Sombra Detection Workshop: Broken Detection Hitboxes

Sombra Detection Workshop mode was created by Reddit user PatriqTheLazy to demonstrate that Sombra's detection hitbox in Overwatch is incredibly broken.

Sombra Detection Workshop

This Overwatch workshop mode highlights Sombra's two meter radius hitbox for detecting her out of stealth. If an enemy comes within that range, she will be spotted. However, the workshop video shows the hitbox is extremely wonky and inconsistent.

The video demonstrates that the radius for Sombra is slightly larger than two meters. However, if Sombra is looking down, the hitbox will actually linger behind her, with Sombra running at the edge of the sphere. The inverse is true: if Sombra looks up, she'll be at the other edge of the hitbox, throwing it in front of her.

From the enemy's perspective (the detector), the range is always two meters, no matter where Sombra is looking. The weird hitbox applies to Sombra only, which can affect how you think the enemy sees you. For example, you might think you were detected way earlier than you actually were, perhaps causing you to misplay. By the same token, you might think you're still invisible when in fact the enemy can see you, leading to unfortunate positioning.

This happens because from Sombra's perspective, the hitbox is based out of her feet and is attached to the camera, making it swing around based on how she is looking. From the other perspective, the hitbox radius is fixed to her model.

The mod can be incredibly useful for the debug team to get this inconsistency fixed. While it's more of a quirk of questionable design rather than a bug, it could prove annoying enough to players that Blizzard could be forced to fix it.

Photo courtesy of Blizzard