Introduction
I think Sombra might be close to what she should be. Players who main Sombra like her.
Also maybe the only big complaints from other players is near-permanent Stealth and basically being unable to play for a short duration. My complaint is that her current kit punishes for acting too quickly while Stealthed because the time out of Stealth is longer. This usually forces Sombra players to adopt only one playing style: permanent Stealth.
So I propose a rework that might be fun for Sombra players. Hacks are also less limiting for other players. And Stealth is less permanent (unless if Sombra opts for the Perk and plays very skillfully) and less limiting.
The Workshop code is D3TPD. And it needs editing from the community. It might not function properly. And only the Hack is changed. I’m a beginner. So the community can make the other changes or help me out. I’ll share my idea here.
My Rework for Sombra
What if Hack doesn’t lock down all abilities? The effect of Hack could change if the Sombra presses Primary Fire by the end of her Hack animation. If Sombra just presses Secondary Fire, she disables only the opponent’s E and Shift. If Sombra also presses Primary Fire, she disables only opponent’s E and Secondary Fire. Duration of Hack is 6 seconds.
It will give Sombra players the feeling of typing something and choosing something during the Hacking. It’ll require game sense from Sombra. And the opponent will not be fully locked out. If this is overpowered, E can be left alone and depending on the choice, only Shift or Secondary Fire can be disabled. Players will feel like they are Sombra, so I think it’ll be fun.
I initially thought that combining Stealth and Translocation limited Sombra’s options. Yes it limits it. But if the cooldown changes, being permastealthed will be more difficult, usually she’ll be out of Stealth for longer and Sombra can choose to leave Stealth early with less consequence.
What if Sombra’s cooldown for the Translocator decreases if Sombra leaves Stealth earlier but also adds 1 second to the cooldown? The mathematical formula for Translocator’s cooldown when pressed would be:
Translocator’s Cooldown When Pressed = Remaining Duration of Stealth / 2 + 1 second
So Sombra will be out of Stealth longer after leaving it, so opponents could counter play by catching her out of stealth, especially if she’s out of position. But if Sombra opts to leave Stealth early (if that is the player’s play style), she is not punished as much because she can re-enter stealth quicker. So Sombra players have more options.
If Stealth and Translocator are separate, there are 3 options Sombra has. Stealth only. Translocator only. And activating Stealth and Tranlocator near each other.
However if Stealth and Translocator are combined, there are two big shifts in play styles with two big options. Sombra can leave Stealth early and be a bit more visible or be closer to permanent Stealth, especially with that Perk.
Conclusion
That is my proposed rework for Sombra. If the community wants to help me by editing my Workshop coding, that could be done. Just give credit to me if you share it with others. And, post on this thread! So we could test these ideas!
I hope my rework might inspire the making of Sombra’s actual rework and help developers think up some ideas.
Edit in Addition: I want to talk about Blizzard’s early glory days when the motto was, “it’s ready when it’s ready.” The motto was true! The early days of World of Warcraft and Starcraft were near perfection and very unique because the projects were not rushed. The glory days continue today because of that motto.
However, I think projects made progress; I don’t think projects were put off for a long time. I don’t want to give bad advice. But, in my opinion, there should not be a due date early or even in the middle of development. An internal then an external due date can be made when the project is close to completion. However there should be some progress per unit of time.
Units can be daily or weekly but they can be large, like monthly or every season, etc. But in my opinion, there should be progress towards small or large SMART goals. If you can work on something soon, sooner is better than later.
For example, during the early days of World of Warcraft, every few years, there was a new expansion. They kept at it. But for Starcraft, I don’t think developers imagined there will be Starcraft 2 when they worked on the original. Progress should be made on whatever is necessary.
So I hope I’m not giving bad advice but in my opinion, progress should be made towards what is necessary even though projects are not rushed and there are no due dates yet. I don’t mean people blindly accept my idea or any idea. But in my opinion progress should be made on what ideas should be explored, tested and implemented, even maybe re-explored, etc.
Reworks might be done a bit sooner than later or there might be news (or not) about progress made. Many players might be happy. ^^ But don’t rush. Regular progress yes, but it’s still, “it’s ready when it’s ready.” Due dates, when it’s close to completion.
Edit 2: Notebook Check referred to Director’s Take in April stating that reworks to Sombra, Lifeweaver and Roadhog are subject to change but information sharing is planned for later in 2026. Oh! So I think progress is being made already. ^^
Edit 3: My ideas can inspire but whatever the plans for reworks was, are or will be, I’m open. ^^
Edit 4: Current version of Sombra is a good job because she can solo-queue and playing as her is refreshing. ^^ So I have confidence in her rework. ^^