Damage falloff on Widow's SMG makes no sense

[brokenstyli-1993]

For the umpteenth time, here is the list of bugs and problems that Widow faces.

I guess #6 is going to be nullified here, since this falloff addresses those concerns. But nerfing her this way was not how I expected this to be fixed.

@brokenstyli-1993

Sniping issues

1. Double bullet trail hitreg/netcode misprediction bug
   1.1 https://gfycat.com/HarmlessDarkBlackfly
   1.2 https://gfycat.com/GenuineAnnualAsiantrumpetfish
   1.3 https://gfycat.com/DistortedTangibleCavy
   1.4 https://gfycat.com/PresentForsakenGelding - with net graph
   1.5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prm9lr5Jm3U (play at half or quarter speed)
   1.6 https://gfycat.com/SecondaryJauntyBernesemountaindog
   1.7 https://gfycat.com/WebbedIncredibleEthiopianwolf
   1.8 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jk3jGHpEa61qDvsFRpdJsrB5caBUdwsW/view - player Rohansh11/Triforce
   1.9 https://gfycat.com/TepidWelloffFlycatcher - /u/MariaMilissa
   1.10 https://clips.twitch.tv/PuzzledSassyJellyfishJonCarnage - /u/felmatias

Blizzard has acknowledged it in Sept 2017, but has not given any further updates.

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20759006043?page=20#post-397

Whenever your input doesn’t make it consistently to the server because of connection inconsistency, there’s a chance that the server will not replicate your aim synchronized with when you pressed the fire button. This error is exacerbated by recoil-based weapons, since your aim will certainly have changed the frame after you fire a recoiling weapon. If the server doesn’t honor your aim direction at the moment you fired because of packet loss, you will very likely mispredict. We are actively investigating a fix for this, which we hope to deploy with the next major patch.

• Update - As of April 3rd, 2018, upon testing this on both normal Wi-Fi, and on a metered connection (Limit Client and Limit Server Send Rate options in settings), misprediction still occurs the same as it did before but without the second bullet trail. (Below examples are on normal Wi-Fi)

1.11 https://gfycat.com/SimilarIncompatibleKitfox - shot against stationary bot is a mispredict
1.12 https://gfycat.com/FirstPeskyEstuarinecrocodile - third shot is a mispredict
1.13 https://gfycat.com/BrokenFlawlessCow - second shot is a mispredict, first shot is a clear miss

2. Overaggressive occlusion culling, enemy and map “pop-in” (thanks to Reddit user /u/klasbo)
   2.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQvj_KIzRms
   2.2 https://gfycat.com/SpiffyShrillAntarcticfurseal
   2.3 https://gfycat.com/JovialVibrantBelugawhale
   2.4 https://gfycat.com/AdorableGiftedJerboa

More detailed post with an acknowledgement from Bill Warnecke here, but no further updates

https://www.reddit.com/r/Competitiveoverwatch/comments/7bkm63/overwatchs_overaggressive_optimization_set_your/

3. Bloom and enemy effects with bloom/red colors significantly reduce Widow’s scope visibility
   3.1 https://gfycat.com/UnpleasantFatalEnglishsetter
   3.2 https://gfycat.com/ConsciousSnarlingAidi

4. Hitbox issues
   4.1 https://gfycat.com/TightPerfumedArabianoryx - head hitbox does not align with model (not just training bots, occurs during stuns, https://redd.it/6km9bz )
   4.2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpQ-1Et49E - hand/arm/shoulder/non-head hitboxes block headshots and turn them into bodyshots
   4.2.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HqQq4PAB7w - another, more in-depth example, Reddit user /u/Landing_headshots
   4.3 https://youtu.be/ShnB0WpLIUo?t=23s - Squash and stretch animation on sliding ledges deforms Widow’s body… she’s the one character that will be on sliding edges the most (video from Muselk)
   4.4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl1TIMFiIeU - Reddit user /u/Impr3ss1v3
   4.5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_HPHSepb44 - Reddit user /u/Impr3ss1v3

5) Midair jump inputs cause descope
Pressing jump while you’re already airborne causes Widow’s sniper rifle to descope. Very inconvenient if you use scroll wheel jump. If you’re airborne, it shouldn’t descope.

Undocumented in patch notes, but confirmed to have been fixed 05 Apr 2016. Video evidence here;

• https://gfycat.com/GiganticTidyAmurminnow

6. Sniper Rifle 0% damage does not match SMG bullet damage (not a bug, but still an issue)

• SMG deals 13 damage per bullet
• 0% sniper deals 12 damage per bullet
• Descoping takes 0.33s.
• Widow’s sniper rifle firerate cap is 1 shot every 0.5s

With the current damage and scope timer values, if any enemy survives with less than 10 health, it is ALWAYS better, faster, and more damaging to descope and fire an SMG burst, than it is to fire a follow up 0% shot with Widow.

