It’s true, Torbjörn’s daughter Brigitte Lindholm is the next Overwatch hero. Blizzard accidentally revealed it on the official forums, without as much fanfare as you might expect. That post was taken down soon after, and all kinds of red faces probably spread throughout Blizzard HQ. We imagine. It’s hard to know what counts as a mistake and what’s simply viral marketing these days. Anyway, her official page went up soon after, detailing the origin story, weapons, abilities, and everything else one could possibly care to fight out about Torbjörn’s sprog.
Brigitte’s abilities do have something of her dad’s legacy in them – she can heal and repair folks, but she’s more lithe and melee focussed than her pa. Carrying a flail and shield into the fight, along with 200 health and 50 armour, she’s very much a support hero designed to help allies push for objectives. As you’ll see from her character breakdown below – enjoy.
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We tried to work out if Brigitte is the next Overwatch hero recently, so now you can read all about our investigation with some smug hindsight. Enjoyed that? Great. Onto the main event.
Brigitte weapons and abilities
Rocket Flail
- Brigitte’s melee weapon has an extended range, enabling her to strike multiple enemies with a single swing.
Inspire
- Striking enemies with your flail heals Brigitte and nearby allies.
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. This also knocks enemies out of the air – one Twitch streamer showed this off quite well.
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.
She has 200 health and 50 armour, plus 600 health in her shield, and a post on the Overwatch subreddit seems to have worked out the exact damage and healing on her abilities.
- Rocket Flail
- 40 damage per swing
- Repair Pack
- 150 healing or 75 armour if at full health
- Shield Bash
- 40 damage and stuns
- Whip Shot
- 70 damage and knockback
- Rally
- Grants 25 armour per second within 8 metres
Will that host of abilities be enough for Brigitte to make the cut in Overwatch’s best heroes? Time will tell.
Brigitte backstory
“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.”
And, to finish off, here’s how she was described on the patch notes before they were taken down.
“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, unfortunately, that means no Jetpack Cat. But it does mean that, our next hero is Brigitte, but who’s after her? Only Time, and Blizzard, obviously, will tell.