Healing sym has become much more of a popular discussion recently, but I’m curious as to how people would like it to work.
Personally, I think this would be awesome for sym, rather than just a tp taxi bot.
Might even make a workshop mode. Would be fun to try!!
so what are your ideas?
She isn’t a tp taxi bot, at all. Sorry you saw her used that way.
For support rework you could keep her kit the same but tune some of the effects and dmg/shields output.
As a Sym main I am hugely opposed to her being a “main healer”. Not even an “off-healer” in some sense. People need to learn you can support with tempo-control or mobility enhancements. For example, there is room for a Decker hero who does nothing but ‘augment’ (ally hack) teammates so their cds shorten or an ult that resets cds. Same goes for a smart-builder (yellow light Sanjay?). Valid arguments that suggest they ship a new hero in OW2 rather than rework Sym yet again.
Ideas that might “smoothly transition” her into support role:
All of these together are OP so you pick and choose.
Mostly she would just be a ‘safer’ version of current Sym - less frontline M1 attempts and more support/enabling (which is how you play her in OQ without healers/tanks usually). I think the only muscle memory affected are the Syms who solely taxi bot or tunnel vision M1 expecting results.
Base weapon M1/M2 basically stays the same. Probably less M1 dmg but more ult charge gained from it.
I respect your opinion. I probably exaggerated too much calling her a TP taxi bot though.
It’s clear you have a good idea on what you want for the hero. Personally I don’t play her much anymore, so I can’t say exactly what would be best for her.
You actually have some really good ideas tho
I play her a lot in OPEN and always have. She’s different there. She has interesting dynamics and the utility side of her kit scales incredibly well when there are faster ttk interactions (less brawl on point, more dmg sources, flanker duels, less tanks/heals). That’s why I think she’s fine and reworks wouldn’t be so necessary if 222/queues weren’t an issue.
what makes you think she wouldn’t be a taxibot as a support?
it wouldn’t because that character will no longer be sym with a complete gameplay revamp (from changing goals, range of play, various mechanics on her, etc.) that’d be involved when trying to rework her into a viable support.
Using the new lore as a base, a complete rework:
Photon Mending
Places a 75 HP Barrier on an ally for 3 seconds. While the Barrier holds, ally is healed for 30 HPS.
Short Range, 5 second cooldown. Ally can be denied healing if damage exceeds Barrier HP.
Hardlight
Teleporter and Turrets are collapsed into a menu option. Pressing key opens menu, then primary will build Turrets and secondary builds Teleporter; cancel by pressing ability key again. After each construct, ability enters cooldown. Building a Turret places ability on a 1 second Cooldown, building a Teleporter puts ability on a 10 second cooldown. Each construct has the same stats as live.
Healing station
Builds a structure that heals allies for 15 HPS in a 10 meter radius. When allies leave its radius they maintain its effects for 3 seconds. Structure has 50 HP and 100 Shield HP. When destroyed, it will burst out a wave that heals 50 HP to any ally within 20 meters.
10 second Cooldown can hold 3 charges for 3 seperate structures. Healing effects do not stack if they overlap.
Ultimate remains unchanged.
That’s a healing Sym.
The devs said they tried healing turrets internally, and it didn’t work out well since it restricted her heals to a specific area and needed time to set up.
A healing barrier would be interesting. Similar to her old Photon Barrier, except when it passes over allies, it heals them, perhaps with additional temporary shields on top for extra burst protection.
Or decaying temporary shields that heal the target while they slowly decay. Like, they get 100 shields that decay over 4 seconds, and while the shields last, the target is healed for 25 HP per second.
I’m fine with Sym being a support. But not a healer.
We need more utility. Not more healbots.
There already is a mode that lets you use Symmetra before her rework. Her Photon Shield and ult (Shield Gen) gives HP boost.
This is my idea. But tldr for me I want them to focus on a non healbot sym who can heal but still focuses on useful utility that isn’t extremely frustrating to deal with. Support sym rework that let’s her heal and help counter CC
So I have some ideas in regards to reworking sym into a support. But note that I am fine with her being a dps or tank. Just as long as she has a defined role.
1.) Turrets- Sym will now have access to 6 turrets. When she presses the button for the turrets she’ll have 2 options. 1 being the damage and the other being healing turrets. I’d say that the healing turrets should heal for around maybe 15 healing per sec just because it’d be a bit much to have them heal for a lot. I’d also the damage turrets show the character that is being damaged by them. I’d also have the turrets no longer have the slow purely because their annoying to deal with and she will be having more turrets. This will cause the sym player to have to chose carefully and will change depending on the situation.
2.) Photon projector(gun)- For the photon projector I’d have to change it so that she does have the ability to heal her teammates. I’d change her secondary fire so that it’s now a healing orb that just like the old orb deals splash healing and the amount of healing that it does is dependent on how long the player charged it. I’d also would like it’s piercing effect to come back which could make it a very unique part of her kit.I don’t know if it should be like anas weapon where if it hits a teammate it heals them and if it hits an opponent it deals damage. That’s left to whoever wants to participate in this little idea. For the primary shell obviously deal less damage. I thought about allowing it to pierce opponents at the cost of less range and for it to charge up quicker but that may not be needed. The primary fire will still have the same effects on shields which can make sym still great at combating shields. Overall, the orb one is merely to allow her to have a way of healing with also the requirement to have to aim. And I still want her primary fire to have use given how I want t avoid sym being a heal bot.
