Symmetra support rework concept

[Tobsi-21949]

Welcome.
This concept is highly inspired by TTraw’s rework for Symmetra. I recommend to take a look at his ideas first.

My 4.0 Supportmetra Concept, we need more Supports!

Lately, the debate about the discrepancy in numbers between Supports, Tanks and DPS is more heated than usual, which is only exaggerated by the fact that our newest support-looking champion is, in fact, another damage dealer. Looking through forums at the time I’ve seen a lot requests about instantly reworking Echo into a healer to create a more even number of choices among the queues, and so as to not overwhelm DPS queue times even more. However what did catch my interest is that, people who a…

I think it’s actually really hard to rework Symmetra into a support again. During her lifespawn she recieved so many new abilities which makes it difficult to create a Symmetra for everyone.
A second important aspect is to make Symmetra more active. Sym 2.0 is often seen as too passive because she didn’t have supporting abilites beside her ults which were objects. You placed them and they did the job for you.
I think TTraw did the best at keeping Symmetra’s core identity and also make her more active to play.

However, there are still a few things I would change.
On the left you can see TTraw’s concept and the right you can see my concept.

Ability	TTraw	Tobiz
General	Moved back to Support category	Moved back to Support category New priority order: non-recoverable shields, recoverable shields, non-recoverable armor, recoverable armor, non-recoverable health, and recoverable health Shields will now start to regenerate after 2 seconds down from 3 seconds.

Comment: The revert to the priority order is fundamental. Without it this change Supp Symmetra won’t work at all. Plus there is no permanent stacking armor in the game anymore so it’s time to undo this nerf.
Shields are less powerful in the game overall. Making them recover faster should close the gap between armor and shields. Symmetra will also benefit a lot from this change.

Ability	TTraw	Tobiz
Passive: Shield Aura	Allies within 15m of Symmetra have half of their maximum normal Health converted into Shields and all Shields in the area start recharging 0.5s earlier Being EMPed simply converts these Shields back to Health	Allies within 30m of Symmetra have half of their maximum normal Health converted into Shields Being EMPed simply converts these Shields back to Health The amount of recovered shields by Symmetra are now a visible statistic.

Comment: This new passive will be the core element of Symmetra’s healing. I decided to increase the range to 30 meters because with 15 meters Symmetra might only be usefull in bunker comps. Also it can be annoying if you walk out of her range by accident. It’s Symmetra’s main reason to be a support again so it should be consistent at least.
Since I already buffed the recover time of the shields I didn’t buffed it here again. Plus I don’t like those individual rules of general game elements.
I also made Symmetra’s healing visible. One of the problems Sym 2.0 had was that you never knew how big her impact through her Shield Generator actually was. Recovered shields will not be added to her general healing. It will work like Brigitte’s armor statistic.

Ability	TTraw	Tobiz
Photon Projector: Primary Fire	Range reduced 12 → 10m Ramp up time decreased 1.33 → 1s Damage changed: 60 to 120 to 180 → 75 to 90 to 105 Beam width increased 0.2 → 0.35m No longer refills ammo on damaging barriers Has old beam visuals and can pick up items from the ground again	Range increased 12 → 14m Ramp up time decreased 1.33 → 1s Damage changed: 60 to 120 to 180 → 70 to 90 to 110 Ammo increased: 70 → 100 No longer refills ammo on damaging barriers

Comment: We more or less agree on the Primary Fire. It should deal more damage on low charge while being weaker on max charge. The charge time is reverted back to Sym 2.0.
While TTraw made the beam easier to hit I increased the length and gave her more ammo.
I didn’t inclue the old visuals because it’s not a lock-on anymore and it might be annoying when it “locks” on and off all the time during a fight. I miss them too but I think they don’t fit.

Ability	TTraw	Tobiz
Photon Projector: Secondary Fire	Shoot Photon Orbs that pierce enemies The longer orbs are held, the bigger they are and the slower they travel Now only pierce barriers if fully charged Charge time increased 1 → 1.5s Damage ramp: 20 → 120 (~75 DPS) Projectile speed ramp: 40 → 10 m/s Smallest orb size increased by 60% Biggest orb size increased by 15%	Shoot Photon Orbs that pierce enemies and shields Charge time increased 1 → 1.5s Damage reduced: 140 → 120 Projectile speed reduced: 25 → 10 m/s

Comment: My orbs are basically Sym 2.0 orbs but they charge a bit faster. They were good at charging your ult and countering barriers. I don’t think they need to be too complex.

Ability	TTraw	Tobiz
First ability: Photon Shields	Channel Shield Health on ally, similarly to Zarya’s Bubble or Brigitte’s Repair Pack 25 meters range No longers gives 25 permanent Shields Now gives 75 Temporary Shields decaying at rate of 25/s Each time Shields decay, the ally is healed for 80% of the decayed amount Cooldown increased 1 → 3s	Channel Shield Health on ally, similarly to Zarya’s Bubble or Brigitte’s Repair Pack 30 meters range No longers gives 25 permanent Shields Now gives 75 Temporary Shields decaying at rate of 25/s Each time Shields decay, the ally is healed for 100% of the decayed amount Cooldown increased 1 → 4s

Comment: I only increased the range by 5 meters to match the range of her passive ability. I also changed the healing ratio from 80% to 100% which means she will heal 25 per second in perfect circumstances.
Lastly I increased to cooldown by 1 second to prevent chain shielding.
I’m not sure if this might become too strong with flankers. Brigitte showed that 50 armor is too strong but I wouldn’t nerf the healing because it’s already very low. I also wouldn’t nerf the 75 shields because they don’t reduce incoming damage. I think increasing the cooldown would be the way to go if the Photon Shields are too strong.

