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Sombra
"In my world, there are no secrets."

Real Name
Olivia Colomar[1]
Status
Alive
Birth
December 31st
Age
32 (Overwatch 2)
30 (Overwatch)
Nationality
Mexico Mexican[2]
Occupation
Hacker
Base
Dorado, Mexico
Affiliation
Los Muertos (formerly)
Talon (currently)
Carolina Ravassa (English)

Emmanuelle Rivière (French)
Lara Trautmann (German)
Tiziana Martello (Italian)
Chiwa Saitō (Japanese)
Kim Yeon-u (Korean)
Shourei (Mainland Mandarin)
Lin Fang-syue (Taiwanese Mandarin)
Anna Cieślak (Polish)
Carol Crespo (Brazilian Portuguese)
Veronika Sarkisova (Russian)
Anahí de la Fuente (European Spanish)
Lourdes Arruti (Latin American Spanish)

Cosmetics
Cosmetic page
Quotes
Quotation page
Role
Damage
Health
225
Character Video

Sombra is a Damage hero in Overwatch. Released on 15 November 2016, she is the 23rd hero added to the game.

Overview

Stealth and debilitating attacks make Sombra a powerful infiltrator. She is the archetypal technomancer of Overwatch the same way Widowmaker is the archetypal sniper. Her hacking can disrupt her enemies, ensuring they're easier to take out, while her EMP provides the upper hand against multiple foes at once. Sombra’s ability to Translocate and camouflage herself makes her a hard target to pin down.[3]

Abilities

Role: Damage
Hero-ability-circle
OffenseIcon
Type
Passive Ability
Damaging an enemy temporarily reduces their healing received.
Healing modification:
-25% received (non-tanks)
-12.5% received (tanks)
Duration:
2 seconds

Ability details:
  • Does not stack with itself or the passive from another damage role hero.
  • Stacks multiplicatively with other modifiers that affect healing received.
  • Objects that deal damage, such as turrets, may also apply the effect.
  • Self-damage does not apply the effect.


Opportunist
Hero-ability-circle
Ability Sombra Opportunist
Type
Passive Ability
You detect critically injured enemies through walls, and deal more damage to hacked enemies.
Sombra deals more damage to hacked targets and detects critically injured enemies through walls.

Ability details:
  • Deal 20% more damage to hacked targets.
  • Opportunist detects enemies below 50% health.
  • The silhouette has a glowing effect to it, different from other wall vision effects.
  • Reveals enemy health bars that are below 100% to Sombra only, without requiring Sombra to have dealt any damage to them.
  • Can benefit from Hack effect applied by another friendly Sombra.


Machine Pistol
Key mouse 1
Hero-ability-circle
Ability Sombra Machine Pistol
Type
Weapon
Effect Type
Hitscan Hitscan
Blocked by barriers.
Ignores barriers.
Blocked by Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Ignores Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Blocked by Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Ignores Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Affected by damage boosts.
Ignores damage boosts.
Affected by Amplification Matrix.
Ignores Amplification Matrix.
Short-range automatic weapon.
Damage:
8 - 2.4
Falloff range:
15 - 35 meters
Headshot:
✓ (x2)
Rate of fire:
20 shots/s
Ammo:
60
Reload time:
1.2 seconds animation
Spread angle:
0 - 2.16 degrees
Projectile radius:
0.05 meters
Sombra’s fully-automatic machine pistol fires in a short-range spread.

Ability details:
  • Damage per second: 160 while firing (114.3 overall w/reload)
  • Maximum spread is reached after 6 shots.
  • If primary fire is released there is a 0.16 seconds recovery period before it can be used again.

Example Video


Hack
Key mouse 2
Hero-ability-circle
Ability Sombra Hack
6 seconds (heroes)
3 seconds (non-heroes)
Type
Ability
Effect Type
Targeted Targeted
Blocked by barriers.
Ignores barriers.
Blocked by Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Ignores Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Blocked by Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Ignores Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Affected by damage boosts.
Ignores damage boosts.
Affected by Amplification Matrix.
Ignores Amplification Matrix.
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.
Cast time:
0.65 + 0.4 seconds
Duration:
8 seconds (reveal, heroes)
1.0 seconds (ability disable, heroes)
45 seconds (health packs)
10 seconds (disable, objects)
3 seconds (disable, Ability-ashe4 B.O.B.)
Max. range:
15 meters
Sombra hacks enemies to temporarily stop them from using their abilities, or hacks first aid kits to make them useless to her opponents.

Ability details:
  • Hack can target heroes, health packs and most enemy objects.
  • Hack goes on a shorter 3 second cooldown if a non-player unit is hacked or if Hack is interrupted by taking damage.
    • If Hack is interrupted without taking any damage, it does not go on cooldown.
  • Hack cannot be used on an enemy that is already hacked. This refers to the duration of the reveal debuff rather than the ability lock.
  • Using Hack on enemy objects or health packs doesn't end Stealth, but instead reveals Sombra to nearby enemies.
    • Using Hack on enemy heroes will exit Stealth, however.
  • An unobstructed line of sight to the target is required for the entirety of the startup animation. Barriers break line of sight instantly. Walls also break line of sight, but there is a brief grace period where Hack can continue.
  • Hacked heroes cannot activate their abilities for 1 second and are revealed to Sombra's team for 8 seconds.
  • Hacked Health Packs respawn four times faster — 2.5 seconds for small Health Packs, 3.75 seconds for mega Health Packs — and can be seen through walls to all allies within 30 meters. Hacked Health Packs cannot be used by the enemy team.
    • Healing from hacked Health Packs is credited to Sombra in the scoreboard, but she does not gain any ultimate charge from it.
    • Health Packs cannot be hacked before the round starts.
    • Sombra cannot hack Health Packs that have already been hacked by an enemy Sombra.
  • Following objects can be hacked, either disabling them briefly or completely destroying them.
  • Non-heroes that are hacked have a skull above them that drains over time. This represents the duration of the hack.
  • Hacked can be removed by Zarya's Ability-zarya3 Particle/Projected Barrier, Zenyatta's Ability-zenyatta4 Transcendence or abilities that grant phased out status, such as Ability-reaper2 Wraith Form and Protection Suzu Icon Protection Suzu.

Example Video


Virus
LSHIFT
Hero-ability-circle
Ability Sombra Virus
6 seconds
Type
Ability
Effect Type
Projectile Projectile
Blocked by barriers.
Ignores barriers.
Blocked by Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Ignores Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Blocked by Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Ignores Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Affected by damage boosts.
Ignores damage boosts.
!
Partially affected by Amplification Matrix.
Ignores Amplification Matrix.
Infect enemies with a projectile that deals damage over time. Virus damages hacked targets at a faster rate.
Damage:
35 (impact, normal)
70 (impact, hacked)
75 (DoT)
Headshot:
Cast time:
0.06 + 0.38 seconds
Duration:
4 seconds (normal)
2 seconds (hacked)
Projectile speed:
51 m/s
Projectile radius:
0.5 meters

Ability details:
  • Virus's impact damage on hacked targets is doubled and the damage over time is dealt at double rate if the target is hacked.
    • The total DoT amount remains the same whether the target is hacked or not or if they become hacked or lose the debuff after the ability has impacted, but the rate and duration of the effect are adjusted accordingly.
    • The hacked effect does not have to be from the same Sombra that applied the Virus. For example, hitting Virus on a target hacked by Echo that has copied Sombra also triggers the benefits.
  • Objects can also be damaged, and if they are hackable, they can also be damaged faster.
  • Virus cannot headshot. However, eliminating a hacked hero with the impact damage shows in the kill feed as a critical hit.
  • Impact damage is affected by Baptiste-ability4 Amplification Matrix but damage over time is not.
  • Virus does not benefit from Opportunist, but does from Hack.


Translocator
E
Hero-ability-circle
Ability Sombra Translocator
6 seconds
Type
Ability
Effect Type
Arcing projectile Arcing projectile
Movement Movement
Blocked by barriers.
Ignores barriers.
Blocked by Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Ignores Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Blocked by Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Ignores Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Affected by damage boosts.
Ignores damage boosts.
Affected by Amplification Matrix.
Ignores Amplification Matrix.
Throw a beacon and teleport to it. Become stealthed for a short duration after teleporting.
Cast time:
0 + 0.4 seconds
Duration:
0.25 seconds (teleport delay)
0.4 seconds (invulnerability)
5 seconds (invisibility)
Area of effect:
4 meter radius (detection)
Mov. speed buff:
+60%
Projectile speed:
72 m/s
Sombra tosses out a translocator beacon. She can instantly return to the beacon’s location while it is active (including when it’s in mid-flight).

Ability details:
  • Cooldown for Translocator begins upon teleporting to it.
  • Once thrown, the translocator activates immediately upon colliding with terrain or a terrain-like object, such as Ability-mei3 Ice Wall, or after 0.25 seconds have passed.
    • This results in effective range of 18 meters along the trajectory.
    • Translocator destroys breakables, such as fences, while in flight and does not activate upon hitting them.
  • The translocator cannot be damaged, and it does not collide with heroes or objects.
  • Being stunned, knocked down, hacked, rooted or hindered prevents Translocator from being used.
    • If Sombra becomes is affected by aforementioned effects (including Ability-Roadhog3 Chain Hook and Ability-reinhardt3 Charge) or caught in Ability-zarya4 Graviton Surge while the Translocator is in air, the teleport will go through and the negative effects will be removed.
    • If Sombra becomes affected by Sigma's Abilities-sigma5 Gravitic Flux, the teleport goes through but its effects will not be removed.
  • Translocator cannot be used while pulled by Life Grip Icon Life Grip.
    • If Sombra was pulled while Translocator is in air, she will still teleport to it, interrupting the pull.
  • Sombra becomes phased out for 0.4 seconds after teleporting, making her immune to damage as well as removing and preventing most negative effects.
  • After teleporting, Sombra gains stealth after a 0.25 second fade out period. Once the duration ends or stealth is interrupted it has a 0.15 second fade in period. Sombra is partially visible while fading in/out.
  • Stealth is interrupted if Sombra uses primary fire, quick melee, Ability Sombra Virus Virus, Ability Sombra EMP EMP, or tries to Ability Sombra Hack hack an enemy hero.
    • These actions will immediately cause Sombra to start to fade in upon the key press, but they will not be initiated, unless the key is held or pressed again once Sombra has completely faded in.
      • There is no fade in delay if stealth is broken within 0.75 seconds of entering stealth.
  • Sombra becomes "revealed" if she uses Ability Sombra Hack Hack, takes damage or can be seen through abilities, such as Ability-hanzo2 Sonic Arrow or Ability-widowmaker4 Infra-Sight. When revealed, Sombra will remain in stealth, but Sombra is visible to the entire enemy team. This is indicated by a "REVEALED" message shown at the top of Sombra's screen.
    • Taking damage reveals Sombra for 1 second.
  • If an enemy hero comes within 4 meters of Sombra, they can "detect" Sombra. When detected, Sombra will remain stealthed, but is visible to that specific enemy hero. This is indicated by a "DETECTED!" message, shown at the top of Sombra's screen.
  • Targeted Targeted enemy abilities and following auto-targeting attacks cannot target Sombra, unless she is detected by the player or revealed: Ability-mccree4 Deadeye, Icon-ability.tacticalvisor Tactical Visor, Ability Moira Biotic Grasp Alt fire Biotic Grasp Alt Fire and Ability Moira Biotic Orb Biotic Orb (damage).
    • Zenyatta's Orb of Discord will remain attached to Sombra while she is stealthed, as long as there are no obstacles between them, but it will not indicate her location. However, Translocator's teleportation will remove the effect if it was applied before it.
  • Following enemy objects cannot auto-target Sombra, unless she has been revealed: Ability-symmetra2 Sentry Turret or Ability-ashe4 B.O.B..
  • Torbjörn's Ability-torbjorn3 Turret can only attack Sombra when she is out of stealth.
  • Sombra can activate Petal Platform Icon Petal Platform while stealthed.
  • Sombra cannot contest map objectives while stealthed.
    • If Sombra enters the objective area stealthed, she will remain in stealth.
  • Stealth's movement speed buff does not count towards global movement speed buff cap.
  • Movement speed buff is tied to the stealth effect. The buff is retained while detected or revealed, but ends if stealth is interrupted.

Example Video


EMP
Q
Hero-ability-circle
Ability Sombra EMP
1850 points
Type
Ultimate Ability
Effect Type
Area of effect Area of effect
Blocked by barriers.
Ignores barriers.
Blocked by Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Ignores Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Blocked by Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Ignores Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Affected by damage boosts.
Ignores damage boosts.
Affected by Amplification Matrix.
Ignores Amplification Matrix.
Deal damage to all nearby enemies based on their current health, hacking them and destroying barriers around you.
Damage:
25% of current health
Headshot:
Cast time:
0.3 + 0.34 seconds
Duration:
8 seconds (reveal, heroes)
3 seconds (ability disable, heroes)
45 seconds (health packs)
10 seconds (disable, objects)
Area of effect:
15 meters
Sombra discharges electromagnetic energy in a wide radius, damaging shields, health, and hacking all opponents caught in the blast.

Ability details:
  • EMP is line of sight blocked by terrain.
  • EMP completely destroys all barriers, including Photon Barrier Photon Barrier, and Baptiste's Baptiste-ability4 Amplification Matrix.
    • If Zarya projects a barrier on a target with shields (e.g. herself), the barrier protects the health and the player will not be hacked.
  • In addition to the objects that can be hacked by Ability Sombra Hack Hack, EMP also hacks Symmetra's Ability-symmetra2 Sentry Turrets and Ability-symmetra4 Teleporter, Mei's Ability-mei4 Blizzard and Wrecking Ball's Minefield Proximity Mines, disabling them for 10 seconds. They must be within Sombra's line of sight, ignoring barriers. Refer to Objects#List of objects for a complete list.
    • Some objects, such as Tree of Life Icon Tree of Life, cannot be hacked but may still be damaged by EMP.
    • Mei's Ability-mei3 Ice Wall is completely unaffected by EMP.
  • Unlike other ultimate abilities Sombra alerts her entire team regardless of distance from her that she had used her EMP. This is done by a radio transmission sounding "EMP activated."
  • Sombra can start gaining ultimate charge after 5 seconds of using EMP.
  • Sombra receives a small vertical boost from activating EMP.

Example Video


Hero-specific options

Setting name Options Description
Hack sensitivity 10% ... 100% (default: 100%) Adjusts the targeting sensitivity of Hack. Setting this to a lower value reduces the maximum view angle for acquiring a target.
Toggle Hack Off (default) Hack deactivates when player stops holding the button.
On Hack deactivates when player presses the button again.
Hide stealth detection ring Off (default) Stealth detection ring is present when in stealth.
On Stealth detection ring is hidden when in stealth.
Disable translocator camera lock Off (default) The camera locks in place during the translocator's teleport.
On The camera does not lock in place during the translocator's teleport.


Strategy

Stealth and debilitating attacks makes Sombra a powerful infiltrator. Her hacking can disrupt her enemies, ensuring that they're easier to take out, while her EMP provides the upper hand against multiple foes at once. Sombra’s ability to Translocate and camouflage herself makes her a hard target to pin down. She lacks alternative means of dealing damage, so using Hack can help even the odds between Sombra and her opponents.

Weapons & Abilities

  • Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo Stealth (passive): This is the main method for Sombra to infiltrate the enemy team. She will cloak herself and enter into an invisible status with increased movement speed. Any offensive actions, emotes, or taking any amount of damage will break the invisibility.
    • Sometimes using the speed boost is more important than the invisibility itself; you can use it to run towards objectives and rely on your Translocator to get you out of danger instead.
    • There is a somewhat lengthy period between when Sombra breaks out of stealth and when she can act. When you intend to cancel your camouflage, know that you will be vulnerable for this time, so choose your location carefully.
    • Most friendly buffs will not reveal Sombra's location, but Zarya's bubble does (and possibly some other buffs). Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about this except communicate with your team.
  • Ability Sombra Machine Pistol Machine Pistol: Sombra's primary weapon. Her Machine Pistol shoots in a very fast fire-rate and has a large magazine. It has a large spread and deals little damage per shot. The gun works best in short-range combat, as it has damage falloff around mid-range.
    • While the Machine Pistol is lacking in accuracy at range, it makes up for that in magazine size and fire rate. Sombra can unload onto close-range targets and dispatch them with ease, especially when aiming for headshots.
    • The Machine Pistol's reload is finished slightly after Sombra inserts the magazine into the gun, not after the animation completes.
    • Early reloading of the Machine Pistol can be cancelled by activating Hack during the reload animation.
  • Ability Sombra Virus Virus: Sombra's alternative source of damage. Sombra throws a projectile at an enemy target or object dealing minor impact damage, but good damage over time. However, a hacked target will take increased impact damage and quicker damage over time.
    • It's best to use it at close range, where it's a bit trickier to dodge it than mid- to long-range. Also, you can quickly follow up with damage from your Machine Pistol.
    • The increase damage over time occurs regardless of when you hack the target. Though it's preferable to hack the target first and then follow up with Virus to maximize your damage output and benefit from the increased impact damage.
  • Ability Sombra Hack Hack: Sombra's key ability. The Hack can be performed by pressing secondary fire towards a target, taking a few moments to finish. After Sombra finishes the Hack, the enemy will have their abilities disabled for a few seconds. Sombra can also hack health packs to make them respawn even faster while simultaneously preventing the enemy from using it. Sustaining any amount of damage during the activation of Hack will interrupt the ability.
    • Since Hack will notify your target of your presence, it can sometimes be better not to do it, even if it will make them weaker. Bastion in Sentry mode is a good example of where it may be more valuable to just go straight for the kill.
    • Priortizing who to Hack is a core part of mastering the ability. Try to think of who would be the most affected by a Hack, and keep in mind that it also highly depends on the current situation. Instead of a support hero such as Mercy or Ana — perhaps there is a Genji harassing your backline that your team is having trouble pinning down, or you've spotted a hiding Reaper who may have his Ultimate ready.
    • Don't underestimate the power of hacking Health packs; although it no longer generates ultimate charge, they still respawn quicker and are unusable by the enemy. However, it is important to prioritize hacking packs based on their use by your teammates and/or denying their use from the enemy team.
  • Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator: Sombra will throw a beacon in an arc, that teleports her to its location after a small delay or if it collides with terrain.
    • Sombra is briefly invulnerable after teleporting. This can be used to remove negative effects from her, such as damage over time effects, or if timed well, dodge telegraphed damaging abilities, like Ability-dva4 Self-Destruct.
    • When Sombra recalls, a visual effect displays the direction of her teleport, as well as showing at the point of her recall.
    • Don't be afraid to use the translocator as more than a means of escape; it provides Sombra with some of the best mobility in the game. Use it to take the high ground mid-fight to throw off your opponent's aim or to avoid important cool-downs such as Helix Rocket or Chain Hook and turn the fight in your favor. It can also open hack opportunities that might otherwise be difficult to secure, such as hacking a flying Pharah.
  • Ability Sombra EMP EMP (Ultimate): Sombra's ultimate ability. Sombra discharges her energy and creates a blast in a large radius around herself. All enemies within the blast will be Hacked and unable to use any abilities for a few more seconds than her Hack. Any active barrier from enemies will be destroyed.
    • EMP is able to pierce through barriers to hack multiple targets, and hack all health packs in the area of effect.
    • EMP's blast doesn't go through walls, floors, ceilings, or solid objects. Keep this in mind when moving into position to activate EMP.
    • EMP is an excellent "initiator" ability; it should be the first ultimate to be used during a team fight, as it can leave the enemy team with no abilities or barriers to escape or protect them from your teammates' ultimates.
    • EMP has a variety of potential uses. Identify the most valuble use for the EMP before popping it. Using it as an initiation ult can be effective, but if you miss the enemy Zenyatta, he may cancel out your push by using his Transcendence.
    • Determine whether or not you need to use your Translocator to pull off an EMP or save it to reposition after your ult. Sometimes you can simply drop from high ground, use EMP and then translocate back and fight from above.
    • Coordination is key to ensure that your teammates are in position and have their abilities ready to follow-up on your EMP, lest you waste it and only inconvenience the enemy team.

General strategies

  • Choose fights carefully. Sombra requires planning before taking engagements to maximize her chances. If you're going for a backline kill, determine your target ahead of time and consider if and how many of the enemy team can potentially one-shot you. Heroes like Cassidy and Roadhog can often stun and kill you before you are able to escape.
  • Timing is critical for Sombra. Engaging when your team is not fighting the enemy means more opponents can freely target you. If you're planning a distraction, use your team's outlines to determine if they are in position to capitilize. Communicating who you have lured away from the choke is also useful for your team.
  • Adaptability is also crucial for Sombra. You need to be able to recognize when you need to remain back with your team to peel an enemy flanker like Genji, to infiltrate the backlines and land a critical hack, or to constantly pressure the enemy team by contesting the objective and pulling them from the choke. Often you will switch between all of these styles in the same match. Keeping tabs on what the enemy is running, the kill feed, and your own team's communication is key to determining what you need to be doing.
  • Sombra's stealth and translocator allow her to get behind enemy lines easier than any hero. Getting the jump on an enemy Widowmaker or taking down Reinhardt's shield with a good Hack can mean all the difference when trying to take a point. Remember, however, that she cannot take on a whole team by herself. Be sure to communicate with your team so they can jump in after you've done your piece.
  • Highground is very useful for Sombra, try to utilize it as frequently as you can. It acts as a sort of defense against some heroes and it is easier to pull off hacks from above. Additionally, Sombra's gun is deceptive — its range and spread is good enough to fight from the high ground, and the angle will help you land headshots.
  • If Sombra takes any damage of any kind, stealth is instantly broken. As such, try to avoid running through fights while invisible; you may get caught in the crossfire and become exposed as a result. Coming within 4 meters of enemies will cause you to be detected, allowing nearby enemies to see you.
  • Sombra is highly reliant on her teammates to capitalize on her abilities during team fights. Communicating with your teammates on enemies with low HP, your intended hack target, and when you are going to use EMP is necessary to realize her full potential during team play.

Match-Ups and Team Synergy

Tank

Hero Match-Up Team Synergy
Icon-dva
D.Va
A battle against D.Va all comes down to whether or not you land a hack. If you hack the D.Va, she's rendered useless, a slow brick with pitiful gunfire that can't fly or negate attacks. Even in a one-on-one fight, a hacked D.Va is easy prey. Should the D.Va catch you before you land the hack, though, you will have more difficulty fighting her. However, if you hang back behind your team, you can usually hack D.Va while she's distracted, as she'll often be using her Defense Matrix before being able to react to your hack. Just be wary that D.Va has much higher health than you, and if you fail to hack her in a one-on-one fight, a skilled D.Va can easily track you down and take you out, regardless of whether you Translocate (since she can just follow your trail of light). Shattering enemy barriers with your EMP can pave the way for a full team wipe with D.Va's Self-Destruct. In general, it's better to have the D.Va use her ability before yours; this way, the enemy team will more likely huddle around a barrier for you to break with EMP and not be able to react in time, whereas if you activate EMP first, they'll be more likely to split apart and flee.
Icon-orisa
Orisa
Hacking Orisa unfortunately doesn't have quite the same impact as Hacking other Tanks does. All you remove is her ability to activate Fortify and Javelin Spin, but her high health and Fusion Driver primary attack can help her fend for herself even once hacked. Even so, Orisa struggles with being engaged from multiple directions, so flanking her can greatly hinder her if she doesn't have teammates watching her back. Orisa's Terra Surge is the single easiest Ultimate in the game to interrupt with a Hack, so keep an eye on her if you suspect it's charged. Sombra has no notable team synergy with Orisa.
Icon-reinhardt
Reinhardt
Reinhardt is by far one of Sombra's easiest marks. While you can't hack through his shield, it's simple enough through stealth to get behind or above him to perform a hack, at which point he becomes nearly useless, allowing your previously held back team to move in and steamroll the opposition. At close range he may be dangerous, but it's incredibly simple to toss your Translocator and flee his low range. Even Fire Strike is easy enough to avoid if you see it coming. When activating EMP, Reinhardt should always be one of your top priorities to hit with it. Not only does EMP negate his abilities as usual, but if his shield is active at the time it will be destroyed. Even if he survives the following assault, his shield will have incredibly low health, making him an easy target. One of the only counters to Reinhardt's powerful Earthshatter Ultimate is an enemy barrier. With that in mind, hacking an enemy Reinhardt or performing an EMP to shatter all barriers in the vicinity can pave the way for your allied Reinhardt to smash the enemy team.
Icon-roadhog
Roadhog
If you're hooked by Roadhog, you're easy pickings. However, if you manage to hack him, like all Tanks he becomes much easier to handle. Losing his Hook and Take a Breather makes him a large target with a short range and a low clip size. However, he still has sizable health, which may make it difficult to kill him before your hack wears off or if he has a friendly healer nearby. With your stealth abilities, it should be easy enough to hack him before he can notice you. Even when hacked, his Scrap Gun can still deal heavy damage, so be wary and try to avoid its fire. Your Machine Pistol's large spread means you'll need to fight Roadhog rather close to effectively damage him, which is where he's more comfortable. Try to converge on him with your team when he's hacked, or keep your distance so he can't deal heavy damage to you. Hacking him during Whole Hog will cancel the ability completely, so try to land a quick hack while he's facing away from you. Using hack or EMP to nullify an enemy barrier can help your Roadhog plow through them with his Whole Hog Ultimate. This will also make it easier for him to hook opponents who may have been protected by barriers.
Icon-sigma
Sigma
Hacking Sigma leaves him unable to reposition Experimental Barrier, but even when hacked his Hyperspheres deal massive damage, so be wary around him. When he is activating Kinetic Grasp, though, he's prone to a quick and easy Hack. Gravitic Flux can be cancelled with Hack or EMP within the cast animation, before he places the ultimate. Hacking or using EMP on enemies can reduce their ability to flee or deploy barriers, which can help a friendly Sigma grab them all with his Gravitic Flux. Also, flankers will see Sigma as a prime target to harass, so if you stay by him and hack any flankers that come his way, you should both be able to quickly eliminate them.
Icon-wrecking ball
Wrecking Ball
You are one of Wrecking Ball's greatest counters, and one of his greatest nightmares. Wrecking Ball's strength comes from his ability to quickly barrel through an enemy, disrupt them, and flee. By Hacking him, you force him out of his ball and strip him of his mobility, making him a big slow target for you and your team to snuff out. Be sure your team quickly kills him once he's hacked, though, because as soon as his Hack wears off he's certain to attempt a quick getaway. In addition to removing his mobility, EMP will also strip him of any shields that he may have active from Adaptive Shield. In a pinch, a Hack or EMP can shut down the mines of his Minefield. Triggering EMP over a hoard of enemies huddling under a barrier can help ensure that a friendly Wrecking Ball's Minefield hits as many opponents as possible.
Icon-winston
Winston
Due to Winston's constant mobility, it will be more difficult for you to go unnoticed than it would be with other Tanks. His Barrier Projector blocks hacking just like Reinhardt's shield, but unlike Reinhardt, Winston's shield covers him in a 360 degree radius, making it more difficult to sneak behind him and hack him. If you manage to begin a hack on Winston, it's very simple for him to jump away to avoid the hack, and if his jump is on cooldown, he'll usually be close enough during your hack to retaliate with his Tesla Cannon, nullifying the hack. Even if you hack him, his Tesla Cannon will track your movements, making combat with him very difficult. Hacking during Primal Rage won't negate it, but it will stop him from using his Jump Pack, rendering him much less volatile. If you hack an overextending Winston nearer the end of his ultimate, he will be unable to escape or redeploy his barrier, and will usually be easy pickings for your team. On the plus side, EMP will immediately destroy a projected barrier. Still, overall you should keep away from Winston if you can and let your more well-equipped teammates handle him. Hacking mobile heroes or heroes with barrier abilities can help a friendly Winston keep a bead on them and finish them off.
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Zarya
Hacking Zarya strips her of her shielding abilities. Not only does this nullify her defense, but by removing her ability to charge her gun, it also indirectly weakens her offense as well. Once she's been hacked, she's still more of a formidable foe than the likes of Reinhardt or D.Va, but she's still generally rather easy to handle. EMP not only destroys her active barriers, but it also also eliminates her shields, making her much easier to kill, although she does gain 40 energy per barrier destroyed by EMP. Keep in mind that Zarya can't be targeted by Hack while she has a barrier up, so just back off and wait until the barrier dissipates before performing the hack. A cluster of enemies gathered by Graviton Surge are easy prey for a massive EMP. Be wary of enemy Zenyattas, though, who will instinctively activate Transcendence once his team is grabbed by a Graviton Surge. If the enemy team has a Zenyatta, it's often better to hack him or use EMP before your Zarya activates Graviton Surge, which will keep him from activating Transcendence and secure a team wipe for your allies.

