Help Sombra have an impact

Hello! Ash here again, Masters Sombra main and general Sombra devotee.

 

As we all know, Sombra has recently received some attention from the Overwatch development and balance teams. While the changes have made playing her somewhat less frustrating, they haven’t had a significant effect on Sombra’s power and impact.

Sombra needs some additional, tempered modifications to better serve her role and purpose, while being mindful of her overall power and potential for role-overlap with other heroes.

 

Design Principles

To determine what sorts of changes might be most consistent with the OW design team’s vision for the game and heroes, I turn to information shared publicly from Overwatch staff:

On the removal of Ult generation from health packs:

On infinite Stealth and Translator durations:

On infinite Stealth and Translator durations: [quote=“GeoffGoodman, post:19, topic:139454”]
These changes are really interesting for her as now she is in complete control over when she reveals herself, allow her to time her hacks better for her team, or go for a back line ambush during a critical moment in a team fight.
[/quote]

On overall Sombra balance changes in June/July of 2018:

 

Based on the information above and past developer actions (such as the near-immediate nerfs to Sombra after buffs to her Hack-utility and Hack-speed), we can gauge with reasonable confidence that the OW team is interested in the following:

  • Ensuring Sombra has a dynamic play-style with multiple engagement options
  • Ensuring Hack doesn’t become an oppressive force in the game
  • Supporting and strengthening Sombra’s niche as a “scout/infiltrator”
  • Allowing Sombra to engage in effective, well-timed ambushes

 

Recommendations

 

Engagement Options

How might we improve Sombra’s ability to act as an assassin without overshadowing other heroes in that role, and without making it the solely optimal way to play her?

Change

Sombra does 10% increased damage against Hacked targets.

To have multiple viable engagement options, Sombra needs to be reasonably competent at each. Right now Sombra is a decent initiator in that she can Hack or EMP key targets to create opportunities for her team, but that’s really the only way to play her effectively. Attempting to play Sombra as more of a backline assassin can have frustrating consequences given her low damage, high spread, ineffectiveness against armour, and limited in-combat mobility.

Sombra does the least damage of any DPS hero with the exception of Mei. For comparison, Tracer does an average of 17% more damage than Sombra, while Soldier: 76 deals an average of 66% more damage than Sombra. She also has the second-lowest Final Blows and Solo Kills, odd for a hero that is supposed to ambush and pick off low-HP targets.

Giving Sombra (and Sombra alone) slightly increased damage against Hacked targets means that Sombra now has a decision to make. Should she use her Hack to drop that Reinhardt’s shield to open up space for her team, or should she Hack the Ana and try to secure a kill?

Both are viable options but only one is optimal in a given situation.  

 

Scout/Infiltration

How might we improve Sombra’s effectiveness as a scout/infiltrator?

Change

Enemy heroes within 7m (?) of an invisible Sombra are revealed to Sombra’s teammates.

Sombra’s ability to invisibly stalk enemies allows her to gather information and relay it to her team, but it often pales in comparison to Hanzo’s Sonic Arrow and Widowmaker’s Infrasight. If Sombra’s role is to act as a scout and wait for an opportunity, then a change that empowers her in this niche could strengthen her without increasing the impact of her Hack. This requires that Sombra follow enemies closely - a dangerous game where Sombra can relay vital positional information to teammates, but not without exposing herself to enemy fire seeking to draw her out of stealth. This would help Sombra have an impact while in Stealth, knowing her uptime in combat has been a problem in the past.

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What is your oppinion on this suggestion? I find it surprisingly intuitive. Wonder how has no one suggested it yet.

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It’s interesting! I wonder how averse Blizzard might be to making Sombra more viable at range, but I wouldn’t oppose it necessarily.

I’m not sure it will help her with her uptime and impact problems. As it is Sombra spends too long out of the fight not contributing, and when she commits to action she doesn’t have enough of an impact.