Symmetra

Symmetra
"The true enemy of humanity is disorder."
Real Name	Satya Vaswani (सत्य वासवानी)
Age	28
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Architech
Base	Utopaea, India
Affiliation	Vishkar Corporation
Voice	Anjali Bhimani (English) Tulika Srivastava (French) Deborah Morese (Italian) Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese) Lim Yun-seon (Korean) Guilene Conte (Brazilian Portuguese) Carla Castañeda (American Spanish) Silvia Sarmentera (European Spanish) Elise Zhang (Mandarin (China))
Cosmetics	Cosmetic page
Quotes	Quotation page
Role	Damage
Health	100
Shields	100
Character Video

Symmetra is a Damage hero in Overwatch.

Overview

Symmetra utilizes her light-bending Photon Projector to dispatch adversaries, shield her associates, construct teleportation pads and deploy particle-blasting Sentry Turrets.

Abilities

Photon Projector

Type

Weapon (Primary Fire)

Effect Type

Beam

Symmetra’s weapon emits a ranged beam. It deals continuous damage that increases the longer it is connected.

Damage:

60/120/180 per second

Headshot:

✕

Rate of fire:

~20 per second (tickrate)

Ammo per shot:

7 per second
+7 per second gained against barriers

Ammo:

70

Reload time:

1.8 seconds

Max. range:

12 meters

• Details

Ability details:

• Damage ramps up by hitting something for 1.6 seconds, and ramps down if nothing is hit within 2 seconds.
• Generates ammo instead of consuming it when attacking barriers.

Energy Ball

Type

Weapon (Secondary Fire)

Effect Type

Projectile
Explosion (impact)

The projector can also release an explosive energy ball that deals high damage on contact.

Damage:

6-60 (impact)
6-60 (explosive)

Headshot:

✕

Rate of fire:

0.2-1 seconds charging
0.063 seconds of recovery

Ammo per shot:

1-10 rounds based on charge time

Ammo:

70

Reload time:

1.8 seconds

Projectile speed:

20 meters per second

• Details

Ability details:

• A fully charged orb can be held for 1 second.

Sentry Turret

10 seconds per charge

Type

Ability

Effect Type

Beam (turret beam)
Projectile (before deployment)

Symmetra launches a small turret that automatically fires speed-reducing blasts at the nearest enemy within range. Up to three turrets can be built on the battlefield at once.

Damage:

50 per second

Headshot:

✕

Ammo:

3 stored
Max 3 on the field

Health:

30

Cast time:

0.5 seconds (cast animation)
~1 second (deployment)

Max. range:

10 meters (turret beam)

Move. speed:

-1 meter per second

Projectile speed:

12 meters per second

• Details

Ability details:

• Turrets are projectiles until they hit a wall, at which point they will deploy. In this state, they cannot attack and can be destroyed.
• Cannot be deflected by Genji, or absorbed by D.Va.

Teleporter

12 seconds

Type

Ability

Symmetra places a temporary teleporter exit pad at a distance and connects it to a teleporter entry pad at her current location. Allies (and some of their abilities, such as Junkrat’s RIP-Tire) can travel from the entry pad to the exit pad instantly.

Health:

50 health
250 shield

Cast time:

1 second (cast animation)
2 seconds (deployment)

Duration:

10 seconds

Max. range:

25 meters

• Details

Ability details:

• Requires the player to use the Interact key to activate, unless it's an entity separate from a player, in which case it will teleport automatically. (Turrets, D.Va's MEKA when self-destructing, etc)
• Cannot be used while in spawn.

Photon Barrier

Q

1500 points

Type

Ultimate Ability

Symmetra deploys a massive energy barrier which prevents ranged attacks and is big enough to cut through the entire map.

Health:

5000

Duration:

15 seconds

Max. range:

25 meters

Area of effect:

∞ (Flat barrier, covers entire map)

• Details

Ability details:

• Symmetra passively generates 1% Ult Charge every 3.00 seconds.
• The barrier has infinite range.
• The ability ends when it takes 5000 damage, or the duration ends (whichever happens first).
• Can be placed from anywhere (including from spawn), since it covers the entire map.
• Orientation can be changed by pressing the Ultimate key again (like Mei's Ice Wall).

Console Differences

Unknown, assumed turret damage is reduced by 30%.

Strategy

Weapons & Abilities

Photon Projector (weapon): Symmetra's main weapon. The projector has two modes of fire, a short range beam, and a chargeable, explosive energy ball.

