Overwatch 2 Season 7, officially called Rise of Darkness, has brought with it the ability rework of an iconic character for the franchise. Stick around in this guide if you want the best Overwatch 2 Sombra hero guide to help you dominate her new tools.
Sombra has been a staple character in Overwatch, being the second-ever DLC character to be released all the way back in 2016 after the support hero Ana. She's gone through multiple revisions, and as we've mentioned, the latest one has arrived with Rise of Darkness.
If you want to learn how to play as the revamped Mexican hacker then we've got you covered with this Sombra hero guide. We also have guides for other DPS heroes like Genji and even supports such as Kiriko so be sure to check those out!
click to enlargeAll Sombra abilities in Overwatch 2
First, let's see how the new Sombra works.
Weapon and ultimate
- Machine pistol - Short-range automatic weapon
- Ultimate: EMP - Deal damage to all nearby enemies equal to percentage of their current health, hacking them and destroying barriers around you
Abilities
- Hack - Hold to hack. Hacked enemies cannot use abilities and can be seen through walls. Hacked health packs spawn faster and can't be used by enemies. Taking damage interrupts the hack attempt.
- Virus - Infect enemies with a projectile that deals damage over time. Virus damages hacked enemies at a faster rate
- Translocator - Throw a beacon and teleport to it. Stealth cooldown is reduced after teleporting
Passive
- Stealth - When out of combat, become invisible and move faster
The ability Opportunist that allowed Sombra to see enemies with less than 50% HP through walls and deal extra damage to them has been removed.
In its place, we got Stealth, which will let Sombra go back to a playstyle that she used to have before Overwatch 2. Furthermore, she also has a skill shot now, Virus, which can do wonders on hacked enemies and serves as a substitute for her Opportunist damage buff.
Sombra hero guide - How to play
As mentioned, Sombra's will have to be less aggressive now because their overall damage output could be reduced considering that hacked enemies won't take that extra 25% damage.
On top of that, the new Stealth passive will make it so Sombra's move faster and are more sneaky when it comes to setting team fights. Sadly, since you won't be able to stop enemies with low health anymore, coordination and team synergy will be key more than ever.
If you remember the Sombra before her past rework, you'll remember her gameplay loop used to be similar to what we're theorising it'll become once more. You can gain space and a unique advantage for your teammates by hacking mini and mega health packs on key sectors of a map.
Then, try harassing a specific target and set up a dive with your team since solo killing someone will be harder. That is unless you have your Virus ability on-lock. With her EMP taking down barriers now, it's the perfect way to get your team to go completely aggro.
Be wary of supports that will try to counter your EMP by splitting themselves off from their teammates. We recommend that you try to get a manual hack on them before making a move for the big EMP ultimate.
A thing a lot of high-level Sombras do is going for a solo hack on a support and then throwing their translocator right into the rest of the enemy team for a massive surprise EMP. You'll need your team to have your back so this is only recommended if you're on a very coordinated squad.
And that's it for our Sombra hero guide! We'll have more content in the future. In the meantime, check out how the end of the Overwatch League could come sooner than expected.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Guides and Overwatch 2 page.