Is Sombra Bad (For Overwatch)?

General Discussion
1

The fight for/against Sombra has been raging since she came out.
Is she viable?

I’m more of a Reinhardt/Roadhog/Pharah fan myself.

But since the addition of Sombra, Overwatch has felt increasingly unenjoyable to play.
Many times I’ll be in the middle of a fight, trying to support my team, when suddenly, I’m defenseless.
Many heroes’ survivability in a battle entirely depends on their abilities, and the player’s skillful use of them in a pinch.

I realize Sombra is designed to disable players and empowers her team in that way, but doesn’t that spoil the game for others?

Maybe this is selfish of me to say, but I purchased Overwatch to play as a hero, not a hero without powers.

As a side note, most tanks have poor defenses against her, so they can’t act like tanks. They can’t lead the charge into battle because they’ll be disabled and quickly killed, fueling enemy Ult charges.

Solution:
Wouldn’t it make more sense to make her “hack” time dependent upon the health of the person she’s hacking?
She’d be exceptional at finishing off weaker enemies and supporting her team, while not so easily compromising key players at the start of an engagement.

4 Likes
2

People who are low health are pointless to hack, it’s better for her to just shoot them. If hack couldn’t compromise key players, it’d be a worthless ability.

25 Likes
3

Sombra’s one of the worst ideas to ever come out of blizzard. It’s a game about using teamwork, abilities and ultimates to win, and her entire existence is nothing but taking all of those away. People who play sombra ruin the game for everyone else; she’s not even fun to have on your own team because she’s off on her own most of the time.

8 Likes
4

That’d be a nice buff actually. Full HP targets are hacked for 8 seconds scaling down to 4 seconds for low HP targets

5

I mean…being one shot by Doomfist, Hanzo, Widow, Roadhog, Reinhardt (he can pin), etc. all can “spoil the game” for others. And those make it so you…you know, die. :stuck_out_tongue:

I don’t think she’s bad for the game. People have complaints about a lot of heroes…Sombra could be the answer if she was consistent and not bugged.

27 Likes
6

Your suggestion is for her to be even more out of the fight than she already is, and just wait for her team to do all the work in a 5v6. That’s a major issue for Sombra already so, no, I don’t think it’s a good idea.

7

Sombra main doesn’t think sombra ruins the game.

She’s been fixed and pretty perfect for a long time. I’ve seen scant evidence of “bugs” and they’re mostly people not keeping the crosshair on the enemy or breaking LoS while they hack and complaining that it’s not a guaranteed pop.

2 Likes
8

I like everything that they did to her. Ability-Balance wise this is ideal.

I would like to see her HP dropped to 150 though, given her escape capabilities I don’t want to always be commiting a team strike to neutralize one single character before she vanishes.

1 Like
9

LMAO I didn’t know I couldn’t have an opinion :roll_eyes:

Do your research. There is literal video evidence of bugs still prevalent. You clearly have a bias, but don’t snark at me for having an opinion.

11 Likes
10

Blizzard’s solution to this dilemma is to find a niche spot for Sombra to fill. They want her to have heroes she counters or specific comps that she works well against, but they don’t want her to feel universally applicable, if that makes sense. Hack is a great asset and it’s almost mandatory to negate certain kinds of strategies, but it would be incredibly unfun if Sombra was prominently meta and the entire game was based on removing enemy abilities. Doesn’t make for a good experience when she’s too commonplace.

This will be hard for Sombra players to accept, of course, as it would be for any hero. It’s debatable if this is the “right” solution, but it’s what Blizzard seems to be aiming for – keep Sombra powerful in her corner, where she’s meant to be, but control her power level so that she isn’t dominating the meta and thus a constant occurrence.

1 Like
11

I realize this would be a nerf, but such a nerf could be accompanied by a big buff too!

My issue is less with Sombra, and more Hack.

Most heroes in this game have kits designed to create fun, engaging, intuitive gameplay experiences!
Hack throws all that out the window…
When a player is unexpectedly hacked in the middle of a fight they’re not expecting it. The panic and confusion as they frantically search for a solution is compounded when someone is shooting an uzi into their face…

For a tank, this is a worst case scenario.

