How to Unlock Sombra: Changes, Skins, and Rework

Sombra is a Damage hero in Overwatch 2. Read on to learn more about Sombra, their weapons and abilities, their patch notes history, their backstory, and more!

Sombra Latest Buffs and Nerfs

September 21, 2022 Dev Blog #5 Patch Notes

Sombra Patch Notes (September 21, 2022)
Hack	・Increased Lockout duration from 1 second to 1.75 seconds

Sombra Hero Profile

Basic Information

Sombra (Olivia Colomar)
	Role	Damage
	Ranking
	Total HP	・ 250 ・ 250 (Base Health)
	Voice Actor	Carolina Ravassa
	Nationality	Mexican
Affiliations	Los Muertos (formerly),Talon (currently)

How to Unlock

Unlocks after playing 115 games.

Character Redesign

Overwatch 1	Overwatch 2

Sombra's reworked design for Overwatch 2 completely changes her hair color to violet, and her skin tone to a more vibrant tan. She also loses her sleeves in favor of a more iridiscent colored pair of pants.

Sombra Weapons and Abilities

Sombra Main Weapon

Machine Pistol
	Damage: 8
	Description: Short-range automatic weapon.

Sombra Abilities

Translocator	Type: Ability Cooldown: 6 secs
Effect: Throw a beacon, then press E again to teleport to it. Press F to remove it.
Stealth	Type: Ability Cooldown: 6 secs
Effect: Become invisible and move quickly.
Hack	Type: Ability Cooldown: 8 secs Duration: 4 secs
Effect: Hold to hack. Hacked enemies cannot use abilities briefly and can be seen through walls. Hacked health packs spawn faster but can't be used by enemies. Taking damage interrupts the hack attempt.
Opportunist	Type: Passive
Effect: You detect critically injured enemies through walls, and deal 40% more damage to hacked enemies.
EMP	Type: Ultimate
Effect: Deals damage equal to 40% of all nearby enemies' health, hacking them and destroying barriers around you.
Role: Damage	Type: Passive
Effect: Eliminations grant a burst of increased movement speed and reload speed.

How to Play and Tips

Inform Your Team of Injured Foes

Opportunist allows Sombra to see enemies with half-health and below through walls, with severely-injured foes showing up as red silhouettes. Use voice communication or the game's Countdown ping to inform your teammates about injured key enemy targets so they can focus them down.

Machine Pistol Has Damage Falloff

Sombra's Machine Pistol has a substantial amount of bullet spread and also suffers from damage loss over long distances. Stick to flanking and fighting foes in close and medium ranges to maximize your damage output while playing Sombra.

Hack Tips

Sombra Can Hack in Stealth

Use Stealth to maneuver around the battlefield and Hack key enemy targets while invisible to prevent them from using their abilities and easily take them down. Prioritize taking down Supports to remove the enemy team's sources of healing and survivability, and ability-reliant Heroes like D.Va and Tracer mitigate the threat they pose.

Hack Health Packs Out of Combat

As Sombra, make it a habit to Hack health packs near your allies and behind enemy lines while outside of combat. Doing this significantly improves your team's survivability while preventing your foes from using Health Packs.

Hack Can Interrupt Abilities

You can use Hack to interrupt foes' channeled abilities like Reinhardt's Charge and Pharah's Barrage. Always keep this tip in mind, as it can potentially save you and your team from getting eliminated.

Place Translocator Near Health Packs

Health Pack locations are some of the best areas to place your Translocator as they provide you with an immediate burst of healing after disengaging from a fight. Place them a short distance away from Health Packs instead of directly on top of them to prevent foes from easily spotting your Translocator.

Use Translocator in Combat

Aside from being your escape tool, you can also use Translocator in combat to confuse and disorient your foes. Throw your Translocator above and past your enemies to reposition behind them or on top of high ground, giving you a more advantageous position in combat.

EMP Tips

Be Mindful of Enemy Health Points

Sombra's EMP deals damage based on a percentage of your opponents' current health, meaning that it is less impactful on injured targets. Always use Opportunist to assess your foes' health status before deciding on using EMP on the enemy team.

Position EMP with Stealth and Translocator

Use Sombra's increased mobility with Stealth and teleportation with Translocator to set up her ultimate. Use one of the abilities to reach optimal positions to use EMP from, then safely turn invisible or teleport out with the other ability to safely reposition to a better angle.

Coordinate With Your Team

Sombra's EMP works best for initiating team fights, so communicate and coordinate with your team so they can follow up on your ultimate. Use voice communication or the in-game Countdown ping to let your teammates know when you are about to activate EMP.

