Everything You Must Know about Sombra, the New and 23rd Overwatch Hero

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 07 Nov 2016

When the immensely popular multiplayer shooter Overwatch came out, it featured a total of 21 heroes. This summer, Blizzard added a 22nd hero: Ana, a 60 years old sniper and bounty hunter out of Cairo, Egypt.

And earlier this month, Blizzard added yet another hero to the list, bumping the count up to 23. Say hello to Sombra, a petite and feisty hacker from Dorado, Mexico. Let’s uncover her backstory, see what her abilities are, and find out pretty much everything there is to know about her.

Sombra is a gifted hacker (and an orphan)

The Omnic Crisis had a huge impact on Mexico. Not only was the country’s infrastructure destroyed, but thousands of children were left orphaned. Sombra was one of them. As an orphan, with no one to help her, she had to rely on her skills to survive. Her computer and hacking skills, of course.

Sombra is this gifted hacker’s alias. No one knows what her real name is, because she erased all traces of her identity. After joining Mexico’s Los Muertos gang, she helped them in their fight with the government. Los Muertos believed that the rebuilding of Mexico had mainly benefited the rich and influential instead of those who most needed assistance. And so, they started a revolution, racking many conquests thanks to Sombra.

With every conquest, Sombra’s confidence in her skills grew. Until one day, when she uncovered a global conspiracy, a conspiracy that had also uncovered Sombra. So she deleted all traces of her identity and went into hiding.



When Sombra came out of hiding, she was upgraded and determined to find the truth behind the conspiracy she had uncovered. The strings of hacks she launched earned her a lot of fans, including Talon, the main villain in Overwatch's narrative. She joined Talon and helped them with the massive cyberattacks that targeted corporations with strong ties to their governments.


Sombra will foil Talon for her own benefit

Talon sends Reaper, Widowmaker, and Sombra to take out Katya Volskaya, the leader of Russia’s efforts against the omnics. But Sombra knows something that Reaper, Widowmaker and Talon don’t: that Volskaya is getting her anti-omnic tech from the omnics. So she purposely foils the mission just to blackmail Volskaya.



The fact that Sombra uses information to manipulate those in power isn’t surprising. And the fact that Volskaya has Zarya, the Russian tank, on speed dial isn't surprising either. What is surprising is that Sombra does all this blackmailing business under Talon’s nose.


Sombra has 5 useful abilities
  • Machine Pistol – a fully-automatic machine pistol that fires in a short-range spread.
  • Hack – hack enemies and prevent them from using their abilities (for a short time), or hack first aid kits to make them useless to enemies.
  • Thermoptic Camo – become invisible for a short period of time. While invisible, Sombra’s speed gets a considerable boost. The camouflage is disabled if Sombra attacks, uses offensive abilities, or if she takes damage.
  • Translocator – instantly transports Sombra to an active translocator beacon. She basically teleports from wherever she is to a translocator beacon.
  • EMP – when it discharges, Sombra’s electromagnetic pulse destroys enemy barriers or shields and it hacks any opponent that gets caught in the blast.


Additional information about Sombra is available here.


In related news...

During the BlizzCon 2016 video game convention, Blizzard announced that Overwatch has more than 20 million players around the world. With so many players on board, it makes sense to create an Overwatch League for pro-level competitions, right? Well, that’s precisely what Blizzard did!

"The Overwatch League represents not only the pinnacle of Overwatch competition, but also a genuine career opportunity for the most skilled Overwatch players," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We’re building a league that’s accessible to players and fans, sustainable, and exciting for everyone involved."

The inaugural season of the Overwatch League will begin next year, in 2017.



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