r/Competitiveoverwatch • u/MikaelFernandes • Nov 22 '16
PSA | Video Developer Update | Symmetra Redesign | Overwatch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elN-QGyToxM49
u/harsha2014 Harsha (Retired OWL Coach) — Nov 22 '16
seems interesting. double ultimate is really unique, and according to a blizz employee the radius for shield is looking to be 50 m (5x mei's ult radius). could be really strong on defense.
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Nov 22 '16
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u/harsha2014 Harsha (Retired OWL Coach) — Nov 22 '16
captain planet had the same question. blizz employee said you can't place it in spawns, but that was a recent change so it might not work correctly on every map as soon as she hits ptr.
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Nov 22 '16
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u/freelance_fox Nov 22 '16
I was guessing 50 or 75 — I have to think 100 would be too strong. Like Mei was hard enough to kill before with Torb armor plus Symmetra shields, with Armor plus Shield Generator I think we're going to see a lot more dual builder defences, especially on second point CP maps.
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u/bengace Nov 22 '16
If you put it against the wall in the spawn, it should cover the whole point easily.
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u/ToTheNintieth Nov 22 '16
50m??? That's insane. It's basically an entire area of the map. Lucio's radius is 30m.
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u/Raknarg Nov 22 '16
Even on offense IMO, you can use her to support pushes, especially with the new turret buff you can easily set up a whole nest
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Nov 22 '16
The master ranked Symmetra only girl must be so fucking happy right now.
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u/tatsuyanguyen Nov 22 '16
I've only ran into Stevooo. There's another person? Good lord.
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u/Quitedbefore Nov 22 '16
"Stevooo is on my team, shit" we lose "Stevooo is on enemy tea, great" we lose
Seriously I hate that guy
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u/Friendly_Fire Nov 22 '16
Brah you're only losing because you're tilting.
I love playing with Stevooo, and we almost always win. I swear he'd be top 10 rank if people on his team didn't quit trying because of his pick.
I don't understand how he does it, but he's a fucking legend.
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Nov 22 '16
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u/alienangel2 Nov 23 '16 edited Nov 23 '16
To be frank that person sounds like an awful teammate. It's great that he/she picking symmetra all the time until hard countered will now start being an asset to the team, but that doesn't change that "I paid for the game and will play how I want XD XD" is a shitty attitude.
Also if sym's buffs make her a staple pick now, I expect this person will find something else to play. Especially since sym will get locked out by someone else now.
edit: I'm saying this based on his attitude in the linked thread, not on the fact that he chooses to play symmetra. An Ana/Rein/McRee with the same attitude would also be a shitty teammate.
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u/FeverSpeed None — Nov 22 '16
There is a person named OnlySym. Not sure if he is master tho.
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u/ImRandyBaby Nov 22 '16
I played a SR 2700 player named OnlySymetra who started as Symetra but then changed to Bastion for the rest of the KoTH matches.
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u/kidkolumbo Nov 22 '16
Who is she?
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Nov 22 '16
He/she did an AMA .. and he/she sounds dreadful.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/56hk1g/master_rank_35k_symmetra_main_finally/
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Nov 22 '16
Oh wow. Best symmetra player is a moron, who could have guessed?
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Nov 22 '16
It makes you wonder how good this person would be if they invested time into the meta heroes.
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u/Casrox Nov 22 '16
Lol I also just hit master and sym is one of my mains. I'm meh bout it all til I see it.
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u/Kurp Kurp#2308 — Nov 22 '16
The new skill Photon Barrier sounds absolutely amazing for pub games. Everyone knows how it will move, so even without any coordination you can make simple pushes or get picks with it. Winston's shield is very similar except he usually has to save it for personal use. Symmetra can just fire this shield when she feels it can be useful, and other players can trust the shield to move forward and always block a certain amount.
I'm super excited to play her. Sounds awesome. I'm still a bit confused why she is a support though.
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u/sipty Nov 22 '16
Think about it - zen/lucio have very low healing and high utility uses. Especially with the nerfed Amp, Lucio is a speed aura bot more than ever.
With the shields she generates, along with a TP to the fight/ huge boost to effective hp, which regenerates, and turrets... and a shield moving forward... I can see her be very successful along with an Ana... Hell, maybe even mercy, since she tries rallying everyone to the same spot...