Damage

Hero Match-Up Team Synergy
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Ashe
At a range and up close, Ashe is a very threatening opponent to fight. Hacking her has little impact, as most of her power comes from her impressive rifle. In general it's best to stay out of her line of sight and focus on other opponents to Hack. When Ashe deploys BOB, though, you can Hack him to completely shut him down, an incredibly helpful maneuver. Breaking an enemy's barriers with EMP can not only help a friendly Ashe land more accurate shots, but can also help ensure BOB has a clean line of sight to gun down your enemies.
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Bastion
The mere sight of Sombra on the enemy scoreboard can be very disruptive to Bastion gameplay. While hacking Bastion will not force him out of Assault mode, your ability to easily get behind him and shoot his core while he's in it poses a serious threat. Even if he turns around to shoot you before you can finish him off, you can continue to harass him if you can take cover fast enough, forcing him to either focus on your team and leave his back vulnerable again or waste precious transformation time trying to hunt you down (and expose his back to the rest of your team). His Ultimate is very easy for you to interrupt, so follow him if his Ultimate is ready and you see him heading for cover. Hacking or using EMP on enemies can help Bastion run them through quicker, especially tanks like D.Va or Sigma who can block an unlimited amount of fire while their abilities are available.
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Cassidy
If you wish to hack Cassidy, you'll need to catch him by surprise; otherwise, he'll be able to quickly land a shot on you to cancel the hack, if not outright kill you. Should you hack him, though, just stay close range and you should be able to take him out, as without Flashbang or Fan the Hammer, he's not as potent at close range. If the Cassidy hits you with Flashbang by surprise, you will most likely be finished off by Fan the Hammer; however, if you have a Translocator already planted elsewhere, you have a slight chance of one of his shots missing. In this scenario, mash the ability button as quickly as you can, and you may just manage to Translocate to safety. Hacking Cassidy negates Deadeye, so if you hear him activate it nearby, try to sneak up on him and hack him before he can fire. Sombra's hacks can stop tanks like Reinhardt from keeping their barriers up, allowing a friendly Cassidy to make better unblocked shots. Using EMP on a crowd of enemies hiding behind a barrier can help Cassidy wipe them all out with Deadeye.
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Doomfist
As Doomfist's power comes from comboing his abilities one after the other, you're one of his harshest counters. Land a quick Hack on him while he's focused on a teammate, and he'll become nearly defenseless. Just be sure to stick with your team when your opponents have a Doomfist, as he'll try to isolate not only your teammates if they're left alone, but also you; if you're trapped in a fight alone with Doomfist, you'll want to use your Translocator to flee as quickly as possible, because a few punches from him will quickly finish you off. As barriers will protect enemies from Doomfist's Meteor Strike, it may be helpful to use EMP to break through them to give your friendly Doomfist a clear shot.
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Echo
Hacking Echo removes her incredible mobility as well as a lot of her kill potential because she will not be able to use sticky bombs or focusing beam and will have to rely solely on her tri-shots, which your machine pistol can beat out most of the time in close to mid range combat. However, Echo is very difficult to kill if you don't get the hack off, because she can easily fly out of your effective range and burst you down, so if she thwarts your hack attempt, translocate away. Try to hack Echo out of the sky if she's flying over your teammates, as you can drop her onto them with no way to escape. In addition, if Echo ever uses Duplicate, hacking her can take away a lot of her ultimate's value as the whole point is to use the ultimate or abilities of another hero. (To be added)
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Genji
When hacked, Genji can do very little against Sombra; at the loss of his Swift Strike, Cyber Agility and Deflect, all he has are his Shuriken, which are far less effective than your Machine Pistol at close to mid range. Hacking after a Swift Strike or during Deflect is incredibly easy, as Genji is unable to attack back during the duration of the hack. You can also use your stealth abilities to get around Genji and hack him before he can notice you. When unhacked, Genji is more difficult to deal with. It's wise to have a Translocator ready at a safe location if he gets you to low health so you can warp away. If he attempts to Deflect your fire, that's a perfect time to perform a hack and seal his fate. Hacking during Dragonblade doesn't cancel his Ultimate, but it does stop him from performing Swift Strike, making the Ultimate much less potent. Hacking or using EMP on enemies can help make them easier targets for a friendly Genji, especially when he's using his Dragonblade.
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Hanzo
It's easy enough to close the gap with Hanzo with Translocator and Thermoptic Camo; the problem is fighting him once you've done so. Even if you hack him, that only removes his trick arrows, and his primary fire is still powerful enough to handle himself in a fight. Try to jump around frequently to avoid his fire, and you should be alright. Be wary of Hanzo's Sonic Arrow while camouflaged; you will receive a notice that you're being detected, so watch out for stray arrows flying your way. A quick hack can disrupt Dragonstrike, but the timing has to be precise, making this a very difficult maneuver. Hacks or an EMP can immobilize quick heroes such as Tracer or Winston, which can make them easier shots for Hanzo's standard fire as well as his Dragonstrike.
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Junkrat
Hacking Junkrat will cause him to lose his Concussion Mine and Steel Trap, but it will only take a few of his grenades to quickly kill you. If you keep your distance when attacking, though, you should be alright. If you manage to hack him while activating Rip-Tire, it will cancel Rip-Tire while consuming his Ultimate charge; however, the timing on this is extremely precise, so it's not likely you'll catch him in the act. Instead, if you hear him activating his Ultimate, your stealth and speed should make it easy to find his vulnerable body, allowing you to quickly shoot him down. His Steel Trap can be very annoying, as it can cut off your flanking routes, deny you easy access to hacked healthpacks, or perhaps worst of all, be placed over your Translocator if he finds it. Be sure to place your Translocators carefully. Removing barriers with EMP or hacking enemies such as Reinhardt can give Junkrat clearer shots with his grenades, as well as helping him hit more enemies with RIP-Tire.
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Mei
By hacking Mei, you deny her of her two greatest defensive stalling assets, her Ice Walls and Cryo-Freeze. While a Mei will normally try to stall an objective while her team regroups, hacking her makes her incredibly easy to pick off by you or your team. It helps that you can keep your distance while hacking and avoid her primary fire, and you should be able to avoid her icicle shots until she's hacked. Once she's hacked, you can quickly mow her down without breaking a sweat. Just be careful not to get too cocky; even if she's hacked, she can still freeze you solid and follow up with a headshot, so keep your fight at a distance so you won't get frozen. Have a Translocator planted nearby in case she starts freezing you. EMP can keep heroes with mobility abilities from fleeing Mei's Blizzard, and it can also disable D.Va's Defense Matrix and Sigma's Kinetic Grasp, preventing them from absorbing the projectile.
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Pharah
If you land a hack on Pharah, she'll lose her Jump Jet and Hover, rendering her a much easier target for you and your team to take out. Hacking also interrupts Barrage, so if you catch her mid-fire, you should attempt to hack her to cancel the ability. If the Pharah sees you and is fighting you off while you try to hack her, disengage and flee, as it will only take a couple of rockets to quickly snuff you out. Using Hack or EMP to nullify enemy barriers can help Pharah land more direct hits with her standard rockets and with Barrage.
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Reaper
Hacking Reaper removes all of his mobility, forcing him to walk at a slow pace. That being said, at close range, Reaper can still easily outdamage you, hacked or not. Always be sure to keep your distance from Reaper, and you should be able to handle him okay. If caught by surprise, attempt to Translocate out of the engagement rather than fighting back. You can hack him to cancel Death Blossom, but he will most likely hit you with his barrage mid-hack, so it may not be worth the attempt. Destroying enemy barriers with Hack or EMP can help clear the way for Reaper to run through your enemies with Death Blossom.
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Soldier: 76
Hacking Soldier: 76 strips him of his Helix Rockets, Biotic Field, and Sprint, but his Pulse Rifle shouldn't be underestimated. At close to mid-range, a hacked Soldier: 76 is still capable of going toe to toe with you. If he isn't hacked, he can maintain his health or quickly hit you with rockets, so be cautious. Hacking him during Tactical Visor won't cancel his ability, it will only cause him to lose the abilities previously mentioned; while losing Helix Rockets will reduce his lethality slightly, his regular fire will still be more than enough to gun down you and any unprepared teammates. Hacking or using EMP to destroy enemy barriers or reduce enemy mobility can give Soldier: 76 more clear shots with his standard gunfire and with Tactical Visor.
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Sombra
If the enemy team has a Sombra, then you'll both be competing for hacked health packs. Try to claim as many as you can; not only will this stop the enemy Sombra from hacking them, this will also refuse the enemy team of a good deal of healing while providing more healing for your team. Unless you catch the other Sombra by surprise, don't attempt to hack her, because she may be attempting to hack you too, and it's not worth the gamble to see who started the hack a split second sooner. It's better to engage with gunfire, which will stop her hack if she's attempting one on you. In a No Limits game with multiple Sombras, you can cover more ground, hack more health kits, and land more hacks on enemies. That being said, running two Sombras means having a smaller damage output than usual, which will make it difficult for your team to eliminate Hacked enemies.
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Symmetra
While you can move past Symmetra's turrets while cloaked, you're incredibly vulnerable to them if you get caught due to your low health. If you encounter Symmetra head to head, unless she's already wounded, your best chance is to fling your Translocator far away and escape. Even if you somehow manage to hack her, all you're removing is her capacity to build turrets or project a teleporter, which won't matter that much in a direct battle. If Symmetra has a teleporter active, you're an excellent candidate to sneak behind enemy lines and hunt it down. EMP will completely eradicate Photon Barrier, making your Ultimate an effective counter to hers. Sombra has no notable team synergy with Symmetra.
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Torbjörn
You can hack Torbjorn's turrets, but they must be focused on an enemy to do so (or you must hack from around a corner so it can't hit you), which is often easier said that done in a firefight. As for Torbjorn himself, all hacking will do is negate his ability to deploy a new Turret or activate Overload or Molten Core. That being said, if Torbjorn is without his turret and doesn't have Overload active, you can generally handle him in a one-on-one bout. If you're having difficulty with his Turret, EMP will completely shut it down for a brief period of time for your team to move in. Using EMP to annihilate enemy barriers can help Torbjorn's turret land more shots, as well as allow Torbjorn himself to land direct hits with his Molten Core.
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Tracer
The outcome of a battle with Tracer all comes down to who gets the drop on whom. If you manage to Hack Tracer while she's unaware, then she's child's play; without Blink or Recall, she can be gunned down in seconds. However, if she catches you by surprise, you'll be in for a much tougher fight. Her continuous fire will grant you little opportunity to perform a hack, and with Blink she has the upper hand in disorienting you. Don't forget, you have your own Recall-like ability in the form of your Translocation; if your Translocator is planted on a health kit, you can retreat from the fight at any time and heal. Otherwise, if the fight isn't going well, you can throw the Translocator to high ground where she will have difficulty chasing you down. Hacking or using EMP on enemies will make them more stationary targets for an allied Tracer to attack. If you see wounded enemies with Opportunist, inform your Tracer; she may be able to slip into the enemy's back line, eliminate them, and retreat before she can be attacked.
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Widowmaker
Like Hanzo, you can use your stealth abilities to bypass Widowmaker with little difficulty. Unlike Hanzo, however, Widowmaker is much less dangerous at close range. Even with her automatic fire, you'll generally outdamage her. If you hack her prior to the engagement, you'll remove her ability to use her Grappling Hook to escape. If you're in danger of dying, you'll always be able to Translocate to a safe location if you set up your Translocator prior to fighting the Widowmaker. Infra-Sight will allow Widowmaker's team to notice you while you're invisible; don't try to wade too far into enemy territory during its duration and stay under cover, and you should be safe. When a friendly Widowmaker's Infra-Sight is active, your team will be able to see the locations of every opponent. Since you have the ability to detect which enemies are at low health, you can call out weakened targets to eliminate one after the other.

Support

Hero Match-Up Team Synergy
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Ana
Ana doesn't have sustained fire like many other heroes, which means that even if you don't catch her by surprise, it's still pretty easy to avoid her fire to land a hack on her. Without her Sleep Dart or Biotic Grenade, all Ana has is her primary fire, which while potent even at close range, is still not enough to overpower you if you land your shots right. However, if she catches you with a Sleep Dart before you can hack her, you're as good as dead, so be cautious. Likewise, if she hits you with Biotic Grenade, it's better to escape since it will only take a shot or two from her rifle to finish you off. While a Nano-Boosted Sombra is rarely a good idea, using EMP to weaken the enemy team can help a Nano-Boosted ally more efficiently wipe them out.
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Baptiste
EMP completely destroys an active Amplification Matrix, but Hack does not. Hacking the Immortality Field's generator will temporarily disable it; in a pinch, you can use EMP to disable it and anyone nearby. As teams tend to huddle around an Immortality Field, though, this could be an easy way to Hack a good number of opponents at once, opening up a window for a powerful follow-up ultimate. Sombra has no notable team synergy with Baptiste.
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Brigitte
Hacking Brigitte will cut off her abilities that can help her fight off enemies. However, it doesn't cut off Inspire; while her self-heal from Inspire is manageable, in a group fight she'll still be more than capable of healing her team through her flail attacks. Only land a Hack on her from a safe distance or from behind a barrier, otherwise you run the risk of her quickly taking you out with a Shield Bash. If she fails to activate Inspire once she's been hacked, her huge hitbox for a support will more often than not lead to a kill. Sombra has no notable team synergy with Brigitte.
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Kiriko
Kiriko can be a massive obstacle to typical Sombra strategies. Protection Suzu can un-hack your targets or grant temporary immunity to hacking, disrupting your most useful ability. Picking her off first is no easy feat either, as she can use it on herself to block your hacking attempt, or cleanse herself of the hack after her abilities get back online to deny you your usual bonus damage against hacked targets. Her kunai can deal an unexpected fatal blow with their high critical hit damage, bursting you down before you can use your Translocator. Even picking off stray targets is risky as long as she's alive, as she can use Swift Step to reinforce them even without line of sight. Try to wait until she's distracted or her Protection Suzu is on cooldown to ambush her. Your EMP is an excellent follow up to her Kitsune Rush, and vice versa.
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Lúcio
Hacking a Lúcio turns off his auras and wallride, leaving him a sitting duck with only his primary fire. Regardless, in a 1 on 1 battle, unless Lúcio knocks you into a pit when you have no translocator down, you should be able to handle yourself fairly against him. A well-timed EMP will immediately nullify Lúcio's Sound Barrier, which can be imperative if your teammates use an Ultimate such as Gravitic Flux. Sombra has no notable team synergy with Lúcio.
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Mercy
If you land a hack on Mercy, she loses Guardian Angel, her prime method of escape. Without it, she'll be incredibly easy to gun down if her team isn't nearby to protect her. If a Mercy is in the process of using Resurrect, hacking her will cut it off and provide you and your team enough time to finish her off. Sombra has no notable team synergy with Mercy.
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Moira
Hacking Moira strips her of both Biotic Orb and Fade, her most potent abilities for fighting and survivability. Due to Biotic Grasp's lock-on ability, though, it will be difficult to complete a Hack against a Moira aware of your presence. Fade will cleanse virus, and can be used to either escape you or to pursue you. Try to Hack Moira while she is distracted; otherwise, don't attempt to engage if you're alone. Even if you do Hack her, her Biotic Grasp's self-heal may be able to keep her alive long enough to recover from your Hack. If you land a Hack on her in a team fight, you and your team can quickly finish her off. A Hack or EMP will instantly stop Coalescence, so if she activates it, stay out of her view and Hack her while her attention is focused on your team. Sombra has no notable team synergy with Moira.
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Zenyatta
Hacking Zenyatta will remove his ability to send out his Harmony or Discord orbs, though if they're already on a target they will remain so until they are returned automatically. This will reduce Zenyatta's viability, but it won't make him harmless. Even without his Discord Orb, a Zenyatta with good aim is still an even match for you. He has more advantage at a range, so try to keep the fight in close quarters, running around him and disorienting him. Zenyatta should be one of your top priority target to eliminate after activating EMP because he only left with a measly 50 Health if caught inside your Ultimate. Also, if your team is preparing a team-killing ultimate such as Graviton Flux or Graviton Surge, it's crucial to hack Zenyatta or use EMP near him so he won't be able to protect his team with Transcendence. With your ability to see enemies with low health, you can call out targets for a friendly Zenyatta to hit with a Discord Orb, which will help you and your team quickly finish weakened enemies off.

Story

Icon-sombra

One of the world's most notorious hackers, Sombra uses information to manipulate those in power.[3] Her stealthy abilities and debilitating attacks make her a powerful infiltrator, as well as a hard target to pin down.[4]

According to Doomfist, Sombra is one of the world's most dangerous operatives.[5] Her skills include computer hacking and cryptography;[6] these are activities she greatly enjoys, to the point where the desire to get past locks and solving mysteries is ingrained in her personality.[7] Money is not one of her driving goals.[8]

She is a known associate of Reaper, specializing in espionage and intelligence assessment.[9][10] She is equipped with devices that allow hacking of technology just through touch. This includes cybernetic grafts implanted along her spine and her brain[11] which basically makes her a living computer.[7] She is a loner emotionally, finding it difficult to make friends[12] (outside coercion).[13] Her personal calling card is a sugar skull.[1]

Background

Long before she took up the alias "Sombra," Olivia Colomar was among the thousands of children who were left orphaned in the aftermath of the Omnic Crisis.[3] She owned a stuffed bear during this time named "Arturito."[8]

With much of Mexico's infrastructure destroyed, she survived by utilizing her natural gifts with hacking and computers.[3] She likewise proved adept at manipulating individuals to suit her own ends.[11]

Hack

Olivia gets noticed

After Colomar was taken in by Mexico's Los Muertos gang, she aided it in its self-styled revolution against the government,[3] performing hacks against said government on their behalf.[14] Los Muertos believed that the rebuilding of Mexico had primarily benefited the rich and the influential, leaving behind those who were most in need of assistance.[3] Commissioner Rivera was one such example, when she brought him a basket of bread straight to his desk, which gave her the opportunity to access his computer. She came to realize that knowledge was power, and so, she kept hacking—politicians, corporations, governments,[11] famous people;[7] all were in her domain of inquiry. The retrieval of information became an addiction,[11] and her hacks became more audacious over time.[7] Following her many conquests, Colomar was supremely confident in her skills, but she was caught unprepared when she stumbled into the web of a global conspiracy—one that had also noticed her. With her security irreparably compromised, Colomar was forced to delete all traces of her identity and went into hiding.[3]

Links

Sombra examining the conspiracy

Colomar received cybernetic grafts on her spinal cord and her brain and re-emerged as "Sombra," a powerful (and devilishly charismatic) technomancer capable of manipulating computers and technology with the whim of her fingertips as if the data were an extension of herself. In her words, "the girl was gone."[11] Determined to find out the truth behind the conspiracy she had uncovered[3] to "find out who really runs the world,"[11] Sombra launched an even more audacious string of hacks,[3] initiating a world-wide hacking spree,[15] striking against governments, organizations,[1] and corporations such as LumériCo and Volskaya Industries.[7] Her exploits earned her no shortage of admirers, including Talon.[3]

Talon

Listen, amigo. Everyone has a reason for being in Talon. Some have no place else to go—like you. Others want access to their resources. Some people are here because they believe in the leader. Doomfist has influence right now because he has the vision, the will, and the resources. Talon could have a new leader tomorrow. Or maybe not. I might follow an order if it suits me, but right now, it doesn’t. Comprendes?
~ Sombra to Reaper on her motivations

Sombra joined Talon's ranks and is believed to have contributed to its massive cyber-attacks against corporations with strong ties to their governments.[3] Her motivations for joining Talon were unclear, but were apparently self-serving, willing to work alongside Talon as long as it served her own goals.[5]

While in Talon, she met a combat medic named Baptiste, and over time, the two became close friends. While Baptiste ended up leaving Talon, she kept an eye on him, interested to see what her old friend was getting up to.[16][8] She refused to divulge Baptiste's location to Talon.[17]

Code of Violence

Are you worried, Gabe? You can trust me. I'll even let you in on an old Talon secret: this isn’t the military, soldado. But you'll figure that out soon enough.
~ Sombra to Reyes at the start of the mission
ReaperSombra-code

Reaper and Sombra

One year after the disbandment of Overwatch, Sombra took part in a mission to retrieve Dr. Siebren de Kuiper from a black site in the United States. She worked with Gabriel Reyes, who was deployed by dropship. Things were strained between the two from the outset, with Reaper's by-the-book approach conflicting with Sombra's more carefree attitude. At the site, Sombra initiated a hack which sounded an alarm. Guards responded, but were taken out by Reaper. Sombra explained that she'd intentionally set off the alarm to gauge the guards' response time, and have Reaper serve as a distraction while she hacked the base's communications, shutting it off from the outside world. Furthermore, she'd ascertained the location of de Kuiper.

The two made their way through the base, killing any guard that got in their way. They found de Kuiper in an isolation cell, but Sombra lingered as she hacked for information, explaining that it was her 'payment' for her services. Reyes was frustrated, given that more guards were coming, and as Sombra continued to push his buttons, the two drew their weapons on each other. The standoff was interrupted by the arrival of another Talon team led by Widowmaker, which had dispatched the remaining site guards.

The Talon operatives made their way to the dropship, where de Kuiper was loaded onboard. Before boarding it, Sombra gave Reyes a parting farewell, sarcastically telling him that he'd find his place in Talon soon enough, even if it was at Doomfist's feet.[5]

What You Left Behind

Hey mijo. It's been awhile.
Hey Sombra. Can you do me a favor?
~ Sombra and Baptiste

A few days after the Overwatch recall order, Baptiste contacted Sombra. He requested her aid in contacting Dr. Angela Ziegler, to warn her that Talon might be targeting her.[18]

Dethroning the King Viper

Still with Talon[3] Sombra worked with Los Muertos again, and was able to hack the website of LumériCo, posting claims that its CEO, Guillermo Portero, was plundering the riches of Mexico to fill his own purse, that he had corrupted the government, and wouldn't stop until the entire country was under his control.[19] Sombra was able to infiltrate Portero's personal email, and use it without Portero knowing about the intrusion. She sent out an email via Portero's own webmail, promising to unveil his "dirty laundry" to the public.[20] Sombra successfully released a number of internal documents to the public, catching the attention of both Mexican law enforcement and Atlas News. The documents indicated that Portero used the company's funds as his own piggy bank, that he was personally involved in bribing public officials and creating a system of kickbacks and payoffs beneficial to LumériCo, and finally, that he proposed a plan to seize privately held land via government expropriation to expand LumériCo's facilities throughout Mexico. The emails also showed that LumériCo was in conversations with the Vishkar Corporation, in regards to exporting its energy systems; a cause of concern given the company's actions in Rio de Janeiro.

Law enforcement categorized the break-ins as a criminal action, and Atlas News reported on the "Sombra collective," mistaking Colomar's identity as a group, not an individual. Sombra claimed that she was "only acting the public interest."[21] Her efforts incited a popular revolution in Mexico against LumériCo,[3] and pro-Sombra grafitti was reported across the world. Less than a week after the leak, Portero stepped down as CEO. By this point, Sombra was already hacking the network of her next target—Volskaya Industries.[22]

Attack on Volskaya

Boop 1

Sombra in Volskaya Industries

Sombra, with Widowmaker and Reaper, infiltrated Volskaya Industries to assassinate its CEO, Katya Volskaya. Sombra deactivated the security alerts and turrets within the facility to allow Reaper and Widowmaker access. The mission appeared to go without a hitch, until Widowmaker was unable to get a clear line of sight before the operation was interrupted by an alarm—one that Sombra had set off herself. Widowmaker held the perimeter while Reaper cleared the ground floor; he was unable to get to Katya in the elevator and was forced to confront a mech as she fled to safety. Sombra gave chase, killing and incapacitating Volskaya guards, until she made it into Katya's locked-down office. While ostensibly there to kill the CEO, Sombra played a different game, revealing her intentions to be Katya's "friend." A friend with benefits, for if Katya helped her out from time to time, she wouldn't leak evidence that Katya had been receiving technology from omnics in order to help her country in the Second Omnic Crisis. Sombra also noted how exposure would affect "the future of Russia" while handing Katya the photo of her daughter from her desk, hinting at how the fallout of a scandal would impact her.[13] Sombra's motives for gaining Katya as an informant was to help her uncover the greater global conspiracy she had discovered.[1] As her security was nearly through with getting the door open, Katya agreed to the terms, and Sombra teleported out of the office, reporting to her comrades that the operation had failed. The Talon operatives returned to the ship, with only Sombra in good cheer.[13]

Reflections

McCree and Sombra in Calaveras

Sombra and McCree at Calaveras

Sombra spent Christmas drinking at the bar in Calaveras.[23]

Searching

You!
Uh, yes, me.
~ Zarya confronts Sombra
Sombra-searching

Sombra 'greets' Zarya

Katya, not keen on being Sombra's 'friend', dispatched Russian soldier Aleksandra "Zarya" Zaryanova to track her down. Alongside the omnic Lynx Seventeen, Zarya caught up with Sombra in Dorado. The two exchanged words and bullets, but Zarya was able to incapacitate Sombra through a graviton surge. Sombra warned Zarya that if anything happened to her, Katya's secrets would be revealed to the world, including her dealings with omnics. Zarya in turn revealed that she knew Sombra's real name, which briefly fazed the hacker. However, Sombra maintained that she wanted Katya to remain in power, as she wanted her as a source for information. However, the conversation reached its end as Lynx collapsed (as Sombra had hacked them in Numbani when they'd tried to trace her), and revealed that the warehouse they were in would be destroyed in an explosion in one minute. Zarya rescued Lynx and let Sombra live.[1]

Masquerade

Sombra-masquerade

Sombra in Monaco

After Reaper freed Doomfist from his HSI cell, Sombra took part in a mission at Casino Monaco, alongside Doomfist and Widowmaker, the latter two entering the casino together, while Sombra was already inside. The trio communicated via radio. Sombra mockingly asked Doomfist to ask Widowmaker about what had happened at St. Petersburg (her failure to assassinate Volskaya), but Doomfist wasn't interested, and told Sombra to inform him if she saw anything out of the ordinary.

Such an eventuality occurred, and Sombra informed Doomfist that a group had entered the casino, headed his way. The tip paid off, and the would-be attackers were incapacitated.

Later, Sombra took part in Doomfist's coup against Vialli in Venice. She killed Vialli's security team, allowing Reaper to enter the facility and kill Vialli's followers.[24]

The Hero of Numbani

Using the wi-fi signature 344X-Azúcar, Sombra participated in Doomfist's attack on the Numbani airport by hacking the airport's security cameras. Later, Efi Oladele witnessed her hacking the omnics working at an Axiom warehouse. Efi was able to stop the attack using an antidote program.[25]

Overwatch's Return

Looks like Gibraltar's back online...with lots of new intel to share.
~ Sombra

When Overwatch returned to operations, they appropriated Watchpoint: Gibraltar as their base of operations.[26] Sombra noted that the base had come back online, and set about retrieving intel.[8]

A Great Day

Very illuminating. But are you saying he's no longer loyal to us?
You can have his loyalty. Mauga is a loose cannon, and I don't trust him.
~ Doomfist and Sombra during the latter's debrief
SombraReaper-hack

Sombra performs her hack as Reaper covers her

After Null Sector's failed attack on Gothenburg, the command ship that had led the attack crashed into the sea. Sombra, Reaper, and Mauga were sent to infiltrate the carrier and retrieve its power relay data. She and Reaper entered the carrier, and found an army of Nulltroopers, albeit deactivated. Mauga entered after them, and in so doing, activated the warbots. The trio fought their way through the ship to a point where Sombra could hack the power relay data. However, Mauga ran off, and Reaper was left to cover Sombra as she performed her hack.[27]

Sombra-realization

Sombra realizes her translocator is malfunctioning

Mauga's run-and-gun antics caused the carrier to begin sinking, and a security system to kick in to stymie Sombra's hack. Reaper told her they had to go, but Sombra refused to do so without getting the power relay data. Sombra succeeded, but discovered that she couldn't translocate out of the carrier; the translocator she'd left on the deck was malfunctioning. She managed to get out regardless and escape on the dropship with her fellow operatives.[27]

Sombra-angry

"Where's Mauga? I'm gonna kill him!"

