The femme fatalist the bane of every Bastion existence, Widowmaker. She is a lethal tool in the right player’s hands. The imminent danger of being a one-shot headshot on a whim is quite the deterrent to a rambunctious and haphazard flanker (i.e. Genji, Tracer, Sombra).
Widowmaker however is not a one-size fits all hero, with her skill ceiling being the highest in the Overwatch roster in conjunction with her skill floor. Widowmaker is a CSGO, AimLab nut’s paradise. If you’re apt at headshotting people in games like Valorant, she might be the hero for you, but there are a ton of caveats associated with her kit.
You see, with games like Valorant and CSGO, players are only able to reach certain verticalities, but in Overwatch, there are a myriad of movement abilities implemented in every heroes kit for the purpose of evading hitscan heroes like Widowmaker but if you do land the headshot, it sets your team up for an extremely lopsided team fight.
After all, Overwatch is a numbers game, and the more Ultimates you can throw in that team fight the better.
Now that you’ve concluded that you have the brass neck to play a Hero as daunting as Widowmaker a word of advice would be to leave your team voice chat. No matter how good you might be doing, the triggered Genji on your team will still spam the voice chat with “Widow can you switch?”.
The preconceived notion of Widow being a “throw” character dissipates the higher you climb on the ranked ladder, and to climb the aforementioned ladder, you need to be able to use Widowmaker to her maximum potential. This guide aims to do just that.
Widowmaker’s Overwatch 2 Changes
Overwatch 1.5 or Overwatch 2 brought a plethora of changes to almost every hero In Overwatch Widowmaker included. Widowmaker was touted as one of the squishiest heroes, and her buffs aim to make her a bit more durable. Her changes are as follows:
- Widowmaker’s base health has been increased from 175 hit points to 200 hit points.
- The addition of the Damage passive applicable to all DPS’ in OW2 is also present in Widowmaker’s kit. Granting her a burst of movement speed as well as reload speed on a kill.
Hit Targets In Psuedo-Stationary Phases Of Movement
There is a question that is ubiquitous with any Widowmaker player under the Master’s skill bracket “Why can’t I hit a shot”. To the uninitiated, the answer is simple “Your aim sucks” but the mechanics behind deadly Widows like Carpe and Ans is the reason for their high but consistent headshot percentages.
Overwatch isn’t like most games, where whenever you press the movement key, the movement translates into the hero instantaneously, hence why spamming ADAD is a great tool if you ever do encounter a Widow that is giving you problems.
In Overwatch 2, when a hero jumps, regardless of his/her size, the jump curve is constant. With enough experience, you tend to pick up the intricacies of the jumps and are able to time your shots to when they’re easiest to hit.
To hit more headshots, aim to shoot when the target is at the apex of their jump. This provides a window of “Pseudo-station” making it easier to line up your shots. If you’ve ever watched pro Widowmakers like Kephrii, this is a tip that he considers the “Most Essential Fundament” in a good Widowmaker’s repertoire.
Hopping in a workshop server to practice, the apex timing of the myriad of heroes will greatly help you in hitting more consistent headshots. We’d recommend 2S2VY as a trainer. Alternatively, and I would consider this even better practice, is hopping onto deathmatch servers and getting those hours in.
With Widowmaker’s mechanically intensive kit there is no substitute for practice, and you are only as good as your aim.
Use Venom Mine To Ward Off Sneaky Enemies
The venom mine is an often overlooked piece of utility in Widowmaker’s kit. Although it might seem mundane at first, if you can anticipate where you think that pesky flanker might come from correctly, it reduces the chance of being caught out substantially.
There is a major caveat though, the venom mine has a relatively small radius hence, placing it in doorways and entrances is advised.
Focus On Positioning
We are well aware that this “Tip” has been run into the ground, but there’s a good reason pro players preach it like gospel. Getting on high ground is the most important positioning element you can incorporate into your gameplay.
As a rule of thumb not only for Widowmaker but all Damage Dealers themselves, there is no need to push in front of your tank. The aim of a tank, in the first place is to soak up all the damage and to prevent “Squishy targets’ such as supports and damage dealers from getting caught out and allowing them to do what they do best.
Trying to push into a team trying to get “Clips” might seem worthwhile at the moment, however, consistently repeating this behavior will really stick to you like a bad habit.
To improve your positioning further, always grapple to what is considered “High Ground”, the high ground does not only make it a much harder target for them to hit you since only a small portion of your body is exposed, but you see the enemies first.
Using verticality to your advantage is paramount to swinging an encounter in your favor. After all, a surprise Widowmaker headshot is what Widow mains thrive on.
Knowing Your Limitations
Widowmaker is a very map-dependent hero with her thriving in areas with long and wide corridors. Using her as a one-size-fits-all hero is bound to lose you SR. Hence, why it is of the utmost importance that you know you’re and your hero’s limitations.
Playing to her strengths and recognizing her weaknesses is what separates a bronze-throwing Widowmaker from someone like Kephrii.
Widowmaker thrives on certain maps and is absolutely useless on others. So we’d advise that you keep your Widowmaker picks on these particular maps for the sake of your team:
- Busan
- Illios
- Circuit Royal
- Dorado
- Havana
- Junkertown
- Watchpoint: Gibraltar
- Blizzard World
- Hollywood
- King’s Row
- Midtown
- Horizon Lunar Colony
- Temple of Anubis
- Paris
- Ayutthaya
With that said, this brings us at an end of what we feel is the best way to play Widowmaker alongside tips and tricks that you should keep in mind. As the game progresses and new updates prop along, we’ll definitely add in extensions to stay up-to-pace with the evolving meta.
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