Overwatch's Symmetra to Get a Second Ultimate Ability

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Overwatch's Symmetra to Get a Second Ultimate Ability

Symmetra players in Overwatch will soon have the option of two different ultimate abilities.


In a 12-minute-long Developer Update today, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan detailed an upcoming patch that will give Symmetra a second ultimate ability.

"Symmetra is going to be the first character in Overwatch to actually have a choice of ultimates. She will have two ultimates available to her at all times in the match," Kaplan said. With the new ability, Symmetra will be able to build a shield generator that can be placed to protect all teammates "in a very big radius" and, most excitingly, it ignores line of sight.

Additionally, Blizzard is giving Symmetra's teleporter increased health and shields, and she will also be able to place all six turrets at the beginning of a match, instead of waiting for half of them to become available over time. The cooldown time for turrets has been decreased to 10 seconds, and, finally, Symmetra's primary weapon will have a slightly increased range.

The patch will be making its way to the PC version's PTR "very soon," as will the new control map, Oasis, which will be available "very shortly after."



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[RJ 17]

Hmmmm...depends on how big the shield-buff is. I'd imagine we're not talking about massive over-shields like a Lucio ult, but I'd have to hope it's bigger than the one blip of shields that her regular ability grants.

I am glad to hear that they're boosting the range on her weapon, though...always hated how you pretty much had to be humping the targets leg in order for your beam to latch onto them.

 

[Aeshi]

Hmmmm...depends on how big the shield-buff is. I'd imagine we're not talking about massive over-shields like a Lucio ult, but I'd have to hope it's bigger than the one blip of shields that her regular ability grants.

I am glad to hear that they're boosting the range on her weapon, though...always hated how you pretty much had to be humping the targets leg in order for your beam to latch onto them.

The Generator grants 75 Shields to everyone within its radius. And (while it's not really relevant for QP or Comp anymore) apparently they stack. Theoretically a team of 6 Symmetras could get up to 650HP each with this.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Shall we not forget her most drastic change, aka her new E ability; the push shield? Because that shit is weird.

 

[Silk_Sk]

Seeming as the generator + regular shields would equal 100 extra health to every party member.

She no longer gives shields with her E, so it's just 75 with her Ult.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I played Symmetra recently after never really using her, found this to be a welcome change because she *can* be a great asset but seems over-nerfed at the moment.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

The Generator grants 75 Shields to everyone within its radius. And (while it's not really relevant for QP or Comp anymore) apparently they stack. Theoretically a team of 6 Symmetras could get up to 650HP each with this.

Good thing they put a limit of 1 unique hero per team in the most recent patch. That would be insanely annoying.

 

[Rednog]

This will make the lives of those who play Symmetra easier, but sadly she has the exact same problem as Sombra.
She doesn't fit the meta.

You're not going to slot out an actual healer to use Symmetra. It is just too much stress on your single healer to keep everyone up and they basically get a giant target painted on their heads when the enemy team realizes it's a single healer.

Sure she has a ton of potential utility, but that utility can be instantly scrapped should a fight go bad or a flanker get behind your lines. Is she more viable sure, but is she a competitive pick? Sadly no.

 

[Aeshi]

Ah. Still strong. Example, bringing a Tracer to 225 health makes her pretty tanky, and stops her being instasniped.

What's her new E, then?

Basically it summons a disembodied Reinhardt Shield that has about half the health.

 

[WindKnight]

This will make the lives of those who play Symmetra easier, but sadly she has the exact same problem as Sombra.
She doesn't fit the meta.

You're not going to slot out an actual healer to use Symmetra. It is just too much stress on your single healer to keep everyone up and they basically get a giant target painted on their heads when the enemy team realizes it's a single healer.

Sure she has a ton of potential utility, but that utility can be instantly scrapped should a fight go bad or a flanker get behind your lines. Is she more viable sure, but is she a competitive pick? Sadly no.

they talked (before, not in the vi) that the rework may move her to being a defensive character rather than a support

 

[Dr. Thrax]

What's her new E, then?

It summons a floating oval shield like Reinhardt's in front of her that then moves forward.
You can see it here [https://youtu.be/sKFSTKVLyhg?t=1m53s].
It appears to continue moving forward until its center hits an obstacle.