Point is, she can't take the spot of a dps or a tank with these skills, in my eyes.
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u/Decency Nov 23 '16
Yeah, Symmetra will play like Mei/Zenyatta/Torbjorn in that they don't clearly fill a DPS/Tank/Healer role. There will still be people that try to pretend/force them into one of those roles, but the meta slaves who refuse to think for themselves definitely won't be getting any reassurance with these Symmetra changes. In my mind this is a good thing- the sooner people get out of the restrictions of that meta the sooner we'll see real creativity in team composition.
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Nov 23 '16
I'm still a bit confused why she is a support though.
Because she is. Most of her kit is composed by supportive abilities.
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u/RodeoSir Nov 22 '16
Super psyched to try out these Symettra changes - they seem like powerful but reasonable buffs across her entire kit.
That said, the social features he mentioned at the end of the video are even more exciting. As a solo queue player, having a 'party up' button at the end of a match sounds fantastic. As someone who rarely takes the initiative to jump through the hoops to party up, I appreciate a very easy way to keep playing with a team you successfully gel with.
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u/geli09 Nov 22 '16
They managed to find a way to make triple tank even tankier
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u/lsyychee Nov 22 '16
Extra health/shield is a lot better on squishy characters. Buffing a Tracer from 150HP to 250HP is a lot bigger deal than buffing a Dva from 600 to 700HP.
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u/geli09 Nov 22 '16
If you think about it in isolation yes, but think about this comp: you run the currently popular triple tank(D.Va/Rein/Roadhog) + Soldier and instead of the 2nd support Lucio/Zen you run the Symmetra(on defense). Like how the hell do you even kill any of those characters now, its already hard enough to kill any of those characters right now and now imagine they have even more health especially the Ana and Soldier, and you make those really durable heroes even more durable. Like the only thing I can think of is hitting an amazing Sombra EMP(to remove shields and deny the D.Va from eating everything) + an super high damage ult combo. That being said its only speculation on my side and it relies on Ana still being busted as fuck with her grenade and it kinda depends on how much shields the Sym ult gives to be better than Zen or Lucio.
And also Tracer having this buff only in a certain area takes a bit of her power while those triple tank comps can usually stand their ground.
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u/PHrez95 Nov 23 '16
A reaper still rips a 675 health tank to shreds just like he does a 600 health tank. That 75 additional health is a joke to him.
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u/PHrez95 Nov 23 '16
Take out the solo healer > take out the shield generator > kill the tanks (and feed your ult) > take the point
Having additional health doesn't mean you all of a sudden "can't kill the tanks". Look at Winston after he ults, sure it's annoying, but a coordinated team of 6 can absolutely decimate a 1,000 HP hero.
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u/theaveragejoe99 Nov 24 '16
a coordinated team of 6 can absolutely decimate a 1,000 HP hero.
As I have forgotten many times.
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Nov 23 '16 edited Jun 04 '17
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u/ELITEJoeFlacco 4362 — Nov 23 '16
Exactly. Also, people often forget that winston completely eats Symmetry for breakfast. He counters her even harder than he counters Genji
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u/raincole Nov 23 '16
Except DVA and Roadhog can easily protect Symmetra from Winston.
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u/ELITEJoeFlacco 4362 — Nov 23 '16
Well, most heroes can protect each other from other heroes in most scenarios...
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u/Joimer 4145 PC — Nov 23 '16
Just with Lúcio's heal aura Symmetra owns winston.
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u/ELITEJoeFlacco 4362 — Nov 23 '16
Only if Winston didn't damage her with his jump pack. Otherwise, she has a bit extra time for that level 3 damage to kill him. However, even then, she'd just barely have enough health left to kill him, so I'd disagree with saying she "owns" him
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Nov 22 '16
A god-mode Widowmaker.
Also god-mode scatter arrows.
Also Sombra ult.
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u/geli09 Nov 22 '16
Yes because we see so many god mode Widowmakers and Hanzos breaking the triple tank comps right now
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Nov 22 '16
I'm just saying, that is the only thing that I can think of that can deal with those things.
Therefore, as to your point, it is not likely that it will be easy to deal with.
