December 20, 2016

Overwatch

Date played: December 19th
Platform: PS4

I know I've still got a bunch of heroes to post about, but I have to talk about Symmetra's recent changes. She's almost like an entirely new character now! I've talked about her in depth before, but she's been changed so much, most of what I wrote doesn't apply anymore. There's a whole list of changes, so here are the patch notes for reference.
Symmetra has gone Super-Saiyan thanks to her new changes!


  • New Abilities
    • Photon Barrier
      • Replaces her existing Photon Shield ability
      • Generates a large energy barrier in front of Symmetra that blocks enemy fire as it travels forward
    • Shield Generator (New Ultimate Ability)
      • Symmetra's Ultimate ability now offers a choice between her Teleporter and a new option: Shield Generator
      • Shield Generator places a device that grants additional shields to any ally within the its effective radius, regardless of barriers, walls, or obstacles between heroes and the Shield Generator
  • Photon Projector (Primary Fire)
    • Range has been increased from 5 meters to 7 meters
  • Sentry Turret
    • Number of turrets that can be carried has been increased from 3 turrets to 6 turrets
    • Cooldown has been reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds
  • Teleporter
    • Decreased health from 200 to 50
    • Increased shields from 0 to 350
  • Photon Shield
    • Replaced with the new Photon Barrier ability
Last night, I played about 6 or 7 matches, all of them with Symmetra. She is WAY more powerful than before, and I've used her in all game types effectively. Her turrets can now be replaced quickly, thanks to the lower cooldown, so that makes her a lot more agile during battles. The longer range on her main weapon is also a huge bonus. I've managed to kill a lot more people in the heat of battle thanks to the added range. There's nothing as satisfying as melting a Zarya to death just after she popped her bubble....

Symmetra's little 25 HP shield is gone and has been replaced with a brand new ability, the Photon Barrier. That thing is a fucking game changer... It's very similar to Reinhardt's shield, but it's a projectile. So basically, she throws a giant shield that travels forward until it's center hits a solid object, or until it's shot down. It travels fast enough that it's rarely shot down though. I still have a lot to learn on how to use it, but it's been amazing so far.

Finally, she is now the only hero to have TWO ultimate abilities! In addition to her teleporter, she now has the Shield Generator. It's a device that is deployed the same way as the teleporter. It grants a large, 75 HP shield to all allies in range. The big thing about it is that it has a HUGE range, so it can be placed far from battle while still offering it's benefits. It also lasts until either a point is captured, or until it's destroyed. Adding 75 HP to all allies is fucking brutal, and it works really well.

I'm really enjoying the new Symmetra, and I feel like she's now a viable choice in all matches. She's a lot more fun to play, a way more active and much, much deadlier. In fact, I got gold medals for eliminations more than once, and I feel like I was very helpful to the overall team. Oh, and we won all matches but one.

Updated Rating ★★★★