Overwatch: How to Play Sombra (Weapons, Abilities, Ultimate)

Sombra, the elusive hacker that has teased Overwatch fans for months on end, has finally been revealed along with exactly what she’s capable. She’s a tricky fighter who is categorized under Overwatch’s Offense Role, which would normally mean she’s built for DPS. However, thanks to her particular weapons and abilities, she can also serve as a potent means of support for your team to shut down enemy forces.

Whether it’s holding down a point on an objective, players are going to want at least one Sombra on their team. The thing is, right now she’s classified as a three-star difficulty hero, which is the highest you can go. That means she is definitely meant for skilled players who don’t mind exhibiting a bit more finesse when making their move on a target.

To provide a little insight into the hero, we’ll take a look at her weapons and special abilities, including her ultimate attack (which is sure to please).

Weapon: Machine Pistol

Sombra’s weapon of choice is a short-range, fully automatic machine pistol. This, like most of her abilities, will require that players move in close to really take advantage of the rapid fire and damage. It isn’t exactly the most powerful weapon you could ask for, but thanks to her abilities, which revolve around stealth and sabotage, it’s a surprisingly good fit. Still, it will require proximity and skill if you want to make the most of this gun.

If you happen to be running with your team, it will serve as a great tool along with her cloaking ability to pick off already damaged enemies. Like other heroes of her stature, Sombra is a bit squishy, so you definitely don’t want to go toe-to-toe in an equal-footed gun fight. That isn’t her forte, so rely on trickery to get your shots off.

Thermoptic Camo

As we’ve mentioned before, Sombra is both a bit squishy and in need of proximity to really take advantage of her weapons and abilities. Thankfully, the tech savvy heroine (or villainess?) has a cloaking ability called Thermoptic Camo, which you can see her use in the “Infiltration” short. It renders her invisible for a few seconds, allowing her to sneak by enemies and flank them to either deliver a full burst with her Machine Pistol, or to put one of her abilities to use.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that you aren’t invincible, so don’t just pop it to run into crazy situations. It’s best used as part of a coordinated effort with one or more of your teammates. You can pop up and serve as a distraction for a buddy to take out a target, or use it to find a weak point in enemy defenses, the choice is yours. 

Translocator

Going invisible isn’t the only way that Sombra can move around the map to get the drop on her enemies. Translocator is her very own teleportation device that allows this hero to instantly teleport to wherever this item is. Simply throw it, and trigger the skill again to instantly warp to that spot. It’s a good way to get behind enemy lines (especially if you’re trying to get behind someone with a huge shield in your face). But, by the sounds of this ability, you’ll probably be able to pull of some pretty sweet tricks as well.

You don’t have to wait for the Translocator to land for you to warp to it, you can actually warp during any point in its flight path. That means you can chuck it in the air, and once it’s reached its peak, you can warp and rain down hell on your enemies. It can really confuse an enemy team, especially one that isn’t skilled, allowing your own team to take advantage.

Hack

Of course, nobody expected Sombra to join Overwatch’s ranks and not bring in that hacking that she’s used to tease fans for so long. In game, though, her hack ability works a bit differently from what she employed on the various websites that served as the ARG experience Blizzard had everyone wrapped up in. Her ability allows her to completely disable an opponent’s abilities for a short period of time. It takes a little while to pull off and requires some proximity, but it certainly is useful, especially when strategizing with another player. Just imagine sneaking up on Mei and watching her become confused as hell as she tries to block off your ally while they get the kill.

Also, you’ll have the ability to hack first aid kits, as well. This makes them useless for opponents. It will be fun to see them desperately running for health to realize that the only thing awaiting them is death. 

EMP

Let’s just get this out of the way, EMP will be the absolute bane of defensive players. Torbjorn, Bastion, Reinhardt, you name it, if they’re holding a point when Sombra shows up with this, you’re going to have a lot of pissed off Overwatch defenders. Let us give you the official description found on the Overwatch site:

“Sombra discharges electromagnetic energy in a wide radius, destroying enemy barriers and shields and hacking all opponents caught in the blast.”

Yeah, she throws out an EMP that not only destroys barriers, but also hacks all enemies in the radius. You remember Sombra’s hack ability, don’t you? It’s the one where enemy abilities are completely disabled for a few seconds. This happens instantly, as opposed to her basic ability. And it allows more than enough time for your friends to swoop in and murder everyone.

Of course, Blizzard wouldn’t make this too easy. The EMP blast is centered on Sombra herself. So, if you want to really shut down a contested objective, you’re going to have rely on your stealth or Translocator to get right into the center of it, that way you’ll catch as many grouped players as possible. You do not want to waste this on just one enemy.

All in all, Sombra will prove to be a very formidable foe in the Overwath arena. What she lacks in constitution and raw damage output, she more than makes up for with a skillset that will make her a linchpin in any team.