Years of playing hero-based multiplayer games have taught me one thing: if I am having fun with a character that is probably because s/he is overpowered, because I am too rubbish to play characters who are properly balanced. This appears to be the case with Brigitte, the Overwatch healer-tank knight errant whose prowess with a mace left me speechless (and often, concussed) when she launched on public servers in March. Blizzard says her Shield Bash ability – the essential prelude to knocking a rampaging Doomfist into a pit – is too effective for comfort, and must be nerfed. For shame, Blizzard! Let the girl bash in peace.
The next and currently undated Overwatch patch will extend the cooldown on Shield Bash by a crucial second, giving opponents marginally more time to run away, flank her or nuke the shield before she smacks them upside the chops with it. “Shield Bash is Brigitte’s strongest ability, and its short cooldown makes it very difficult to play around,” Blizzard’s Geoff Goodman writes on the official forum. “We’d like to keep her Shield Bash and subsequent melee combos powerful and effective, while just allowing a little more counter-play against it.
“We’ve talked about possibly reducing her defense somewhere, such as reducing her barrier health. However, her tank-hybrid nature is a core part of her kit and we want to make sure she maintains that feeling of being a difficult target to take down. Overall Brigitte’s win rate is still the highest of any support, despite dishing out the lowest amount of raw healing per second. This speaks volumes to how powerful her kit can be outside of her direct healing numbers.”
Source: Eurogamer Next Overwatch update brings Brigitte's reign of terror to an end