Symmetra

Symmetra
"The true enemy of humanity is disorder."
Real Name	Satya Vaswani
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)
Cosmetics	Cosmetic page
Quotes	Quotation page
Role	Support (currently) Damage (as of patch 1.25)
Health	100
Shields	100
Character Video

Symmetra is a Damage hero in Overwatch.

PSA: Symmetra is currently undergoing a major redesign on the PTR, meaning the information on this page will eventually become obsolete. Click here for information regarding her reworked state.

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

Target Locked Beam

Symmetra’s weapon emits a long-range beam that homes in on a nearby enemy, dealing continuous damage that increases the longer it is connected.

Damage:

7.5/15/30 per hit

Headshot:

✕

Rate of fire:

4 hits per second

Ammo per shot:

7 per second

Ammo:

100

Reload time:

1.8 seconds

Max. range:

7 meters (Lock On)
9.5 meters (Tether Break)

• Details

Ability details:

• Damage jumps to consecutive levels after one second of continuous casting.
• When not casting, levels decay one per second, the same rate they accumulate while arcing.
• Damage levels fall off after 3 seconds without dealing damage and disengage after a certain distance.
• Armor reduces 50% of level 1 damage, 33% of level 2 damage, and 17% of level 3 damage.
• Lasts an extra 0.5 seconds on an enemy that is turning a corner or jumping as long as they are in disengage range.

Example Video

Energy Ball

Type

Weapon (Secondary Fire)

Effect Type

Linear piercing projectile

The projector can also release a charged energy ball that deals high damage.

Damage:

26–125 based on charge time

Headshot:

✕

Rate of fire:

0.4–2 seconds charging
0.25 second cooldown

Ammo per shot:

4–20 rounds based on charge time

Ammo:

100

Reload time:

1.8 seconds

Projectile speed:

10 meters per second

• Details

Ability details:

• After 2 seconds, the maximum charge level is held for up to 1 second before forcefully firing.
• Passes through enemies and barriers.

Example Video

Sentry Turret

10 seconds turret regen

Type

Ability

Effect Type

Linear beam

Symmetra sets up a small turret that automatically fires speed-reducing blasts at the nearest enemy within range. Several turrets can be built on the battlefield at once.

Damage:

30 per second

Headshot:

✕

Ammo:

6 stored
Max 6 deployed

Health:

1

Cast time:

1.4 seconds

Max. range:

10 meters

Move. speed:

-25%

• Details

Ability details:

• Slowdown effect stacks with multiple turrets.

Example Video

Photon Barrier

10 seconds

Type

Ability

Symmetra projects a moving barrier that absorbs damage as it travels forward.

Health:

1025

Duration:

Until impact

Area of effect:

5 meters width

Projectile speed:

5.5 meters per second

• Details

Ability details:

• The Barrier moves at 5.5 meters per second, the same speed as most heroes.
• The Barrier can move upward at an angle of about from 45 degree up to 90 degree.

Teleporter

Q

1000 points

Type

Ultimate Ability

Symmetra places a teleporter exit pad at her current location, and connects it to a teleporter entry pad at her team’s starting point. Allies can travel through the entry pad to the exit pad instantly, enabling them to return to the fight swiftly after being defeated.

Ammo:

6 uses

Health:

50 health
350 shield

Cast time:

2 seconds

Duration:

Until destroyed or out of uses

• Details

Ability details:

• Symmetra does not gain Ultimate charge while the Teleporter is active.
• The teleporter is refunded if there is a change in objective (e.g. point captured/lost).
• It can be interchanged with Shield Generator using the Ultimate key before deployment.
• Deploying the Teleporter will automatically place the entrance in a fixed location in the spawn room.

Example Video

Shield Generator

Q

1000 points

Type

Ultimate Ability

Symmetra deploys a wide-radius generator that provides increased shielding to her entire team.

Health:

50 health
350 shield
+75 shield to allies

Cast time:

2 seconds

Duration:

5 seconds fade delay
Until destroyed (Generator)

Area of effect:

50 meters

• Details

Ability details:

• Symmetra passively generates 1% Ult Charge every 2.00 seconds (fastest of all the heroes).
• Symmetra does not gain Ultimate charge while the Shield Generator is active.
• The generator is refunded if there is a change in objective (e.g. point captured/lost).
• It can be interchanged with Teleporter using the Ultimate key before deployment.
• The shields function similarly to other shields, regenerating at the rate of 30 points per second after 3 seconds out of combat.
• The shield generator ignores line-of-sight, meaning that it can be placed in a concealed position or behind cover while still providing the full shield effect.

