Three tips to help master the newest Overwatch hero Sigma

Overwatch's newest hero is Sigma, a mad scientist and tank obsessed with harnessing the power of black holes and who lives on the edge of insanity. His consistent damage output with his primary fire allows him to increase his team's overall damage effectively, and he has several tools in his kit that can be used to save teammates from certain death. I've gotten a chance to play him for a few hours on the Overwatch Public Test Region servers, and have figured out some key strategies that will help you win matches with him. Here are three ways that you can maximize your impact with Sigma.

List of Sigma's moves and abilities

• Hyperspheres: Explosive orbs that do small area-of-effect damage.
• Experimental Barrier: A large barrier that can be repositioned and retracted at will.
• Accretion: Sigma pulls a rock out of the ground and hurls it at foes, stunning them.
• Kinetic Grasp: Sigma absorbs projectile damage that hits him in the front, turning it into shields.
• Ultimate: Gravitic Flux: Sigma manipulates gravity, lifting foes up and then smashing them into the ground.

Use angles to your advantage

Sigma's primary fire ability, Hyperspheres, launches two explosive projectiles at an enemy that detonate either on a direct hit, or after a short amount of time if they miss. However, something many players don't know is that you can actually bounce these off of walls, floors, and even ceilings to hit foes around corners or even to get around barriers that would otherwise block the damage completely, such as Orisa's.

With this information in mind, it's a great idea to always be on the lookout for surfaces that you can use so that you catch the enemy team off guard. Damage coming in from unexpected angles not only forces the enemy to reposition, but it also means that more of your attacks will hit enemies instead of get blocked by tanking abilities.

Your body is a shield

While Sigma's Experimental Barrier is how you'll want to block most types of damage for your team since it can take 1,500 hitpoints, you shouldn't hesitate to use Sigma's other damage blocking ability, Kinetic Grasp, to ensure the safety of your team. This ability stops projectiles in midair and converts them into shields. Unlike your regular shield, it can absorb infinite damage, and it gives you up to 400 extra personal shield health depending on how much you absorbed. It goes on a 15-second cooldown after three seconds, though, so don't use it unless it will get a lot of value.

This ability is worth using because your normal shield won't have the health to stop heavy-hitting ultimate abilities like Pharah's Barrage or the combined focus-fire of a team shooting people in one of Zarya's Graviton Surges. However, your three-second infinite damage absorption can end up being the difference between a team wipe and survival. Just make sure that you try and get in front of everyone on your team. Also be wary of people flanking you, as Kinetic Grasp only blocks damage that comes in from the front.

Control the objective

Sigma's ultimate ability, Gravitic Flux, is one of the most powerful forms of crowd-control in the entire game. When you activate it, Sigma will float in the air and you can designate an area of the ground to manipulate with gravity. Any enemies within the area will be risen high in the air and suspended momentarily so that your team can shoot them, then they are forcefully slammed to the floor and take damage equal to half of their maximum hitpoints.

Because of how Gravitic Flux can forcefully move enemies out of cover and into the sky, this ability is fantastic for getting an enemy off of an objective and exposing them to damage. This works especially well on payload carts, as foes won't be able to use them to avoid damage like they usually can. Gravitic Flux also works wonderfully when combined with damage ultimates like Soldier: 76's Tactical Visor or McCree's Deadeye, as Gravitic Flux will expose them and make it incredibly easy for your team's damage heroes to finish off. If their attacks don't kill them, the high-speed smash into the ground at the end of your ultimate certainly will.

Your thoughts

What do you think of Overwatch's latest hero? Have you come up with any creative ways to use him and his abilities? Let us know in the comments below.

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