Sym idea: Teleporter is no longer ult, now ability

General Discussion
1

So, a while back I created a post about how Sym should have the ability to create a hard light bridge. This would allow Sym to literally “support” her team as she allows them to move across map areas that they couldn’t without her.

I haven’t let that idea die, but I did rethink it a bit. Why not just reuse art that is already in the game to essentially accomplish the same thing but in a different way. (arguably a more balanced way as well)

Here is the original post - pictures included:
https://redd.it/7ge857

So…going off of that post, what if we just moved the Tele from ult and into a new ability. Sym would be back to having only 1 ult, Shield Gen.

The way this new tele would work would be:

  • Sym needs to place the Tele (Pad A) down first. Tele now has a range of 15 meters. Tele can be placed just like Mei Ice Walls and be put on top of buildings, walls, etc.

  • Sym now needs to place Tele (Pad B). Again, Tele has a range of 15 meters, however, Tele (Pad B) can only be placed 30 meters from (Pad A) in order to establish a connection to open the path.

  • If either (Pad A) or (Pad B) gets destroyed, both Tele’s are destroyed and the ability will start a 12 second cooldown period.

  • While the connection is established between both Tele pads, your team can move freely between each Tele, however, when you pass through a Tele you receive a “Disoriented Debuff” for 5 seconds that prevents you from going through the Tele again. (This could be displayed by a little question mark timer beside your health bar)

How would this ability be useful? Think about all those times you pick Mei during the “set up” phase just to get people in position, then switch back to your hero. Sym would fill this roll but in a much more reliable way.

Scenario A:

You are defending Anubis. Your main tank is Orisa.
Sym can now place Tele (Pad A) behind point A and then place (Pad B) on top of the building beside point A. (The one that normally Mei has to put Orisa on top of)
Now Orisa can move on and off the top of the building as much as she needs to. So can your Ana or other heroes that might not normally be able to get up there. (As long as the path is open)

and

Scenario B:

Your team is attacking Hanamura.
Sym can now open a path of the far left side of the map on the way to point B. She places (Pad A) on one side of the gap, (Pad B) on the other side of the gap, and your entire team can now pass back and forth across that gap as long as the path is open, and provided you wait out the 5 second “Disoriented Debuff”

This new Sym ability would make every map into a playground for Sym and her team to try unique set up/ambush type playstyles and could be really fun. This would also benefit some heroes that could really use height advantage like Ana.

I also feel like there is room here to balance the ability as needed so it isn’t abused.

2

I think Symmetra’s Teleporter should stay as an ult and they can get rid of the shield generator.

Now I do agree with you that Symmetra should be able to build things such as bridges and jump pads. But also if she can maybe get an ability to heal/provide shields to teammates like Brigette can do that would also make her more supportive.

Another standout ability that would be nice for Symmetra is if she could rebuild/refortify shields. Like the tanks shields could be refortified from damage, and that would make Symmetra tank friendly and more useful.

But if Symmetra is going to be considered a support…she NEEDS to be able to heal. Yes utility is supportive but if she can’t keep her team from dying then she’s not really helping her team. Think about it Symmetra’s ult (Teleporter) is nice but only useful if the team dies. And her shield generator isn’t that uselful unless you have a Torbjorn and now Brigette on your team.

3

The thing is, I don’t think Sym should be a support hero. There are good points to keep her there, but at this point, I think instead of trying to force a hero into a role in which she wasn’t really meant for, she should just be moved into the defense section.

Honestly, Sym excels at map control. This should be her specialty and the map control she brings should also extend to her team by helping her team control the map better by way of using the Tele. (The tele has unlimited charges with this ability as well)

Her entire kit needs work of course, but I think her kit should remain simple and not convoluted with new types of turrets and healing/offensive choices, etc.

Every hero should only have 1 ult and letting her use her main feature, the tele, as an ability would be better for her and her team.