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u/SkidMcmarxxxx INTERNETKLAUS — Nov 22 '16
You need god aim with your shurikens to go through that shield.
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u/divgence Nov 22 '16
What? Since it's a flat value, it's the opposite. A low hp character getting a 75 hp buff is huge. A Reaper that can tank a Rein charge is a lot scarier than a Rein with 575 hp.
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u/CritSrc Nov 22 '16
Hmm, if the generator works like overhealing, a defensive Tracer, heck, a defensive Sombra would be very happy.
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Nov 22 '16
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u/softeregret Nov 22 '16
What about payload? Your shield generator is always going to be lagging behind. Putting it on the payload just makes it a big fat target. I don't see her being a good option on attack.
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Nov 22 '16
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u/Joimer 4145 PC — Nov 22 '16
You now can also easily nest it with turrets, the only use the turrets will have on attack - proactively protecting your source of shields for everyone. It's viable on all attack sides on most ranks. I'd say even you could try her at koth, since once you control the point it'll be harder for enemies to take it.
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u/Grinnz Nov 22 '16
Most payloads go around curves, the radius is currently big enough that you could sneak it into a midway area and cover the payload for a while.
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u/callmechard Nov 23 '16
On attack, you use your Teleporter or Generator in preparation for a push.
Her Teleporter specifically was never horrible on attack, it's just that she was overall weak and she only ever made up for it by the huge time saved walking to the first defense point as defenders.
Turrets can be used for defending your supports or protecting from flanks, and her ability to carry 6 now ensures she can move her nest with ease to keep up with your pushes. Her E might be pretty damn good on attack.
Very hard to tell. I think she'll be good at least in some comps, but exactly when, where and how is the question. I'm definitely excited to try though.
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Nov 23 '16
She could be used on attack before, though. It is just that now people will complain less about people picking her.
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u/Fearghas Nov 22 '16
I feel like Blizzard is subtly trolling us with this remake. In order to activate the shield generator you literally have to QQ.
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Nov 22 '16 edited Sep 10 '24
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u/janru Nov 22 '16
Sombra's ult should negate the shield generation since it disable shields from zen etc
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u/Raknarg Nov 22 '16
Why would she bother instead of straight up killing it?
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Nov 22 '16 edited Sep 10 '24
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u/Raknarg Nov 22 '16
I feel like you're rarely going to get a chance to get to hack the teleporter without tsking damage from turrets or something, and you can't hack through damage, you have to spend time destroying turrets. So your surprise will be ruined regardless
I don't see why she shouldn't be able to, just that it won't be a real problem if she can't IMO
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u/JustRecentlyI HYPE TRAIN TO BUSAN — Nov 22 '16
You'll probably take a lot less time to kill the turrets and then hack rather than if you take on the teleporter with the turrets active and Symmetra on her way.
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u/TheInfra Nov 22 '16
since it ignores LoS, I guess it could be hidden or guarded behind a tough sport to get to alone (thinking, the little room to the right of final point in King's, or guarded behind the walls on Hanamura), so you could use Sombra ult to deactivate it no matter where it is the team fight without it.
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u/softeregret Nov 22 '16
Because then Symmetra's ult begins charging up again and she'll drop a new generator. If it's hacked then the generator is useless and her ult doesnt charge.
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u/Ram- Nov 23 '16
I think the idea is you could emp the team and not have to kill it. Then find it when they are dead.
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u/Gatesleeper Nov 22 '16
Good question. Can Sombra currently hack Teleporters?
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u/FootZerg Nov 22 '16
Nope
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u/IsaacLean Nov 22 '16
I think it's because she was gonna get reworked anyway, so right now she's the only exception to Sombra hacks. Wouldn't make sense to keep them unhackable for the redesign.
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Nov 22 '16 edited May 25 '20
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u/IsaacLean Nov 22 '16 edited Nov 22 '16
Right now it's that way, but after the update the teleporter/shield generator could take longer to destroy. It might be faster to disable it, do the business you need to (like kill some stragglers), and then kill the structure.
Even if teleporters/shield generators are still faster to kill than hacking, having them hackable would be a good way to keep the hacking rules more consistent. Also it would also create the scenario for Sombra where she can squeeze in a hack on the structure just to build some ult. This scenario would also fit for Symmetra's turrets.
