defense while she attacks enemies with Shield Bash. Brigitte’s ultimate ability, Rally, gives her a substantial short-term boost of speed and provides long-lasting armor to all her nearby allies.”
ABILITIES
ROCKET FLAIL
Brigitte’s melee weapon has an extended range, enabling her to strike multiple enemies with a single swing.
REPAIR PACK
Brigitte throws a Repair Pack that can heal an ally. Any healing over that ally’s maximum health provides them with armor instead.
WHIP SHOT
Brigitte throws her flail a long distance, dealing damage and knocking an enemy away from her.
BARRIER SHIELD
Brigitte deploys a frontal energy barrier to absorb a limited amount of damage.
SHIELD BASH
Once her Barrier Shield is deployed, Brigitte can dash forward to stun an enemy.
RALLY
Brigitte moves faster and provides all nearby allies with armor that lasts until it’s removed by damage.
Brigitte will be an important character in the Overwatch meta. She’s a solid counter to aggressive heroes like Tracer and Genji, who will quickly run into problems with her Shield Bash and flail range.
Below is our thoughts from Monday about Brigitte, who is the second family member added to the Overwatch roster:
Overwatch is teasing it’s latest new hero.
“I’ll knock some sense into you!”
On Tuesday, the Overwatch twitter posted a single image, along with the quote ““I’ll knock some sense into you!”
This is a strong indication of not only a new melee hero, but a tank hero. The designs in the top-left corner of the image are similar to the designs of Torbjörn’s turret.
The Brigitte hype is real.
The first nugget of information came last week, when the Overwatch twitter released a bit of lore surrounding Operation White Dome.
[DECLASSIFIED] After-Action Report: Operation “WHITE DOME”
The tweet makes reference to Istanbul, which currently does not have a map or represented character, and mentions “Private First Class Emre Sarioglu.” It’s the first time Sarioglu has been mentioned in any form in the Overwatch universe, so it led to immediate speculation that he would be the newest Overwatch hero.
Two days ago, the Overwatch forums posted a “Story Update” containing a letter from Torbjörn to his wife, Ingrid. The posted letter is in German, but Blizzard provided a handy in-house translation:”
My dear Ingrid,
I know that by now you have gotten news of my injuries in our latest mission. While the descriptions may sound terrible, the doctors are quite sure I’ll make a full recovery. Even Angela came to visit me! On the matter of my arm, I promise to make it my first priority to construct a suitable prosthesis that will make everyone forget that it was ever gone. If only Angela’s dreams of tissue regeneration were a reality! I told her she should be working harder!
They tell me that you have not yet gone into labor, so I am holding out hope that I will be able to be by your side back home in Gothenburg when the time comes. Just wait a little longer for me!
You may have heard that Reinhardt is responsible for saving my life. I’ve heard the story at least four different times myself, already, each time more unbelievable than the last. Exaggerations, as you know how he can be. All the same, they’ve decided to award him a commendation for “conspicuous bravery.” Could two words better describe the big oaf?
He has been bothering me insufferably at my bedside. Half in jest, I suggested that if it would shut him up, I would allow him to name our daughter, as he has been badgering me about it these past months. He, of course, took me at my word. Truth be told, I had been considering making him her godfather, and I hope you’ll forgive me for making this decision without your consultation. We can only hope she doesn’t take after him too much.
I told him that you would have to agree to any name he chose, so let’s hope it’s a good one (though I fear that may be beyond his abilities, given some of the ridiculous names he gives the characters in his “true stories”). I’m getting sick of this hospital, so I am hoping to return soon.
Love,
Torbjörn
After this letter published, the public forgot all about Emre. He doesn’t appear in the letter, but who is referenced is an unborn daughter that has made appearances in lore already.
The focus is now on Torbjörn’s daughter, Brigitte, who appeared in the “Honor and Glory” cinematic.
For every new hero release, Overwatch has left a tidy trail of bread crumbs for their fans. It seemed like the announcement of Moira came out of nowhere, until fans noticed she had been in the background of a comic released three months prior. Brigitte has now had a prominent role in two pieces of lore, giving fans the indication that she’ll be the newest addition to the game.
If you couldn’t tell, other sites are similarly predicting Brigitte’s release:
Overwatch doesn’t currently have a release date for their newest hero, but expect more information this week.