Overwatch Sombra guide: How to play, abilities, tips, lore, skins

Sombra has become one of Overwatch’s most iconic DPS heroes, but she’s not exactly easy to play. This guide has some tips and tricks to help you decipher our favorite hacker.

When it comes to playing DPS in Overwatch, cyberpunk-style hacker Sombra has become a fan favorite pick. Bursting with utility, the Mexican anti-hero has a whole host of tricks up her sleeve.

Getting to grips with these, though, can be a bit of a nightmare. Luckily, this guide will help you hack the hacker by giving you some insight into her gameplay, abilities, lore, skins, and more.

Overwatch Sombra lore

Just who is Mexico’s most established hacker?

While her appearance marks her very much as a fictional character, Sombra’s history is very much rooted in real-life struggles.

Left orphaned after the Omnic Crisis in a city ruled by the tyrannical rich and famous, young Olivia Colomar utilized her technological prowess to survive. Not only that, though, she’s proven to be adept at bending people to her will, catching the attention of some of the world’s underworld.

Joining Los Muertos, a revolutionary gang set upon toppling the rich, she kept hacking and hacking. This quickly fell apart, however, when a failed hack exposing a global conspiracy forced her to retreat into the shadows. Changing her entire identity and emerging with a cybernetic graft, Sombra was born.

Now working for Talon, she continues to bring some of Overwatch’s biggest business empires to their knees whilst simultaneously searching for the truth behind the mysterious global conspiracy she uncovered.

Sombra weapon

The Machine Pistol is a pretty unique weapon. Despite having a large spray and very little damage per bullet, its sizeable magazine and speedy rate of fire make it perfect for up-close skirmishes.

Machine Pistol

Rapid-fire hitscan type
60 rounds per clip
1.5-second reload
2.4 – 8 damage
15 – 25 m falloff range
20 shots per second

NOTE: Sombra’s fully-automatic machine pistol fires in a short-range spread.

Overwatch Sombra abilities

Sombra’s iconic EMP is one of the game’s most devastating ultimates.

Just like Widowmaker, Sombra’s abilities are all about stealth. However, they’re pretty aggressive, so don’t expect to be sitting waiting behind your tanks!

Hack
- Enemy-targeting debuff hitscan type
- 15 m range
- 0.65 seconds cast time
- Lasts 6, 20, 10, or 60 seconds
- 8, 4, or 2-second cooldown

NOTE: Sombra hacks enemies to temporarily stop them from using their abilities, or hacks first aid kits to spawn faster and make them useless to her opponents. Taking damage interrupts the hacking.

Stealth
- +50% movement speed
- 2m radius
- 0.7 seconds cloaking/uncloaking
- Lasts until interrupted
- 6-second cooldown

NOTE: Sombra becomes invisible, during which her speed is boosted considerably. Attacking, using offensive abilities, or taking damage disables her camouflage. Sombra cannot capture objectives while invisible.

Translocator
- 5 HP
- 1 beacon
- 25 m/s projectile speed
- 0.4 seconds, ~0.7 seconds cast time
- 4 or 2-second cooldown

NOTE: Sombra tosses out a translocator beacon. She can instantly return to the beacon’s location while it is active, she can only have one beacon active at a time (including when it’s in mid-flight).

Sombra Ultimate Ability: EMP
- 15 m radius
- 0.5-sec cast
- Lasts 6 seconds

NOTE: Sombra discharges electromagnetic energy in a wide radius, destroying enemy barriers and shields and hacking all opponents caught in the blast.

How to play Sombra: Overwatch tips

Sombra’s Translocator is the perfect escape tool.

When it comes to playing Sombra, there’s no hiding behind your tanks. Her entire kit revolves around getting into the backline and hacking either the tanks or big damage dealers, so she’s much more suited to an aggressive playstyle.

However, jumping into the backline doesn’t come without a cost. Sombra is a squishy character, and she needs to get up close and personal both to hack, as well as use her Machine Pistol to its full potential. Make sure you drop your translocator somewhere safe (specifically back at spawn or next to a health pack) to ensure a quick getaway.

Additionally, make sure you hack that little burst of health, after all, you don’t want to translocate back to an empty health package! It’s important to keep a few of these disabled for the enemy too, especially ones close to them.

Using her Stealth is of paramount importance too. When your Ult is charged, use it to get behind the enemy lines and right into the center of the fray. Unleash your EMP then translocate of there, but not too far away. After all, the enemy are all hacked, and now is a great time to take the fight to them!

Overwatch Sombra skins

Sombra Overwatch 2 Changes

Other than receiving that DPS speed boost, Sombra, along with Mercy and other heroes, has gotten a full-blown makeover coming into Overwatch 2.

Seen decked out in aqua and lilac, her skin-tight sleeves have been replaced with purple gloves, and her leggings beautifully transition from one color to the next.

Her jacket is now a sleek-looking silver with deep violet inlays, and there’s a squared-off pattern on the left-hand side.

Her hair and implant have also received an upgrade, with circular neon metal replacing the former linear pattern and her iconic half-shaved style receiving a purple dye job. Overall, she feels a little more hardcore, and it looks like she’s back to hack the planet in style!

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