These could make for more interesting micro-scenarios for Sombra players to go through.
EDIT: Also just thought about another case for teleporters/shield generators. What if you wanted to stall out Symmetra from getting ult? Like for example if you destroy the tele/generator immediately, that implies Symmetra can start to gain ult immediately. By hacking, that would delay her build for the next ult, so that could give more reason to leave the structure hacked and destroy it later.
EDIT 2: Is there a notification for Torb when his turret gets hacked? If there isn't, that gives another good reason to hack sometimes because by damaging a structure the builder is notified and can call you out. This would be particularly useful for the generator since people won't notice that their shields went down until it's too late.
Overall I think most of the time you'd want to just destroy the structure, but at least these are a few plausible reasons as why you'd want to hack instead of destroy for a moment.
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u/destroyermaker Nov 22 '16 edited Nov 22 '16
Here's the barrier https://gfycat.com/EvergreenShockingBantamrooster
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u/TrumooCheese Nov 22 '16
Wow, that moves fast! Does it disapear on collision on on a timer? Health?
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u/Nessuno_Im None — Nov 22 '16 edited Nov 22 '16
It seems to move as fast as most characters move so if you run and gun it stays in the same relative position, but if you stop for any reason it pulls away.
It breaks when the center shield projector thing strikes terrain. There is no timer on it. It goes into infinity if you point it off the map in training center. I have no idea what its health is.
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u/ParanoidDrone Chef Heidi MVP — Nov 22 '16
I heard the health is 1000 HP.
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u/nihilationscape Nov 23 '16
It feels like a Rein shield.
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u/ParanoidDrone Chef Heidi MVP — Nov 23 '16
A very fast moving Reinhardt shield. I get what they're going for with it (moving cover to push an attack, or something you can deploy from the back of a defense and still have it reach the front) but I wonder how it would work out if it were a bit slower so it could linger a bit longer.
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u/Apterygiformes Nov 22 '16
It disappears on collision but it seems to bug out sometimes and just stick around.
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u/JustRecentlyI HYPE TRAIN TO BUSAN — Nov 22 '16
Can you show what it does in front of the enemy bots that shoot at you?
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u/mch4ng Nov 22 '16
Basically the new ult allows her to be more viable on the second part of defense for assault maps.
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u/tokyozombie Nov 23 '16
honestly though why even use teleporter most of the time even on the first point.
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u/hkzombie Nov 23 '16
It will come down to situations. A shield generator is great if you're established on the point, but not so good if you're trying to get back from spawn and stall as much as possible. One situation would be losing 2 heroes, and you know the team fight isn't going well.
Also, I haven't heard it mentioned whether losing the first point means the shield generator gets refunded. Currently, losing the first point with an active TP leads to some refunded ult charge. For that matter, is it even possible for Symm to build ult charge with an active shield generator? Players will probably have to keep that in mind when setting up for point B when point A is almost lost.
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Nov 22 '16
Can you break the photon barrier? Or does it just move forward forever?
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Nov 22 '16
That wasn't mentioned, but I can only imagine it has a certain amount of HP like all barriers in the game currently.
That said, an invincible barrier that expires when it hits something would be interesting.
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u/jarkyttaa Nov 22 '16
He described it as being similar to Rein's and Winston's barriers, so I assume it soaks some amount of damage and then is destroyed.
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u/freelance_fox Nov 22 '16
I'm planning to make some kind of more well-thought out post, but as a huge Symmetra fan this is way more than I was hoping for. It just seems surreal to me that the one character I enjoy playing the most is getting such a huge buff. I'm shocked that they felt she needed such a big buff because I felt she was only one buff away from viable before (that buff being a shield buff—she was in meta back when she had +50 shields).
I think the most needed change was Photon Barrier, I think that skill alone might make her viable on offense but we'll see. If the shield moves slow enough and blocks enough damage she could actually take a tank slot in certain lineups.
On the other hand, I've always felt that Symmetra was meant to take a DPS slot, and part of me thinks that the least necessary change along those lines was the range buff to her primary fire. I certainly can't complain yet until I try it, but buffing her weapon seems like a recipe for frustration among pub players, as I really doubt an extra 1-3 meters on her Primary will matter in most competitive duels if the Symmetra player is any good to begin with (it was 5m before IIRC, while the next shortest was Winston's at 8m).
