Overwatch's long-awaited Symmetra rework is now playable on the Overwatch PTR. She's now classified as a Defense hero, not a support, and her kit has been overhauled significantly. Here are all her new abilities:
Photon Projector – Primary Fire
The biggest change to Symmetra’s primary fire is that it no longer locks onto enemies. This change, in turn, allows the weapon to deal significantly more damage and have increased range. While Photon Projector’s damage ramps up more slowly than previously, it also ramps down more slowly which makes it easier to maintain for the duration of a big fight.
- No longer locks onto targets
- Range increased to 10 meters
- Damage ramping (both up and down) now takes 2 seconds per damage level instead of 1 second
- Damage ramp increased from 30/60/120 to 60/120/180
- Now generates ammo instead of spending it when hitting barriers
Photon Projector – Alternate Fire
Photon Projector’s alternate fire has changed significantly as well. It no longer pierces through enemies—it explodes on contact instead. The projectile speed has also significantly increased, making it more reliable to use the weapon at longer ranges. Explosive projectiles are even more powerful when fired above your enemies because they can deal splash damage, which is now more possible for Symmetra due to her Teleporter changes.
- No longer pierces targets
- Now explodes on contact
- Projectile speed increased
- Charge up speed increased
- Damage changed to 60 impact / 60 explosive
"Overall her weapon maintains its core identity while gaining much needed flexibility with how it can be used," reads the developer comments. "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."
Ability 1: Sentry Turret
By far the most noticeable change to Symmetra’s Sentry Turrets is her new ability to launch them forward as a projectile to place them, rather than having to walk up close to the placed location. In addition, Symmetra will only be able to hold and deploy a max of three turrets, but each one is significantly stronger than her previous Sentry Turrets. This allows her to spend less time trying to keep a large nest of turrets alive, as well as making them a bit more resistant against low damage area attacks.
- Turret is now placed like a projectile instead of being set in place
- Can hold a max of 3 now, down from 6
- Can now deploy a max of 3, down from 6
- Health increased from 1 to 30
- Damage increased
- Amount of slowing effect increased
"Symmetra’s turrets are a core part of her identity and now they are stronger than ever," Blizzard said. "With the new deploy method she can place them in more difficult to reach places, or just throw them down in the middle of combat while fighting with her weapon."
Ability 2: Teleporter
The Teleporter has swapped places with her old Photon Barrier ability. However, the new Teleporter works significantly differently than the original one, and it will be used in very different ways. Now instead of building the exit directly in front of you, players instead can now place the exit far away (up to 25 meters) and the entrance will be built right in front of you automatically. Then, for a limited duration, you or your allies can run to either teleporter and press the Interact/Acknowledge input to be teleported to the opposite portal.
- Can now place the exit up to 25 meters away from Symmetra
- The entrance will automatically be built in front of Symmetra, rather than at her team’s spawn point
- Lasts 10 seconds
- Health lowered to 300
- More things can teleport through it, such as Junkrat tire and D.Va’s exploding mech
- Entrance can now be destroyed
"This change allows Symmetra to bring unique functionality to her teammates and create super fun and interesting combos and plays," Blizzard said. "For example, you can now place Bastion,Torbjörn, and other limited mobility heroes in hard-to-reach places where they couldn’t otherwise get to by themselves. In addition, Teleporter can now move new objects such as D.Va’s exploding mech or Torbjörn turrets. In playtests we’ve seen it used for simple things such as giving an escape option to normally mobility-lacking heroes like as Ana or Zenyatta, but also for amazing saves such as dropping it into an enemy Zarya’s Graviton Surge that has caught your allies, allowing them to teleport out to safety."
Ultimate: Photon Barrier
Her previous secondary ability has moved to become her new ultimate, with some dramatic changes. Instead of creating a small circular barrier that moves forward, she now creates an immobile wall that spans and cuts through entire maps. She can use this new wall to drop in the middle of a fight and give allies a huge advantage, or use it to block an important enemy ultimate before it triggers such as D.Va’s Self-Destruct or Junkrat’s RIP-Tire. Since the wall is nearly infinite in size, you can throw it down to affect a fight that you aren’t even a part of yet if you aim it well enough. You can also combo your abilities together and place a Teleporter on both sides of your wall, allowing your teammates (or yourself) to quickly switch which side of it they are on.
- 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 5000 health
"We’ve been playtesting these changes for some time now and we’re still finding new and interesting things that can be done with the new Symmetra," Blizzard said. "Whenever we come out with a new hero or rework abilities, it can take some time to get it right. We’re looking forward to you guys getting a chance to play her and give feedback!"
