Popular streamer Felix ‘xQc’ Lengyel went on a hilarious rant aimed at Brigitte players after seeing her nerfs in the patch notes for the latest Overwatch PTR update.
The big news of the July 18 PTR patch was of course the arrival of role queue, which heralds a fundamental change in the way Overwatch will be played going forward. Gone are the days of free hero swaps – once the testing period is complete, both competitive and quick play will lock players into a single role for the duration of a game.
Role queue wasn’t the only change made in the PTR update, however, and it overshadowed some hero changes that would be major news in their own right on almost any other day.
Most notable among them is a significant overhaul to Brigitte. The Support hero has been one of the more troublesome to balance since her release, but it seems now Blizzard can be assured she’ll only be played in double-Support compositions they’re aggressively tuning her for that scenario.
The healing from her passive ability, Inspire, is getting a bit of a boost, but to compensate her self-heal from the ability is being halved, while her Repair Back, Barrier Shield, and Shield Bash are all getting significant nerfs. Only her Whip Shot is getting a direct buff, being slightly sped up.
Brigitte PTR changes
Inspire (Passive)
- Healing amount increased from 100 to 130
- Self-healing from Inspire is now halved
Repair Pack
- Now has 3 charges
- Healing amount changed from 150 to 120
- Now heals over 2 seconds instead of instantly
- If you throw multiple packs at the same person, the current duration will be extended by 2 seconds
Whip Shot
- Out-going velocity increased from 60 to 80
- Retracting time reduced from 0.6 seconds to 0.3
Barrier Shield
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- Barrier health reduced from 500 to 200
Shield Bash
- Stun duration reduced from 0.9 seconds to 0.75
Rally
- Ultimate cost increased 10%
Opinions on Brigitte have been mixed since her release, and many players will undoubtedly be pleased to see her take a hit. One such player is xQc, who had a characteristically animated message for Brigitte mains.
“No, you didn’t deserve your rank. No, you didn’t improve. No, you’re not a god gamer. What you are is a coward scrub, glorified non-mechanical Support trash that got free rating, and will go back downwards to the sewers where you belong.”
Adjustments on the PTR are always subject to change, and especially as this will be the first time that Blizzard can publicly test balance under a strict 2-2-2 role lock, it’s very possible that these updates could be further adjusted before reaching the live servers.
It certainly seems that Brigitte is headed for a drop in power, however – something that xQc is clearly quite pleased about.