• Primary fire's range is rather lacking (at 12 meters), so it is best used in combination with Teleporter.
• Primary fire also has a high tickrate, meaning it doesn't fare very well against armor, and it is a bit difficult to consistently maintain the beam on the target. However, given that attacking barriers recharges the weapon's ammo as well as helping ramp up its damage levels, it is a good idea to target nearby enemy barriers first, then firing at enemies, taking advantage of the fully charged and reloaded beam.
• Secondary fire requires quite a bit of leading at longer ranges, but it makes up for primary fire's low range. A fully charged orb deals considerable damage (120), requiring only one full charge and one semi charged orb to secure a kill. Rapid firing orbs is only recommended if you need to hit very low health targets, as if used otherwise, it has low damage per second.

Sentry Turret: Symmetra launches a small turret that fires slow beams at enemies.

• Another very good ranged tool in her arsenal, her turrets can help cover different parts of the map at once, such as chokepoints.
• Throwing turrets at a full enemy team is not very effective, as they can be shot out of the air.

Teleporter: Symmetra builds a teleporter between two locations.

• This ability can give you free reign over high ground, or otherwise inaccesible parts of the map, for both you and your team.
• It is a decent ambush tool, given you can teleport an unlimited amount of allies and things over its duration. A common tactic is to set up 3 turrets on the ground, and then placing a teleporter into the enemy team, giving them a sudden burst of damage that they have to deal with. However, it has drawbacks. The enemy can see (and hear) the ambush coming, since it has a lengthy deploy time. During this time, they can prepare for the attack, or plainly destroy the teleporter.
• Synnergizes well with immobile compositions, that consist of heroes line Ana, Bastion, Orisa, among others.

Photon Barrier (Ultimate): Symmetra sets up a barrier that cuts the map in half.

• Useful for blocking enemy snipers' line of sight, used reactively against enemy Ultimates, or to protect choke points from "poke" damage.
• Given its infinite range and ability to change orientation, Symmetra can cast this ability from spawn, or anywhere else on the map and still be effective. A good tip for such usage is to point at the objective marker, and checking your teammates chevrons.
• Not many heroes can break the barrier on their own before time runs out, but if the whole enemy team is dealing a large amount of damage, it will not stop them for long.

Story

"The true enemy of humanity is disorder."

Symmetra literally bends reality. By manipulating hard-light constructs, she crafts the world as she wishes it to be, in hopes of engineering a perfect society. Symmetra believes her actions serve the greater good in society, though there are times when she wonders whether the control and order she desires are truly best for humanity. Symmetra is on the autism spectrum; She has demonstrated traits associated with the condition such as having trouble with social interactions, suffering from sensory overload and preferring environments that are structured and harmonious. While Symmetra does not hesitate to carry out missions of dubious morality for her company (such as digging up blackmail material to sabotage competitors), she dislikes killing and only resorts to lethal force if she has to.

Background

Satya Vaswani grew up in Hyderabad, India. By her recollection, it was not a pleasant environment to grow up in.

Following the Omnic Crisis, the Vishkar Corporation of southern India began the laborious process of creating new, self-sustaining cities to house the nation's displaced population. One such city, Utopaea, was created using radical hard-light technology that enabled its architechs to shape the city's streets, utilities, and living spaces in the blink of an eye.

After she was identified as one of the few capable of becoming a light-bending architech, Vaswani was plucked from extreme poverty and placed in the care of Vishkar's Architech Academy, never to return home. Isolated and lonely in her new life, Vaswani immersed herself in her education and training. She quickly grasped the applications of the technology and was one of the top students in her class. Vaswani approached hard-light manipulation differently than her peers, with their more procedural, mechanical constructions, instead weaving her constructs in the motions of the traditional dance of her homeland.

Though she was one of Utopaea's top architechs, the Vishkar Corporation saw far greater potential in Vaswani's abilities. Giving her the moniker "Symmetra," Vishkar sent her on clandestine missions around the world to uphold its corporate interests and expand its influence into other countries.