This is unintuitive… the sniper consumes 3 ammo, requires 0.33s to scope-in/out, and slows your movement speed. At the very least, a 0% sniper shot should have equal damage to an SMG shot.

This wasn’t the case before she received her damage nerf in June 2016, which used to have 15 damage at 0%.

Admittedly, the circumstances in which a 0% sniper shot would be used are very niche to begin with, but the existence of this opportunity cost creates scenarios where experienced players (who know of this unintuitive trick) have an advantage over inexperienced players… something that was intended to be removed from the game back in 2016.

This is for consistency’s sake, if nothing else.

Grappling Hook Issues

Super-cut of the grappling hook monstrosity - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf8iFJxlRVY

Another one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX5ArAtUoIk by Reddit user /u/xShadowWulfx

7. Grappling Hook does not connect to certain walls, at all
   7.1 https://gfycat.com/JealousRichApatosaur - Chateau Guillard
   7.2 https://gfycat.com/AdorableFewBobwhite - Watchpoint Gibraltar
   7.3 https://gfycat.com/HarmfulSkinnyKid - Ilios Ruins

8. Grappling Hook auto-aim is a nightmare
   8.1 https://gfycat.com/UnrealisticBelatedCrocodileskink - Ilios Ruin floodlight
   8.2 https://gfycat.com/IllustriousEvilAsiaticlesserfreshwaterclam - King’s Row picket fence
   8.3 https://gfycat.com/GiganticMixedInvisiblerail - King’s Row phone booth
   8.4 https://gfycat.com/NeighboringEnchantingArmyant - King’s Row phone booth 2
   8.5 https://gfycat.com/DelightfulRepulsiveCommabutterfly - King’s Row Defender final spawn
   8.6 https://gfycat.com/DelayedSoulfulGreendarnerdragonfly - King’s Row building
   8.7 https://gfycat.com/RemoteInfatuatedIbisbill - Route 66 floating platforms don’t have autoaim
   8.8 https://gfycat.com/RightGlassArabianoryx - Volskaya floating platforms don’t have autoaim
   8.9 https://gfycat.com/AptForthrightIraniangroundjay - Route 66 boxcar
   8.10 https://gfycat.com/CoarseEcstaticAbalone - Oasis Garden spawn door
   8.11 https://gfycat.com/DangerousIdealEelelephant - Hollywood streetlight
   8.12 https://gfycat.com/AmbitiousSereneAnnashummingbird - Hollywood Saloon roof
   8.13 https://gfycat.com/UnknownDistantAlaskanmalamute - Hollywood General Store roof
   8.14 https://gfycat.com/YellowishComposedKusimanse - Horizon catwalk (not typically an issue, but happened to run into this while recording another clip)
   8.15 https://gfycat.com/SleepyFittingEkaltadeta - Hollywood streetlight/lamppost has 5 auto aim spots in such close proximity that they could potentially conflict with someone’s intent to reach the balcony next to it Reddit user /u/MayaDementhia

9. Grappling Hook just gives up
   9.1 https://gfycat.com/DifferentOrnateEwe
   9.2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40yorIBiWXo - taken from YouTube OctopodiformGames
   9.3 https://gfycat.com/CarefulCanineAustraliansilkyterrier
   9.4 https://gfycat.com/DenseHappyChafer
   9.5 Twitch - Reddit user /u/segakuntvv

10. Grappling Hook does not pull up-and-over ledges, it just drops Widow instead
    10.1 https://gfycat.com/DeterminedOnlyGalapagosalbatross - from Reddit /u/MariaMilissa
    10.2 https://gfycat.com/OccasionalBetterIchidna - taken from YouTube Carlos Chavez
    10.3 https://gfycat.com/ExcitableBouncyChrysomelid
    10.4 https://gfycat.com/MeanEnchantedIchidna
    10.5 https://gfycat.com/NeatFirsthandBorderterrier - Horizon Lunar Colony Point B crane, the one thing that should probably have auto-aim doesn’t… it just drops you every time

11. Grappling Hook will unintuitively slingshot Widow in the wrong direction
    11.1 https://clips.twitch.tv/SoftGracefulHeronDoritosChip
    11.2 Twitch
    11.3 https://gfycat.com/QuarterlyLinedKilldeer - Reddit user /u/namdo
    11.4 https://gfycat.com/HorribleAdvancedGoldeneye - Reddit user /u/moussan

12. Not exactly a bug, but the Grappling Hook whip animation was removed
    As of Lunar New Year 2018, the Grappling Hook whip animation has been reintroduced into the game.

