Symmetra in Overwatch
At first glance, Symmetra’s abilities might seem a little underwhelming. But if you familiarize yourself with her skill set and play her right, you’ll find that she can be a very valuable support asset to your team. Symmetra is equipped with a Photon Projector that can fire either a beam or an orb. The trick to using the Projector beam is holding down the fire button while attacking. Much like Mercy’s Caduceus Staff, the Projector beam will automatically latch on to any enemy within your range, and then drain the HP. The longer the beam stays connected, the more damage you’ll deal over time. Of course, you’ll have to reload the Projector, but if you’re quick enough, you can keep the damage up.
The Projector orbs, on the other hand, can be charged up before releasing. You can also release the orbs before they’re fully charged. Unlike the beam, the orbs have to be manually aimed. However, the orbs have a piercing effect, meaning they can pass through shields and damage your foes.
Symmetra also has Sentry Turrets, and she can deploy up to six of them at a time. Deploying a new one will deactivate the oldest turret you have. However, these Turrets only have 1 HP each, so they can be easily destroyed by enemies. You’ll want to set these up in areas and corners where the enemy won’t think to look. I advise spacing them out in an area so that they won’t all be destroyed by splash damage. These Turrets also have the ability to slow down the enemy’s movement speed, which is great if you’re trying to keep them away from a control point.
If you want to give your teammates additional support, Symmetra can also deploy Photon Shields for each of her allies. These will give allies an additional 25 HP each, and the shields will persist until your allies die. This means that even if Symmetra falls, the Photon Shields will still be active as long as your allies are still up. Also, the Shields have very high regen speed, so make sure all of your allies are covered with Photon Shields at all times.
Symmetra’s ultimate ability allows her to set up a Teleporter in the spawn room. This is a great ability that lets your teammates instantly warp from the spawn room to wherever you choose to place the Teleporter, meaning they can get back to the fight a lot quicker. The Teleporter will despawn after six allies have passed through, or if the enemy team shoots it down. As such, don’t place the Teleporter right in the middle of battle. Place it a little ways away from the firefight where the enemies won’t think to go, and your allies will have a chance to catch them off-guard.
