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Overwatch: Widowmaker Hero Guide

Widowmaker is Overwatch’s token sniper and is focused entirely on providing vision to her team alongside high single-target damage. In comparison to other Heroes, she brings almost no utility - her sole purpose is to kill quickly from afar or pressure enemy Heroes with body shots so they’re forced to find cover. While this might seemingly make Widowmaker a shallow Hero, her depth comes from not only perfecting your shots but positioning yourself so you’re always able to attack the enemy.


Widowmaker


What’s often evident with Widowmaker is that the gulf between a good one and a bad one is enormous. Where a bad one will severely hinder your team (effectively leaving every fight as a 5 vs 6) a good one will be able to not only secure kills constantly, but pressure enough to allow the rest of her team to finish them off. Unfortunately the bad Widowmakers tend to outnumber those good ones by a wide margin. If you’re poor at aiming, it might be best finding a Hero that’s far easier to succeed with.


  • strategy

  • When it comes to strategy, Widowmaker is pretty archetypical of a sniper. She excels on maps that have large open spaces, or long corridors so that she can comfortably snipe the opposition from afar. Unsurprisingly any maps that require close quarters she fares poorly on, especially if there are lots of flanks as she’ll be unable to cover all angles or get good sightlines. Maps such as Nepal are particularly poor for Widowmaker.

    If you do have sightlines however, she can be devastating in the right hands but requires exceptional aim and positioning. The main thing you have to be careful of is the fact that if you do find a good sniping location and secure several kills, the enemy team will ensure they make their way towards you upon respawning. Constantly moving by using your Grappling Hook allows you to confuse the enemy, find a new location and continue to attack without risk.

    as a sniper, securing head-shots will almost always guarantee a kill at full charge of your rifle. However, if you can secure one from a body shot there’s no need to pressure yourself by trying to aim for the head. Many Heroes have 200 health or less and if they’ve already suffered some damage, it’s more than possible to simply finish them off with a single shot to the body. It’s also far easier to accomplish.


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  • Tips

  • This list of tips and tricks are just a handful of things we think will help your Widowmaker play. We'll continue to add to the list as required and if you have any tips you'd like to share, let us know in the comments below and we'll place them here.

    1. Remember that you're a sniper - range is key. Always find high buildings or walkways to fire from.

    2. Secure your location with a Venom Mine to prevent enemy players from flanking you. At the very least it'll give you a warning sign someone is coming.

    3. Your submachine gun is a last resort. It doesn't deal huge damage but with the poison from your mine, you can really hurt someone.

    4. Your Grappling Hook will propel you forwards and upwards, providing you with a mini-leap upon impact. Use this to get on ledges or adjust your position mid-air.

    5. Fully charged sniper shots deal 150 damage, more than enough to instantly kill Heroes such as Zenyatta. Don't feel pressure to shoot at someones head.

    6. Your Ultimate ability provides vision for your entire team. It's invaluable for predicting where enemies will come from and allows you to ready yourself to snip incoming foes. Don't waste it.

    7. Infra-Sight is perfect for lining up head-shots on unsuspecting players. Watch their movement and simply aim for where they'll be when they turn the corner into your view.

    8. Venom Mine can be thrown a reasonable distance. It's more than possible to flank the enemy and throw this into a group of them for high AOE pressure.

    9. Try to always change locations. A Widowmaker who stays in one spot is easily countered.

    10. If an enemy gets too close, quickly use your Grappling Hook on any object in the distance. You'll be pulled away and upon landing, drop your Venom Mine to prevent pursuit.

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