Overwatch fans rejoice because another new character, for a total of 23, is on the way. Leaked in October, Sombra was made official and demonstrated at the recent BlizzCon. The first new character to join the roster was the sniper and healer Ana, a support character that turned out to be so-so. Blizzard is long overdue for some new characters as they try and keep people hooked on the wildly popular game. The special October event Junkensteins Revenge and the Halloween themed goodies was a nice touch but short lived. Even the similar yet short lived Battleborn has almost half a dozen new characters already. To be fair it doesn’t take nearly 20 minutes to find a match in Overwatch though. While Sombra was available to play at BlizzCon it’s unclear when she will be available to everyone, supposedly sometime this month.
So who is this brightly lit neon punk hacker named Sombra? In short, she may be bad news for everyone. Before going into hiding she was a member of the Los Muertos gang. In her character launch trailer it was also revealed that she is working with Reaper and Widowmaker to assassinate the Russian president. Without spoiling anything, not only is Sombra working for the bad guys but is looking out for herself as well, world conspiracy level shit. Not only that but it is suggested that both Zarya and Soldier 76 are after her as well for various reasons.
Sombra as a playable character is more unique as she specializes in both speed and infiltration. A short range low attack fighter she relies more on sneaking around and attacking from behind than anything. Sombra’s primary weapon is a fast firing/reloading machine gun. Sombra has multiple special abilities through which all appear to regenerate very quickly, emphasizing her extremely fast play style. First is her ability to turn invisible for a short period and move around enemies almost entirely unnoticed.
Second is her teleporter which can be placed nearly anywhere and can be used to transport back to that location at any time. What makes this ability interesting is that the teleporter can be thrown, a quick way to reach high places or just sneak behind enemy lines. Lastly is her hacking ability which can shut down the abilities of other characters briefly, or turrets in Torbjorns case. In a twist the hacking ability can also be used on health pickups as well, preventing the other team from picking them up and speeding up respawn time for allies. Lastly is her special which shuts down all enemy shields and abilities briefly. Much like Tracer, Sombra is an extremely fast character that focuses on maneuverability to strike quickly from behind. How this will combine with other characters remains to be seen.
