OverwatchOverwatch Widowmaker Guide and Overview

Widowmaker is the purest expression of mechanical skill in Overwatch. A cold, methodical sniper conditioned to eliminate targets without hesitation. She is the most feast or famine hero in the game, but players with high precision can carry just about any team.

In team compositions, Widowmaker serves as an area control DPS. She doesn’t brawl, dive, or frontline. Instead, she threatens instant death and makes a simple move like walking around a corner a life-or-death decision. A single pick can decide the fight before it even begins. 

While even missed shots can deny space, slow pushes, get out cooldowns, Widowmaker only gets value when she forces the enemy team to respect her sightlines by getting a few early insta-kills. 

Although she has the potential to be the most lethal hero, she collapses quickly when the enemy prevents her from setting up or dives her from multiple angles. 

TLDR

Play As

• Hold long sightlines. Widow is at her strongest when she positions outside everyone else’s effective range, where she can still one-shot.
• Reposition frequently after shots. Don’t stay in one spot for long because the enemy will flank you and take you out.
• Prioritize pressure and picks over raw damage numbers. Don’t worry about total damage on the scoreboard. The only thing that matters is shutting down the enemy team, and getting solo kills.

Play Against

• Force her to retreat with dives and flanks. Even if you don’t get the kill, stop her from aiming at your teammates.
• Never peek the same angle twice. If you see Widow aiming down sights, don’t walk out at the same position because she will be ready to hit the shot.
• Avoid her sightlines. Scout or get info from your team about her position. Then take side routes where she can’t snipe you.

Strengths

Instant oneshots

Widowmaker can delete squishy heroes with a single fully charged headshot, instantly giving her team the numbers advantage. At that point, her team will generally win the 5v4.

Lane control

Her presence alone denies open areas and long hallways. This forces enemies to take slower side routes, rely on barriers, or burn mobility cooldowns.

Solo carry potential

If you are cracked and think your team is holding you back, there is no better solo carry than Widowmaker. The better your aim, positioning, and target selection, the more oppressive she becomes.

Weaknesses

Feast or famine

You either click heads and win, or miss shots and lose. There’s not really an in-between. Widow offers little consistent damage compared to other DPS if she isn’t deleting full HP squishies.

Highly vulnerable to dive

Grappling Hook is on a 10-second cooldown, which is longer than most dive heroes' mobility cooldowns. Even if she escapes their initial attack, they can chase after her and get the kill before she has another Grappling Hook.

Underwhelming DPS Ult

Wall hacks aren’t a bad Ult for a sniper hero to have, and it does force the enemy team to position extremely cautiously for its duration. However, compared to other DPS Ults like Sojourn’s Overclock, it’s not exactly a win-button.

Primary Fire: Widow’s Kiss (SMG)

Tips for Widow's Kiss

• Use unscoped fire only at close range or to finish off very low-health targets.
• Never rely on this mode in extended fights because you’ll just waste ammo. It’s a last resort, not a go-to strategy.

Secondary Fire: Take Aim

Tips for Primary Fire: Take Aim

• Fully charged shots deal 300 damage. You don’t need to fully charge if your target has lower health.
• Be patient, line up the shot, and avoid panic firing.
• Body shots to finish low targets are more consistent. Headshots are not always needed.
• Fire a few shots, then reposition. You want to be as unpredictable as possible. If an enemy doesn’t know where you are and that you are aiming at them, they are much easier to shoot.

[SHIFT]: Grappling Hook

Tips for Grappling Hook

• Jump shots are awesome, but don’t let your ego cause you a bunch of deaths. Smart enemies will see you fly through the air, then immediately dive you, knowing you can’t escape.
• Use Grapple primarily for repositioning. Take high ground and off angles whenever possible.
• Pre-plan grapple spots so you can quickly take new angles or escape the moment you see an enemy trying to flank you.

[E]: Venom Mine

Tips for Venom Mine

• Place mines on common flank routes, staircases, or behind you. Even if the enemy sees it and destroys it, the information that an enemy is there is invaluable.
• For example, placing a Venom Mine to guard the only route to attack you on the left side means you will only need to watch out for enemies on your right side.
• Don’t forget to replace it when moving to a new position. 

Ultimate: Infra-Sight

Tips for Infra-Sight

• Provides full enemy vision to your entire team. Your Ult is a teamfight utility. It’s better to stay alive the full duration and let your team benefit than to make an extremely dangerous and desperate attempt for a kill.
• Best used before a fight begins to enable safe pushes and give yourself and your team the advantage in setup.
• Watch for enemies to peek and shoot them the moment they enter your LoS

Minor Perks

Scoped Efficiency

• Less downtime thanks to less reloading.

Sniper's Instinct

• Really good in Widow duels or when facing enemies that require you to use grapple to simultaneously evade and attack.

Major Perks

Seeker Mine

• Patrols a much larger area than the standard mine. You’ll be alerted by the 10m radius and can leave it there without having to use the cooldown to redeploy. 

Widow's Bite

• The charge rate is the same. Charging to 125% takes longer and decreases the rate of fire.
• Enables oneshots on all DPS, including Bastion and Torb.
• Also good if you’re spending more time shooting Tanks.
• The piercing helps on long flat areas a bit, but don’t waste your time fishing for collats.

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