After several brief teases, the Overwatch development team have announced the release of a new hero, Brigitte, playable now on the PTR. The youngest daughter of Torbjörn is the 27th hero to be added to the game and will be the sixth support.

Brigitte Concept Art

She combines a lot of features we have seen in other heroes. Her primary fire is a close-range melee using her flail. She also possesses a miniature 600hp shield, that she can also use a short range charge with. Her primary source of healing is a Repair Pack ability that throws out a small healing pack to allies, with any healing provided over the heroes total health poor added as temporary armour. These packs auto aim, similar to Zenyatta’s orbs rather than Torbjorn's ammo packs. She also has a Whipshot ability that provides damage and knockback, and is again short range. Brigitte’s ultimate ability—Rally—provides a healing aura that also adds armour to full health allies, along with increasing her HP pool from 250 to 400 with armour that persists after the ultimate ends.

While her definitive role in the meta is far away from being decided at first glance, she appears to be a utility healer that will operate exclusively in short range and most likely defensively. You can see the full abilities on the Overwatch site and read the Patch Notes on the Blizzard forums. Her Origin Story and a Developer Update have both been released, as well.

PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

New Hero: Brigitte

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.