Ability	TTraw	Tobiz
Second ability: Photon Barrier	Elliptical shield that moves forward at Symmetra’s run speed Cooldown reduced 10 → 6s Barrier HP reduced 1000 → 350	Elliptical shield that moves forward at Symmetra’s run speed Cooldown reduced 10 → 6s Barrier HP reduced 1000 → 350 Size is increased by 15%

Comment: Her Photon Barrier was the best ability from Sym 2.0 and it doesn’t need big changes. I like the reduced cooldown in exchange for less HP but the shield could be bigger to make it better in protecting her team mates.

Ability	TTraw	Tobiz
Weapon Switch: Architech's Gauntlet	Symmetra now has access to second weapon which holds her deployables Has switch time of 0.5 second Has maximum of 6 ammo Has no reload, instead gains 1 ammo every 10s	Symmetra now has access to second weapon which holds her deployables Has switch time of 0.5 second Has maximum of 6 ammo Has no reload, instead gains 1 ammo every 10s All of Symmetra’s constructions are visible through walls to her allies

Comment: Of course I’m adding his idea of a wapon switch. I changed nothing expect her constructions being visible through walls.

Ability	TTraw	Tobiz
Primary (Turret)	Deploy a Sentry Turret thrown as destroyable projectile that snaps to surface Has no cooldown and costs 1 ammo from Architech’s Gauntlet HP increased 30 Health → 5 Health + 25 Shields Cast time reduced 0.5 → 0.35 s Damage per second reduced 40 → 5 Turret deploy amount increased 3 → 6 turrets Turrets slow reduced 20 → 15% This slow effect is now capped at 30% Damaged enemies are now affected by teamwide reveal This effect lingers on enemy for 1 additional second Turrets are visible to your allies through walls	Deploy a Sentry Turret thrown as destroyable projectile that snaps to surface Has no cooldown and costs 1 ammo from Architech’s Gauntlet HP reduced 30 Health → 1 Health Damage per second reduced 40 → 10 Turret deploy amount increased 3 → 6 turrets Turrets slow reduced 20 → 15% Damaged enemies are now affected by teamwide reveal

Comment: I reduced the HP to 1 again because her turrets should not be her main strength. The slow reduction is a bit stronger to make the turrets more fitting for a utility support. TTraw reduced the damage to 5 but I think the turrets should still deal noticeable damage.
But we both seem to agree that the turrets should only be good at slowing enemies down and make them easier to kill for her team.

Ability	TTraw	Tobiz
Secondary (Teleporter)	Place two-way teleporter between current position and target location Has no cooldown, costs 3 ammo instead Range reduced 30 → 20m HP reduced 50 Health, 250 Shields → 20 Health, 120 Shields Now only lasts 15s Multiple teleporters can be deployed at the same time No longer teleports turrets	Place one spawn teleporter like Sym 2.0’s ult Has no cooldown and costs 3 ammo instead Has 1 charge HP reduced 50 Health, 250 Shields → 50 Health, 150 Shields Has infinite duration, can not be placed before the match starts Only one teleporter can be up at the same time, placing a new teleporter destroys the old one Can be deployed at up to 20m away from Symmetra

Comment: Here comes the big difference compared to TTraw’s concept. I don’t like how her current teleporter works. It’s also not very fitting for a support hero and it makes her too team reliant. That’s why I‘m bringing her old spawn teleporter back. It has only one charge so it’s comparable to Rez. It won’t win team fights anymore but it can be helpful if someone died early.

Ability	TTraw	Tobiz
Ultimate: Shield Generator	Deploy powerful construction that grants your team 75 permanent shields HP increased 50 Health, 350 Shields → 500 Health, 150 Shields Buff range increased 50 → 60m Now has a visual indicator Can be deployed at up to 20m away from Symmetra Restores Architech’s Gauntlets’ ammo to enable setting Turrets right after placing Teleporters Shield Generator is visible to your allies through walls	Deploy powerful construction that grants your team 75 permanent shields Can be deployed at up to 20m away from Symmetra

Comment: Not much to say here. 75 shields might be too much if used on Tracer or Genji but this could be changed again if it’s too strong. I didn’t add the range or HP increasement because the ability to place it from far range should be good enough to find more spots to hide it.

And that complets my rework concept. As I said in the beginning I wasn’t sure how to rework Symmetra. I thought about not adding the weapon switch but the problem then was Symmetra’s amount af abilites she has. Teleporter could move to her ultimate again but then I didn’t know what to do with her turrets.
Removing them wasn’t an option because they’re part Symmetra’s identity and her Photon Barrier is too important to delete it. I also didn’t want to ditch those Photon Shields because I really love the idea of how they work.
So including the weapon switch was the only way to include of her abilities.

I have a second concept of how to rework Symmetra into a support again which I might post in the near future.

Thank you for reading