Overwatch 2 Sombra: Role, Tips & Guide

In Overwatch 2, Sombra is one of the deadliest agents of the Talon terrorist organization in the world, and her ‘Infiltration’ cinematic instantly made her a fan-favorite character and looked aside. She is also one of the deadliest DPS units in the right hands of someone who can use her abilities to the maximum potential. Sombra’s playstyle and skills allow you to control the battlefield in quite a few different ways, which we will go discuss in depth.

Sombra’s Role In Overwatch 2

Sombra is a character in the game who loves hacking and technology. There is no clear signal of her true intentions, as her only real motives are that she only hopes to extract and withhold the world’s greatest knowledge in the palm of her hand.

But that aside, Sombra’s overall kit is pretty unique in regard to other DPS characters, as she can hack health packs around the map and disable her opponents’ abilities by hacking into them. She can also infinitely use her stealth invisibility cloak to gain an advantage in mobility and tactical awareness. But another aspect that is worth mentioning now firstly is her deadly machine pistol.

• More from eXputer: Overwatch 2: Best Crosshair Settings

The Machine Pistol

The Machine Pistol is the main weapon of Sombra, one which is effective at close-ranged combat and can effectively immobilize any 200 HP target in a matter of seconds. For those of you who have excellent aiming capabilities, the weapon can shred through health bars with ease if you hit the precision or weak points.

Similar to Tracer’s pistols, the machine pistol has a laser-like rapid-burst firing rate which can surprise your enemies if they’re not careful enough. The major highlight is that the weapon is perfect in its current state, as it doesn’t feel too overpowered or underutilized by any means from the player base.

The low damage from it can be mitigated by constantly applying critical damage to your enemies, which shouldn’t be hard since the Machine Pistol has excellent recoil and stability at Mid-to-close ranges. However, the main utility of the weapon is fleshed out via Sombra’s intriguing abilities, one of which includes hacking your enemies and then raining down a barrage of streamlined fire on them to take them down quickly.

Detailed Overview Of The Abilities

There have been a few reworks made to Sombra’s abilities since her release, which we will go briefly later on, but as you can see from our image above, they mostly remain unchanged and function drastically the same as Overwatch 1, so veteran players shouldn’t face too much trouble using her again. Newcomers trying to use her should learn about each of her main abilities as well as her passive ones too in order to optimize her gameplay.

Translocator

• Cooldown: 5 Seconds
• Duration: Unlimited (Unless destroyed by the enemy or recalled by Sombra)

One of the core abilities of Sombra in the game is the Translocator which is essentially a device that she can throw that allows her to teleport to it in an instant. It has a few different uses that many players cannot even begin to know, and one of them is that it can be used as a great “Get out of Jail card.” As shown in the image above, you can throw it and plant it on any remotely accessible surface that you want on the map.

The main emphasis of Sombra is to remember that her gameplay revolves around flanking and annoying the enemy as much as possible while also exploiting any targets that you can take down on their backlines. The Translocator can be thrown quite a few distances, but the main gist is that it should be planted in a secluded area or preferably near a health kit so you can safely heal and get back into the fray.

Remember that once the Translocator has been thrown, you can also retract it back in case you want to change its position or the enemy has noticed its location. So the first thing you will have to learn is to effectively plant it around the map as soon as possible, as you will need to help your team with DPS during the match. Remember that it can be destroyed by any roaming enemy, so caution is advised when placing it.

The Translocator doesn’t have too much delay in the teleportation, so you can easily lay down the hurt on your foes and quickly toggle the ability button to escape if you feel like you’re about to die. It should optimally be used around health kits around the map or where you can take advantage of the opposing team.

Stealth

• Cooldown: 6 seconds
• Duration: Unlimited (Unless detected by the enemy)

Sombra has a fantastic movement ability that allows her to go invisible and swiftly sprint across the map in whichever way possible, which you can tell from our image above with her during that action.

