In Overwatch, heroes typically only have a single ultimate ability. That’s no longer true of Symmetra, whose moveset Blizzard Entertainment is redesigning in a coming update.
Lead designer Jeff Kaplan detailed the various changes to the character in the latest Overwatch “Developer Update,” which you can watch above. Among these are tweaks to her turrets and weapon, as well as her ultimate abilities.
“Symmetra is going to be the first character in Overwatch to actually have a choice of ultimates,” Kaplan said. When her ultimate is charged, it will light up just as before. Instead of just offering players the chance to trigger her Teleporter move, however, there’s also a shield generator that can be placed to protect the entire team.
Symmetra is also getting an entirely new move: the Photon Barrier. Kaplan compared this to Reinhart and Winston’s projected shields, although Symmetra’s version is an elliptical projectile and moves along a trajectory. It can be used both offensively and defensively, according to Kaplan.
“It's really effective if you're hanging behind your time and they don't have somebody like a Reinhardt,” Kaplan said. “Maybe they have a Roadhog and Zarya as their tanks up front, you can send this projected barrier out in front of you and it sort of signals your whole team to ... follow with it.”
Blizzard is also extending the range of her primary weapon and letting Symmetra players stock up to six turrets at once, changes that will make the support character more aggressive.
“Maybe you didn’t play [Symmetra] before because she wasn’t fun or the skill set wasn’t where you wanted to be,” Kaplan said. If that’s the case, he hopes that players will try out her changes to see if she’s more effective as offense and on Control-style maps than before.
They’ll be available to Windows PC players on Overwatch’s Public Test Realm sometime soon, as will other new features like Oasis, a new map first shown at BlizzCon 2016. The map is due out for everyone in early 2017.
Update: Symmetra’s redesign is now live on the Public Test Realm, as are a handful of other changes detailed in the patch notes. PC players can check her new ability out now.
We tested Symmetra’s new skills in a livestream earlier today. You can watch the archive below: