Overwatch Hero Guide – How to Play Symmetra

Symmetra is considered a support class in Overwatch, but our Hero Guide will help you understand that she’s not a support in the same sense as Lucio, Mercy or Zenyatta. While Symmetra doesn’t heal her teammates, she increases mobility, shields and offers more utility than most other heroes on the game. She also gets very annoying to the opposing team with an array of turrets that can be used in a variety of ways.

Photon Projector

The Photon Projector has two different firing modes. The first is a stream of energy that charges up Symmetra’s ultimate ability while draining the health of her target. The longer the beam is attached to an enemy, the faster health is drained. If an opponent doesn’t get away from you quickly, they won’t last very long against this attack.

The secondary fire option allows Symmetra to charge up a large, slow-moving blast from the Photon Projector. While some players like to use this attack from a distance, it’s not very effective that way. It’s extremely easy to avoid and can be seen coming with ease. The best way to use this attack is when you need to clear an enemy team out of an objective. Fire off a charged blast into the center of the opposing team and they’ll either eat significant damage or have to scatter to either side.

Photon Shield

Symmetra’s Photon Shield gives an allied target a regenerating shield that lasts until the target dies. It doesn’t have a long cooldown, which means that you should make sure each party member has a shield at all times. When someone dies, make sure to give them a shield as soon as they return to the battle. Start with the low health members of your team before working your way up to the tank. The extra shield on Zenyatta or Mercy can save them from a one-shot death in many instances.

Sentry Turret

This weaponry is how Symmetra annoys the opposing team. Symmetra has up to three sticks of Sentry Turrets at a time. You can place them on almost any surface and they’ll automatically attack any hostile forces that come within range. Once you’ve placed your stock of three turrets, you’ll have to wait for the short cooldown before you can place another one. You can have up to six turrets active at once assuming they don’t get destroyed.

It’s best to place these turrets at choke points or in places where you expect the opposing team to move through. If you’re escorting a payload you can even get away with placing a few turrets on the payload itself to score some damage on an unsuspecting enemy. Don’t think of the turrets as a way to kill enemies, think of them as a way to give your team an extra boost of damage so you can quickly finish off enemies caught in their line of fire.

Teleporter

Symmetra’s ultimate ability allows her to place a portal anywhere on the battlefield that links back to a similar portal at your team’s spawning point. This allows any fallen teammates to quickly get back to the battlefield. It’s extremely important as it limits the time your team is handicapped after an ally is killed.

It’s important to place the Teleporter in an area that’s close enough to the battle to be useful, but off the beaten path so that the opposing team doesn’t find it. The other team will be notified when Symmetra places a Teleporter, and if they’re smart they will go looking for it. In addition, once six allied players have passed through the Teleporter, it will collapse and Symmetra will have to activate a new one.

If you’re looking for a character with a bit more offensive power, check out Genji, Soldier 76 or one of the other characters in our Overwatch Hero Guide.