Having exfiltrated the site, Sombra and Reaper were contacted by Doomfist, who was irate that an intended clandestine operation had resulted in the destruction of the carrier in broad daylight. Just as irate, Sombra explained what had happened, pinning the blame on Mauga. Doomfist agreed with her assessment, and ordered Sombra to "deal with" Mauga, or be 'dealt with' herself. Reaper offered to play executioner, but Sombra refused, and went into the dropship's transport bay to perform the execution herself. Upon seeing her, Mauga correctly guessed that she was here to execute him on Doomfist's orders, but as Sombra pointed out, she and Reaper had performed their duties. Mauga was the one who had come up short.[27]

Sombra-relay

Sombra notices the power relay

Except...he hadn't. Mauga revealed that he'd retrieved the power relay itself, and that his supposed carelessness had been intentional. He'd prevented the carrier from sending out a distress signal, and that he'd sunk the carrier to remove any witnesses. As much as Doomfist might be angry with him now, if Sombra handed over the device, he'd be "all smiles." With that, he parachuted out of the dropship, telling Sombra she knew where to find him if he was needed for another op.[27]

Kill Team

SombraWidowmaker-ironclad

Sombra and Widowmaker behold Zenyatta

At some point after the command ship retrieval operation, Sombra, Widowmaker, and a Talon team tracked down Zenyatta.[28]

In-Universe References

"¿Quién es 'Sombra'?"

Sombra's existence has been hinted at since early pre-beta builds of the game.

  • The name Sombra first appeared during Ellohime's pre-beta stream of Overwatch. While exploring Dorado, Ellohime discovered a table in the LumériCo power plant's control room with three classified manila file folders labeled "SOMBRA [CLASIFICADO]," "SOLDADO: 76 [CLASIFICADO]," and "JACK MORRISON [CLASIFICADO]," along with photographs of Morrison before and after becoming Soldier: 76. These folders can still be seen in-game.[29][30]
  • Some newspapers on the ground in Dorado have an article featuring a silhouette in a hooded cloak, with the headline "¿Quién es 'Sombra'?" ("Who is 'Sombra'?"). This is actually an early version of Sombra's design.[31]
  • Many terminals can been seen in the LumériCo power plant on Dorado. Some of the terminals that display "Niveles de Sincronización del Núcleo" ("Core Synchronization Levels") have blinking error messages which read, "ACCESSO NO AUTORIZADO: Protocolo Sombra" ("UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS: Sombra Protocol").[32]
  • Reaper sometimes says, "Where's Sombra when you need her?" when he spawns on Dorado.[9][33]
  • In the comic Ana: Old Soldiers, while attempting to infiltrate Hakim's compound in Egypt, Soldier: 76 overhears radio chatter between Reaper and Hakim coming from the earpiece of a fallen guard. The two briefly discuss intel regarding an incident involving Helix Security International. Reaper threatens that Sombra better be able to make use of it.[10]
  • On August 30th, 2016, some newspapers in the Overwatch PTR were changed, replacing a headline about Roadhog with one about a "Global Hacking Spree." The newspapers were added to the live game on September 1st.[15]
  • After the September 1st patch, the Numbani news ticker was updated with the headline "LumériCo reports massive breach at Dorado power plant, latest attack in global hacking spree."
  • With the September 22nd PTR patch, several in-game references were changed or added.
    • The terminals in the power plant were changed to display "ACCESSO NO AUTORIZADO: Protocolo Sombra V2.3"[34]. In addition, the terminal screen was added to a room in Volskaya Industries.
    • Two of the Dorado newspapers, including the one with the Sombra article, had the headline "Ola Mundial de Hackeos" ("Global Hacking Spree") added.
    • The newspaper from King's Row was added to other maps, including Temple of Anubis, Hollywood, and in the MV-261 Orca on the Control maps.

Achievements

Name Icon Description Reward
Hack The Planet
Achievement Hack The Planet Hack 15 enemies without dying as Sombra in Quick or Competitive play.
Spray Sombra Pixel
Pixel
Power Outage
Achievement Power Outage Hack 5 enemies at once as Sombra in Quick or Competitive play.
Spray Sombra Cute
Cute

Alternate Reality Game

Main article: Sombra/ARG

Following the announcement of Ana as the 22nd Overwatch hero, a series of cryptographic puzzles about Sombra were slowly released, dubbed the Sombra ARG by the community.

Developer Comments

  • Eurogamer questioned Jeff Kaplan about whether it was strange that fans had theorized that Sombra would be featured in Hero. Jeff replied, "No, it was not strange. We have put a lot of hints, all over the game and out of the game, so I would say it's about time that people are concerned with who Sombra is. I hope they keep researching more and find more hints that are out there."[35]
  • When asked about Sombra in an interview with Kotaku, Jeff Kaplan said, "I think people have learned that she’s a fun character for them to search and to learn more about and that, like the X-Files, the truth is out there. We’ll see what players discover over time. [...] I think that’s up to Sombra, to give you a cheeky answer. Sombra will let people know when she wants more to be known about her. She’s very good at that sort of thing."[36]
  • As of June 6th, 2016, there were still undiscovered hints about Sombra, according to Jeff Kaplan.[35]
  • On August 3rd, 2016, Fairlight_Excalibur asked the developers he was interviewing about the compass from the Summer Games video, and was told by Jeff Kaplan, "That sounds like deep CIA stuff. Way above our heads."[37] Later, he asked if all of the clues regarding Sombra that had been "scattered around" had been located, if not solved. Jeff replied, "I gotta be honest with this one, this stuff is so far over my head, that I just don't understand. It's very top secret covert ops, even on the team, so most people don't even know." After Fairlight said he felt lied to and that Jeff did know, Kaplan replied, "It's a mystery."[38]

Trivia

Halloween Terror loot box candy

Close up of Halloween Terror candies.

  • Sombra was the first damage hero to be added to the roster post Overwatch 1's launch.
  • The ammo counter on Sombra's machine pistol is in hexadecimal, and as such reads 3C when the magazine is full.
  • The Halloween Terror loot boxes have candies with the Sombra skull icon on the wrapper.
  • Sombra is also the only hero that can have another hero's highlight intro appear in her own (her "Hacking" Highlight Intro has another Hero's highlight intro as a prelude before it).
  • Unlike most of the heroes, Sombra uses her right hand for the "Quick Melee" attack, instead of the left hand used by most of the heroes.

Cultural References

  • "Sombra" is a Spanish word which translates as "shadow" or "shade."
  • The skull used in Sombra's icons refers to the art used for skulls in Mexico's Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival.
  • Sombra's voice line "I know Kung Fu" quotes Thomas Anderson/Neo from The Matrix.
  • Sombra's voice lines "Mess with the best, die like the rest" and "Hack the Planet" both quote the 1995 cult classic film, Hackers.

Misc. Character Information

  • Sombra's real name wasn't revealed until Zarya's comic, Searching.
  • Michael Chu has indicated that Sombra considers Reaper and Widowmaker to be genuine friends of hers, but that the friendship is "complicated."[12]
    • Sombra appears to consider Sigma a friend in Overwatch 2 via her interactions. At the least, she shows genuine concern for his wellbeing.
  • Sombra's favourite drink is Mezcal.[39]
  • Sombra has a 'tell' when she goes into stealth mode, often appearing at the 11 or 1 o' clock position relative to her opponent's firearm.[5]
  • Sombra's interactions in Ashe in Overwatch 2 indicate that she's still in contact with Los Muertos.
  • Sombra regularly looks up Cassidy's search history when she's in need of a laugh.[8]
  • Sombra is not fond of Don Rumbotico's current liquor. In her words, "the old stuff was much better."[8]
  • At some point, Mauga burnt down a Talon server room. This caused Sombra to lose numerous bank account numbers and her favorite pizza recipes.[17]
  • Sombra is in contact with Illari.[8]
  • Sombra has tapped the Hashimoto clan's calls.[8]
  • In Eichenwalde, Sombra can state "I don't... want to stick around here. Something in the air makes my eyes water..." Given the context of the Battle of Eichenwalde, this may indicate that Sombra has lingering trauma from the Omnic Crisis.

Disputed Information

Note: The following information is from gameplay trailers and is of dubious canon status.

  • Sometime after Overwatch's reformation, Sombra and her fellow Talon members engaged Overwatch in a firefight at Petra. Talon was forced to retreat.[40]

Merchandise

  • A Sombra Funko Pop figure went on sale in 2018.[41]
  • A Sombra nendoroid went on sale in Q1 2019.[42]

Development

Sombra Early Ideation 1

Early concept art of the Omniblade (left) and Sombra (right).

Sombra originated during the game's early development as a proposed character called the Omniblade, an agile female ninja who would wield shuriken and kunai, predating Hanzo and Genji. As ideation progressed a Mesoamerican theme was incorporated into her design and she was given the name Sombra, however the concept was shelved when they began incorporating elements of her suggested kit, including a double jump and throwing knives that could reveal enemies through walls, into the two new ninja heroes.

Sombra Early Ideation 2

Early concept art of Sombra as a stealth hacker

At a later point they conceived of a stealth hacker hero and decided to use the earlier Sombra concept as its foundation. Having previously attempted to build Genji as a slow-moving stealth assassin character and finding it to be unfun, they decided to instead make Sombra an agile infiltration hero focused on gathering intel and disrupting the enemy team, devising her thermoptic camo suit, hacking tendrils, and machine pistol, lending the character a cyberpunk aesthetic. Elements of her new kit seem to have been pulled from the playable Spec Ops class from the initial pitch for Prometheus, which had stealth and EMP abilities, as well as Hivemind, a proposed hero created for the Prometheus pitch meeting with abilities called Disable and EMP pulse.[43] At this point in development Sombra had a hood and a longer coat, however her silhouette began to overlap with the also in-development Ana, so they decided to steer her in a different direction, eventually arriving at her final design.[7]

Initially, Sombra was invisible 100% of the time. This concept generated two problems however. It reduced the sense of Sombra helping her own team (per friendly players not seeing her), and inflicted stress on the enemy team, not knowing if they were safe. Additionally, what she could and couldn't hack went through numerous revisions. She started off as a Support hero, and initially, there was no cooldown for her hacking abilities.[12]

Reveal

Sombra picture

October 8, 2016 leak

Prior to the reveal of Ana as the 22nd playable hero in Overwatch, a photograph of Ana wearing her Shrike mask found on Temple of Anubis was incorrectly identified as Sombra, leading to a widespread assumption that the two characters were one and the same, and that Sombra was the rumored in-development support sniper character.[44][45][46]

Voice lines extracted from the Public Test Region after Ana's release featured the first suggestions that Sombra would have a stealth ability.[47] On October 8, 2016, a photo of a posting on Blizzard's enterprise social network was leaked online, containing the details for an internal test build featuring the Junkenstein's Revenge event and Sombra, including a screenshot and her bio.[48]

On November 1, 2016, the image urls for unreleased Blizzcon 2016 fine art prints of Sombra and a Diablo III necromancer, hosted on Blizzard's gear store, were leaked, seemingly corroborating the earlier October 8 leak.[49] She was officially announced at BlizzCon 2016 as the 23rd hero.

Removed abilities

Stealth
Hero-ability-circle
Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo
3.5 seconds
Type
Passive Ability
Effect Type
Movement Movement
When out of combat, become invisible and move faster.
Cast time:
0.25 (fade out)
0.375 seconds (fade in)
Duration:
Area of effect:
4 meter radius (detection)
Mov. speed buff:
+60%
Cooldown:
3.5 seconds
Sombra becomes invisible and her speed is boosted considerably. Attacking and using offensive abilities disables her camouflage.

