There are four Assault maps that consist of two objective points that must be defended, starting with Point A then moving to Point B after the first point has been captured. All maps, Hanamura, Horizon Lunar Colony, Temple of Anubis, and Volskaya Industries, have the same map structures. Point A is set up in the middle of the map a little closer to the Attack spawn; once it is captured the new objective is moved to Point B which is right next to the defending team’s spawn. One of the strongest and underrated characters for defense in Overwatch is Symmetra and with this guide I will show you just how strong she can be for defending Assault maps.

Set-up:

The early seconds of the game are crucial for setting up as Symmetra as she needs time to set up turrets before the enemy team is released from their spawn. One of the most effective strategies that I have used is immediately picking Symmetra in the loading screen then walking as fast as possible to the other team’s spawn to set up turrets. It takes roughly 40 seconds on each map to walk from spawn room to spawn room without a Lucio speed boost which gives you roughly 20 seconds to set up turrets in strategic places to charge your ultimate quickly.

Using your time to your advantage is one of the biggest factors that people do not use with Symmetra as you can get a few charges of your ultimate at the very beginning of the game without losing any of the 6 turrets in your inventory. Placing two-three turrets at the opening of the enemy team’s spawn when you first arrive gives you enough time for those turrets to refresh in your inventory before the enemy team can spawn, so you will essentially have eight to nine turrets at your disposal before the game even starts.

Best Turret Locations:

Placing your turrets in strategic places is essential for both getting your ultimate and protecting the defense point. Some of the best places for your turrets is in tight corridors and chokepoints as it forces the enemy to make tough decisions. Either they will have to walk through all of your turrets in order to get through, which will make them take massive damage and give you ultimate charge, or they will have to abandon that path completely and think of another way to the point. This is very important as your team will then be able to play around your turrets and predict where the enemy team will attack from.

Playing Point A:

Defending Point A and Point B are both extremely different tactics with Symmetra and one of the biggest reasons is her diverse ultimate. When first starting the round, it is imperative that you get to the enemy spawn as quickly as possible to place a few turrets down as mentioned earlier as it gives a small charge to your ultimate right at the beginning of the game. I have had as little as 3% gained from this tactic up to almost 80% charge (though rarely) depending on how long it takes for the enemy team to destroy the turrets.

Once they have destroyed those turrets it is best to set up your next five/six turrets at strategic chokepoints on the map that your team can play around. Once your ultimate is around 90-95% charge you should start heading over to a secure place to set your ultimate as by the time you get there your ultimate should be ready. Remember, any time spent wasted is crucial to your team’s defense. You don’t do much DPS so leaving your team for 15 seconds to place and set up your ultimate is worth it. When deciding which ultimate to use for Point A, I would always recommend using Teleporter. Since Point A is closer to the attacking spawn than from the defending spawn, the enemy team will have the advantage at getting to point faster than your team.

Having a Teleporter is a great way for your team to get back to point as quick as possible without giving the enemy team any room for advantage. Once you have found a spot for your Teleporter, I would recommend surrounding it with all of your turrets to protect it from enemies trying to destroy it. In my opinion, you should stay near your Teleporter at all times to protect it instead of returning to your team, leaving it unprotected. Your team will be at a slight disadvantage being 5v6 but there is good reasoning behind it. Your Teleporter starts out with six charges and every time you or a teammate uses it, you lose a charge. So, with your Teleporter being near Point A and having six charges, you essentially have eleven lives at your team’s disposal. However, if you were to rejoin your team and the enemy team somehow destroyed your Teleporter with a flanker, you have lost the small advantage that you had. Smart enemy teams will always try to counter your Teleporter by sending a flanker such as Tracer or Genji to destroy it. This may seem difficult to defend as a Symmetra but it means your strategy is going perfectly.

Remember before I told you that staying near your Teleport would put your team at a small 5v6 disadvantage? Well now the enemy team has decided to put a flanker to deal with your Teleporter which will even out the fight 5v5 while their flanker deals with you. If you have all of your turrets surrounding your Teleporter in a tight space, there should be almost no way for the enemy flanker to destroy both your Teleporter and kill you at the same time which will waste valuable time for the team attacking.

Advanced Tips and Tricks for Point A:

Defending Point A seems pretty simple, get your Teleporter as fast as possible and protect it. But there are many advanced tactics that seem irrelevant but can make or break your defense. Always be aware of how many charges your teleporter has. If your team has just lost a huge team fight where four of your teammates have died and you have 4 charges left, it is time to start setting up your turrets somewhere else to get your ultimate back as soon as possible.

Time is of the essence and if you wait for all of your charges to be used before you realize you need to set up again it may be too late. On the other hand, if you only have one charge left on your Teleporter and you know a huge team fight is not going to happen for a while, you can kill yourself, use the last charge of your ultimate so you can start to get a new full Teleporter as soon as possible.