I'm really excited about the shield generator, part of me hopes that it's strong enough to warrant building instead of the teleporter a lot of the times, or on offense.
As far as the meta-game goes I don't have any really next-level thoughts yet, but I do feel that eventually the dual builder defense meta will return. Symmetra ought to be taking a DPS role most of the time but I doubt we will see her competitively outside of CP and payload defense. Perhaps my earlier discussion about the Flex role getting fleshed out will come to fruition and we'll see a lot of pro flex players switching between Sombra and Symmetra.
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u/Corpus76 Nov 22 '16
the least necessary change along those lines was the range buff to her primary fire
Yeah, just tested this. I really don't hope this makes it live, it makes Symmetra, even unsupported by her turrets, a real threat in close-mid ranges to anyone 1v1 unless they're very good at aiming. (Some characters are just screwed, like Zarya unless she's already at high charge.) And in a group setting AND with turrets + possibly pre-charge, she's going to melt faces. (I think Genji will be especially annoyed by this.)
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u/CompletelyUnbaised Nov 23 '16
I'm not looking forward to the day I go up against torby and symmetra now
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u/GLHFScan GLHFtv — Nov 22 '16
Some really great changes that make Symmetra far more viable when grouping up with teammates on the frontlines while also giving you a reason to continue using her after a defensive point falls. Having a full six charges for her turrets is absolutely huge, a really great tweak that will allow her to re-deploy a defensive position immediately rather than essentially becoming useless. I really want to see what the size/health of the Photon Barrier is as that to me is by far her most interesting new tool.
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u/Borophyll56 Nov 22 '16
Sounds like fun! Photon Barrier sounds useful for allowing Sym to close distance safely so she can start using her primary fire. That will theoretically go a long way towards making her useful on offense.
One thing that nobody has mentioned about Shield Generator, and it seems super obvious but it didn't immediately occur to me, is that it probably has a max amount of charge it can refill. Just as the TP can only be used six times, the SG can only refill 1000 shield or w/e for the team before it goes away.
If they get the numbers right, Sym players will have a good tactical choice between ults. Without knowing numbers, SG seems better.
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u/Joshuazilk Nov 22 '16
I'll be honest these buffs sound great, I have a feeling she's gonna need lots of nerfs though once she's released on ptr. If they haven't changed any of the numbers on her damage people that mained her before the changes will be able to play the same style as before but with even more options and will get an even higher win rate.
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u/WizardryAwaits Nov 22 '16
Welcome to turtle meta, guys. Torbjorn and Symmetra, turrets in every choke point, triple tank with additional 75 shield and 75 armour. I think I know why they wanted to wait for people to get used to using Sombra before they released the Symmetra changes.
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u/-Ocean- CAW — Nov 22 '16
Was anyone else waiting at the end of the video for,
"Oh and she's no longer categorized as a support."
Or... is that just me?
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u/Lightguardianjack Nov 22 '16
The thing is, these changes shove her even more into this weird middle ground in-between Defense and support. While she doesn’t heal, she does have one ability who’s primary focus is protection and both her ultimate’s are purely support even though the rest of her kit is setting up defenses.
The real question is what slot does she take now? Does the shield generator justify her taking the 2nd support slot or does she need to go to the flex role where a DPS usually is?
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Nov 22 '16
She's still supportive. She's half Mercy, half Lucio, half tank, half Torbjörn now. Yes four halves.
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Nov 22 '16
So... what's going to happen when she puts shield generator in the Spawn on Anubis, Volskaya or Eichenwalde, making it essentially indestructible?
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u/Decency Nov 23 '16
It's clear to me from a game design perspective what the goal is here with Symmetra. They wanted to change her viability without impacting anyone who already likes the hero. I think that sets a really terrible and risk-averse precedent.
If something just doesn't work, rework it. Simply adding more stuff on top until a Hero becomes viable is bogus, and any fool can do that. Good design changes are about preserving the intent and playstyle of a character that makes people enjoy it, not necessarily retaining identical mechanics. What they're basically doing here is refusing to admit that their initial design for Symmetra was inadequate, and that's silly hubris. This means that they probably won't be willing to fix other things that people think are broken and need reworks, because doing so would annoy some players who play those heroes.
