Play-test a Sombra idea

There are bad players on every hero so that’s not a real argument.
“I watched a few Sombra players and they were bad so therefore I have concluded that the issue is with the players, not with the hero” is more than a little misguided. And how does that explain the people who have played Sombra for years that getting destroyed in the current game? :thinking:

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It’s been decades since I did statistics, so I can’t say whether it’s accurate. I suspect that while Overbuff’s not true to the decimal point, it can be a decent indicator of how the wind is blowing. From the odd occasion I’m stuck with a Sombra on my team, I really can believe she doesn’t bring as much value as pretty much anyone else.

It may not be perfect, but it’s certainly the best we have access to, and more accurate than any one person’s impressions.

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Sombra isnt the only hero. You can play any hero for years and still be hard stuck in a rank I know because I was a hard stuck tracer back in season 4 no matter how much I improved I couldnt get better at tracer and rank up as tracer

So I dont think its solely on sombra that the player is still getting destroyed it happens with all other heros if you not good enough

So your entire argument then boils down to “Bad players are bad”? That’s some groundbreaking news right there. Again, not a great argument to use when talking hero balance…

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Exactly you understand now

I would love to see a concept with support Sombra, utility dps tends to struggle to be viable anyway and when they are they are perceived as very oppressive (see Mei, Symmetra, Torbjörn and Sombra herself).

If only you could type in a code and see for yourself. She can also be tweaked. Given people’s struggles with the simple things a Sombra rework to turn her into an effective support is not on the table.

Console pleb here. :wink:

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I wonder if we can muster 12 people to play an actual game with a Sombra per team. Have the chosen ones play her for a whole game. Maybe some of these Sombra mains.

Regarding making Sombra a support an interesting suggestion was made in another thread.

If as opposed to removing debuffs Hacking an ally made them CC and debuff immune on top of some regeneration that at least gets support Sombra off the ground. With Symmetra being moved to DPS, however, I don’t understand why people want to make Sombra a support. She has nothing pertaining to the role other than the health packs. Why view her as a support? Vision in Overwatch isn’t as useful as vision in other games and Sombra’s invisibility serves as a personally offensive ability. Hacking enemies is hardly an exclusively support ability, it’s utility and fits just fine with the DPS role.

I really don’t get support Sombra, never associated her with the role. Even giving Hack ally application, unless it’s on a shorter cooldown, doesn’t make that much sense to me.

The stealth ability and the teleport can be used as escapes or as a way to help flanking teammates. This would only improve her abilities as a support if she can keep up with and maintain the health of say a flanking Hammond reaper or doomfist.

I don’t think Stealth works as an escape, certainly not reliably. Adding a movement speed buff could be another component of a friendly Hack. Hell, increasing attack/firing rate? I suppose it can be made to work, but for me it’d be a shame to lose Sombra as a DPS. She’s just kind of boring as opposed to being a support, which I think the idea presented here addresses. Given how quickly fights unfold having only one single target support ability on an 8-second cooldown with a cast time that can be interrupted by damage and extend the ability’s cooldown is strange. Bringing the Hack cooldown to 5 and bumping the health pack Hack cooldown to 5 would make it more interesting but I think Sombra remains rather boring. Or perhaps even bringing it down to 4 seconds.

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I definitely want power to be shifted towards Sombra’s gun, and for her to be able to have a more assassin-y type playstyle OR allow her to stay in a fight for longer.

I’m not sure about how more die hard Sombra players feel about her, but I think her kit is focused way too much around hack. That’s not to say get rid of hack, just put a bit more focus on allowing her to secure kills.

I’m not sure reducing damage and focusing more on a stealth and go playstyle is the way to go, but… I gotta say, it’s one of the more creative ideas at least.

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I can tell you exactly how the die-hard Sombra players I’ve run into feel. They don’t want her playstyle changed at all.

That’s the exact opposite of what the idea is, although I’ll make the effect labels in the opening post clearer.

  1. 6 m/s with 25% reduced damage - CODE - 2FZKW
  2. 6.5 m/s with 25% reduced damage - CODE - RRMVG
  3. 6 m/s with 33% reduced damage - CODE - QR2BB
  4. 6.5 m/s with 33% reduced damage - CODE - NSWMN

Changed to:

  1. ~9% higher movement speed with 50% higher damage (single Machine Pistol damage reduced by 25%) - CODE - 2FZKW
  2. ~18% higher movement speed with 50% higher damage (single Machine Pistol damage reduced by 25%) - CODE - RRMVG
  3. ~9% higher movement speed with 32% higher damage (single Machine Pistol damage reduced by 34%) - CODE - QR2BB
  4. ~18% higher movement speed with 32% higher damage (single Machine Pistol damage reduced by 34%) - CODE - NSWMN

There is another knob to turn here. Let’s say a 1:2 damage ratio is not desirable for Machine Pistol -> Akimbo. This can be accomplished through tightening her spread with the lone Machine Pistol and increasing it with Akimbo, perhaps through an animation that shows her arms not being as stable.

I agree. Though frankly they could bump health packs hack cool down to zero seeing as most health packs are far enough apart it doesn’t matter.

Generally speaking health packs aren’t too useful so maybe. What is the maximum number of health packs she can have hacked at one time?

Maybe if she could hack then pick them up and use them as a throwable healing item for her team? Sort of like the armor packs torb used to have.

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That’s a good idea, would require an extra button.

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A overwatch hero that is mechanically complex? It’s been to long and I’m all for it.

I don’t know about that, but at least she can be turned into a support. I think she’s a more natural and quicker fit for DPS. You can give one of the codes a try.

Here are some ideas for more mechanically demanding heroes:

https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/t/1-3-2-role-guarantee-and-roster-rebalancing/455919

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It surprises me that people don’t think out of the box with Sombra and are satisfied with her current playstyle. Not only is it repetitive and lacking action but she’s relatively weak. She clearly can’t be substantially buffed in a straightforward manner either due to how frustrating she would be as an effective hit and run hero that comes out of nowhere and vanishes to nowhere. Sombra needs something to alter or add onto her playstyle and this does that.

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