Introduction

I often see players proposing Symmetra changes that don’t address the big picture. Some are full of QoL changes and don’t fix any overall problems. Some propose bizarre structures like bridges or jump pads that, while sticking to her character design, would make her even more situational than she already is. Here, I want to have meaningful discussion about her role and the broad problems that make Symmetra a bad hero.

Design

Before I discuss problems and solutions to her kit, I will start with Symmetra’s overall design as a character and as a hero.

Symmetra is an autistic genius architect. Her design incorporates setting everything up in place so that she doesn’t have to do any work (hence the voicelines “Everything in its place” and “All according to plan” and her obsession with order) This aligns with a support builder who helps her team passively with her structures. [I go further into her passiveness in #3 under “Problems”].

I will urge against the DPS role (including Defense) because:

Reason above - she sets up her constructs and lets her team do work. Playing against a DPS that kills you passively is less fun to play against than a support that helps their team passively. A DPS with a no-aim gun will only reinforce the notion that she is a no-skill hero to play, and it is frustrating to play against. Her role as a support helps distinguish the niche between Symmetra and Torbjorn.

Problems

Now, let’s analyze some problems with Symmetra’s kit and her viability as a support hero in competitive play:

She is a support that doesn’t heal, and her other supportive capabilities are not enough to make up for it (she’s an awkward hybrid).

Personally, I believe that a non-healing support is a good thing for Overwatch because it increases hero role diversity, similarly to what Blizzard is doing with the release of Moira (healer with significant damage potential) and Brigitte (support with some tank characteristics). A support hero’s job includes:

healing

protecting (i.e. barriers like Brigitte’s and CC like Lucio’s boop)

buffing (i.e. damage boost, speed boost)

debuffing (i.e. anti-heal, discord)

other utility (teleporter, rez)

Not every support can do all of these. Moira can only heal. Lucio can heal, buff, and protect. Ana and Zenyatta cannot protect but instead provide useful debuffs. I think having heroes that excel in different areas of supportive capabilities makes for an engaging availability and roster of support heroes. She is too useless in long range and can struggle to defend herself in close range.

Brigitte has Whip Shot and Barrier Shield. Reaper has a flank ability and an escape. All three of Doomfist’s abilities give him mobility. Winston has Jump Pack and Barrier Projector. Symmetra has Photon Barrier, which is not very useful in close range. Her primary fire takes time to charge and is used for getting big team kills, which is not the goal of a support and would be frustrating to play against if she was a DPS. Her secondary fire is too easy to be dodged to have any meaning. She cannot support her team mid-fight.

This is where her passive kit comes into play. I believe a passive skillset could be good because it makes Symmetra unique and provides a different playstyle that some players might enjoy. Blizzard has made changes that make playing heroes more interactive (Mercy ult change, Sombra changes) and I think that a passive skillset like Symmetra is good only to an extent. Otherwise, the hero is not engaging to play as, with, or against.

If a support’s only option during an intense team fight is to go in and deal damage, then they aren’t a well-designed support. Symmetra’s slow down when placing her structures and the actual usefulness of Photon Barrier come into play here. Some aspects of her abilities are just plain bad.

4a. Photon Barrier, given its cooldown and that it spawns 5m (?) in front of Symmetra, is only useful in certain situations. However, given that it can save Symmetra and possibly a teammate from abilities like Flashbang and Hook and ults like Earthshatter, Self-Destruct, and even Pulse Bomb, I will say that it will be frustrating for Symmetra players to have this ability removed completely. Just look at this video: streamable com zi7a6 (not my video) It’s saved my shield gen from pulse bomb countless times. Using the barrier in this way increases Symmetra’s skill cap.

4b. Though, her ultimate can still be easily destroyed using pulse bomb. In some circumstances it’s too fragile.

4c. Turrets are easily destroyed (Tracer and D.Va are close range heroes but can destroy them from afar). The slow debuff can simply be disregarded by heroes like Tracer.

4d. Secondary fire travels slowly.

Solutions

Next to each proposed change, I will refer to the specific problem listed above that this change fixes.