Ability details:
  • Stealth starts on a shorter 1 second cooldown upon respawning.
  • Sombra automatically turns invisible after not taking an offensive action, receiving damage or being affected by crowd control.
    • Entering stealth has a fade out period, during which Sombra is still partially visible.
    • Following actions count as "offensive": activating primary fire, quick melee, Ability Sombra Virus Virus or Ability Sombra EMP EMP or using Ability Sombra Hack Hack on an enemy Hero.
      • Excluding Hack, these actions will immediately take Sombra out of stealth upon the key press, but they will not be initiated, unless the key is held or pressed again once Sombra has completely faded in.
        • There is no fade in delay if stealth is broken within 0.75 seconds of entering stealth.
        • Pressing the Hack button does not interrupt stealth. Only when Hack targets an enemy hero it will immediately take Sombra out of stealth. Additionally, Hack's cast time starts immediately and does not have to wait for Sombra to fade in.
    • Using Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator or hacking a health pack or object do not interrupt stealth.
  • If an enemy hero comes within 4 meters of Sombra, they can "detect" Sombra. When detected, Sombra will remain stealthed, but is visible to that specific enemy hero. This is indicated by a "DETECTED!" message, shown at the top of Sombra's screen.
  • Sombra becomes "revealed" if she uses Ability Sombra Hack Hack on an object or health pack or can be seen through abilities, such as Ability-hanzo2 Sonic Arrow or Ability-widowmaker4 Infra-Sight. When revealed, Sombra will remain in stealth, but Sombra is visible to the entire enemy team. This is indicated by a "REVEALED" message shown at the top of Sombra's screen.
  • Targeted Targeted enemy abilities and following auto-targeting attacks cannot target Sombra, unless she is detected by the player or revealed: Ability-mccree4 Deadeye, Icon-ability.tacticalvisor Tactical Visor, Ability Moira Biotic Grasp Alt fire Biotic Grasp Alt Fire and Ability Moira Biotic Orb Biotic Orb (damage).
    • Zenyatta's Orb of Discord will remain attached to Sombra while she is stealthed, as long as there are no obstacles between them, but it will not indicate her location.
  • Following enemy objects cannot auto-target Sombra, unless she has been revealed: Ability-symmetra2 Sentry Turret or Ability-ashe4 B.O.B.,
  • Torbjörn's Ability-torbjorn3 Turret can only attack Sombra when she is out of stealth.
  • Sombra can activate Petal Platform Icon Petal Platform while stealthed.
  • Sombra cannot contest map objectives while stealthed.
    • If Sombra enters the objective area stealthed, she will remain in stealth.
    • If Sombra enters the objective area unstealthed, the cooldown of stealth will be paused until she leaves the objective area.
      • The remaining cooldown will be set to 1 second if it was less than that.
  • Sound effect and voiceover distance is 15 meters.
  • Stealth's movement speed buff does not count towards global movement speed buff cap.

Example Video


Translocator (old)
E
Hero-ability-circle
Ability Sombra Translocator
6 seconds
Type
Ability
Effect Type
Arcing projectile Arcing projectile
Movement Movement
Blocked by barriers.
Ignores barriers.
Blocked by Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Ignores Defense Matrix/Kinetic Grasp.
Blocked by Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Ignores Deflect/Javelin Spin.
Affected by damage boosts.
Ignores damage boosts.
Affected by Amplification Matrix.
Ignores Amplification Matrix.
Throw a beacon, then press E again to teleport to it. Press F to remove it.
Health:
5
Cast time:
instantly for throw + 0.5 s. recovery
0.4 s. invulnerability (translocating)
Duration:
Projectile speed:
25 meters per second
Sombra tosses out a translocator beacon. She can instantly return to the beacon’s location while it is active (including when it’s in mid-flight).

Ability details:
  • Reworked in Season 7 of Overwatch 2.
  • Cooldown for Translocator begins immediately upon throwing it, or when it is destroyed.
  • Can be manually destroyed using the Interact key. Destroying it this way does not reset the cooldown.
  • The translocator can neither be thrown or activated while rooted or hindered.
  • The Translocator bounces off walls but not slopes.
  • Translocator can be placed on and lifted by Petal Platform Icon Petal Platform if the latter was deployed first.
    • If a translocator is placed on Petal Platform and the platform is destroyed, the translocator is destroyed as well.
  • Sombra has a very brief moment of invincibility upon translocating, removing most negative effects from Sombra.

Example Video


Media

Concept Art

Videos

Balance Change Log

For more information, see Patch Notes.

Overwatch 2 PvP
Patch
Description

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Now exits stealth when hacking an enemy target.

Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator

  • Delay before entering stealth reduced from 0.5 to 0.33 seconds.
  • Fade in time reduced from 0.3 to 0.15 second.

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • Ultimate cost reduced by 10%.

Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator

  • Cooldown reduced from 7 to 6 seconds.
Developer Comments: This is a significant change to Sombra's playstyle in the hopes of making her more interactive for the opposing team and shifting some of her power from the utility of Stealth and Hack into increased lethality.

Stealth having a limited duration less than the Translocator cooldown is intended to create brief windows of vulnerability. It still enables Sombra to cross through dangerous areas unseen, but to really hang around in the enemy backline will require moving from cover-to-cover similar to other flanking heroes. No longer having the stealth movement speed removed upon taking damage also enhances its usefulness as an escape tool.

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • No longer ends Stealth but does reveal Sombra.
  • Hacked ability lockout effect duration reduced from 1.5 to 1.0 seconds (EMP duration unchanged).
  • BOB hacked stun duration reduced from 10 to 3 seconds.

Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator

  • Cooldown increased from 5 to 7 seconds.

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • Ultimate cost increased 12%.

Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo Stealth

  • No longer passive and now activates by using Translocator.
  • Now has a 5 second duration.
  • Added stealth timer around the reticle and removed ability icon.
  • Taking damage now reveals Sombra for 1 second instead of ending stealth.

Ability Sombra Opportunist Opportunist

  • The Opportunist passive has been added back in.
  • Increases Sombra's weapon damage versus hacked targets by 20%.
  • See critically injured enemies through walls.

Ability Sombra Virus Virus

  • Damage over time reduced from 90 to 75.
Developer Comment: The increased movement speed while in stealth will better enable Sombra to get into advantageous positions or be slightly more evasive with the new lower health.
  • Base health reduced from 250 to 225.

Ability Sombra Virus Virus

  • Impact damage increased from 25 to 35

Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo Stealth

  • Bonus movement speed increased from 45 to 60%.

Ability Sombra Virus Virus

  • Total damage over time decreased from 100 to 90.

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • The previous reduction to ultimate cost has been reverted.
Developer Comments: Virus deals critical impact damage when it hits Hacked targets, and this change makes using it as a follow-up more compelling. The Translocator now destroys breakable objects, preventing Sombra from teleporting a shorter distance than expected.

Ability Sombra Virus Virus

  • Impact damage increased from 10 to 25.

Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator

  • Destroys breakables while in flight.

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • Ultimate cost reduced by 8%.
General updates

Most damage-dealing projectile sizes have been increased by a new global modifier added to their base size.

  • +0.05 meters for hitscan projectiles with a high rate of fire or spread (e.g., Tracer's Pulse Pistols or Reaper's Hellfire Shotguns).
  • +0.08 meters for hitscan projectiles that are more precise (e.g., Cassidy's Peacekeeper or Soldier:76's Heavy Pulse Rifle).
  • +0.05 meters for travel time projectiles that are shotguns or have a very high rate of fire (e.g., Roadhog's Scrap Gun or Ramattra's Void Accelerator).
  • +0.10 meters for travel time projectile with a speed greater than 50 meters per second (e.g., Zenyatta's Destruction Orb).
  • +0.15 meters for travel time projectile with a speed less than or equal to 50 meters per second (e.g., Pharah's Rocket Launcher).
  • Very large projectiles with a base size greater than 0.5 meters have been excluded from these increases (e.g., Orisa's Energy Javelin or Reinhardt's Fire Strike).

Hero combined HP (base health/armor/shields) increased by 15-25%.

  • 150-175 HP heroes increased by 25 HP.
  • 200-300 HP heroes increased by 50 HP.
  • 300+ HP (Tanks) increased by 75-100 HP.
  • Each hero's precise health increases are listed in their patch notes below.

Ultimate Charge

  • All Ultimate ability costs increased by 10%.

Regenerative Passive for All Heroes

  • All heroes now regenerate 20 health per second after 5 seconds of not taking damage.

Damage Role Passive

  • Reload speed bonus on elimination has been removed.
  • New role passive: Dealing damage reduces enemy healing received by 20% for 2 seconds.

Quick Melee

  • Damage increased from 30 to 40.
Hero updates
  • Health increased from 200 to 250.

Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo Stealth

  • Grace period where Stealth can be canceled immediately after entering it increased from 0.5 to 0.75 seconds.
  • Cooldown now pauses at 1 second while capturing or contesting objectives from 1.5 seconds.
  • Cooldown on respawning decreased from 1.5 to 1 second.
Developer Comments: The 1.5 second lockout duration didn't feel impactful enough for an ultimate ability but generally EMP is more interesting and effective when it's focused on the disabling aspect rather than the damage.

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • Ability lockout duration increased from 1.5 to 3 seconds.
  • Damage reduced from 30 to 25% of current health.

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • Ultimate cost decreased 10%.

Ability Sombra Machine Pistol Machine Pistol

  • Damage increased from 7.5 to 8.
  • Minimum Spread reduced from 0.5 to 0.
  • Number of shots until max spread has been increased from 3 to 6 shots.
  • Reload time reduced from 1.4 seconds to 1.2 seconds.

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Cast time reduced from 0.75 seconds to 0.65 seconds.
  • Now cancels Stealth when hacking an enemy hero.
  • Cooldown increased from 4 to 6 seconds.
  • Hack has a reduced cooldown of 3 seconds if Hack is interrupted or if a non-hero enemy is hacked.
  • The "Hacked" warning text will now only appear while you are silenced and not for the remainder duration of the hack debuff.

Ability Sombra Opportunist Opportunist

  • Removed.

Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo Stealth

  • Ability reworked to be a passive. Sombra automatically becomes invisible after 3.5 seconds while not shooting, using a damaging ability, or receiving damage.
  • Stealth movement speed bonus reduced from 60% to 45%.
  • Fade Out duration into Stealth reduced from 0.375 seconds to 0.25 seconds.
  • Fade In duration from Stealth reduced from 0.5 seconds to 0.375 seconds.
  • Updated the UI messaging to the Sombra player when hacking Health Packs to "Revealed" instead of "Detected". Now the message "Detected" is only used when an enemy player is in the detection radius.

Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator

  • Can no longer can be manually activated. Translocator will now automatically teleport Sombra after 0.25 seconds from being thrown or when impacting the environment.
  • Reduces the Stealth passive cooldown after teleporting.
  • Projectile speed increased from 25 to 72.
  • Cooldown reduced from 6 seconds to 5 seconds. Cooldown now begins after
  • Sombra teleports to the location of the Transponder.
  • Projectile launch initial vertical offset removed.

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • Ultimate charge cost increased by 15%.
  • Health percent damage decreased from 40% to 30%.

Ability Sombra Virus Virus

  • This is a new ability assigned to Ability 1 by default.
  • Fire a projectile that damages an enemy over time. Damage is dealt faster on Hacked enemies.
  • Impact Damage: 10 (20 on hacked target).
  • Damage over time: 100 over 4 seconds (100 over 2 seconds on hacked target).
Developer Comments: EMP frequency is a little too high given its relative power so we are increasing its cost. It will now also deal the usual percentage of max health damage to Lifeweaver’s Tree of Life ultimate instead of treating it like a barrier and destroying it instantly.

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • Ultimate cost increased 15%.
  • No longer destroys Lifeweaver's Tree of Life.
Developer Comment: We are expanding what Sombra's EMP turns off to keep it consistent with how it affects other device-controlled ultimates.

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • Can now disable Blizzard
Developer Comments: Sombra is underperforming after her last round of changes. While we make progress on a small rework for her abilities, this damage increase will help strengthen Sombra even against targets that aren't affected by her Hack effect. It's a small increase per projectile, but it adds up quickly due to her fast fire rate. The health pack duration increase is a minor buff to avoid needing to re-hack them quite so often.

