Symmetra: Trash or hidden treasure?

While browsing the aisles in a dollar shop for a frisbee, I happened upon a fridge magnet emblazoned with:

Expressing your truth is the bravest thing of all.

And I realised the bravest thing I had done recently was to smush a steaming hot onion ring into my mouth and not spit it out. So I’ve decided I need to step my game up. Gone are the days of living quietly! Here are three truths I’ve been too shy to express!

Firstly, I enjoy the new Simpsons episodes. Secondly, I hate cucumber as garnish in gin — even in Hendrick’s. Thirdly, and finally, I like Symmetra and believe she is one of the most underrated characters in Overwatch.

Go on, shoot me! But please, not before allowing me an opportunity to lay out my case. Let me give you a bit of history on Symmetra, how she functions now, and what we could expect to see in her future. Then, upon disagreeing and calling me a N00B, you may feel free to commence the execution.

Symmetra, while in development, was referred to as “The Architect”. She was intended to defy the traditional “healer” or “builder” roles and protect the team by controlling space. Her sentry turrets can zone off pivotal areas, preventing enemy teams from flanking or cementing the hold on an objective. This method allows your team’s attention to focus on less space. Now, these tactics are all well and good in theory, but they seem to have very little practical application in play. Right? In the upper levels of competitive play picking Symmetra is met with responses including “We are going to lose,” “What the fuck?!” and a sound that could be some guy blowing bubbles into his milkshake or taking a massive bong hit to calm his frayed nerves… I’d guess bong hit. In professional play, she may as well not exist except as a joke pick by players in the spawn room (looking at you Muma).

Let’s talk statistics bro.

Recently (over the last six months) Symmetra has a high win rate of 60.13% — a better win rate than any other hero. The next best win rate is almost 5% less at 55.71% for Torbjorn! But she has a pick rate of only 0.99% — one of the lowest overall. Why would one of the most likely to win characters have almost the least chance of being chosen? Why do we associate a Symmetra pick with losing? Perhaps it’s the perception of Symmetra overpowering her actual talents. A subconscious bias. You don’t groan when Genji or Zen gets picked but statistically speaking you’re more likely to lose with them than Symmetra. She’s known as a throw pick, and maybe we are prejudiced more so by her reputation rather than her performance? In tandem with this, I’d argue that Symmetra represents a mode of play that is not popular amongst most players, making her undesirable as a teammate, despite her effectiveness.

Why is she so undesirable though?

It’s primarily because she is not the typical healer. It is much more satisfying to have a Mercy pocket-heal you as you pop Tactical Visor or go Whole Hog. Symm doesn’t allow you to push as hard as being actively healed would. She also cannot turn the tide of battle instantaneously like the way a Lucio, Zen or Moira Ultimate can sway the game in dramatic fashion. She doesn’t single players out and boost them continually, so players who strive to get that big Ultimate POTG won’t get the support they want from her. But that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s bad for your team. Symmetra is a quiet achiever. Like any other support, you need to play to their style somewhat. With Ana you need to give her an easy shot, Lucio requires you to operate within his healing range, and Mercy needs you to protect her from being flanked and to provide her line of sight.

All about Shield Generators

Playing with Symmetra using a Shield Generator on your team means sometimes disengaging when your health depletes, or you’re close to being overwhelmed. Feels cowardly doesn’t it? It’s not; it’s smart. A tactical extrication from combat. That extra +75 shield from the Shield Generator is invaluable. First of all, you can singularly engage against enemies you usually might shy away from. Moira can now confidently clash with Soldier 76, Sombra can 1v1 a McCree and Doomfist can survive getting hooked by Roadhog. It is a welcome concession to the alternative of elimination. Not only this but it is spread out over your whole team. That’s +450 more shield health to your team — it’s like having an extra tank onboard to soak up damage. So yes, it is not as immediately compelling as healing, but it allows you to get eliminations you usually wouldn’t dare to attempt. This power skews the odds in your favour, forces the enemy to reset, and allows you more time to grab a health pack or signal healing from your main support.

Teleport us to Mars

As for the Teleporter, it speaks for itself. Since the culling of Mercy’s Resurrection in favour of Valkyrie, it is more difficult than ever to get an eliminated player back into the fray quickly. The Teleporter does this six times over! Will your offensive heroes have to pay attention to the Teleporter/Shield Generator while it’s up? Yes, absolutely. In the same way, you need to keep an eye on your Mercy, your mid-Rip-tire Junkrat, or flanking enemies. Overwatch is a game that relies on teamwork, awareness and communication. There are six of you on a team, and an additional point of interest should not be a burden. Symmetra does not demand you to play around her — but offers you many benefits for playing with her.

But, what about at the start of the match before her Ultimate Ability? Fear not. Symmetra’s Ultimate passively generates at 1% every 2 seconds, faster than any other hero! Remembering that her secondary fire passes through shields it is easy to get her Ultimate straight out the gate.

“No pro-player plays Symmetra through, she’s trash, change to Zen!”

Correct, because a pro-player is likely facing other pro-players who know how to counter Symmetra. Does this happen in Platinum and below? Fuck no! In the echelons of play most of us are in, enemies playing DPS will run backwards from her Photon Barrier, shooting into its almost impenetrable mass, while Symmetra merrily lasers them to death. Opponents spend precious minutes scrambling about blindly for the Teleporter/Shield Generator location wasting valuable objective time. They focus on trying to dismantle a Sentry Turrets, while your team pick them off one by one. She excels at slaughtering hard to hit heroes like Lucio, Mercy, Genji, and even Tracer. The current meta is her bitch. You know how in the spawn room you usually get four people auto lock DPS characters and refuse to change? This lack of coordination between teammates and selfish styles of play is what Symmetra feeds off.

Perhaps you are inclined to think that I believe Symm is excellent on every map? That I adore her endlessly and see her as faultless? Symmetra has her faults, don’t we all, (Hanzo mains more than most) but I am not an attack Symm fan. I have seen it work, but I share the view of his eminence Papa Jeff when he described her as a “situational” pick. There are absolutely times where choosing Symmetra is essentially throwing the game. However — I challenge you not to discourage all Symmetra picks. Instead, think of the advantages she will afford your team and how you can leverage her unique abilities. She will not be your main healer or even a viable secondary healer in most cases- but her merits stand.

Symmetra and balance

Let’s turn our minds to the future of Symmetra. It is inevitable that she will receive some adjustments. Regarding this, a wise man once said, “We recognise right now that she doesn’t have enough usefulness across the board and we’d like to give her a little bit more”. What a great idea your highness King Jeff! Let’s give Symmetra an opportunity to be more widely played, and let her benefits be more apparent! I have seen suggestions for changing her Shield Generator to provide more protection, or for her to be able to build walls or bridges similar to Mei. Fortunately, I’ve got a much more natural suggestion.

Healing Sentry Turrets.

Rather than her Sentry Turrets just slowing and damaging the enemy, let them be dual purpose and heal teammates who get within their range. At present, the sentries do +30 damage per second which would be massively efficient for healing if set up in a carwash style or behind a shield. Imagine your Monkey or D.Va being able to quickly zoom out of an altercation through a doorway bedazzled with Sentry Turrets, being fully healed in seconds, then rejoining the fight in perfect condition. Good idea, no? It would allow more offensive characters to take control of their healing. It leverages her requirement to disengage cleverly from battle. I think this is a very viable option that could, with a little bit of tweaking, bring Symmetra in line with more broadly useful support heroes. Or perhaps we could let Symmetra have scatter arrow? That’s an idea.

Nigel