The ability originally featured a timer from her Overwatch 1 counterpart, but it has long since been tweaked so you can remain invisible for long periods of time. During the usage of this ability, Sombra can effortlessly maneuver herself around the map without being seen by the enemy.

Most importantly, you can use her other abilities, such as Hacking and the Translocator, without losing the invisibility mode, making it one of the most potent abilities to use in conjunction with the other ones. It doesn’t completely negate you from being seen either, as it does have some conditions to it so that it doesn’t feel too overpowered during gameplay.

Firstly, if Sombra goes anywhere between 4 meters close to the enemy’s line of sight, you will be detected by them and receive a prompt about it. Hacking health packs in front of foes or their teammates can also result in you being detected for a short period of time. So unless you are carefully navigating around them, do not use this ability to engage enemies from the front lines, as it will be useless and unethical for Sombra’s playstyle.

The best way to use the ability is at the start of the match by heading to the back or side of the enemy defenses and hacking health packs without being seen. But most importantly, enabling Stealth and taking down heroes who are alone and vulnerable such as Widowmaker, is an optimal way to play Sombra in the game.

Hack

• Cooldown: 3 Seconds
• Hacked Enemy Duration: 8 seconds
• Hacked Health Pack Duration: 30 seconds

As you can see from the image above, the Hack ability is perhaps an essential tool of Sombra as she can hack into medkits to use for herself and her teammates while boosting their respawn rate.

But most importantly, she is able to hack into different enemy heroes, which disable most of their abilities entirely for a few seconds. The ability is consequential to getting the upper hand on the opposition as it allows you to negate their ongoing abilities or ultimates completely.

However, it is worth stating that some interactable tools, such as Orisa’s overcharge battery and Torbjorn‘s turrets, can also be disabled for a few seconds. But non-targetable objects such as Junkrat’s traps and Mei‘s blizzard robot during her ultimate cannot be hacked.

It adds a bit of complexity to use Sombra effectively, but with enough time and patience, you should easily learn these things on the fly as you play more and more as her in the game.

Using the hackability while in stealth mode on your foes is highly effective as it will provide an element of surprise on your approach as you mow down their health with the machine pistol. Not to mention disabling their abilities makes them vulnerable and without any utility to support them against your onslaught.

Also, we found that learning the map layout and hacking health packs near enemy choke points is a great way to ensure you have control over them from behind their backs. Be careful because as you collect medkits, the duration of their hacked status will decrease, so be on the lookout and hack them again if you plan on continuously using them during the match.

Ultimate Ability: EMP

• Damage: 40 percent health of enemies
• Hacked Duration: 8 seconds
• Radius: 15 Meters

The EMP blast is Sombra’s main ultimate ability in Overwatch 2, and as you can see from the image above, it has a unique purple wave blast indication along with the signature hacked icon on the enemies. The ability can turn the tides of battle in a few seconds if synergized with your allies during challenging encounters. You can potentially immobilize the entire opposing team so that your own team can rush in for the push.

The EMP blast works as your typical hack for Sombra but what’s different from the Overwatch 1 counterpart is that it now deals damage of 40 percent of the enemy’s total health.

This was a much-needed change to her kit as before, you only disabled the abilities of enemies, but now it can also deal a hefty amount of damage. It isn’t necessarily one of those ‘Press Q to win’ powers since you will have to strategize and wait for the right to win with it.

We found the most effective way to use the ability is with Reinhardt‘s Earth Shatter or Zarya’s Graviton Surge, as you can disable the supports from using their ultimate to heal and save their allies. We also recommend checking the leaderboard or communicating with your team on who has their ultimates charged up, as other DPS heroes, such as Genji, can also eradicate foes while they’re hacked for easy kills using his Dragonblade Ultimate.

The Best Sombra Playstyle

The main aspect to consider when playing as Sombra is that her role on your team is always going to be as a flanker who will be acting as the backbone of the team. She is mostly a situational hero but as long as you know the layout of the map, especially the med kit locations and infrastructure, then anyone can learn to master Sombra in the game with the right mindset.

