Overwatch’s newest character is joining the team shooter March 20. Blizzard announced Brigitte’s launch today on social media after testing the character for multiple weeks on the beta servers.
This is the 27th hero to join the Overwatch roster, and she brings the number of support characters to seven. She also fills a roll as a potential alternative for teams that don’t want to pick Lucio or Zenyatta. Blizzard has maintained Overwatch’s momentum through content updates like new characters. This has helped grow its burgeoning esports scene, which is often among the most-watch events on the livestreaming video site Twitch. Overwatch had 35 million registered players as of October, and Blizzard is now just as focused on retaining those fans as it is on bringing in new ones.
Brigitte is a new support character who focuses on armor and defense. She has a rocket-powered melee weapon that can swing at and hit multiple enemies at once. She also provides the Repair Pack, which heals players and then provides shields for any health over 100 percent.
It takes a village to raise (and create) a hero!
Discover how lead character artist Ben Zhang and the team brought Overwatch's latest support to life.
Brigitte joins the fight: 3.20.18 pic.twitter.com/NJv7wLBEAR
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) March 15, 2018
In Overwatch’s fiction, Brigitte is the daughter of the defensive hero Torbjörn. She has followed in her father’s mechanical-engineering footsteps, but she didn’t use her skills to build weapons.
Here’s Blizzard’s full breakdown of Brigitte’s 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.
- Inspire — When Brigitte hits enemies with her flail, she also heals nearby allies over time.
- Rally — Brigitte moves faster and provides all nearby allies with armor that lasts until it’s removed by damage