Console Differences

Sentry Turret:

• Damage: 25.5 damage per second

Strategy

Symmetra is a unique Support hero who keeps her allies alive through unconventional means. She can deter enemies from traveling through chokepoints with her Sentry Turrets, protect allies while pushing chokepoints with her Photon Barrier, and can dramatically shorten the distance between the respawn room and the frontline with her Teleporter, or give her team a great health advantage with Shield Generator. Despite appearances, she is also one of the most damaging of the Support heroes, with a weapon that can deal devastating damage at both short and long range. Despite this, her complete inability to heal her allies, along with her relative fragility, makes it challenging for her to serve as the only Support on a team.

Weapons & Abilities

• Photon Projector: Symmetra's primary weapon. The primary fire creates a beam that tethers to the first hostile target in range, dealing increasing damage for as long as the beam remains active. The beam will fall off if the tethered target moves out of Symmetra's vision. The secondary fire shoots out a slow moving projectile that bypasses barriers and passes through enemies, dealing damage. The size and damage of this projectile increase the longer the secondary fire button is held down. The primary firing mode ignores Genji's Deflect.
  • The primary fire requires time to build up to its highest potential damage. At its maximum damage, it is one of the most devastating weapons in the entire game. If you have the opportunity to safely use it on a durable target like Reinhardt or Roadhog, do so.
  • The damage buildup accumulates on the weapon itself, not the current target, and fades away quickly. Charging it up by attacking one enemy leaves the Projector charged and ready to immediately engage another with increased damage.
  • Because the primary fire's tether automatically remains locked on as long as Symmetra keeps the tethered target in view, it is a good way of damaging agile, close range targets like Tracer. When attacking this way, act evasively, moving around your target to confuse them.
  • At maximum charge, the secondary fire deals a high amount of damage, and can hit multiple targets. Charge up the secondary fire and shoot it down choke points and corridors to discourage enemy movement.

• Sentry Turret: When activated, Symmetra enters a targeting mode, which she can use to place a Sentry Turret on a solid surface. Sentry Turrets have 1 Health and automatically fire on the first enemy that enters their range, dealing continual damage and slowing them. Sentry Turret works on a charge-based system, where Symmetra gains a new charge (up to a maximum of 6) every few seconds. Symmetra can have a maximum of 6 Sentry Turrets up at once. Placing a new Sentry Turret in excess of 6 will destroy the oldest Turret that was placed.
  • Sentry Turrets are incredibly fragile, and can easily be destroyed by splash damage from rockets or grenades. Place them strategically in places that your enemy is unlikely to fire on, but which will still discourage them from traveling through an area.
  • Symmetra sees a small icon in her view for each of the Turrets she has placed. She is alerted when a Sentry Turret is attacking a target (with the icon changing to an orange "alert" sign), as well as when it is destroyed. If you are worried about an enemy trying to flank behind you, place a single Sentry Turret on the major side routes so that you will be alerted if they either pass by it or destroy it.
  • A single Sentry Turret will rarely deter people from traveling through an area. You will usually need to place at least 2-3 in an area to slow them down or stop them entirely.
  • Look for clever positions to place your Sentry Turrets, such as behind bushes or underneath overhangs. This can confuse your enemies as to where it is, letting your Sentry Turret survive for longer.
  • One of Symmetra's achievements involves having all six turrets attacking one enemy (The Car Wash). While it is tempting to group up the turrets, spread them out a certain distance so they won't be destroyed all at once.

• Photon Barrier: With this ability, Symmetra deploys a moving barrier that absorbs damage as it moves forward. It moves at the same pace as most heroes, and is destroyed upon hitting an obstacle.
  • This ability can be used to push through chokepoints, blocking large amounts of fire from the front. Its speed is ideal for such as it moves at the same speed as most, allowing them to push through in the shortest time possible.
  • It can also be used to block static defenses, such as Bastion, Torbjörn's turret or snipers for a short time, buying your teammates time to move forward.
  • Unlike other barriers, as it is moving, it needs both aiming and positioning to be used effectively.
  • The Barrier can move upward on some angle like stairs or some location which is around 45 to 90 degree.

