Overwatch is about to be shaken up quite a bit with a new Symmetra rework that reclassifies her as a defense hero. The overhauled version of the former support hero is now live on the game’s test server.
These aren’t the first Symmetra changes to make it to Overwatch’s PTR, either. Her first rework went up back in November 2016, but didn’t quite connect with players. Symmetra currently has seen no action whatsoever in the Overwatch League, but her new kit could change that.
Blizzard has been touching on the details of the rework for months, but here is the current breakdown of new Symmetra.
Photon Projector
- No longer locks onto targets
- Range increased to 10 meters
- Damage ramping now takes two seconds per damage level instead of one second
- Damage ramp increased from 30/60/120 to 60/120/180
- Now generates ammo instead of spending it when hitting a barrier
Alternate Fire
- No longer pierces targets
- Now explodes on contact
- Projectile speed increased
- Charge up speed increased
- Damage changed to 60 impact / 60 explosive
Sentry Turret
- Turret is now placed like a projectile instead of being set in place
- Can hold a max of three, down from six
- Can now deploy a max three, down from six
- Damage increased
- Amount of slowing effect increased
Teleporter
- Can now place the exit up to 25 meters away from Symmetra
- Entrance will automatically be build in front of Symmetra, rather than at her team’s spawn point
- Lasts 10 seconds
- Health lowered to 300
- More things can teleport through, like Junkrat’s RIP-Tire or D.Va’s exploding mech
- Entrance can be destroyed
- If either the entrance or exit is destroyed, the other is removed
New Ultimate: Photon Barrier
- Deploys a barrier that is big enough to span and cut through an entire map
- Orientation can be changed by pressing the ultimate button again
- Has 5,000 health
Developer Comments
“The goal of these changes is to move Symmetra to her new damage role and make her more flexible and viable across more areas of the game than she was previously. Now that Symmetra is no longer a support hero, she is expected to be able to dish out heavy damage, and these changes allow for her to do so. She should be more powerful and interesting in more team compositions and maps, and she should also be stronger on offense and defense.”
At the time of this writing, there are no details on when Symmetra’s rework will show up on Overwatch’s live servers, but big changes like this usually stay in testing for at least three weeks. Overwatch assistant game director Aaron keller said in late May that the overhaul means Symmetra won’t be available for play in the Overwatch League finals.