I don’t think Ashe is weak nor do I think the parts of her kit that are already good require buffs, but I take issue when any component of a hero’s kit is deemed too niche to be used in most situations, and I think Ashe’s primary fire definitely fits into this category.
It seems to be common wisdom among Ashe players that her unscoped fire is too unreliable to be used in comparison to her scoped fire and it’s basically only preferred for getting quick one-shot finishers on weak targets. While Ashe can get by just fine almost exclusively using scoped fire, I feel like the weak primary fire leaves an unnecessary void in her kit that both makes her gameplay less engaging and contributes to her lack of use in professional play. Basically, Ashe should be considered a hitscan jack-of-all-trades, somewhere between Widowmaker and McCree; however, her dependency on scoping up to deal reliable damage just makes her into a sniper that can’t one-shot on her own, which best explains why she isn’t frequently seen in professional play.
I think the best way to change Ashe’s primary fire would be to eliminate the spread completely. Its low damage and high damage falloff are already pretty poor trades for it in comparison to scoped fire, and its high fire rate in unison with its unreliable spread makes it more likely to waste valuable ammo than to provide useful damage output. Eliminating the spread alone should, in theory, allow players to use it in closer ranges without feeling like they’re wasting ammo but still enjoy the benefits of not needing to always enter a vulnerable scoped stance to deal damage.
Like I said, I felt like suggesting this change because I don’t like the idea of heroes having underutilized components in their kits. I think making this part of Ashe’s kit more reliable will make her gameplay more engaging by making the moment-to-moment choice between using scoped or unscoped fire more meaningful, and it will also increase the versatility in her kit to make her feel more like a McCree/Widowmaker hybrid rather than just a watered-down Widowmaker.
The first shot is pin-point and the second has hardly any spread, so if you have someone jumping all around you and can’t get the scope on them, you can still fire 1 or 2 shots, wait for reset, repeat. That’s pretty weak though, and normally you’d rather coach-gun them away so you can get the scope on them. Also max spread is ‘only’ 1.85 degrees, so if you have a D.Va or a Roadhog standing on your toes you can blast them with rapid headshots pretty reliably.
But yes, overall, you want to be scoped whenever possible because the unscoped is just plain bad.
I mean, while as an Ashe main I’d absolutely take it if it were offered… that seems a little extreme. It makes her better than pre-fire rate-buff McCree with unscoped, except for the reload speed. (20-40 damage per 0.25 seconds, vs. 35-70 damage per .42 seconds (was per 0.5 seconds)).
I just don’t see that being a good balance decision. If she’s underpowered (and I don’t think she is), then maybe she could use a reduction in spread but pinpoint is a bit much.
This part’s a little complicated from my experience. You can try it out in-game if I’m getting it wrong, but there doesn’t seem to be a reasonable time-frame in which unscoped fire resets to pinpoint. At best, it seems like you can fire at roughly the speed of scoped fire and have minimum spread, but still experience spread, which isn’t that useful.
That’s what I have a problem with. If it’s bad, why is it in her kit in the first place? I’ve felt similarly about other underutilized abilities in the past, like Shadow Step, but Shadow Step was changed. I would rather Ashe’s primary fire be changed as well, because it has no business being in her kit if it isn’t useful.
I’ve not convinced myself that I’ve made the perfect balance suggestion either, but I’d like to see something tried to improve her primary fire, rather than just accepting it as bad. Wasting ammo hurts Ashe more than most heroes and having an attack mode with a notable amount of spread wastes ammo, hence my original suggestion, but I’m aware that there are other possibilities.
Once again, I don’t think Ashe is underpowered either, but I don’t think making a useless part of her kit useful will necessarily make her too strong, but it could potentially make her more versatile and engaging. After all, she can’t shoot in both firing modes at the same time.
Yes, it’s close to that. If you melee-shoot-melee-shoot you’ll experience spread (and a melee is 0.5sec, scoped shots are 0.7sec). I can’t say if it’s .6 or .7, but it is ‘a little more than a melee’ to keep pinpoint. Which is good enough to make alternating melee and firing a strategy, as long as you remember to keep that little pause in there (or are fighting a large enough target that spread doesn’t matter).
Sure, she can’t shoot both at the same time, but on the other hand you’re giving her more strength where she’s weak (i.e. close range). It will absolutely make her less diveable, and she’s already pretty tough to dive. That’s going to make her stronger overall.
If she were ever determined to be underpowered, or if some other part of her kit needed a nerf for being ‘oppressive’ (dynamite gets called out a lot), then I’d like your idea as a buff or compensation buff. On the other hand, if she’s balanced now, then your idea needs a compensation nerf to go with it.
Okay i thought you want her rapid unscope fire to have the same dmage as her scope!
I am starting to love ashe and ive been trying to get good at her, she is fun thats why i dont want her to be OP only to get nerfed to the ground, and to be honest most of the hero i main has been changed and nerfed into shell.
what i want is her nonescope to be just as viable as the scope, i hate the spread.
you can add a badass animation of her doing that winchester reload thingy everytime and it would be cool
I always find that awkward tbh, the way she can shoot fast but the spread and damage isnt worth it, the only time i use her unscope is when a tank is in front of me.