12

Hack isn’t that bad for most characters, though. No other ability does zero damage or boost, lets the victim retain all normal movement and shooting ability, and can be interrupted by any damage whatsoever.

Hack merely brings one out of six heroes down to Sombra’s level where she still has to fight it out with the worst TtK gun in the game.

3 Likes
13

Lets be honest, Sombra is only bad for Bastion

14

Explain to me how do I win with Sombra withouth this. Seriously, I wan’t to know.

15 Likes
15

rofl Sombra legitimately stops the other team from using 2 of those 3 things…

16

Only half of the ultimates are stoped and abilities are often on cooldown anyways or you can use them rectively before you get hacked like soldiers biotic field if you or other 5 members of your team are incapable of hiting sombra with 1 damage.

17

But that’s why she can be good for your team. She requrires more teamwork then most heroes to get the most out of her. She has her place in overwatch and I think she is awesome.

7 Likes
18

An ability doesn’t need to do damage to be dangerous.

For example hacking a Rein often results in his immediate death. They’re slow and only have melee attacks.

Countering her hack has also become increasingly challenging.
With her unlimited stealth, we now have to constantly check behind us (something I hated in TF2 because it disrupts gameplay, and which wasn’t in Overwatch).
Her hacking speed in now so fast I littterally can’t turn around before she finishes. (I’m on console)
She can hack some heroes from outside their range of attack. Rein has short range, and many heroes have projectile weapons that travel too slow to stop her (after loosing time turning to face her after she decloaked)
There’s little stopping her from prestering a hero from a distance, as she can camp health packs and try to assault you from behind an unlimited number of times, because of her fantastic mobility.
And lastly no, I often can’t rely on people in quick play dealin 1hp of damage to her. She is very fast now, and it can’t be helped that I don’t have a squad of highly trained friends to play with when I’m available.

19

Yes, It’s not exactly fun to get hacked, but neither does getting anti-healed, stuned, shreaded to pieces by storm arrows and so on…

On the other hand Sombra is the most team oriented DPS there is, requiring teamwork in order to make her work, which I think is the spirit of Overwatch.

If you are having hard time playing against her I strongly recomend not to play Rainhard withouth strong supprot like Ana/Brig/Zarya.

The strongest tank against her is Winston, who can chase her down and take her out of invis. Also his barier which is 360° and tesla cannon are good protection against hack.
Followed up with Orisa who can have her barrier even when hacked and even when EMPd if you throw it into the air beforehand, also fortify doesn’t get interupted by hack.
Zarya works well as she can easily cancel hack with her primary or bubble on herself and her allies or protect them from hack or hack followup.
D.Va has hard time when she’s hacked but if you can keep tab of Sombra at all times you’ll make her life incredibly hard.
Lastly Roadhog who, even though vulneable to her, has the best chance at killing Sombra and is the most scarry to play her against him.

I hope this helps you relive some frustration from playing against Sombras in your game.

8 Likes
20

You have some great points!
But I’m afraid it still isn’t enough to alleviate my concerns…

Anti-heal, stun, pinning, etc. are all scary but their effects only last a very short while, make a hero slightly more susceptible to damage, or are usually avoidable thanks to clear visuals.
Hacks usually come from behind and unlike other effects, makes the target disables for an extended period of time with suddenly no tools to defend them self with.

Playing a different hero or having a teammate specifically play a Sombra counter sound like work arounds.

As a whole, I think Sombra limits the functionality of many heroes.
When the game came out a Phara could fly about and even flank the enemy. Now a simple hack leaves her grounded and surrounded.
Mobility focuses heroes are at great risk if they over-extend, whereas before they could rely on their abilities to escape.

I feel like the realistic fear of being hacked severely limits the risks players feel confident taking.
And isn’t that the fun of Overwatch?? Taking risks against the enemy, and laughing as you escape death thanks to your Heroic powers??
It’s not the same as fleeing because someone lifted their hand at you…