How To Play As Brigitte

Brigitte Tips

Written By: Stefan_OW

This guide will go over the many different aspects of Brigitte, from playstyles, kit nuances, to match-ups.

Introduction:

What’s up, I’m the highest ranked Solo-Queue only NA Brigitte with a 70+% win rate across 200+ games over two seasons and at 4480 Peak SR. Been in GM+ since Season 3, getting to GM+ with Mei, D.Va, Lucio, an OG Hanzo. Fell in love with Brigitte because of how oppressive you can be and how much you can accomplish with or without your team. I’m debating on climbing more but my school’s starting to kick in and I’m getting less and less time to prevent decay and such. Therefore, I decided why not write something up and maybe give people some interest in playing some more Brigitte as their main or as a flex in unfortunate matchmaking situations.

Overview:

Brigitte is officially classified as Support, however this, like some other characters, is inherently untrue. Personally, I classify her as a pseudo-DPS and Support hybrid. Brigitte has a passive heal given as she engages, a personal shield, ranged knockback and an infamous stun. Her ultimate gives (only) her an increase in speed while both passive armor gain and regeneration to her and teammates.

Playstyles:

Typically, the type of playstyle is determined by the comp your team runs. These include Death ball, Dive, and Halt-Hook. Within these comps, you have a choice given how your team functions. This includes aggressive, passive and reactionary styles. Reactionary is just a combination of both, but it requires a lot of game sense, awareness and communication.

Aggressive

Involves focusing on the frontline and providing DPS and openings for your team.

• Providing DPS serves to both heal your team and pressure the enemy, as your cooldowns are meant for enabling a push. This also allows for multiple Rally opportunities, and if done correctly, an opportunity to Rally every fight. • Openings includes shield-bashing to enable friendly ultimate’s, i.e. Earthshatter. This does also include flanking, which in my opinion is the absolute easiest way to abuse Brigitte’s kit and climb the ladder well into and past low GM. This is very much looked down upon since the counter-play is near non-existent, but nevertheless I will explain. o Flanking supports goes one of two ways. 1 for 1 pick, i.e. you suicide killing a support, or you manage to live. If you manage to 1 for 1, and it was an Ana, Mercy or Moira, you have effectively won the team fight if your team doesn’t choke. This is because Brigitte’s life is less valuable than the opposing main healer. It goes without saying what happens if you pull it off and live (…you win).

Passive

Involves focusing on peeling for your backline and harassing enemy flankers.

• Peeling for your backline has you staying within range of your friendly support and squishy non-self-heal DPS and making sure you suppress any incoming aggression. This includes dives and flankers. Your armor pack is extremely valuable. Use it on your support if they seem to be in danger and commit your cooldowns to make sure they stay alive. • Harassing enemy flankers is also a fantastic way to climb from GM to T500. Make sure that if the enemy is running flankers you situate yourself well between your main support and them. This will always make their flankers near useless and have them swap.

Brigitte’s Kit:

Rocket Flail

This is her standard melee and her main source of damage which does 35 DMG per swing with minor cleave. Her consistent damage in close quarters is very oppressive.

Barrier Shield

This is her personal 600 HP shield. It has significant raise time that favours the enemy (unlike Reinhardt). The shield drop is instant and 1:1 with what the enemy sees. If used correctly, it can also protect allies to her rear. Do not allow your shield to break since this opens you up to everything under the sun. In addition, Brigitte’s shield puts her in third person which allows for the jump on anyone walking around a corner.

Shield Bash

An infamous ability, the shield bash stuns enemies nearly instantly doing 50 DMG. This opens opportunities for either a personal or team combo. Note, with a recent patch, interactions with abilities such as Reinhardt’s pin and Doomfist’s rocket punch collapse both Brigitte and the enemy for a couple seconds.

