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Sombra’s Hack has changed across Overwatch versions. In the older Damage kit, it briefly stopped an enemy from using abilities and revealed them through walls. Blizzard’s newer surfaced patch-note result says Hack was removed as a main ability in a Support rework, while the Support-role hero page still describes Hack effects through Hotfix and EMP. The details below distinguish those kits rather than treating them as one set of current rules.
What Hack did in Sombra’s older Damage kit
Blizzard’s US hero page describes the older Hack as a hold-to-use ability. When it completed on an enemy hero, that enemy could not use abilities and became visible to Sombra through walls. The page does not give a duration or list every affected ability and exception, so it does not establish that Hack disabled every ability in every situation.
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Hack also affected health packs: hacked packs spawned faster, and enemies could not use them. Taking damage interrupted Sombra’s attempt to hack a target.
How long the ability lockout lasted in the 2024 notes
Blizzard’s October 21, 2024 patch notes reduced the hacked ability-lockout effect from 1.5 seconds to 1.0 second and said EMP’s duration was unchanged. That is a historical value for the 2024 kit, not a verified duration for a later build. Read Blizzard’s October 21, 2024 patch notes.
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What changed in the newer Support-role material
Blizzard’s latest surfaced patch-note result says Sombra moved from Damage to Support and Hack was removed from her main abilities. In its place, she can apply Weaken, which halves an enemy’s damage and healing output. Blizzard’s explanation says the change was intended to avoid fully locking opponents out of their abilities. The retrieved patch-note result did not expose a publication date, so it should not be treated as a dated specification without checking the relevant live patch notes. Check Blizzard’s Overwatch patch notes.
Removing Hack as a main ability does not mean the Support-role material contains no Hack effects. Blizzard’s UK hero page describes Hotfix as healing an ally over time and allowing Sombra to hack health packs and most enemy deployables. Its EMP description says it damages nearby enemies based on a percentage of their current health, hacks them, and destroys nearby barriers. These are effects attributed to Hotfix and EMP on that page, not evidence that the older, standalone Hack ability remains unchanged. See Blizzard’s UK Sombra hero page.
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Older and newer kit at a glance
| Kit described | Role | Hack as a main ability | Enemy effect | Other Hack-related effects | Version context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Older kit on Blizzard’s US hero page | Damage | Yes | Blocks enemy ability use and reveals the target through walls | Hacked health packs spawn faster and enemies cannot use them; taking damage interrupts the attempt | Blizzard’s US hero page still presents this older kit; no page date or exact ability duration is stated there. Source |
| Newer Support-role patch-note material | Support | No; the surfaced notes say it was removed from main abilities | Weaken halves enemy damage and healing output | The UK hero page describes Hotfix hacking health packs and most enemy deployables, and EMP hacking nearby enemies | The patch-note search result has no publication date; Blizzard’s regional hero pages conflict. Patch notes; UK hero page |
Why Blizzard’s pages do not give one definitive current answer
The US hero page retrieved for this topic labels Sombra Damage and lists Hack and Virus. The UK hero page presents a Support kit, while Blizzard’s latest surfaced patch-note result says Hack was removed from her main abilities. The available official material does not resolve whether this reflects page staleness or a version difference. For the exact current interactions in your region and platform, use the live client and the patch notes for that build; do not assume the older lockout or its 2024 duration applies to the Support kit.
Blizzard’s developer retrospective also describes Hack as a powerful part of Sombra’s design that has received many changes over Overwatch’s history. That is historical commentary, not a current mechanics specification. Browse Blizzard’s developer updates.
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