PRIMARY FIRE

—[Problem #2] Change DPS levels from 30-60-120 to 60-80-100

This gives her more consistent damage against flankers (which, by design, she is supposed to counter–this is also addressed in her Sentry Turret changes.) and, as a support-DPS hybrid, allows her to deal with an enemy coming close to her when she has no charge.

It will also decrease the amount of big team kills in low ranks which will contribute to making her less frustrating to play against.

—Note: I may be biased, but I advocate to keep this behavior of her primary fire: once locked on, range increases to 9m and stays locked until out of LoS for a brief period of time. This makes up for being a close-range hero with no mobility.

SECONDARY FIRE

—[Problem #2 and #4d] Increase projectile speed

This gives her an option in medium range.

—Perhaps increase charge time if choke spam is too oppressive

SENTRY TURRETS

—[Problem #1 and #4c] Disable movement abilities while attached to enemy

This change makes the slow debuff provided by turrets useful for what it’s intended to do and, as mentioned previously, helps Symmetra deal with flankers like Tracer. [Problem #4b] Tracer can no longer triple-blink, Q, and recall to easily delete an ultimate when sentries are strategically placed.

—[Problem #4c] Sentries have 10-20hp OR cooldown decreased by 2-3 seconds

—[Problem #1] Sentries reveal enemy locations (a la Infrasight or Sonic Arrow) when attached and for 5 seconds after

This increases the supportive capability that Symmetra gives with her sentries and encourages more strategic placement than choke turrets.

—[Problem #3] Remove or decrease slow down when placing turrets

This lets Symmetra be more active during a team fight.

—Perhaps decrease DPS from 30 to 25 if choke turrets are too oppressive

PHOTON BARRIER

—[Problem #2] Allow barrier to stay in place for a maximum of two seconds by holding down the button

This allows Symmetra to protect herself and others better.

—[Problem #4a] Decrease cooldown by 2-3 seconds and decrease spawn distance from 5 meters to 1 meter

—[Problem #1] When a barrier passes through a teammate, give them temporary 75 (?) shields

This makes the barrier more useful for saving teammates.

ULTIMATE

—[Problem #3] Remove or decrease slow down when placing ultimate

This lets Symmetra be more active during a team fight if she quickly leaves to place an ultimate.

—Give Teleporter unlimited charges

This is iffy. For one, it will fully refund your ultimate when you cap a point (Currently, if you cap a point with, say, 3 charges left, you will get 50% charge)

—Increase Shield Generator range from 50 meters

(This is also iffy) Symmetra will be more viable on payload maps (Shield Gen does not reach entire point). It will also increase her supportive capability by bringing an enemy out of the fight.

NEW LSHIFT ABILITY (move sentries to second weapon)

—Reworked version of Photon Shield

—Gives reticle when hovering over teammate like Harmony Orb and Repair Pack

—Restores lost health with shields

The cooldown and amount of shields given are up for debate. Hell, it could even be a passive. The big idea here is to have a psuedo-healing ability that keeps with Symmetra’s character and brings her in line with other supports. This ability addresses problems #1, #2, and #3 by giving her something significantly supportive, available to use mid-fight and at medium range.

Final Notes and Summary

I DO NOT WANT SYMMETRA TO BE OP. I realize she can be frustrating to play against at times; this is why I’ve included some possible changes (“perhaps increase orb chare time if choke spam is too oppresive” and “perhaps decrease turret dps from 30 to 25 if choke turrets are too oppresive”). The goal here is to make Symmetra less of a first-point choke defender and to give her more utility.

Here are my final cries/summary:

-do not make her a dps (or defense). see reasons listed under the Design section of this post

-do not give her a straight-up healing ability. this makes the support cast less diverse.

-all her abilities are very fun to use, barrier, TP, and sentries especially; if she is to be given another ability, move sentry turrets to second weapon instead of removing photon barrier (my proposal is to give her a shield psuedo-healing ability that replaces lost health)

Thank you for reading. I wish you perfect alignment and encourage you to discuss what you think should happen with Symmetra and what you think of my proposed solutions.