Symmetra Rework: Defense or Support?

General Discussion
1017

I don’t understand why the devs are abandoning the philosophy of inclusion that was present at launch. The game had a number of ways for people to contribute and different metrics to measure success, and now it’s just “gotta kill the mans!” My two guesses are either that (a) the devs never really cared about inclusion as a design ethic except to draw people in and make the game popular, and now that it is popular they’re done with it or (b) the devs have their hands tied somewhat by executives who want the game to be as “aggressive” and e-sports friendly as possible, and so are trying to cater the game to OWL players instead of the players who built the game up in the first place. Obviously I’m hoping it’s closer to the latter but I’m not really holding my breath.

Regardless, it’s important to keep sharing these perspectives so that at least the devs know that people played this game for more than its mechanics.

2 Likes
1018

5000 hp barrier? Can we get hog dmg back now?

1021

It’s a change that craps on all the Reinhardt players while patting Genji players on the back and feeding them cookies.

How could you expect it going down any other way?

1022

It sounds like to me that Blizzard has taken Symmetra and made a completely new hero. This new Symmetra has a Zarya main weapon with a secondary AoE weapon (ala Solider’s missiles,) a complete isolation ultimate (an advanced version of Mei’s Icewall,) and a new version of the turrets. Need I mention that these new turrets CANNOT BE DESTROYED until they hit a solid wall and may or may not be able to attack while doing so?

To be honest, Blizzard, you should have left Symmetra alone and just given us a brand new hero.

I was going to say I understood why Blizzard was looking at some changes for Symmetra. But I cannot really say that and mean it now after reading what Blizzard has in mind for Symmetra.

Symmetra was the only character in the game that offered the team an instantaneous way to return to battle from spawn. This is going to be removed and replaced with the ability to move teammates a short distance and offer more sneak attack opportunities. I consider this a big loss.

Symmetra’s main attack now doesn’t require a player to get in close. With the change to the secondary attack, Symmetra no longer has to move in to attack at all. She’s a ranged damaged dealer in every respect in the same category as Soldier 76. But the damage of both attacks is still able to ramp up putting out huge damage numbers. A Symmetra in melee range is, most likely, just as ineffective as any ranged character now.

I didn’t read this. But I am guessing shield generator is gone. Which means shields are gone as well.

Now, Symmetra is a defense character instead of support. Yeah, okay. Whatever works. Junkrat is considered a defense character. But he is just as effective as an attack character. Categorizing characters is starting to lose their meaning. At least for some characters.

If I were to make any Symmetra changes, it would be that running behind a wall and breaking line of sight meant Symmetra’s main weapon automatically broke contact. That or made it require keeping the reticule on the target like Moira does. By the way, “reticule” is spelled correctly. Why does forums underline the word like I have it misspelled?

It’s Blizzard’s game. The developers will do as they please. But to be honest, I don’t agree with a lot of the changes. But I will have to live with them just the same because I do not believe my concerns will even be read.

2 Likes
1023

I see what you’re getting at but Moiras right click isn’t a true lock on, nor is Brigitte, Rein or Junkrat. They are easier to play, yes and I personally play Moira/Mercy/Brigitte quite often but Symmetra always felt like my ‘attack’ option

1024

Thank you so much for the summery

1 Like
1025

I love most of these changes. Just a few questions, though.

  1. Geoff still mentions an “entrance” and an “exit” with the Teleporter ability. Is it possible that the Teleporter might go BOTH ways, rather than just one, to increase the flexibility in this new, vastly different role?

  2. If NOT then will there be some visual distinction between the entrance and exit Teleporters? 'Cause otherwise, that could get very confusing when both of them are out in the field.

  3. Since the Teleporter no longer will be a permanent structure, could we PLEASE make it visible to your team mates through walls now? Like Sombra’s hacked health packs? Your allied D.Va and Junkrat aren’t just going to throw their ultimates into your glowing gate without knowing exactly where it leads, and that lack of transparency is something that hurts Symmetra’s team synergy even NOW.

  4. Can her new primary fire hit multiple enemies at once, or is it still just one?
    a) If multiple, then will the damage output be split among all enemies in the blast to prevent Symmetra from getting a Team Kill in three seconds?
    b) If just one, then how will the target be chosen if multiple enemies are in the span of this new, “thick” beam?

  5. Are we going to get a whole new set of voice lines for the whole cast to ensure that the enemy team still will be fully informed whenever Symmetra uses her ultimate? (e.g. Reinhardt: “The enemy has built an ENDLESS BLUE WALL OF INDIAN OPPRESSION.”)

  6. Could Anjali Bhimani please be given a paid vacation after this? Maybe in the form of a trip to somewhere nice? Or at least be allowed out of Blizzard’s recording studio to see her family?

1026

I’m pretty sure she will be able to move it up based on what Geoff said. I think placing her teleporter exit will be like selecting the location you teleport to using shadow step, where you can put it as high as you want as long as you can see it and it’s in range

1027

The new ult sounds amazing, but I have some concerns. Will her ult charge up faster, or will she be able to repair the wall in some capacity? 5k health does not seem like nearly enough to withstand sustained fire for long, especially with how large its going to be.

1028

Is D. Va able to defense matrix Symmetra’s new turrets before they hit a wall/object?

1029

I mean she still has her sentries

1030

So one thing my friend group is wondering is what is the turrets current slow and damage amounts and what are they being changed to currently. (a few of my friends don’t have the greatest aim and are worried they’ll just die by the time they hit the single turret xD) also is there any cool-down/recharge times between turret launches. Furthermore what is the current slow parameter for multiple turrets in one location vs the new planed turrets and is there a multiplier on slow speed for multiple turrets and by how much.

1031

As much as the ability to give shields is unique to her, I’m literally tired of having Junkrat telling me over and over and over AND OVER again that the enemy has a Shield Generator.

1 Like
1032

Because her beam can’t lock around corners if it doesn’t lock at all

1035

My interpretation is that it’ll be like any shield, EMP would would only effect the shields origin. Meaning that if placed at the players spawn, the EMP would have no effect whatsoever.

1036

Earlier he said it was something like 2 turrets rolled into one in terms of damage/slow I think.

1037

For those unwilling to read all the posts themselves:

4 Likes
1038

The lack for self sustain bothers me, no more personal shield. and i dont think the tp will be effective escape mechanism unless she has it set up beforehand. Meaning she will be a sitting duck still…

Only now widows will laugh at us with the removal of the shield barrier and headshot us all.

1039

Don’t like the reduction in turret number. That lowers the skillcap plain and simple. I have a PhD in game design (seriously :(), and in AAA 2018 we measure skillcap in terms of combinatorial complexity. Its pretty ez it see that 3 << 6 and that makes things a bit simpler and more trivial. As a diamond Symmetra main who played alpha/beta (and didn’t get listend to), with over 200 hrs+ played on Symm, I really dont like where this rework is going. She doesn’t need less things to do, she needs more things to do. She should be an APM (actions-per-minute) character offering a different approach in a game where aiming seems to prevail.

3 Likes
1040

Her uses shine brighter on defense because she’s a defense hero? Technically defense characters are supposed to be better on defense (which we know isn’t really true for Hanzo, Widow and Junk who know function more like offense characters after their buffs/reworks).