Leaving one charge to a Teleporter is almost useless because if you lost a team fight, bringing back one teammate is not going to do as much as charging a new full ultimate back up. Always watch the kill feed, if you have three charges left on your Teleporter and your team loses two DPS, a healer, and you at the same time, DO NOT use the Teleporter. I cannot stress this enough how many times I have seen a Mercy with her ultimate not make it back to point in time because a Symmetra took the last Teleporter charge.

This is a great spot that I have found to use for a Teleporter on Temple of Anubis. It is right above Point A and in close quarters so it will be easy to defend with your turrets.

Defending Point B:

Defending Point B has the same basics as defending Point A but it's slightly different. Setting up turrets should be the same as close quarters and chokepoints are most effective. However, your turrets can be used to spot enemy flankers and get knowledge for your team on where the enemy is attacking from. If you place one turret and common flank points, you will be notified when they are destroyed giving you information on where the enemy team is which you can relay to the rest of your team.

When defending Point B, you should always use the Shield Generator instead of Teleporter. The spawn for defending Point B is right next to the point so you already have the advantage of getting the point faster than the enemy team making the Teleporter nearly useless. When placing my Shield Generator, I will always put it as close to my spawn as possible as the enemy team will then have to get deep into our defense in order to destroy it. This will allow us to have the numbers advantage when taking that fight as we should be the first to rotate to the fight.

When placing turrets while defending Point B, I will always try to keep one or two turrets near flanking routes in order to spot the enemy team, the other four to five turrets I will then place all around Point B because if the enemy team jumps onto point, they will either need to have a team fight while taking damage from my turrets, or take 5 seconds to destroy my turrets while taking free damage from the rest of my team. Different from Point A, I do not recommend staying and protecting the Shield Generator. It is not nearly as important on Point B as the Teleporter is on Point A. Losing a Shield Generator on Point B will not cost your team valuable time getting back to point as it would to lose a Teleporter on Point A. You are much more efficient helping your team on the point and setting up turrets elsewhere to spot the enemies attack.

Advanced Tips and Tricks for Point B:

Always be aware of how many turrets you have available and where they are positioned. If you have a turret set up at a key enemy flanking route and fail to notice that it has been destroyed, your team could lose a crucial team fight to a Genji assassinating your healer from behind. Your Shield Generator will always be a target. If you know the enemy team trying to destroy your Shield Generator you are one step ahead of them. You can coordinate with your team and prepare to get a quick easy kill on someone trying to go for your Shield Generator causing the enemy team to either fight a 5v6 fight or retreat until another time.

Here are a few good spots on Hanamura to place a few flanking turrets. Up top on the left and outside on the right side of the point can easily show enemies that are trying to sneak by undetected.

Ally and Enemy Team Compositions:

When defending Point A there are a few champions that synergize very well with Symmetra. From my experience Mercy is a great healer to go with Symmetra’s Teleporter. If your team has lost a teamfight, Mercy’s Resurrect is great at bringing teammates back to the fight without using any charges to your Teleporter. Having Mercy’s ultimate paired with Symmetra’s Teleporter essentially gives your team three lives when played correctly.

Enemy tanks can be your friend. Believe it or not fighting a D.Va or Roadhog will benefit you more than you think. Once your Photon Projector locks onto a tank, you can charge your ultimate extremely fast. The longer you are locked on, the faster your ultimate will charge which is why having a high health tank to attack is not always a bad thing. Enemy shields can benefit you more than they benefit them. Your Photon Projector can also be charged to shoot an energy ball which can GO THROUH shields.

Enemy teams usually all hide behind a Reinhardt or Orisa shield because they feel safe. Symmetra is a good counter to this. Charging up her Projector she can shoot through the shields damaging and charging up her ultimate to unknowing enemies. If one fully charged shot passes through 2-3 enemies you can have a full ultimate in a matter of seconds.

Always be aware of who you are locked-on too. If you are fully charged and the enemy tank is still not dying quickly because he is being healed by the enemy Mercy, switch your beam to someone else. A fully charged beam will still take time to kill an enemy tank but only a second to eliminate an enemy healer or DPS. A great strategy I always use is to start attacking an enemy tank to bait out their healer or until another target comes along, then switch my fully charged beam onto them for a quick kill.

Conclusion:

Defending as Symmetra may seem simple. Set up annoying turrets everywhere and place a Teleporter to help your team. But there is much more behind her gameplay than that. Knowing how to use her turrets effectively and which ultimate to use at what time are key elements in having a Symmetra lead her team to a victory. Hopefully after reading this guide you are now more understanding of what it takes for Symmetra to defend Assault maps.

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