After playing Sombra for a bit on the PTR branch of Overwatch it still feels like even after fully hacking some players they can still use their abilities after being hacked.
For example, on a match I managed to hack a Mei, who then, after being hacked, promptly transformed into Ice Block mode, preventing me from damaging her. Similarly, I hacked a Soldier:76 who was still able to sprint away from me, even though I'm sure sprinting is considered an ability on Soldier:76.
So I'm curious — does hacking REALLY disable all enemy abilities? Or are some abilities "immune" to being hacked, meaning they can be used after being hacked by Sombra? Does hacking only disable "Active" abilities, while Passives (like Genji/Hanzo's wall climb, Sombra's low health visual) are unaffected?
Best Answer
Blizzard net code in conjugaison with a bit of ping allows people to use abilities a split second after you finished hacking them. So in the case of Mei and 76, they had the time to enable these abilities just before/while you were finishing hacking them.
On the other hand, some "abilities" will stay active even after hacking. The basic rule of thumb is : If it stops from a stun, it will stop from a hack. In the case of 76, he was sprinting but the running is a status. So the stun part is stopping his movement and since he's not moving, the ability stops (from McCree's stun).
Passives and statuses are "immune" because they are not directly abilities, but triggered by abilities. Flagrant examples would be Genji's Dragonblade, Bastion's Tank Configuration and 76's sprint.