New Overwatch Patch Gives Sombra Infinite Invisibility

Blizzard is employing an update that once again will alter one of the most difficult characters to master, Sombra.

Blizzard is hoping to make her less challenging to use with their new update as players are pushing for the character to be more balanced and more creative.

The new update is giving her infinite invisibility, a drastic change to her character that will likely have a major impact on gameplay for everyone.

“The Sombra changes, I was a little surprised with the feedback online where people thought it was an overall nerf,” lead designer Geoff Goodman said, according to VG247.

“We gave her a lot of buffs and a lot of nerfs at the same time. The Sombra changes are a lot about giving her more flexibility in how she plays, and that flexibility gives her a lot more power.”

“It just seemed like this intense game of micromanagement and these timers, and you often have these situations where you slightly mistime something,” Goodman said. “None of that is the fun of being invisible and shooting people and hacking people.”

“The way it originally started, I was like, ‘How far can we actually push this invisibility?’,” Goodman stated. “So we doubled it and tried that, but we was like, ‘Is this really much different to being infinite?’ Even though infinite invisibility sounds really powerful, you do need to come out and build your ultimate, harass them, hack the right targets. So we tried infinite on both the translocator and the stealth, to take those timers out of your mind so you can focus more on the timing of when you hack or do damage to people, and it was just so game-changing for her – the ability to stealth, get where you want and be in position.

“Because she’s so much about timing – you get that hack just as your team are coming in or you get that damage on an enemy Zenyatta just after he takes a sniper body shot. You can pop out because you’re right there, not waiting for your stealth to recharge. It’s so much more fun to play her this way.”

Although the changes seem quite significant, Goodman says it’s still the same character.

“She kind of felt the same, she just kind of pops out and does her thing,” Goodman says.

“You don’t really get the feeling she’s been there the whole time – from your perspective she doesn’t feel hugely different or hugely more powerful. It was a win on that side too.”

Goodman also understands the pushback on most of their tweaks to Sombra.

“I kind of understand where some of the feedback is coming from, where they’re worried about how she moves a little slower now because she can stealth permanently,” Goodman explained.

“It used to be more of a burst of speed. You still move a lot faster, you move 50% faster, but it used to be 75% faster, so some people are worried about those changes. But I think when people play her they will realise she’s a lot more powerful, more useful, and more flexible.”