Here is something I would really love to see as an experiment.
NEW ABILITY: PHOTON SHIELD (Weapon Swap Keybind)
“Generates a large energy barrier in front of Symmetra that blocks enemy fire as it travels forward”
This would be her exact Sym 2.0 photon barrier ability (1000 HP disk that moves forward at walking speed) but would have some catches:
It would require, and use, a sentry turret charge.
It would have its own 10 second cooldown so you can’t just spam 3.
What does this solve?
-Sym now has an on-demand ability. She can block an instance of burst damage, such as Widow shots, Earthshatter, or D.Va bomb.
-Less / more thoughful turret usage. This is win-win for both skilled Sym players and opponents of Sym. More skill expression, less turret spam, more fun.
The voicelines exist. The asset exists. We miss the hell out of the hand animation. (Sym has been much less of a dancer since 3.0).
I would kill to see this as an experiment.
25 Likes
I’d prefer if it was just its own ability without eating up a turret charge. But honestly I would take photon barrier back in a heartbeat no matter the drawback. Symm is so fragile she struggles to get in to close range and even when she is in range she struggles to stay alive. Photon barrier wouldnt alleviate all her issues but it would make her more playable and fun at the least.
23 Likes
I figure it needs a trade-off instead of just tacking an entire ability onto her already nearly-functional kit.
Plus the barrier had a little turret in it anyway so thematically it makes sense!
4 Likes
Remove her TP and give her a buffed barrier. And good God give her a better ult : P
OR
Remove TP, give old barrier and 1 more turret.
3 Likes
I wish the next experimental update is about the niche or trash tier heroes like bastion,symm,junkrat etc.
Even if its an experimental it would still give them idea where to buff these certain heroes!
7 Likes
Heck, I wouldn’t mind if shooting out the central turret would make it stop in place, since it’d lack propulsion. Just make it real tightly wedged in there as not to be too easy a shot.
On the other hand, I’d still be all for a more “open” construction design for Sym. But then we’d be on Sym 4.0…
For a character who’s core seemed to be shield themed.
She is very stupid for not having any type of shield except her ult in her current form. imo at least.
reworking her into a shield tank would have been better <.<
2 Likes
Great idea, one problem:
this would be terrible on console without changing the binding on the ability. That button specifically is very far away from the others usually, and is only put to work on Torbjorn and Mercy. I love the idea but there’s got to be a better button than the weapon swap button. like hold down the teleporter button, then press the turret button (since you’re using a turret charge, that would make sense - pressing that button will always remove a turret charge that way). You could make it an option to separate the key as well.
Suggestion, by the way: What if the barrier moved more slowly? I could see that being just as if not more useful than a faster shield.
I would love her old small barrier back with 6 turrets but WITHOUT the auto aim on her gun, and making her turrets do less damage and keep her weapon’s damage the same. Right now she’s just a slow, walking hitbox that has no mobility and can’t stay alive for long.
Also I’d love that hand animation back, gives her more character lol
It played a lackluster part as her E. Then it played decent part as her E. Then it played an optional part as her ult. Now it plays an arguably more powerful part as her ult.
I’m not sure that makes her “shield themed” so much as simply that shields have happened to be part of her kit. You might as well argue that Sigma is entirely “shield themed”.
Cool idea, but change the ability name. Photon Shield was Symmetra 1.0’s ability so it would sound weird talking about it again.
1 Like
The devs seem to think that shields are a key part of her identity considering they’ve given her shields in every version of her kit.
What do you mean with “Weapon Swap”? You get the Barrier when you just scroll? Or Scroll + Primary? I don’t think that is any good. It needs to be on-demand. That’s why it was so powerful, especially compared to Teleporter or her new Ultimate. Sym could really shine and show skill with it.
Otherwise, I don’t think it should have interactions with Turrets and their cooldown. Turrets arent that strong and already have a high cooldown. I’d say this is the way to go and the smallest change to make Sym 3.0 somewhat viable:
1 Like
This wouldn’t allow Sym to really push with it. If it was even slower than hero movement speed, it would bring back some kind of Barrier Spam Meta and that would be awful.
2 Likes
They’ve also given her a laser, teleporter, and turrets in every version of her kit. How does that make her “shield themed” more so than “laser themed”, “teleporter themed” or “turret themed”.
Shields just one part of a kit obviously centered around something more holistic (or eclectically-minded) than just shields.
Thanks for the explanation. I was never able to use Symmetra 2.0, so I was just comparing it to what I could compare it to - Splatoon 2’s Tenta Brella. I guess a slower shield would cause everybody to want to spam shields, so it’s likely not a great idea.
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Yeah. I didn’t have a cool name idea at the time so I just borrowed it.
“Projected Barrier” is probably fitting.
I wasn’t aware of that on console. On PC I bind my weapon swap to the scroll wheel so it’s super accessible for me. I’m not sure what other key it could be.
1 Like
I have my Weapon Swap on Scroll too, but I wasnt sure if you meant that it gives you a “weapon” that holds the barrier or just shots the barrier by scrolling. If it does the second thing, it’s fine for me.
Yes the key itself would shoot the barrier!
1 Like