Overwatch 2 has brought many adjustments to the hero shooter, some of which have elevated Sombra to the top tier. Because of the change to 5v5 with one fewer tank and the elimination of some crowd control abilities, Sombra has a much easier time flanking the opposition team and escaping uninjured.
Sombra's update in Overwatch 2 has elevated her to one of the game's most powerful characters. Her transformation changes her from a utilitarian fighter to one with more unique offensive powers, so you'd be wise to understand how to use her to your advantage.
Who is Sombra?
Sombra, born in Mexico as Olivia Colomar, was orphaned during the Omnic Crisis. She joined the gang Los Muertos, where she used her abilities to hack the state on their behalf as part of their social uprising. She became so well-known that she drew the attention of Talon, the terrorist group at the heart of Overwatch's story. She agreed to work for them and now utilizes her hacking abilities to further their nefarious ambitions. Whenever she feels like it, that is.
She has demonstrated that she is largely concerned with herself and has no qualms about betraying Talon, as demonstrated in the Infiltration short, where she foiled a scheme to assassinate the CEO of Volskaya Industries in order to turn her into a personal informant.
What abilities does Sombra have?
Overwatch 2's resident hacker is armed with a high-powered machine pistol with a low effective range, yet lethal at close range. Sombra is intended to be a flanker and a disruptor, therefore most players will want to locate a health pack, hack it, and set up the Translocator. After that, use Stealth to flank the opposing team before hacking and killing an individual on the back line, ideally a support hero.
When they die or Sombra is badly injured, use the Translocator to transport out and heal yourself with the hacked health pack. Repeat, leaving the opposing team disoriented and without support at any opportunity.
Machine Pistol
This is the primary weapon of Sombra. It does, however, fall short when compared to other heroes. Her Machine Pistol has a huge magazine and a quick fire rate. It has a wide spread and low damage per shot. Because of its damage falloff around mid-range, the cannon functions best in close-range combat. To make the most of her gun, she must use her signature abilities, Stealth to get close and Hack to increase her damage.
Stealth - become invisible and move quickly. Cooldown: 6 seconds
The fact that your foes won't notice Sombra is by far the most prominent feature of her kit. Stealth makes her fully undetectable to adversaries, enabling her to position herself without having to worry about being fired at. Because she is never sure where she is or what she is plotting, she is an immensely powerful hero on the battlefield.
It's also an excellent intelligence-collecting tool, allowing you to examine the enemy team's composition quite safely and far sooner than anyone else. However, if you are within 4 meters of an adversary or are hacking them, Sombra will be visible. Receiving or dealing damage will deactivate Stealth, placing it on cooldown.
Hack - hold to hack
Hacked foes can see through walls and cannot perform skills for a short period of time. Hacked health packets spawn faster, but adversaries cannot use them. Taking damage halts the hacking effort. This takes 4 seconds to cool down.
Hack is the foundation of Sombra's loadout, and it has been significantly improved in Overwatch 2. In Overwatch 1, her hack rendered foes unable to use their skills for a lengthy period of time. Overwatch 2 hacking is significantly more complex. The unfortunate fact is that it no longer prevents characters from utilizing their skills for long periods of time, but it does interrupt them for a split second. This is useful for preventing abilities from casting or channeling. However, the timings on them are quite tight, so it's now much more skill-based.
However, Hack comes with some other fantastic bonuses to compensate for the loss of the disable. Hacked foes now take more damage from Sombra, and you can now track them through barriers for the length of a hack. This makes Sombra an excellent opportunist, as she will hack a character and rapidly kill them off.
Translocator – throw a beacon, then press again to teleport to it. Cooldown: 6 seconds
Sombra's translocator is an important part of her loadout and is essential to her survival rotation. In general, you should put it somewhere safe or, if feasible, near a health pack. Consider it a kind of get-out-of-jail-free pass. You normally want to place it, push out, find an opportunity to kill or annoy an enemy, and then teleport back to safety once you've taken too much damage.
Of course, you can employ the translocator aggressively as well. If you find someone who is dying and attempting to flee, you can throw it to close the distance and finish them off. However, only do this if you are confident that you can complete the kill in relative safety. Sombra is extremely susceptible without her translocator, and if adversaries know you don't have it, they will make her a priority target.
Ultimate - EMP
In Overwatch 2, Sombra's EMP is a different beast, and the differences are vital to understanding. EMP is now more aggressive, allowing Sombra to inflict more damage and gain kills for herself but also allowing her team to do less. Because of the way the hack works, adversaries' powers are only disabled for one second. This means that EMP will no longer be able to negate Zenyatta's Transcendence, since he will be able to activate it a fraction of a second later, healing everyone.
However, Sombra will also profit from the new hack, which means that not only will enemies take more damage from her, but they will also be revealed through walls for a longer amount of time.
The best way to use Sombra in Overwatch 2
Sombra isn't very tough for a damage role hero. Even in comparison to other damage dealers, she suffers when under attack, relying primarily on her translocator to escape danger. That puts Sombra players at risk if the opposing side is on the ball with breaking your translocator beacon to pieces, thus learning the optimal places to throw it in each level is essential to mastering her. Sombra's frailty, along with her limited range and self-isolating playstyle, necessitates a lot of coordination to be effective, lest you un-stealth to discover five sets of weapons trained on you with no ally in sight.
Before committing to a plan, always assess the current condition of the game. Taking down the enemy from behind isn't always the best strategy. You'll need to understand when to stay back to assist and peel opposing flankers, and when to slip past chokepoints and begin capturing the point to drive the other team to come and stop you, allowing your own side to advance.
Sombra is incredibly team-oriented, therefore when playing competitively, it's always worth evaluating whether she synergizes with the squad. Her EMP inflicts severe pain on everyone caught in it, but due to the percentage-based damage, it is incapable of killing. Heroes with powerful AoE can take advantage of the chaos and help sweep up the last of the enemy's health for a beautiful team kill if an EMP is effective.
FAQs
Q. What is Sombra’s real name?
A. Sombra was born in Mexico as Olivia Colomar but changed her name after she received cybernetic grafts on her spinal cord and brain, which made her a powerful technomancer.
Q. How much damage does Sombra do in Overwatch 2?
A. Sombra’s damage per second is said to be around 175 while firing (Hacked Target) (119.31 overall w/reload).
