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The new Overwatch tank hero, Sigma, has an ultimate ability that makes his team instantly win rounds in ranked matches. At least, that’s how it feels right now.
Players who are testing Sigma on the Public Test Realm found that his ultimate, Gravitic Flux, can force players out of objectives like payloads and make them lose offensive or defensive attempts in overtime. The ultimate lifts opponents so high that they go out of range of the objective. The game understands there’s no one defending or attacking it and makes the clock tick down. If the round has been in overtime for too long, it’s enough time to make the offense or defense fail and force the round to end.
In a video shared on Reddit, a player shows how this worked for his team in a payload map. Their opponents were attacking and pushing the payload in overtime, but he used Sigma’s ultimate to lift them off the ground long enough for the game to understand that the attackers weren’t on the payload. The overtime then ended with a successful defense.
Overwatch objectives must be protected or attacked by stepping on them. There’s a certain height limit in which the game understands that a player is on the objective, but it seems like Sigma’s ultimate lifts players much higher than that limit.
Blizzard might have wanted his ultimate to work this way. Even though it’s a strong play, there are ways to counter it and avoid a catastrophic ending like this. For instance, if attackers split before the ultimate, some won’t be hit by it and will have time to go back to the objective while their allies float. They can also focus on Sigma and take him down before he has time to use his ultimate, which is likely something most teams would try to do.
Until Blizzard says something about this ability, players who want to counter Sigma in Overwatch must remember that his ultimate can win rounds alone. Be careful and use your ultimate wisely if you’re playing Sigma.
