Symmetra’s future rework will remove her from the support category

Despite the signs pleading for Overwatch League pros to “play Symmetra, you cowards”, the weirdest support in the game just isn’t seeing much play. Symmetra was originally reworked back in December 2016, making her the only hero with two ultimates (Teleporter and Shield Generator) and changing her individual, small shields into one large photon barrier.

Symmetra is a wildly ambitious concept for a hero. In her comic, A Better World, she rolls around making bridges and spherical shields out of hard light. She’s essentially Green Lantern; she can create anything out of hard light technology. In game, that manifests in her various constructs.

The last we heard, Symmetra’s rework could go anywhere. Now, thanks to an interview with Inven Global, we have a little more insight. Symmetra is leaving the support role and will re-emerge (after her eventual rework) as a Defense class hero.

We are discussing the change right now, and although we can’t tell you the details of each change, we would still like to let you know it will be a fairly dramatic change. One thing we can tell you is that Symmetra will turn from a support hero to a defense hero after the remake. Our aim is to make the usage of Symmetra even more flexible from it.

This is an interesting change, because Symmetra was always the odd support out. This suggests all supports will have some ability to heal. If there was ever the chance to create a strong utility or shielding support, Symmetra would probably be that hero. The fact that Blizzard are leaning into her Defense angle means that the non-healing support experiment is likely over.

The support class is pretty healthy at the moment, with Ana, Moira, and Brigitte joining the support roster since launch. Meanwhile, we have yet to get a new Defense hero. Removing Symmetra’s support capabilities could give us a bold new vision on one of the most interesting hero concepts in the game.