Repair Pack

An incredibly overlooked and overpowered ability (akin to Mei’s wall). This ability instantly heals 150 HP and any residual gain is in the form of armor up to 75. This can be applied every 6 seconds. Something to take note is that there is somewhat significant travel time and depending on the situation and distance (upwards of 40 m) the usage must be primarily predictive or very quickly. You can also pre-emptively use this on flankers like Tracer, Doomfist and Genji to give them that extra 75 armor so they are less afraid to dedicate cooldowns into a flank and secure a kill (if they would be otherwise out of reach of the armor pack during the flank).

Whip Shot

A ranged knockback which does 70 DMG. Note that the retraction of her flail opens Brigittey up to be countered very easily as you are effectively unable to do anything during this time.

Rally

This is her ultimate, and it applies a passive regeneration and gain of armor to nearby allies. This armor stays until its removed by incoming damage. An additional speed boost is also applied to only Brigitte. With this additional speed boost, try to take advantage of singled out targets such as supports and roll them over.

Inspire

A passive ability that heals nearby allies when Brigitte hits enemies. Heals 80 HP over 5 seconds, doesn’t stack with hits but rather it refreshes the 5 seconds. Try to micromanage your inspire uptime in your downtime. If your team is engaging a shield battle, make sure uptime of your inspire is very high with a non-threatening pussy hit every 4 seconds if nothing is happening.

Combos

Combo #1 – M1, M1, Shield Bash, M1, Whip Shot; for 200 HP heroes, if unaware, the counter play is non-existent since the second melee is when the enemy first registers a hit on their screen and you’re already knee deep into that shield bash. Combo #2 – M1, M1, M1, Shield Bash, M1, Whip Shot; for 250 HP heroes, more difficult since now there is ample time to react, but once the Shield Bash lands they are done for. For <150 HP heroes: Combo #3 – Shield Bash, M1, Whip Shot; typically for unwanted Tracer’s but can be used against any non-tank that’s been hit with some damage. Keep in mind additional armor from Torbjorn and Brigitte makes all these combos not as viable.

Matchups:

Supports: These you should invest resources in taking down.

• Mercy – EASY; extremely easy to flank and predict with little fight, use combo #1 anytime.

• Ana – EASY; fair difficulty in the flank due to Ana players inherent increased awareness, sometimes difficult to predict. Bait out sleep and try to engage after an anti-nade. Use combo #1.

• Moira – MEDIUM; difficult to flank and to predict since most Moira’s dedicate most of their brain to their finger over the Fade button. Otherwise use combo #1.

• Zenyatta – EASY; extremely easy to flank and predict with little fight, use combo #1 anytime.

• Lucio – EASY; flanking is awkward against Lucio, but unless he’s at max speed escaping, combo #1 will be within range.

• Brigitte – MEDIUM; Don’t bother trying to pull combo #2 out on her since Inspire might be up, just immediate dedicate combo #1 and scare them. Typically, they won’t retaliate, and you can commit for the kill.

Tanks: These you should invest resources in bullying.

• Reinhardt – MEDIUM; shield bash his shield to open opportunities for your team and his pin if your life isn’t in immediate danger. A classic underused tactic is flanking and whip shotting him out of position opening for your team to combo. Good Reinhardt’s will know to just swing at you and make you back off.

• Zarya – MEDIUM; it’s very easy to feel like you can 1v1 a Zarya, but unless she’s <40 charge, it might be a scary matchup. Most Zarya’s are smart enough to toss right clicks around you to slowly chip you away. Just commit a combo #1 to scare them and bail unless <40.

• Orisa – HARD; very difficult matchup since they are usually pocketed and Fortify is one hell of a defense. Ignore as much as possible and focus on other enemies.

• Roadhog – MEDIUM; very difficult matchup if the Roadhog is confident. Not necessarily the hook, but he can just burst you down with a few clicks. A must use counter is to shield bash his Breather and negate it if you wish to continue to harass him.

