Symmetra Rework: Defense or Support?

[WalkingDead1-11351]

So in an interview 5 days ago, it was confirmed that Symmetra will be removed from support and placed in the defense category… Yet now in a more recent interview it was stated she was still being discussed and possibly will be given healing capabilities OR be put in the defense category… Which is it?

You don’t have to go into full details, but I just want to know what to prepare myself for as a Sym fan. I don’t want to prepare for a new DPS version and suddenly she’s the the 6th healer of the game, and vice versa.

I’d just like confirmation one way or the other, please and thank you.

[GeoffGoodman]

We currently have moved her to Defense. We tried a healer version which had her turrets healing instead of dealing damage, but it felt super awkward, especially with how fast Overwatch moves.

That said, we are playing with a new way her turrets deploy. Instead of having to stick them directly onto a wall herself, she can now fire an un-deployed version like a projectile, which sticks to walls/ceilings/etc. Once it sticks, it will unfold like it does on the wall currently when she builds them.

This helps for a bunch of reasons but one of the big ones is that it makes it a lot easier to play her on offense or just be able to preposition her turrets much more easily/quickly.

[JīnLōng-1646]

That actually sounds pretty cool! Thanks Geoff! Also, have any changes planned for her barrier?

[ƑĿǞŊƘĬŊǦZƐŊǃ-1912]

TLDR; Summary of Geoff’s Responses

—EVERYTHING BEING ITERATED ON, SUBJECT TO CHANGE—

• Symmetra moved to defense
• Sentry turret changes:
  1. Max turrets reduced from 6 to 3
  2. Turrets can deploy as a projectile “like a Pharah rocket” which sticks to walls and then activates; cannot currently be shot down while in air
  3. Currently have 30 HP instead of 1 HP
  4. Have increased damage and slow potential
  5. “Turrets are much more powerful this way…Turrets are more impactful, not less.”
• Primary fire changes:
  1. “No longer lock on but works as a straight beam that is fairly thick and has increased range”
  2. Still gains damage over time 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.”
  3. “When hitting a barrier it currently generates ammo instead of consuming it,” and hitting barriers still increases weapon’s damage.
• Alternate fire changes:
  1. Rate of fire effectively doubled.
  2. Projectile speed tripled
  3. “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).”
• Teleporter changes:
  1. Now an E ability, no longer ultimate.
  2. “You place the exit like you normally do, except that you can place it up to 25 meters away, instead of only right in front of you. When you place the exit, the entrance automatically gets built right in front of you instead of at your spawn. It lasts only a short time but allies can use it freely as they normally do”
  3. Experiments - “currently you can teleport things such as Torbjorn turrets, D.Va’s exploding mech, Junkrat tire, etc. This has lead to some sneaky/fun plays that are really unique to her.”
  4. Impact - “it also allows you to get onto high ground on offense with a comp that might otherwise have trouble doing so.”
  5. Health lowered to 300, both the entrance and the exit can be attacked.
• ***Photon barrier changes:
  1. Now her ultimate ability
  2. Casts and functions similarly to Mei’s wall - “Instead of placing a moving barrier, she places a static barrier wall that effectively is infinite in size and has 5000 health.”
  3. Impact - “Its actually been super interesting in playtests. There are a lot of different ways to use it and exactly where you place it is super important. You can do stuff like throw it into a fight from spawn like a Hanzo ult, because it spans across entire maps.”
• Shield Generator removed, ultimate is now Photon barrier.

[BEASTLY-11468]

Oooh! The fun possibilities will be endless now! Well, more than before anyways. I really like how this is sounding. Thank you Geoff! ^^/

[Sly-13591]

That’s actually pretty dope.

Looking forward to see how she plays out as a whole.

[ant-11471]

london spitfire predicted this

[Equinox-22541]

Geoff, quickly. Should I buy Golden Weapon for Symmetra or nah?

[idSurge-1468]

Many of us predicted this.

Well…I know I did. There are now I believe 4 things I’ve gotten correct. :]

1. This.
2. Sombra Spread
3. Doomfist Hitbox
4. Avoid as Team Mate.

[Lazypeon-1469]

Do it. If you buy one now, you can drive some people crazy.

If the rework is good, you can say you had the golden gun before she was fixed. Can play it like a hipster.

If she’s still bad, you can still drive some people crazy!

It’s a win win, really.

[Chikenuggetz-2132]

Now you have to aim at walls. What a joke…

[Mummyhead-11795]

That said, we are playing with a new way her turrets deploy. Instead of having to stick them directly onto a wall herself, she can now fire an un-deployed version like a projectile, which sticks to walls/ceilings/etc. Once it sticks, it will unfold like it does on the wall currently when she builds them.

So interesting! I have been hoping that you guys went that direction with her turrets. When you say fire her turrets, how fast do you guys want her projectiles to move?

[Lazypeon-1469]

Erm. For the Symmetra player, this shouldn’t be very difficult to do. They already have to worry about proper turret placement.

For her enemy, you already had to worry and deal with the turrets on walls, ceilings, etc.

I’m not sure what the complaint is about?

[Spirit-12204]

I’m just throwing my two cents in there, but an idea may be to give her a teleporter ability instead of Ult and have the teleporter slot be used for a healing generator with 1000 health (maybe 800 shield, 200 health). This way she does have a way to heal, but the team would still need another healer.

Again that’s my two cents, just tossing an idea.

[VenusArmani-1354]

Symmetra players have been asking for that turret change for years lol

[VenusArmani-1354]

I remember just regular Symmetra players on these forums asking for this back during her first rework.

This is such an obvious change.

[TeKo-2446]

What about giving turrets 25 or 50hp instead of 1hp?

[SonnyTater-1204]

Do you guys even play Overwatch? Like casually, at home? Just curious? Like at least 15-25 hours a week?

To me, this sounds like a terrible, terrible idea but its hard to make those judgements without seeing the rest of the changes.

But this one change alone sounds really bad.

[Shade-1212]

Are the turrets instantaneous or will you be able to kill the turrets in flight or are they invincible until they make contact with a wall?

[idSurge-1468]

Why is it a horrible change? Its a buff, period.

Are you suggesting we dont buff the worst hero (objectively) in the game??