• Teleporter (Ultimate): Symmetra's first Ultimate ability. When activated, Symmetra enters a targeting mode, which she can use to put down a Teleporter on a solid, horizontal surface. A second Teleporter will appear in her team's respawn room that allies can pass through to instantly reach the first Teleporter. The first Teleporter has a Health pool, and will be destroyed if damaged sufficiently. The Teleporter can only teleport a maximum of 6 allies before shutting down. Symmetra does not gain Ultimate charge while she has an active Teleporter.
  • A deceptively powerful Ultimate. While it has no in-combat application, a well-placed Teleporter allows Symmetra's respawning allies to instantly rejoin the fight, saving valuable time that would otherwise be spent walking back from the respawn room.
  • Teleporters are almost always a priority target for mobile flankers like Genji and Tracer, who will attempt to destroy it if they suspect you have one up. You must balance placing your Teleporter in a safe, hard-to-find location with placing it in an area that will let your allies get back to the objective quickly. Look for elevated locations that are out of the line of fire, or isolated rooms without Health Packs.

• Shield Generator (Ultimate): Symmetra's second Ultimate ability. When activated, Symmetra enters a targeting mode, which she can use to put down a Shield Generator on a solid, horizontal surface. The Shield Generator is destroyed upon receiving sufficient damage.
  • Like the Teleporter, it is a powerful defensive ability, providing allies with additional shields that will give your team the upper hand. However, due to its wide area-of-effect, it can also be used offensively to protect allies in a large area, provided it is positioned strategically.
  • Remember that, like the Teleporter, the Shield Generator is refunded in Payload or Hybrid map checkpoints with charge regains depending on its remaining Health. This is extremely useful to switch around between the two Ultimates depends on the situation, to move the Generator to another point that it can reach your team more easily or to regain Ultimate charge from a Generator that is about to be destroyed by the enemy team.

General Strategy

• Symmetra wins games through clever thinking and good preparation rather than brute force. Since she lacks any sort of healing capabilities, you must focus on keeping your allies as safe as possible from flankers and on minimizing the number of routes that enemies can take safely. This allows your allies to retreat to cover safely without having to worry about being picked off by a sneaky McCree or Reaper.

• Symmetra is generally best played on Defense, as it's more difficult to make good use of Sentry Turrets and her Teleporter when on Attack. The Photon Barrier and the quick movement from Teleporter can still benefit an Attack team enough to warrant taking her along, however.

• Knowing where to best place Sentry Turrets takes a lot of practice with different configurations. Keep in mind that the "best" configuration of Turrets depends a lot on both your team and the enemy team and changes from game to game. For example: if you have another hero like Torbjörn covering one chokepoint, you can afford to invest more of your Turrets in protecting a different chokepoint.

• Sentry Turrets have a decent vertical firing range, and can be placed while jumping. If you're up against Pharah, look for protected, vertical areas where you can place Sentry Turrets that will hit a flying Pharah, as they greatly reduce her mobility.

• The Photon Projector can be deadly when used intelligently. When up against fragile targets like Tracer or Genji, charge up the secondary fire on Photon Projector, lure them around a corner, and fire it directly at them when they round it. Follow up with the primary fire to net yourself a quick kill.
• The Photon Projector increase damage output making Symmetra extremely dangerous in a team fight if you manage to fully lock on into an unaware opponent. Hiding around a corner, a choked point that is protected by your teammates and Sentry Turrets or a high ground to catch your opponent by surprise while using your small hitbox to your advantage by jumping and dodging attacks to ensure your survival and ensure your damage output.

• Because of how powerful Teleporter is for a team on Defense, prioritize your own safety as much as possible until you can get your first Teleporter down. Aim to shoot your Photon Projector's secondary fire down bottlenecks in order to gain Ultimate charge, and avoid sticking your neck out too far (as this opens you up to being killed by heroes like Widowmaker or Hanzo).

• Because Shield Generator is a high value target that the enemy team will want to take out as soon as possible, it is advisable to place it somewhere that they will have problem finding it but is close enough to your team to fall back and defending it if it is attacked. Remember, a majority of the Generator's Health pool is Shield make it extremely powerful if you and your team manage to take out the enemy attacker to maintain the Generator.
• One of the biggest counters to Symmetra is Winston. Winston's Tesla Cannon can easily take out multiple Sentry Turrets without him even trying to. If you want to protect your turrets, tell your team to focus him.
• A good strategy for Symmetra on Eichenwalde is to put your Sentry Turrets near the bridge on the first point. Place two on the top of the left entrance, and one hidden in the bush on the door's right side. Then place three more on the bridge itself.

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 6 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

• 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.

• 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.

• By September 2016, Symmetra was the least played hero in Overwatch.
• Symmetra is the only hero to have a choice between using two different Ultimate abilities.

• As Symmetra, players can put sentry turrets on a basketball and then carry said ball out onto the field using Symmetra's photon projector. Turrets will be destroyed if they come into contact with any walls, floors, or physical environmental objects, however.
• 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 1.23 (2018).

The Architect class

Development

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.

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