Overwatch will soon be forever changed—old Symmetra is out, with a newly re-worked light-bender up on the game’s test server.
The changes that went up on the Overwatch PTR aren’t the first rework for the former support hero. Symmetra’s first rework went up on Nov. 22, 2016, but never really clicked with the Overwatch player base. She’s remained a niche pick for many Overwatch players, with absolutely no time played in the Overwatch League. But that all could change with her new kit.
Related: Symmetra may not be playable in the Overwatch League finals
Here are the details, many of which Blizzard has been iterating on for months now.
Symmetra
- New Abilities
Photon Projector
- No longer locks onto targets
- Range increased to 10 meters
- Damage ramping now takes 2 seconds per damage level instead of 1 second
- Damage ramp increased from 30/60/120 to 60/120/180
- Now generates ammo instead of spending it when hitting a barrier
Alternate Fire
- No longer pierces targets
- Now explodes on contact
- Projectile speed increased
- Charge up speed increased
- Damage changed to 60 impact / 60 explosive
Sentry Turret
- Turret is now placed like a projectile instead of being set in place
- Can hold a max of 3, down from 6
- Can now deploy a max 3, down from 6
- Damage increased
- Amount of slowing effect increased
Teleporter
- Can now place the exit up to 25 meters away from Symmetra
- Entrance will automatically be built in front of Symmetra, rather than at her team’s spawn point
- Lasts 10 seconds
- Health lowered to 300
- More things can teleport through it (e.g. Junkrat’s RIP-Tire)
- Entrance can be destroyed
- If either the entrance or exit is destroyed, the other is removed
New Ultimate: Photon Barrier
- Deploys a barrier that is big enough to span and cut through an entire map
- Orientation can be changed by pressing the ultimate button again
- Has 5000 health
Developer Comments: The goal of these changes is to move Symmetra to her new damage role and make her more flexible and viable across more areas of the game than she was previously. Now that Symmetra is no longer a support hero, she is expected to be able to dish out heavy damage, and these changes allow for her to do so. She should be more powerful and interesting in more team compositions and maps, and she should also be stronger on offense and defense.
There’s no word on when Symmetra’s rework will hit Overwatch’s live servers, but these large changes typically stay in testing for at least three weeks. Overwatch assistant game director Aaron Keller said in late May that Symmetra’s rework will keep her out of the Overwatch League finals—it’ll be just too new to be fair for professional players.
Keeping Symmetra disabled won’t change much for the league, though. Symmetra has yet to be played on-stage by the Overwatch League’s professionals.