A Better World

“	We're making the world a better place...	„
	~ Symmetra

Vaswani in the mayor's office

Vaswani was present in Rio de Janeiro as Vishkar tried to secure a deal with the mayor to re-develop the city's slums with its hard-light technology. However, the mayor favored a deal with Calado, a prospect that left Vaswani frustrated, as she believed Calado's proposal to be inferior and impractical. Storming out of the mayor's office, she came across a crowd of protesters who were against the re-development of their neighborhoods. Due to her own childhood experiences, Vaswani couldn't understand how they could bear to live in such "disgusting" conditions. As she tried to navigate through the protesters, she became overwhelmed by the sounds and the smells, leading her to lose her way. Then, a young girl called out to Vaswani and offered to guide her back to her hotel. Motivated by the encounter, Vaswani vowed that Vishkar would secure the deal and help Rio's people, no matter what.

Vaswani rescuing Rosa

That night, Vaswani, on the orders of Sanjay Korpal, infiltrated the Calado building to find information Vishkar could use against him. Breaking into Calado's vault, she managed to find some compromising material, but nothing substantial. Vaswani was then discovered by Calado's guards, but she created a barrier to deflect their shots, following which she used her photon projector to drain their energy. Sanjay questioned why she didn't just kill them, but Vaswani insisted she only resorted to lethal force if she had to. She subsequently escaped the building, with her pursuers being impeded by traps she had set up in advance.

Outside, Vaswani contacted Sanjay, confirming that she didn't have enough on Calado to bring him down and suggesting they try to get to the mayor instead. Sanjay simply responded with "so be it," and a second later, the Calado building was consumed in a fiery explosion. While Sanjay explained that Calado wouldn't stand in their way, Vaswani stared in shock as the building collapsed, with debris falling into the adjacent slum that she had passed through earlier that day. Vaswani made her way down to the favela, which had become enveloped in flames, and spotted a woman that was pointing towards a house while crying for help. Realizing there was still someone inside, Vaswani used her photon projector to forge a path and protect herself from the fire. Eventually, she found the young girl from before, trapped underneath debris, and freed her. Upon carrying her back to her mother, Vaswani realized the girl's face had been severely burnt and feebly hoped Vishkar could "fix it," along with the favela.

A few months later, the situation had indeed been "fixed," as Vishkar had carried out its redevelopment of Rio's city center, now that Calado had been taken out. Standing with Sanjay as the mayor gave a speech, Vaswani observed that new housing had yet to be provided. Sanjay affirmed that "appropriate" housing would be provided in time, to which Vaswani responded by questioning whether the favela's destruction by fire had been intended by Vishkar. To this, Sanjay stated it was "the price of rebirth and growth." Looking out over the crowd, Vaswani tried to convince herself that Vishkar was indeed, making a better world.

Achievements

Name	Icon	Description	Reward
The Car Wash		Hit an enemy with 3 beams simultaneously as Symmetra in Quick or Competitive play.	Pixel
Huge Success		Teleport 20 players in a single Quick or Competitive play game as Symmetra.	Cute

Trivia

Vampire Symmetra figure

• Chris Metzen has hinted at Symmetra possessing ulterior motivations. According to Michael Chu, Symmetra is not an "evil" character in the same vein as Reaper or Widowmaker, though her actions could lead individuals within the setting to view her as a villain.

• A magazine image of Symmetra could be found in an outhouse on Route 66. The image was removed in a later patch.

• As of September 2016, Symmetra was the least played hero in Overwatch.
• Prior to her June 2018 rework in Patch 1.25, Symmetra was the only hero to have a choice between two Ultimates: Teleporter and Shield Generator.

• Symmetra can place sentry turrets on a basketball in spawn rooms, and then carry said ball out onto the field using her Photon Projector. However, the turrets will be destroyed if they make contact with any walls, floors, and objects in the environment.

• A "Vampire Symmetra" Cute but Deadly figure was made available during the Halloween Terror 2018 Event.

Development

The Architect class

Symmetra's design originated as a playable class called the Architect in the cancelled Project Titan. In the original pitch for the game that would become Overwatch, she was envisioned as wielding an arc welder and blaster, and could deploy sentry turrets and shield generators. In a later pitch she was given "orb buffs," which were ultimately given to Zenyatta. Her arc welder and blaster were later changed when the idea of hard light constructs were incorporated into her design. Her teleporter was taken from the Engineer class, which served as the basis for Torbjörn, and she would eventually receive the Architect's shield generator as a second ultimate in Overwatch.

Symmetra's backstory was expanded through the development of Lúcio, as his backstory includes involvement with Vishkar as well. Symmetra being autistic was initially hinted at in the "A Better World" comic, and later officially confirmed by a letter from Jeff Kaplan to a fan.

