Controller

Brimstone: abilities and tips

Brimstone is one of the easiest Controllers to pick up: he drops up to three smokes from afar using the map, without exposing himself, and locks down sites with his fire and his ultimate.

Origin: United States
Release: June 2, 2020, patch 1.0

Playstyle

Brimstone plays long-range area control. With the tactical map, you place up to three smokes on key angles without leaving cover, then follow up with Incendiary to force enemies off their position. On attack, you smoke the defenders, drop the beacon behind the entry, and your team pushes at the same time. After the plant, your fire and your ultimate stop the defuse. On defense, you delay the entry with smokes and save the ultimate for a retake. He shines when the team communicates and pushes together, because his smokes do not recharge during the round.

Abilities

Key CBasic

Stim Beacon

200 credits · 1 charge

You instantly throw a beacon that creates a field on the ground. Allies who enter it, you included, gain Combat Stim and a speed bonus for its duration. Enemies are not affected. Use it to win a duel at a site entrance.

Key numbers

Field duration: 12 s
Bonus: about 10% to fire rate, reload speed, weapon equip speed and movement speed
Only allies benefit from the field

Drop the beacon behind the site entrance so your team benefits at the moment of contact, out of the defenders' sight.
Take it mostly with a high fire rate weapon like the Phantom or the Odin, where the fire rate boost is felt the most.
Throw it where your team actually goes: the field only lasts 12 s, so a beacon placed too early or too far from the action is wasted.

Key QBasic

Incendiary

250 credits · 1 charge

You pull out a grenade launcher and fire a grenade that explodes when it stops on the ground. It leaves a fire zone that damages anyone staying inside. Perfect to push a player off an angle or block an action.

Key numbers

Zone duration: 7 s minimum
Damage: 60 per second

Throw it on the planted Spike to disrupt the defuse: the defuser has to leave the zone and restart the action.
Pair it with a smoke on the same path to close off a lane for a longer time.
Aim at positions the enemy has to hold: the sound of the damage also gives you information on their placement.

Key ESignature

Sky Smoke

100 credits · 1 free charge per round · 3 charges

You open the tactical map, choose where your clouds land, then confirm with alternate fire. The smokes arrive without you needing to move and block vision for several seconds. Charges do not recharge during the round.

Key numbers

Smoke duration: 19.25 s
Deployment: 1 s after confirmation

Place one smoke first to bait the other team into using their utility, then place the others when your team is ready to enter.
Pick spots your team really advances behind: a smoke placed at the end of a corridor only helps if you follow it.
Avoid spending everything before contact: keep one smoke to cover the plant or the retake if the round goes badly.

Key XUltimate

Orbital Strike

8 ultimate points

You choose a point on the map and an Orbital Strike hits the area. It heavily damages anyone who stays there for a few seconds. The ultimate is for punishing a site that is already full, interrupting a defuser or closing off a forced path.

Key numbers

Windup: 2 s
Strike duration: 3 s
Damage: 20 per tick, 6.67 ticks per second (about 133 per second)

Send it on the Spike during a plant or a defuse: the player has to back off or take about 133 damage per second.
Warn the team before sending it, so they push or plant during the strike and take advantage of the player backing off.
Avoid firing it at a moving target during the windup: they leave the beam before the first damage.

Strengths

Three smokes placeable from the map, without showing yourself: you close several angles at once at the moment of the execute, which leaves defenders little time to react.
His smokes last 19.25 s, among the longest of the Controllers, and one charge is free each round: his basic utility costs few credits.
Incendiary and ultimate form a post-plant duo: the fire deals 60 damage per second and the ultimate strikes for 3 s, which forces the defuser to back off and restart.
Stim Beacon speeds up the fire rate, reload and weapon equip of allies inside the field for 12 s, useful to win the first duel at a site entrance.
His kit is readable and consistent: few mechanics to master, so it is accessible to players discovering Controllers.

Weaknesses

Smokes are placed at limited range from the map and do not recharge during the round: a smoke wasted early is missing when you need to defend the site or cover the plant.
He has no mobility and no information: his rotations are slow and he relies on teammates to know where the enemies are.
Using the map freezes him in place: an opponent who spotted him or who rushes the execute finds him with no weapon out and no way to dodge.
Incendiary and the ultimate have a visible delay: a mobile player leaves the zone before the damage, so you need to fire them at constrained targets.
The Incendiary shot follows an arc that takes practice at long distance, and Stim Beacon costs 200 credits for a bonus of only 10%.

Tips

On attack, smoke the defenders' positions rather than the site entrance, then drop the beacon behind the entry and push as soon as the smokes land.
Save Incendiary and the ultimate for after the plant: a fire zone on the Spike followed by the ultimate forces the defuser to give up the action.
Do not place all your smokes first: a first smoke can draw out the enemy utility before you place the others.
Place the beacon out of enemy sight: if it is spotted, the defenders know you are pushing and position accordingly.
Once you step out of your smoke, work on counter-strafe shooting and short flicks: you often fight at close range, without having seen your target before.
Economy: smoke first, then Incendiary; on an eco or a force buy, you can skip the Stim Beacon.

The aim to train

The Road2Radiant benchmark subcategories that matter most here.

Static
Clicking on static targets
After an execute, you open duels from a smoke or a closed angle: flicks on a stationary target decide the first contact.
Drills to improve
Strafe Click
Clicking while strafing
You step out of smokes shooting: counter-strafe and precise clicking while moving keep you from getting punished at close range.
Drills to improve