Ability Sombra Machine Pistol Machine Pistol

  • Damage per projectile increased from 7 to 7.5

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Health pack hacked duration increased from 30 to 45 seconds

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Ability lockout duration reduced from 1.75 to 1.5 seconds
  • Hacked enemies are no longer valid targets for hacking for the duration of the 8-second effect
  • Hacked enemy damage multiplier reduced from 40% to 25%

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Ability lockout duration increased from 1 to 1.75 seconds

Developer Comment: The duration of Hack’s ability lockout often goes unnoticed, unless it’s being used as an active interrupt. While we’re not looking to go back to previous lockout numbers, we do want Sombra to have slightly more time to feel as though the ability is effective. This change stays in line with our goals for less crowd control abilities in Overwatch 2, and we’ll continue to closely monitor performance data and player feedback to ensure that this remains the case.

Developer Comment: After a week of testing the new damage passive, we decided to balance Sombra’s Stealth speed with the 10% movement speed increase in mind.

Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo Stealth

  • Movement speed reduced from 65 to 50%
GENERAL
  • Sombra Hack effect is now removed by phase effects
HERO

Ability Sombra Machine Pistol Machine Pistol

  • Damage reduced from 8 to 7
  • Spread reduced by 10%

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Cooldown reduced from 8 to 4 seconds
  • Cooldown is no longer reduced when hacking health packs
  • Cast time increased from 0.65 to 0.85 seconds
  • Health pack hack duration reduced from 60 to 30 seconds
  • Ability lock duration reduced from 5 to 1 second
  • Reveals hacked enemies through walls to Sombra's team for 8 seconds
  • Interrupting Hack during the channel time now incurs the full cooldown
  • Stun duration on Bob reduced from 5 to 2 seconds
  • Now destroys Baptiste’s Immortality Field when it is hacked

Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo Stealth

  • Fade-in time reduced by 50%
  • Enemy detection radius increased from 2 to 4 meters
  • Can now use Hack during Stealth without ending the Stealth ability, but is revealed to enemies while hacking and for 0.75 seconds after hacking

Ability Sombra Opportunist Opportunist

  • Damage dealt to hacked targets is now increased by 40%

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • In addition to hacking them, now also deals 40% of current health as damage to enemies
  • No longer deals additional damage to base shield health pools
    • EMP still deals massive damage to barriers

Overwatch 1
Patch
Description

Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo Stealth

  • Movement speed bonus increased from 50 to 65%

Developer Comment: Sombra's gameplay usually involves a lot of time waiting for opportune moments to strike and using the Translocator to disengage at a safe distance. Speeding up her movement in Stealth should help get her back into the action more quickly.

Ability Sombra Machine Pistol Machine Pistol

  • Spread decreased by 10%

Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator

  • Cooldown increased from 4 to 6 seconds
  • Cooldown now begins immediately upon deploying the beacon or if it is killed by an enemy

Developer Comment: Having the Translocator cooldown begin right when it is thrown allows Sombra more flexibility in how she can use it. For example, she can now often redeploy it instantly after teleporting to it, or quickly destroy and reposition it while sneaking around. The cooldown has been increased to compensate for this change.

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Duration on enemy players reduced from 6 to 5 seconds

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • Activation time increased from 0.2 to 0.35 seconds

Developer Comment: Hack is a potent disabling ability with a long duration. Reducing the duration slightly will make it feel less oppressive as the hacked player without greatly reducing its effectiveness. The increased activation time on EMP allows for more time to react and opens up more counterplay opportunities for the opposing team.

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Cooldown is reduced by half when hacking a health pack
  • Changed the visual appearance to more clearly indicate when something has been hacked

Developer Comments: The cooldown on Hack often made it feel less effective to target health packs instead of players. This will make both health packs and players viable targets for hacking.

General

  • Reduced the size of Sombra’s head hit volume

Developer Comments: The head changes are mostly a bug fix, as her head hit volume was abnormally large, especially from behind. Previously if you fired at her from behind near her upper spine, you could land a head shot. Now her head volume is much more accurate.

Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo Stealth

  • Now lasts indefinitely
  • No longer can contest objectives while invisible
  • Movement speed buff decreased from +70% to +50%

Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator

  • Now lasts indefinitely
  • Can now be destroyed (has 5 health)
  • Radius reduced

Developer Comments: These changes allow Sombra to more easily play as an infiltrator and scout for her team, as well as give her time to pick and choose when to reveal herself to ambush her enemies.

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Now goes on a 2-second cooldown when interrupted by damage
  • Now more consistently interrupted when targets break line of sight

Developer Comments: We’re also removing the 0.1 second window of time during a hack where it couldn’t be canceled via line of sight or with other abilities including Tracer’s Recall and Zarya’s Particle Barrier, which was originally put in place so the hack wouldn’t be interrupted by small objects such as light posts. We’ve implemented a separate fix for that issue, so she should still be unaffected by those small objects.

Ability Sombra EMP EMP

  • No longer blocked by small objects (e.g. sign posts)

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • No longer gains ultimate charge from health pack healing
  • Cast time reduced from 0.8 seconds to 0.65 seconds
  • Now disables the following abilities: Genji—Cyber-agility, Hanzo—Wall Climb, Pharah—Hover Jets, Lúcio—Healing Boost and Speed Boost (turns off current song entirely), Wall Ride, Mercy—Angelic Descent

Ability Sombra Machine Pistol Machine Pistol

  • Machine Pistol spread reduced from 3 to 2.7

Ability Sombra Opportunist Opportunist

  • Enemy health bars are now visible when health drops below 100% (formerly 50%)
  • Her ability to detect enemies through walls at 50% or less remains unchanged

Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator

  • Duration increased from 15 seconds to 20 seconds

Developer Comment: The goal of these changes for Sombra is to remove the necessity for her teammates to take damage and heal themselves with her hacked health packs to try to get her ultimate charged up quickly. Her ultimate will now come up less often, but there are more abilities that are disabled by Hack so it is more effective when used. Previously, Opportunist would only activate when an enemy’s health bar dipped below 50% but now the passive will reveal all damaged enemies which should help Sombra identify targets in her line of sight to pick off. Overall these changes should make her more effective and less reliant on her ultimate.

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Now interrupts the following ultimate abilities during their cast time: Ana's Nano Boost, Orisa's Supercharger, Mei's Blizzard, Reinhardt's Earthshatter, and D.Va's Call Mech

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Sombra’s teammates can now see hacked health packs through walls

Ability Sombra Thermoptic Camo Stealth

  • Sound effects and VO distance has been reduced to 15 meters when Sombra enters or exits Stealth

Ability Sombra Translocator Translocator

  • Cooldown reduced from 6 seconds to 4 seconds

Developer Comments: Sombra can be devastating in the right hands, but infiltrating and harassing enemies could often feel difficult. These changes should increase her effectiveness and teamplay.

  • New Hero Option: Hack Sensitivity
    • Allows players to adjust the targeting sensitivity on Sombra’s Hack ability

Ability Sombra Hack Hack

  • Cooldown has been reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds
  • Time it takes to hack a target has been decreased from 1 second to 0.8 seconds

Developer Comments: Sombra often had difficulty hacking enemies, even when she surprised the target. This change should help her execute hacks more easily.

New Hero: Sombra (Offense)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Zarya: Searching
  2. 2016-07-19, Multiple redditors confirm that the dialect of Sombra's second secret message is from Mexico, not Spain, Reddit.
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 Sombra (Overwatch), Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2016-11-09
  4. [https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/heroes/sombra/ Sombra (Overwatch 2), Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2022-10-05
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Code of Violence
  6. Overwatch, Reaper Quotes
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 2016-12-02, BlizzCon 2016 Overwatch: What’s New Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2017-01-06
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Overwatch 2, Sombra Quotes
  9. 9.0 9.1 2016-04-07, Voice line of Reaper saying "Where's Sombra when you need her?", originally datamined, Youtube.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Ana: Old Soldiers, page 2
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 2016-11-04, NEW HERO – COMING SOON Sombra Origin Story | Overwatch. YouTube, accessed on 2016-11-09
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 2016-11-06. Overwatch's Sombra Started Out OP, Here's How the Devs Fixed Her. GameSpot, accessed on 2016-11-19
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Infiltration
  14. name = "What'sNew">2016-12-02, BlizzCon 2016 Overwatch: What’s New Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2017-01-06
  15. 15.0 15.1 2016-08-30, A new Sombra newspaper has appeared in different Overwatch maps! Reddit.
  16. 2019-03-13, Baptiste - Developer Q&A Answers. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2019-03-14
  17. 17.0 17.1 Overwatch 2, Mauga Quotes
  18. What You Left Behind
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  20. 2016-10-19, Sombra ARG: Lumerico Website. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2016-11-04
  21. 2016-10-28, LUMÉRICO REVELATIONS: CEO GUILLERMO PORTERO UNDER FIRE. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2016-11-15
  22. 2016-11-03, LUMÉRICO CEO STEPS DOWN. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2016-11-15
  23. Tracer: Reflections
  24. Doomfist: Masquerade
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  26. Overwatch 2, Resistance
  27. 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 A Great Day
  28. Overwatch 2, Ironclad
  29. 2015-10-15, Ellohime looking at the classified folders, Twitch. Accessed on 2016-07-10
  30. Classified folders on a table in LumériCo labeled "Sombra", "Soldado: 76", and "Jack Morrison". Dorado. Accessed on 2016-07-10
  31. Newspaper found in Dorado reading "¿Quién es 'Sombra'?" Dorado.
  32. Security terminal found in LumériCo reading "ACCESSO NO AUTORIZADO: Protocolo Sombra." Dorado.
  33. 2016-08-02, Michael Chu sort of confirms Reaper's voice line is in-game, Twitter.
  34. 2016-09-22, Protocolo Sombra V2.3 Reddit, accessed on 2016-09-22
  35. 35.0 35.1 2016-06-07, "Overwatch: Blizzard answers the big questions". Eurogamer. Accessed on 2016-07-10
  36. 2016-07-18, "Overwatch's Director On Competitive Mode, Controversies, And The Future", Kotaku.
  37. 2016-08-03, Fairlight_Excalibur asks about the compass, Twitch.
  38. 2016-08-03, Fairlight_Excalibur asks whether all of Sombra's clues have been located, Twitch.
  39. 2018-08-31, Michael Chu's Twitter, Accessed on 2018-09-02.
  40. 2024-03-28, Venture | New Hero Gameplay Trailer | Overwatch 2. YouTube, accessed on 2024-03-28
  41. 2018-02-19, New Overwatch toys and figurines coming to Toy Fair 2018. Blizzard Watch, accessed on 2018-02-20
  42. 2018-06-01, Pre-order Sombra Nendoroid’s smirk for ultimate cuteness. Blizzard Watch, accessed on 2018-06-02
  43. Blizzcon 2017, Overwatch: Archives
  44. 2016-05-19, An article speculating that Sombra is Pharah's mother and would be revealed in Hero, Eurogamer.
  45. 2016-07-06, "Fans have speculated that a new sniper, who may go by the name Sombra [...], is coming to Overwatch[...]," Polygon.
  46. 2016-07-06, "Players theorize that Sombra is none other than Pharah’s mother[...]," Kotaku.
  47. 2016-07-15, "I extracted some of the audio files from the recent PTR update." Reddit.
  48. 2016-10-08, Rumor: Overwatch’s Sombra and Halloween event details leak Polygon, accessed on 2016-10-10
  49. 2016-11-1, Official Sombra Artwork Leaked Reddit.

External links

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