• Winston – EZ-MEDIUM; Brigitte inherently counters dive, so if Winston dives, whip shot him out of the sky or shield bash. If you’re low and Winston is committing, try to invest as much resources in prolonging your inspire and stunning him out of damage. If you’re smart or lucky, you can shield bash him out of Leap as well.

• D.Va – EZ-MEDIUM; Similarly, with Winston, counter her dive with your cooldowns. You can shield bash her out of Boosters so be aware (and out of Rockets!).

DPS: These you should invest resources in taking down and bullying.

• Genji – EASY; Genji’s come in one of two types, the pussies who build blade, or the chads who commit everything on a kill. For the blade builders just shut them down when they blade, typically they first target your main support, so as they dash in insta-stun them. Chad’s are dealt similarly but at least you have some respect for them. Keep in mind to peel for supports.

• Hanzo – EZ-MEDIUM; A good Hanzo will know that he can just storm bow your shield to make you fuck yourself off, otherwise open for a flank and combo #1.

• McCree – EASY; McCree can very easily fuck your shit up if he flashbangs you, but otherwise he’s extremely open to be bursted with combo #1.

• Pharah – VERY HARD; Obvious enough, engaging a Pharah at any rank will be extremely tough. If your team calls out that she’s 1 without a pocket, try to go for the miracle play and whip shot her bitch ass out of your game.

• Reaper – MEDIUM; A good reaper will bully you hard. Bait out his wraith and combo #1/2. Keep in mind to peel for supports.

• Soldier 76 – EASY; Soldier is easy to engage with. I have rarely faced one, but if so just whip shot them off high ground if possible, or flank if your team isn’t pressuring him.

• Sombra – HARD; Translocator can be a blessing or a curse, if she flanks to build EMP she will almost always bail at the first sight of danger. However, if you manage to catch where her translocator is then destroy her. Avoid getting hacked at all costs, like Reinhardt you are doomed when shieldless. If you hear her hack immediately 180 to break it. You have a sad <1 or so seconds to do it, but you’ll get better the more you do it.

• Mei – MEDIUM; Mei can really bully you. If she gets all up in your shit, or walls you off, you’re a guaranteed goner so avoid those opportunities to give her. Otherwise, eat her ultimate with bash as you get a lot of time, and scare her with combo #1. Like Moira, Mei players have their brain attuned to dedicated almost all of it’s power to the Self-Heal button.

• Junkrat – EZ-MEDIUM; Junkrat can catch you off guard and do loads of damage quickly, otherwise he’s very easy to kill since his only escape has a decent time to commit to.

• Tracer – VERY EASY; Love this meme. It is extremely easy to predict Tracer’s at any rank. Brigitte being able to look around corners makes this even easier. Shield bash and a whip shot gets rid of Tracers instantly.

• Torbjorn – MEDIUM; funny enough, rather difficult. His turret will fuck your shield up if it auto locks you, otherwise the turret is most likely out of your reach. His shotgun is also super good against your shield, and his armor makes him immune to combo #1/2. If anything, commit combo #1 to scare him and use that fear to your advantage.

• Symmetra – EASY; her turrets can be annoying, but otherwise she can’t do anything to a combo #1 unless they have a pocket (which rarely ever happens).

• Bastion – HARD; do not commit at all unless you see anyone on your team committing. If so, do combo #1 to burst some damage and stun him from wiping out your teammate or you.

• Doomfist – MEDIUM; can’t wait till he gets nerfed to the ground. You need to be hyper aware of where Doomfist will come from and shield bash him immediately to prevent him from 1v6ing your team. You can try to use an armor pack on your teammate, but even then, he can still kill everyone if he’s good.

I wrote this up quickly in between classes so hopefully someone finds something of use here. If you’re a T500 player or Pro scoffing at this than embrace the meme. If people are interested in watching me, I can look into starting my stream again (but the interests got to be there since I’m finishing up my undergraduate classes).

If there is a lot of interest I can do a more advanced guide with more nuanced tactics and maybe even specific map control.

Thanks for reading, have fun on ladder!