I’ll be the first to admit, I play Sombra a lot and have wanted her buffed in a different direction than just EMP Bot.
I think these nerfs are great, in my eyes as a Sombra Player.
If these nerfs can serve as a starting point to inch power away from EMP /Hack and more towards her overall kit, I’ll be really happy.
For anyone who hasn’t seen the PTR, Sombra nerfs are as follows:
- Hack Duration decreased from 6s to 5s
- EMP Activation Time increased from 0.5s to 0.65s
- Global ultimate cost increased by 12% [this nerf is a worthy addition as it means Sombra will have more time to exist as an entity instead of rushing to get EMP]
So, what does everyone think?
Sombra lovers? good or bad? you can work around it? you enjoy these nerfs? why? why not?
Sombra haters? is this enough for her to stop being oppressive? why? why not?
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Have to agree, not a Sombra player but from the instant she tickles my backside, I know I gotta get ready for that big EMP over the next few minutes.
2 Likes
I mean they’re good for now by making her less irritating but she’ll need future changes since they’re nerfing a character that’s already at the bottom of the barrel.
8 Likes
Sombra is one of those heroes where Blizzard buffs with compensation nerfs or nerfs with compensation buffs.
This time it is pure nerfs which is ridiculous tbh.
4 Likes
As a quickplay-exclusive player of the game, I’ll live…I can’t see it affecting my style much - I’m usually still pretty great at making sure my EMP’s are where the teamfights are and always determine priority hacks as the match starts and evolves.
Its gonna be an interesting change, though…less hacks mean you gotta be better at determining just when is a good time to use it - as for the changes for EMP, I’d have to feel it out but I can’t see it being too big a deal for me.
Of course this is all just a QP sombras perspective…Comp-folks will almost certainly feel very different about it and I won’t even debate that the number changes aren’t exactly in her favor.
They did nerf her base kit.
Sorry, i should have been more specific, i meant EMP and Hack not just EMP.
Hack and EMP are often times brought up in discussion as being the oppressive parts of her kit.
If they have plans to make her more of a DPS by taking away power from EMP/Hack, I’d enjoy it.
She’ll need buffs, but I do think these nerfs were good and necessary so that any buffs to her don’t just break her.
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you know full well people wont be satisfied until sombra is tracer 2.0
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And then complain when one is slightly better than the other and they make each other pointless.
“Nerf the hero who doesnt need a nerf just in case so we can buff her.” For some reason this makes sense to some people. Its beyond me.
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On paper it seems like it’s a good first step, but she still needs some more work to get to a balanced place. I think Sombra needs some more telegraphs. Make it easier to tell when you’re about to be hacked, or that EMP is about to pop.
I think she also needs a few benificial bugs to be sorted out. Like the one where she can continue a hack even if she moves out of range.
2 Likes
It makes sense to “some people” because Hack and EMP are strong. They’re really strong. They consume a large amount of the value in Sombra’s kit, to where if you granted her a higher degree of self-sufficiency and lower degree of team reliance such as through higher damage, she’d be absurdly powerful. Imagine if Tracer or Soldier could disable your abilities.
But Sombra’s problem is that making her so team-reliant as a measure to balance Hack and EMP means she’s going to be garbage unless your team can really communicate and play around her. That’s why she’s good in OWL and okay in GM and trash everywhere else. So, to make her “un-garbage,” the intuitive decision is to make her less team reliant and more self-sufficient, like other DPS–but as long as Hack and EMP remain powerful, that’s going to be a tough thing to do without making her blatantly overpowered. So, yes, nerfs to these abilities are necessary before (or concurrently with) any buffs she might get
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Not enuff hack needs replaced
Sombra wasnt even used until goats was a thing. She was used in Sombra goats as an anti goats comp. That literally cant be played anymore with 2-2-2 lock. The Sombra “issue” in pro play solves itself without actually touching her balance at all.
Sure, but what I’m saying is irrespective of GOATS. GOATS is dead on ladder, and Sombra’s still a decent pick in GM (not amazing, but not awful). But, point being, the reason we see her scraping at viability in these ranks is because of her team dependence, which is a necessary balance consideration to stop stuff like EMP from making her overpowered but which is also why she’s garbo in the vast majority of the game.
I main Sombra and if you’re good with her then these nerfs will not be a problem at all, it’s easy to work around, she will still be great, and EMP will be much more sneaky and less offensive, basically what Sombra should be.
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As a tank player I think this is a good change but I do want to see if it is enough. Sombra is incredibly difficult to deal with for most tanks and these changes make it slightly easier to actually play the game.
These changes are relatively small but are gonna help a lot so I am happy.
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Saying that people want her to be Tracer 2.0 is such a generalisation. Her optimal range is much further away than Tracer’s, and having 1v1 duels as her is purely about consistent tracking and movement.
To take it a bit further, I dare to say that since you also don’t have to make 1 frame 180s while playing her, she would also be the first “aggressive DPS” in the game being meaningful for very low sensitivity players.