So what everyone wanted in the mega thread? Figured as much, since that was a universal consensus amongst us. Now we could move on past the interview issue, which was really not much of a priority since most of us mains didn’t want heals anyway.
Hey Geoff! If you guys are not dead set on moving her to defense yet, I wanted to share my ideas with you! However, I understand wanting to preserve Symmetra as a non-healer and moving her to the Defense category. I am sure either way it will be awesome!
[Symmetra]
- Photon Repair (Replaces Photon Barrier)
- Similar to her original Photon Shield ability, but mixed with Brigitte’s “Repair Pack” ability
- “Photon Repair” heals a single target, and any healing over the ally’s maximum healing provides shields that remain until destroyed by enemy (maximum 75 shields)
- “Photon Repair” cooldown is 6s
- Yes it is essentially Brigitte’s ability, but the Shield version, with minor tweaks, but this now provides Symmetra with a healing ability, while still keeping her a “shield-focused” support, just as Brigitte is an “armor-focused” support
- Sentry Turrets
- Increase the maximum amount of turrets in play at once from 6 to 8
- Remove/Significantly reduce cooldown of Turrets. They are destroyed instantly/one-shotted when attacked, and Symmetra needs to be able to mover her “nest” quickly or she loses some of her viability
- Teleporter
- No longer an ultimate ability
- A regular ability (E.g. Using Xbox Control Scheme: Click “Right” on the D-Pad and “RT” to place the Teleporter)
- The teleporter is on a cooldown of 25 seconds
- The teleporter has a maximum of 3 charges, which Symmetra gains charge for passively over time AND by collecting “Photon Particles” from the deaths of enemies, allies, and herself (Similar to Torbjorn’s Scrap Collector ability)
- When the teleporter is first deployed, it would have 0 charges
- When a teleporter has no charge, instead of the teleporter portal being displayed, a red circle with a slash through it would be displayed, indicating no current charges are available
- The teleporter can still be destroyed, and when it is destroyed, it resets the charges to 0
- Symmetra can choose to move a teleporter before it is destroyed, however this will then reset the charges to 0
- Shield Generator
- For her ultimate, it will still be shield generator, however 75 Shield HP is not significant enough for a stationary object that can be destroyed, thus the change here would be that the shield generator provides 150HP to all those within a smaller 35 meter radius
- Quality of Life Change
- Allow Teammates to See the Location of her teleporter/shield generator
1 Like
I saw Geoff replying for a second but it disappeared.
Edit: Wait, he’s back.
1 Like
Still going on my end.
1 Like
I agree 100%.
I don’t want a simplified brute force Symmetra that is “More effective” for the masses.
That isn’t what she deserves and I will be extremely disappointed.
Symmetra is an intelligent hero, Her play style should reflect that.
Simplicity over complexity and creativity goes against everything I love about her.
8 Likes
Darn, I was really looking forward to her being a healer, choosing for each turret whether it damages or heals as you place it. Still, most of this sounds like a bit better of a state than where she’s been. I’ve been thinking she’d benefit from some shields on her turrets and I’m glad they’re working to add that and balance it.
Yes. We’re still trying some things but whats working pretty well right now is her primary fire changed to no longer lock on but works as a straight beam that is fairly thick and has increased range. It still has the potential to gain extra damage by dealing damage like it does now, but instead of going 30/60/120 dps it is currently 65/130/195 dps. However, it now takes a combined 2 seconds of damage to ‘level up’ to the next tier of damage instead of 1 second. This means the weapon has significantly more potential but it is more difficult to get it to max power. Also, when hitting a barrier it currently generates ammo instead of consuming it. This means not only is she good at taking down barriers themselves, but she is good at just generating charge off barriers and using that charge to take down enemies as well.
Her alternate fire is still a charge-up large projectile, but it has a bunch of important changes as well. First off, it charges to max charge in 1 second, down from 2 seconds. Next, the projectile speed has increased significantly, currently it has changed from 10 m/s to 30 m/s. Lastly, instead of piercing enemies, it now impacts enemies/environments and explodes, dealing area damage around it. We’ve been heavily iterating on how much damage this ball deals now, but a direct shot has been hovering in the area of 130ish, with a large % of the damage coming from a direct impact (rather then the explosion).
I’ll say it here again, we are still pretty heavily iterating on this stuff so this is all subject to change, but we like to try to give you guys some insight as to whats going on with her rework as it stands today.
79 Likes
My problem with those changes make her not feel like Symmetra. What if you make her primary fire a soft lock like Moira? As for her alternate fire, what if it only exploded upon map geometry and still went through characters and barriers?
Hope this helps.
Edit: I forgot to add this, decrease the damage on her primary fire if it gets a soft lock.
26 Likes
that kinda sucks that it can’t lock on since it kinda made her unique. it just feels like your giving her zarya’s beam now 
16 Likes
Wow, I must say that is a lot of interesting changes. So much so that I’d assume you are looking to say, replace her shield (thrown shield) ability with something else as well? Perhaps that teleport thing that was teased some time ago?
Also, I love the idea of making another Zyra type attack-weapon- character. (though I’m sure the animation will look quite different)
ooh, I’m definitely excited now, I always felt her weapon limited her rather than helped her, thanks for the reply!
17 Likes
can she still carry objects with her primary weapon or is that being removed as well? Edit: also is she skill gonna have her proton barrier?
1 Like
I like this change, it’ll make Symmetra less frustrating to fight against at close range.
5 Likes
I’m not a fan of these changes. I really liked her piercing orb.
Also I would prefer a stricter initial lock on, but with a similar lock. I thought she was supposed to be strong against mobile threats
9 Likes
do you think shes’ll still be able to carry objects with her primary weapon?
Since you have mentioned her turrets, primary, and secondary fire, is there any chance you could touch on her Photon Barrier ability, Ultimate Ability, and Teleporter (as it seems you guys hinted that may be an ability now)?
If it is more like a Zyra beam now, most likely not. No more easy baskets guys.
2 Likes
I like the change to her gun. This seems like it’ll give her a pretty good use on defense and offense, and it will take (slightly) more skill to use effectively.
My concern though, is that 195 DPS is a lot of damage.
5 Likes
Please, please, please do not remove the lock-on. So many players rely on it. I know the changes overrall make it better but I really hope this isn’t final.
15 Likes
is she gonna keep the animation of her summoning her turrets? because it appears in her highlight intros and her select screen animation and its very fluid and elegant which fits with her character.
3 Likes