3.) Teleporter- I”d have the teleporter deploy quicker so as to allow the player to help their team get out of situations better such as a Zarya grav. If possible I’d also have it either have a full cleanse or at the very least lessen the effects of a move like ash’s dynamite. I’d also want it’s cool off to be like sombras translocator to start off when it’s used. I want teleporter to be used more and more creatively rather than a get out of spawn quicker move. I wouldn’t really change the cool down maybe increase it if the cool down starts once it’s used but that might not be needed.
4.) Ult- The one thing I liked about old sym was how unlike other characters she had more than 1 option when it came to ults. I want to keep that but I will not have the shield gen come up because I know that most players found that frustrating and I think we can replace it with something better. I’d keep her barrier ult merely because it is useful, I’d add her old teleporter because it can be used in certain situations. And I’d add another contraption called an anti cc generator. The purpose is to weaken the effects of cc. Think of it being a mini fortify without the damage reduction. Another idea could be sym creating a sort of different shield generator. This to me is what I feel like shield generator should have been. It would create a sort of one time bubble that would last for only one attack that is inflicted upon the user (sort of a zarya bubble).It does not give sym any real charge. However, it can be used to sort of block an attack and protect her teammates. Of course, it’s very situational but just like sym it can be used in varying situations and help out her team. And also the bubble is a one time thing just to repeat once it’s gone sym will need to use the ult again in order for a teammate to get a new one. And let’s not forget that it does not give her charge and it only lasts for one attack. I feel as though if it were similar to zarya then it’d get rid of part of her identity. This is meant to really help her team. It can help block últs like earth shatter, dead eye, meteor strike and so on. It can block anti nades or dynamites. It can clutch a battle. But It requires the sym to really consider when to use it. Sure it can block a meteor strike. But is it better to block that anti nade or shatter? This one time bubble requires perfect timing and syms that can use it will get major benefits. But let’s not forget that it accomplishes what original shield gen could not. Shield gen can block that head shot, ult it can do so much that the original couldn’t and yet is more creative then the first one. But her other ults can be game changing. With her tele she can use it to back cap a point a point with her team. She can combo it with her regular teleporter so she can give her teammate/teammates who are coming back to spawn with an immediate proper positiononing. Which also forces the oponentes to be careful with their ult usage. Her anti cc generator can help a team who wants to push or make a dive. What players hate most is trying to attack an opponent but they cc you to death. Imagine, a place where you can attack an opponent but a sym ult was able to not only save your life but help you secure the kill. The wall ult can stay and be used as it is. It can cut off that line of sight the opponent has and provide that much needed shield that can help your team.But overall these últs help sym be that ultra utility character we all wanted her to be. But let’s not forget that when you use these últs you must make sure you picked the right one. And that your opponents can destroy them and their is of course a lot of counter play to this. But overall I think this is what sym was designed to be but could never be. She can be that support that while yes can heal is meant to be a utility character that can bring so much to a team. I’d certainly be fine with other ideas I just want her to have more options given how she is know for utility.
5.)General- These changes are more meant for sym herself and none of her abilities. I’d give sym maybe 25 or 50 more shields. Which would equal to either 225 or 250 health. This is just meant to help her since she does have low survivability. I’d also give her a passive. I heard one where she gets a small amount of shields if she uses her primary fire on shields. That sounds fine but I’m open to other ideas.
Overall, the reason I’m doing this is because I believe a character like sym should be reworked given how she struggles to be a dps. She is a mismatch of other roles. And despite being such a cool and creative character she struggles to be that true dps. I think it’d be healthy to have another support. But I’d be fine to have her still be a dps or even a tank. Just as long as she has a defined role.
I think healing turrets would be a useful idea, that will damage or heal depending on whos closest…
but shed need another way of healing, so i was thinking what if we went with the lore of making her abilities “Golden Hardlight” and made it so that any hard light ability she has heals people who pass through it?
so technically both her primary fires would heal, and so would her ultimate,
also, i would make TP allow people to teleport while CCd,
Personally, I’d like to see an ability similar to Photon Shield brought back and reworked as an healing ability. She could channel it to heal over time and when the target is full it grants temporary shields up to a maximum amount, but instead of the permanent flat +25 from 1.0, it decays after a few seconds like those granted by Doomfist’s passive or Lucio’s Sound Barrier. I think there’s room for an overhealing ability like this since Repair Pack’s nerf, especially since it would grant shield health and not armor.
She should be a shield support with very low healing. Maybe even lower than Zen.
They could rework her photon shields. Those would work fine I guess.
Healing turrets…nah.
I’d rather them just not rework her again and use those ideas on a new hero.
It just sucks when your hero gets effectively deleted from the game
Make her primary or secondary heal a small amount of used on an ally. Make her based off of reducing burst damage via barrier. For example, maybe she gives 200 shield to an ally, but the shield only lasts 2 seconds.
I want a longer primary beam and you do damage to ramp up.
Then depending on your level you can swap to your secondary lock on healing beam (like mercy beam) and it does different hps depending on damage ramp up.
Healing doesn’t prevent the ramp up levels decreasing so you have to go back to dealing damage.
But it means symnetra can ramp up her healing which I think is cool management skills.
I want turrets to be bulkier with more slow and less DPS and I want the shield back.
Ultimate can be something else or keep photon barrier