Sombra Skins

Base Game Skins

Hero Skins
Augmented (Legendary)	Azúcar (Legendary)	Cyberspace (Legendary)
Los Muertos (Legendary)	Glitch (Epic)	Jester (Epic)
Virus (Epic)	Cidro (Rare)	Incendio (Rare)
Mar (Rare)	Noche (Rare)	Classic (Common)

League Skins

Hero Skins
Atlanta Reign (Epic)	Boston Uprising (Epic)	Chengdu Hunters (Epic)
Dallas Fuel (Epic)	Florida Mayhem (Epic)	Guangzhou Charge (Epic)
Hangzhou Spark (Epic)	Houston Outlaws (Epic)	London Spitfire (Epic)
Los Angeles Gladiators (Epic)	Los Angeles Valiant (Epic)	New York Excelsior (Epic)
Paris Eternal (Epic)	Philadelphia Fusion (Epic)	San Francisco Shock (Epic)
Seoul Dynasty (Epic)	Shanghai Dragons (Epic)	Toronto Defiant (Epic)
Vancouver Titans (Epic)	Washington Justice (Epic)

Event Skins

Hero Skins
Black Cat (Legendary)	Bride (Legendary)	Face Changer (Legendary)
Neon Cat (Legendary)	Rime (Legendary)	Talon (Legendary)
Tulum (Legendary)	Mexicana (Epic)	Oro (Epic)
Overwatch Contenders (Epic)	Peppermint (Epic)

Sombra Cosmetics

Victory Poses

Translocator (Rare) Season 1 Battle Pass	Heroic (Common) Base Game	Toast (Rare) Winter Wonderland Event
Hacked (Rare) Base Game	Kneeling (Rare) Base Game	Rising (Rare) Base Game
Medal (Rare) Summer Games Event	Pumpkinette (Rare) Halloween Terror Event	Sparklers (Rare) Lunar New Year Event
Data Cube (Rare) Archives Event

Voice Lines

Hero Voice Lines
Playing Fair	“Where's the fun in playing fair?” Base Game
Boop	“Boop!” Base Game
Cool	“De pelos! (Cool!)” Base Game
Did You Mean To Do That?	“Did you mean to do that?” Base Game
Glitch In The System	“You're just a glitch in the system.” Base Game
Good One	“Good one.” Base Game
Hack The Planet	“Hack the planet.” Base Game
If You Hold The Information	“If you hold the information, you hold all the cards.” Base Game
In Over Your Head	“I think you're in over your head.” Base Game
Just Squishing A Bug	“Just squishing a bug.” Base Game
Mess With The Best...	“Mess with the best and die like the rest.” Base Game
Show Me What You Got	“Asústame, Panteón. (Scare me, Panteón.)” Base Game
Taking This Very Seriously	“You're taking this very seriously.” Base Game
Got Some Sun Once	“I got some sun once. Didn't care for it.” Summer Games Event
Try And Keep Up	“Try and keep up.” Summer Games Event
What's Up?	“Qué pex? (What's up?)” Summer Games Event
Aw, Isn't That Sweet?	“Aw, isn't that sweet?” Halloween Terror Event
You Trying To Be Scary?	“You trying to be scary?” Halloween Terror Event
You're Not Alone In Here	“You're not alone in here.” Halloween Terror Event
I Can Be Nice	“I can be nice.” Winter Wonderland Event
I Know Who's Been Naughty	“I know who's been naughty.” Winter Wonderland Event
Merry Christmas	“Feliz Navidad! (Merry Christmas!)” Winter Wonderland Event
Who Wants To Buy Me A Present?	“Who wants to buy me a present?” Winter Wonderland Event
This One Has Teeth	“Ooh, this one has teeth. (purr)” Lunar New Year Event
You Work Too Hard	“You work too hard.” Lunar New Year Event
You're Easily Impressed	“You're easily impressed.” Lunar New Year Event
You're In The Doghouse	“You're in the doghouse.” Lunar New Year Event
Back To La Medianoche!	“Volvamos a la medianoche. (Let's go back at midnight.)” Archives Event
Don't Be A Coward	“No les saques! (Don't be a coward!)” Archives Event
I'd Love To Stay and Chat	“I'd love to stay and chat but, I'm not going to.” Archives Event
Nice Working With You	“I'd like to say it was nice working with you but, it wasn't.” Archives Event
I Need A Drink	“I need a drink.” Anniversary Event
Let's Not Do That Again	“Let's not do that again.” Anniversary Event
We're A Good Team	“We're a good team. You're lucky to have me.” Anniversary Event
Were You Done Talking?	“Were you done talking?” Anniversary Event

Emotes

Hero Emotes
Heroic Base Game	Amused Base Game
Boop Base Game	Hold On Base Game
Marioneta Base Game	Masterpiece Base Game
Sit Base Game	Regifted Winter Wonderland Event
Dance Anniversary Event

Sombra Story

An Orphaned Hacker

During the Omnic Crisis, Sombra was one of the many children who lost both of their parents. Even though much of the infrastructure in her country had been destroyed, she managed to stay alive by relying on her unique abilities to hack computers and people.

Los Muertos Gang

After being taken by the Los Muertos gang, sombra helped them fight the government. Los Muertos argued that Mexico's rebuilding favoured the rich and powerful, leaving behind the needy.

Unravelling the Conspiracy

Sombra felt confident in her skills after numerous victories. Still, she was unprepared when she entered a global conspiracy that had noticed her. She erased all the traces of her identity and went into hiding.

As Sombra

She reemerged as Sombra, upgraded and determined to unravel the conspiracy. Talon admired Sombra's hacking abilities. She joined the group and is suspected of helping launch large cyberattacks on companies with ties to governments. These attempts incited a Mexican revolt against LumériCo and breached Volskaya Industries, Russia's anti-omnic defense manufacturer.

Sombra can now devote her full attention to her true mission: to expose the conspiracy and steal its power for her own objectives by tapping on Talon's immense resources.

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