Symmetra is the only hero so far to have been recieved two significant ability reworks since the game launched; one in patch 1.6.2 (2017) and another in patch 1.25 (2018).

Patch Notes History

For more information, see Patch Notes

January 24th, 2017

Bug Fixes

Heroes

• Fixed a bug preventing Symmetra’s Photon Barrier from playing its destruction sound effect when it is destroyed

Maps

• Fixed a bug that allowed Symmetra to place her Shield Generator in unintended locations in Watchpoint: Gibraltar

December 30th, 2016

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that sometimes allowed Symmetra to place Teleporters and Shield Generators inside her team’s spawn room in a competitive match

December 13th, 2016

Hero Balance Update

• Photon Barrier (New Ability)
  • 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 Option)
• Symmetra's Ultimate ability now offers a choice between Teleporter and a new option: Shield Generator
  • Shield Generator places a device that grants additional shields to allies within its effective radius (regardless of barriers, walls, or obstacles between them and the Shield Generator)
• Photon Projector (Primary Fire)
  • Range has been increased from 5 meters to 7 meters
• Sentry Turret
  • Turrets that can be carried have been increased from 3 turrets to 6 turrets
  • Cooldown has been reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds
• Photon Shield
  • Replaced with the new Photon Barrier ability
• Teleporter
  • Health has been decreased from 200 to 50
  • Shields have been increased from 0 to 350

Developer Comments

We wanted to address two main issues with Symmetra. First, on the whole, we felt that she didn’t feel active enough. Second, due to the nature of her Teleporter, she felt weak in certain situations on different maps and game modes. To address the first point, we replaced her more passive Photon Shield ability with a much more active ability: Photon Barrier. Now, Symmetra can help lead the charge on offense or help shut down a big push on defense by actively blocking damage for your team. For the second point, we noticed players would often switch off of Symmetra once they found themselves in a situation where her Teleporter wasn’t as useful. For example, when playing her on defense on an Assault map, players often used her to defend the first capture point, then quickly switched to another hero if that point fell. To help her feel more useful in more situations, we've given her an alternative to her Teleporter. The Shield Generator is just as important for the enemy to deal with, but is useful in more situations. The turret changes allow her to rebuild her turret nests faster. Even if all her turrets are wiped out, it's now easier for players to build them all back up before the next push. We’re also increasing the range on her Photon Projector to make it easier for her to build up and keep a powerful charge on her target.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug causing Widowmaker’s Grappling Hook to begin its cooldown after going through Symmetra’s Teleporter
• [Console] Sombra no longer receives credit toward her on-fire meter when her EMP ultimate hits Symmetra’s turrets

November 30th, 2016

Bug Fixes

• Sombra no longer receives credit toward her on-fire meter when her EMP ultimate hits Symmetra’s turrets

November 15th, 2016

Hero Balance Change

• Dealing damage to things other than players (like Torbjörn's turret or Symmetra's teleporter) no longer charges ultimate abilities
• Ultimate costs have been increased by 25% for all heroes

Developer Comment

Game-changing ultimate abilities were coming up a bit too frequently. This change helps keep them in check while still allowing them to be powerful.

September 30th, 2016

Bug Fixes

• Symmetra's “Car Wash” achievement now correctly lists the number of beams required (6 instead of 7)

September 1st, 2016

General Update

• When activating the "Ultimate Status" communication, Symmetra now reports the number of charges left on her teleporter

Hero Balance Update

• Ultimates that consume the ultimate meter when activated will now drain the meter more quickly (.25 second instead of 1 second)
• Reverted a recent change that reduced the size of heroes' projectiles
• Most hero abilities will no longer interrupt quick melee attacks
• Ultimate abilities will now interrupt quick melee attacks

Developer Comments

Altering the size of projectiles in flight had too many unintended side effects to keep in the game, at least in its current form. We will continue watching this and make additional changes if necessary. We’re also making quick melee more consistent when interacting with enemy abilities.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed several issues with Symmetra's emotes and highlight intros

July 21st, 2016

Hero Balance Change (PS4 and XB1 exclusively)

• Turrets damage decrease by 30%

June 21st, 2016

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause projectiles to hit Reinhardt instead of his Barrier Field in "High Bandwidth" Custom Games
• Reduced the chance for larger projectiles (i.e. Hanzo's arrows, Zenyatta's orbs) to hit targets around corners

External links

• Official Site - Symmetra
• Symmetra Guide on Icy Veins