Sombra’s hacking ability is about to get stronger on Overwatch’s PTR

Overwatch principal designer Geoff Goodman outlined the changes on the forum.
Image via Blizzard Entertainment

A few accidental balance adjustments went live with Overwatch’s Year of the Dog patch, all of which were missing from the game’s patch notes. But Overwatch principal designer Geoff Goodman stepped in to the game’s forum to clear things up—those massive Sombra adjustments weren’t supposed to go live yet.

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They’ve since been removed and will show up “soon” on Overwatch’s PTR. Fans were rightfully shocked when they saw the Sombra adjustments, as they seriously tweaked her numbers. Healing from health packs will no longer charge Sombra’s ultimate, which by itself would be a huge nerf.

Related: Overwatch’s Year of the Dog event has begun, with Doomfist changes inbound

Weapon spread for Sombra will be decreased by 10 percent, and hacking speed will see an increase from .8 seconds to .65 seconds. Hacking will also disable more hero abilities, like Genji’s Double Jump and Wall Climb, Pharah’s Hover Jets, Hanzo’s Wall Climb, and Mercy’s Angelic Descent.

Basically, any ability that requires a button press will be vulnerable to hack.

“The idea here is to take some power out of her ult (and awkwardness of ult gain through health packs), and give her more power and usefulness in the rest of her kit,” Goodman said.

Goodman didn’t note when the Sombra adjustment would go live on Overwatch’s PTR—just that it would be “soon.”


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Nicole Carpenter
Nicole Carpenter is a reporter for Dot Esports. She lives in Massachusetts with her cat, Puppy, and dog, Major. She's a Zenyatta main who'd rather be playing D.Va.