Overall I have been really enjoying Symmetra’s redesign. But its no secret that her primary fire has some major issues.
Its biggest issue is that it is very inconsistent due to its narrow hitbox, short range, and long ramp time. This makes it often inferior to her secondary fire even in cases when it should be used.
I think I have come up with an elegant solution to this consistency issue without making it too easy to ramp into her high damage potential.
Have Symmetra’s primary fire have increased width at its lower damage level and as it ramps in damage the beam width would narrow to what it is now. This would allow Symmetra to use her beam to better fight smaller flankers and healers, while still locking her higher damage levels behind better tracking. If damage numbers need to be adjusted that’s be fine, I’d gladly take a more consistent beam.
TLDR: Wider beam that narrows as damage ramps up
43 Likes
I mean, it makes sense. You got some laser focusing, so the beam is going to concentrate more.
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hmmm pretty good idea i like it. And there’s no crying in the post too even better.
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I’m out of likes but I’ll be back.
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It is not a terrible idea; however, I can already aim with her beam. So, my problem really does stem from the commonly cited issues… Not being able to live long enough to use it. I prefer the range and maybe, using your idea, the range decreases as the damage ramps. That would be great.
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I have no problem with this idea. It makes sense. The higher the damage ramp, the more precise the aim has to be. Totally OK with that.
2 Likes
I’m fine with beam tracking as well. My biggest issue with Symmetra’s primary fire is its consistency. With old Symmetra her beam felt lethal in melee range, I’m not saying go back to that, but having an wider initial beam width would allow her to ensure her damage with it early in a fight giving her primary its niche as a way to finish off low heroes, threaten small fast heroes, and ramp over the course of the fight.
I would get rid of the damage ramping mechanic completely. 60dps at the edges, 180dps at the center, 120dps in between.
180dps with no headshots in melee range is more than fair when standard dps can do 170dps AND can get headshots.
I think I’d be ok with that too, although I’m not sure how intuitive it would feel. Symmetra’s more comparable primary fire is to Mei, who gets a reward for tracking an enemy with her beam of a short stun, while Symmetra’s reward is higher damage. I like the damage ramp as it allows Symmetra to build up in power over the course of a fight. Its just with the current iteration of the beam it doesn’t feel as rewarding/consistent.
I’d also love it if it consumed less ammo at lower levels.
This would make it easier to use in duels, but I don’t think it’s meant for that unless you’ve already got it charged or you just need a tick or two of damage to finish someone off. If you’re playing well, you’re using the beam at its maximum charge most often, and usually you’re charging the beam safely from a shield or tank, against whom you don’t need the extra thickness. This means that this change wouldn’t really change much.
Just give Symmetra 250 health, and she’ll be able to survive a bit longer to get a bit more value out of her primary fire. Good players will make the best use of that extra health because they’ll have a highly charged beam. Mediocre players won’t get as much out of that extra health, since they won’t have the beam fully charged, won’t hit with it as often, or will just be using the orbs, which are only comparable to T2 beam if you’re getting direct hits as well as launching fully charged shots as fast as possible.
This change empowers Symmetra’s general play, while rewarding good use of her primary fire above her secondary fire, and also is far more useful to skilled players than less skilled players.
This is actually brilliant.
Who can do that before headshots?
Soldier 76. 19 damage a round (before falloff), 9 rounds a second. That’s 171 damage without any headshots. Reaper does 280dps if you land all the pellets in a body shot (which, if we’re talking about Symmetra being a melee-ranged tank buster, this is relevant)
That’s not factoring in reload times, but the math gets funky when you factor in finding opportune times to manual reload, not to mention Soldier has a 120 damage missile on a 8s cooldown (Symmetra can’t use her orbs in tandem with her beam).
Here’s an idea:
- Beam cannot ramp up past level 1 on enemies, only on barrier and Mei Walls
- ramp up values: 30 / 120 / 180
- Beam gets autolock again: lock on at 15 meters, tether break at 25 m, 0.5 second delay on tether break
- when enemies are being damage by the beam (which will always remain level 1 on enemies) their movement abilities are disabled
This would not only make the primary fit for purpose (destroying barrier), but also transform it into a multifunctional utility tool, whilst also not being oppresive to enemies (because it won’t be able to do more than 30 dps on enemies).
I don’t have a problem tracking as it is, with 40-50% accuracy, but doing damage with it is still nearly impossible because it ramps up too slow, ramps down too fast, and Symmetra has no defenses worth mentioning so she dies instantly.
She is the worst duelist in the game right now, Mercy is more dangerous 1v1. NOTHING about her justifies how garbage her m1 is.
They just need to dump the ramp up and give her good dps from the start. Expecting someone to stay alive for 6 seconds while ramping off a barrier to get dps slightly higher than soldier is ridiculous.
Soldier does 171 dps
Mcree does 140 dps
Hanzo does 250 dps
Zen does 150 dps with orb
Torb does 117 dps
Mercy does 100 dps
Zarya does 95 dps
Genji does 83 dps
Symettra does 60 dps. And mind you, most of them can headshot.
Her primary will never be viable even if it’s played by a gamer made with combined gaming genes of the entire OWL league. It’s useless.
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ELEGANT AND nit very difficult to program
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I think they should just give up trying to make the primary good at damage, and rework it as a utility ability.
Its clearly too controversial to have the primary be good damage, and she already does good damage (and much more easily) with the orbs & turrets instead.
I don’t really see the controversy since most dps can combine those numbers with abilities that ramp those numbers way above what I posted. If it did at least 120 dps, at least it would be comparable to her orbs. Would it matter if she lazed you at 120 dps or orb’d you?