Now I will preface by saying that right now Sombra is already close to perfect in terms of design, balance, counterplay, fun, etc. However I think she does have high potential as a support, possibly the greatest hero in the game, and also since lowered lethality may abate the community’s stage 10 terminal Sombra derangement syndrome
Some good signs it could work
- Sombra was very fun in mirrorwatch
- sombra’s healing perk is one of the best in the game
- Marvel Rivals’ 2 stealth supports are some of the best designed heroes in that game and are well liked
- A support whose healing is entirely based on active abilities would be novel
- Sombra lore wise feels less evil than other heroes so some form of new leaf or antihero arc for her could be interesting
As for what specifically needs changed in the kit
- smg - probably doesn’t need too many changes if they lower damage elsewhere
- hack - should probably lose enemy targetting entirely but absolutely needs to lose the damage multiplier. Should obviously target allies and give healing and some form of offensive buff. This would be a very skillful form of healing since it’s delayed, interruptable, and should ideally be timed to maximize the value of both the healing and the buff. Some synergy with the rest of her kit like current hack may also be in order. One possibility is that hack makes some kind of floating “malware” cube appear near the the targetted ally that you (and maybe other teammates) can shoot enough to break it for an additional healing burst. Another is to make virus home in on hacked allies if that becomes a support ability too
- translocator/stealth - can mostly stay the same. There is an opportunity to add burst healing and/or cleanse to nearby allies after using it, which would reward more aggressive gameplay since you’d be using an escspe to instead go into a fight
- virus - can remain the same or can apply to allies and have an infection mechanic for multi-target healing (ala adam warlock from mr)
- emp - hack allies
And keep in mind those are just some of the potential levers they have to work with that wouldn’t require entirely new abilities