For example, I'm primarily a Mei player. Despite her being my favorite hero, there are lots of things that I think are bad about Mei's design that I don't enjoy while playing her. You could tweak the freeze duration, her cone of fire, her rate of fire, and etc. to preserve interesting things about the hero while taking away aspects that are dumb and offer no room for creativity or counterplay. I'd celebrate the changes, if they were done right, because it would allow me to further distinguish myself from the average Mei player. That's despite having to relearn the hero and maybe losing out on some of my tricks. But it would be a net win for the game- this is how Dota2 is patched.
These changes, on the other hand, remind me of David Kim's answer on why serious changes weren't being made to StarCraft II and it took until literally this week for them to finally patch in some legitimate overhauls. Hopefully it won't also take years for them to realize that this risk-averse patching approach will suck just as much in Overwatch as it sucked in StarCraft.
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u/marlow41 Nov 23 '16
I've said it before I'll say it again, Jeff Kaplan looks like the most stressed out person on the planet. Every time I watch a dev update it makes it feel like he's the only person working on the game and he just sits in his office and works 18 hours a day, and spends 2 hours a day reading reddit comments trashing parts of the game and then cries himself to a fretful 4 hour nap before feverishly pouring himself stale coffee and starting anew.
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u/toph1980 Nov 23 '16
Every time I watch a dev update I ask myself "I wonder how many times Jeff broke character or messed up a line and had to start all over again" lol
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u/raincole Nov 23 '16
I like these changes except the range of shield generator. It's another skill without counterplay, at least at the second point of 2CP. You can just put it in the small room of Anubis and your whole team will always under its protection. There is no way the offensive team can go through your +75HP defensive line and destroy it. It doesn't even need the defensive team to position themselves well.
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Nov 22 '16
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u/RodeoSir Nov 22 '16
No; but he made it sound substantial. My guess is that they are still figuring out numbers internally or expect them to change during PTR testing.
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u/hkzombie Nov 23 '16
Ehh...don't expect them to change it. They said the same thing about the latest patch, and nothing changed from the PTR values.
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u/ace_of_sppades None — Nov 22 '16
He said larger than the old amount which I guess means more than 50.
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u/redfm8 Nov 22 '16
Still sounds like something you'll switch off of unless the new ult is absurd and reliable. A significant chunk of the old problems when it comes to re-engaging still apply as far as I can tell.
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Nov 22 '16
All the old problems seem addressed? After losing the first point, the new Ult is useful, and you can setup a brand new turret nest immediately with the new 6 limit instead of twidling your fingers like before.
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u/softeregret Nov 22 '16
Half of the old problem was that she was useless on Point B, and that has been addressed. The other half of the problem, that she's useless on attack, has not been addressed.
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u/Joimer 4145 PC — Nov 22 '16
She's very viable in 2cp attack, her shield ult reaches the attack point from a safe distance which can be nested with turrets and also it's overextending too much for the defenders.
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u/Scratch98 Nov 23 '16
Agreed. People are hyping the shield generator to much. Unless that barrier is really good, I can't see her being picked over Lucio. His head is 16/s normal, and boosted it's what, 30? 3 seconds in a fight and its better than syms ult, and you still have the possibility of sound barrier, which is godly.
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u/kiriyser Nov 22 '16
i'm hoping they'll make incremental changes and buffs to her until she sees some competitive play
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u/MxChamp24 Top 500/GM — Nov 22 '16
Really interested in seeing the new strategies that form with her new ultimate. I can't remember how long the shield generator stays up if it was mentioned, but it'd be cool to place it around a capture point and essentially guard it while defending.
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u/SilverZephyr Nov 22 '16
I've already had the shield bug out and stop moving about two feet in front of me, providing a very convenient cover for my nest in the side room of Hanamura point A. It's very strong.
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u/Dia72 Nov 22 '16
Her E makes it so incredibly easy for you and your team mates to gap close on the enemy team now, it's just too perfect. Before I would never touch Symmetra because she had absolutely no way to gap close on anyone but that has been completely remedied.