At the start of each match, we suggest immediately activating Stealth and rushing to the nearby health packs, and hacking them while placing your Translocator directly near or on top of them. You will need to carefully maneuver during that time to pinpoint enemies and hack them.

We highly recommend targeting supports such as Baptiste and Moira as they are highly dependent on their abilities and, in general, should be your main priority foes so that your team can gain an advantage over the opposition without any healing on their back lines.

Sombra is an excellent Flanker in the sense that you can keep up with her short cooldowns and synergize with your teammates. Tickling or annoying large health pool enemies with her machine pistol and then using the Translocator to get out of harm’s way is a great way to cause helpful distractions. From our experience of using her in multiple matches, squishy heroes such as Tracer are another easy prey to take down.

If any of the enemy heroes somehow reach your team, you can easily hack them amidst the chaos and cause them to die an easy death. Ideally, you can also charge up your EMP ultimate by causing damage to tanks on the enemy team, which is a great way to get it up during the beginning moments of the match.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that Sombra’s passive ability, called the “Opportunist,” will let you and your teammates detect weakened heroes from a fair distance. It will also allow you to deal 40 percent more damage to hacked foes hence why it becomes even more consequential to always hack your enemies before engaging them. You can also read our following tips and tricks for Sombra to optimally use her in the game:

• You can use the Translocator to gain the height advantage over the enemy by throwing it over rooftops or higher vantage points, making it easier to view the battlefield and plan out your next moves.
• Flank the enemy while in Stealth to hack their healers; as soon as you do that, quickly mow them down using the machine pistol and get out of there using the Translocator before you get killed.
• Chances are, when you are fighting against the enemy tank, they will be focused on your teammates, so observe the situation and hack them in order for you to assist with the takedown.
• Make sure to have at least two health packs hacked at all times, as well as be aware of their locations on most of the maps so you can effectively use them to keep Sombra and her teammates healthy.

Changes Of Sombra In Overwatch 2

Sombra has received quite an overhaul in terms of her cooldowns and abilities in the sequel, making her helpful since she was considered mostly an average hero when compared to other DPS powerhouses. The following is the major list of changes to her arsenal in Overwatch 2 from the original game:

• Sombra can use her Translocator and Hack abilities without canceling the effects of the Stealth mode.
• The hack ability’s cast time has been increased from 0.65 to 0.85 seconds.
• All hacked enemies are now visible to Sombra’s allies throughout its effect on them, similar to Widowmaker’s infrasight wallhack ultimate.
• The “Opportunist” passive ability has received a slight change where Sombra can now deal 40 percent more damage to hacked enemies.
• The total duration of hacked med packs has been reduced from 60 to 30 seconds.
• The sprint speed of Sombra whilst in Stealth has been reduced from 65 to 50 percent.
• The detection range for Stealth has been increased from a distance of 2 to now 4 meters.
• Lastly, Sombra’s EMP can now wound enemies for up to 40 percent of their total health.

This wraps up our detailed guide on the abilities and playstyle of Sombra in Overwatch 2, who has now received a plethora of changes to make her stand out among the rest of the characters in the game.

She is a fairly complex character that had minimal usage during her time in overwatch 1, but now with the revamped changes made to her kit in the sequel, Blizzard hopes to see a rise in players using her to add a new ounce of meta in the different game modes.

There are quite a few Best DPS characters in Overwatch 2, but only a handful may stand out as appealing, such as Tracer, Genji, and Doomfist are all extraordinary heroes. Not a fan of those? Well, worry not, as we have also covered detailed guides for the Best Tank Characters and Best Support Heroes in the game too. If you are a newcomer to the franchise, then be sure to read our comprehensive list of the Best tips and tricks in Overwatch 2.

Next: Overwatch 2: Best Controller Settings