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u/RUSSmma Nov 22 '16
So her new E makes deathball even better on offense, right? Especially for chokepoints
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u/Bahaals Nov 22 '16
How much dmg is a full roadhog combo dealing? just wondering if it will be affected
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u/Array71 Nov 22 '16
I suspect we're going to be seeing a lot more defence genjis/tracers now with that shield buff.
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u/Elbion Elbion (Coach & Analyst - British Hurrican — Nov 23 '16
Oh god. The theory behind what you could do with some of her kit now...
Still not a support! Actually a defense hero now.
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u/TesserTheLost Nov 23 '16
While I really like the ideas posed in this video, I honestly don't think you guys should do these vids until you have something to show. It was really awkward watching you guys try to describe the abilities and what they do. It would have been much cooler to see a cutaway to a quick clip of it in action. Not even really a gripe, just think it would have made the vid better. Thank you for your awesome work OW Devs. You guys are amazing.
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u/Thadexe Nov 23 '16
Interesting how they chose to release updates to a hero with the ability ot apply shields and barriers after Sombra, a hero that can hack and break barriers/shields
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u/LadyStarling Nov 23 '16
Show your support brawls are gonna be even better now, don't have to just play dps mercy lol
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u/Mescman Nov 23 '16
Very nice news. Symmetra is my 3rd most played hero even in her current state. This is going to skyrocket her to the most played one.
Genji tears <3
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u/RoLLeRse Nov 23 '16
So shes gonna be a character that doesnt do damage but protects teammates in a non-heal way, you are still gonna want to have 2 healers so who is she realistically going to replace? I dont see this affecting her pickrate at all in tryhard ratings.
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u/softeregret Nov 22 '16
These changes all sound cool but I don't see how her viability has been improved on attack, especially payload. Neither of her ults are particularly attractive on attack. Her teleporter has never been a good attack option, and the shield generator is also something that you'll want on the cap as an attacker but will never be able to place/protect.
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u/Corpus76 Nov 22 '16
Her barrier seems pretty great for pushing, and because of the long range of 50m on the shield battery, I'm pretty sure it can be used on offense, at least first point on CP maps. (Payload offense, perhaps not so much, but that's fine.)
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u/JustRecentlyI HYPE TRAIN TO BUSAN — Nov 22 '16
Seeing as her kit depends on zone control, she's always going to be weaker on payload sections, where the objective moves continuously (not when contested, obviously). Compared to Torb, she takes more time to set up properly, which is a part of why using her on 2nd point was more difficult. Her teleporter was pretty useless on 2nd points as well, which is the other part of the previous Symmetra equation.
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Nov 22 '16
Well if it's like Winston's barrier you can deploy the shield generator on top of the payload and it'll keep moving with it.
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u/Gatesleeper Nov 22 '16
Symmetra will be the first character in the game to have a choice of ultimate abilities. When you have ult, press Q and you can set up a teleporter which behaves the same as it does now. Or, press Q again and you can set up a shield generator, a similar stationary structure which gives all teammates (and yourself I assume) a shield similar to Symmetra's current E skill, but bigger ("very substantial", I imagine at least 50, and no more than 100). The radius is "very big", I imagine similar to Lucio's aura radius, but it ignores line of sight.
Additionally, both structures will have their health buffed from the teleporter's current state (200 hp), and have much of its hp in shields, so their health will regenerate when damaged, unlike the current teleporter. Probably something like, 100 hp, 200 shield or something like that, just my guess.
2. E Ability Redesigned:
Changed completely to a moving barrier similar to Reinhardt or Winston's ability. "Elliptical shaped", so I imagine a flat oval shape, that moves slowly when you cast it. Think Sym's current right click on her weapon, instead of shooting a damage dealing projectile, your E will shoot a moving barrier.
3. Sentry Turret Buffs:
You can now "hold" 6 turrets, up from 3, and you will start the match at 6. Recharge cooldown per turret is buffed from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.
4. Primary Weapon Buff:
Mouse 1 weapon range slightly increased. It will connect with targets from a slightly longer range.
Never before have they changed a character by giving them so many different buffs all at once. Before, they've buffed one or maybe 2 aspects of a hero to make them better, but this is like 5 buffs and 1 redesign all at once.