13. Grappling Hook animations will very rarely redirect mid-cast
    13.1 https://gfycat.com/SoggyDismalConey

14. Grappling Hook auto-aims to sliding ledges… what’s the point of autoaiming to the sliding battlements of Eichenwalde, if you can’t stand on them? (shown with Pharah because of hover jets)
    14.1 https://gfycat.com/GleefulCharmingGyrfalcon - Eichenwalde
    14.2 https://gfycat.com/DisloyalBoldHellbender - Hollywood Street Lights
    14.3 https://gfycat.com/AllFantasticFreshwatereel - Numbani Street Lights

15. Point blank Grapple Hooks are supposed to reset the cooldown… they sometimes don’t
    15.1 https://gfycat.com/FrighteningJauntyAfghanhound
    15.2 https://gfycat.com/DeterminedWildAdmiralbutterfly

Infra-Sight Issues

16. Infra-Sight does not properly give wallhacks in FFA
    As of Lunar New Year 2018, the Infra-Sight not giving wallhacks in FFA has apparently been fixed. The below two bugs, however, may still be in the game.
    16.4) Whenever a teammate walks between you and an enemy, teammate bodies block/prevent the red silhouette from being visible.
    16.5 https://streamable.com/qvsdz - If you ult while an enemy Widow ults in FFA, sometimes your wallhacks persist after the ult timer ends (Reddit user /u/Guppypid)

Other Bug/Issues

17. Parented Floating Reload Canister Bug
    17.1 https://gfycat.com/FrightenedConventionalAfricanhornbill - Widowmaker’s reload magazine-canisters will sometimes hover and float around defying laws of physics
    17.2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMZf_PDw3y8 - The motion of the reload magazine-canister is parented to Widow’s gun’s world position, enemies are able to see the canister floating around, and can use it against her to locate Widow’s location (from /u/RedDyeNo5)

18. Audio Bugs
    18.1 https://youtu.be/0xY-gRdBXkI - Enabling “Limit client/server send rate” sometimes doesn’t play hitmarker sounds (disabling these options does not fix it immediately, you must start a new match session)
    18.2 Rarely when dying, the SMG firing sound plays on loop. Requires you to fire again to stop the sound.

19. POTG/replay camera does not match raw inputs performed live, making unnatural snapping to heads in the replay (leading to hack-cusations and sometimes misfiled reports)
    19.1 https://youtu.be/AuJ9blVPvWw - this was made 03 Nov 2017
    19.2 https://youtu.be/-dzHA9VTAr0 - this one was made at launch period (01 Jun 2016)

Standing on Destructible Railings

20. Despite Widow’s grappling hook often pulling a player directly to them, railings are hugely inconsistent as standable platforms for Widow to jump on.

There are three types of railings you can encounter;

• spotty collision - running along these railings, can cause your body/aim to bounce like crazy
• rock solid collision - running along these railings, is a smooth experience
• sliding collision - you can’t stand on these railings at all

With certain railings being placed next to bottomless pits, you might plummet to your death if you don’t know which type of railing you’re dealing with, which you can only learn by trial and error.

20.1 https://gfycat.com/FoolhardyEnormousGrackle - Volskaya railings are spotty
20.2 https://gfycat.com/AromaticDarlingHoatzin - Horizon railings are spotty
20.3 https://gfycat.com/OpenCriminalAttwatersprairiechicken - Ilios railings are spotty
20.4 https://gfycat.com/DeadlyRewardingFox - Gibraltar railings are spotty
20.5 https://gfycat.com/TeemingFittingLice - Route 66 railings are spotty
20.6 https://gfycat.com/HarshBiodegradableGarpike - Numbani railings are spotty
20.7 https://gfycat.com/TemptingElegantBeetle - Oasis railings are spotty
20.8 https://gfycat.com/JollyInsignificantAndalusianhorse - Nepal, both types of railings (stone and wooden) are spotty
20.9 https://gfycat.com/SentimentalThirstyFlyingfish - Junkertown railings are spotty
20.10 https://gfycat.com/InexperiencedAdolescentGander - Eichenwalde railings are rock solid
20.11 https://gfycat.com/OrganicCheerfulDegus - Hollywood railings are rock solid
20.12 https://gfycat.com/FarAridBufeo - Hanamura, you can stand on the posts, but not the actual railings
20.13 https://gfycat.com/TornBeautifulBoilweevil - Ayutthaya, you can’t stand on these glass railings at all

Miscellaneous

21. It’s hard to identify which ledges are able to be stood on, because there’s no concrete visual pattern consistency that tells you which ledges ARE able to be stood on.
    21.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLDp0ty5ApY - highlighting the visual inconsistency on Eichenwalde of which ledges can and can’t be stood on
    21.2 https://gfycat.com/VastVelvetyEland - here’s a comparison of Ilios: Ruins where some bricks are able to be stood on just fine, and other bricks slide you off immediately… then there’s a ledge that is visibly smaller than the bricks directly adjacent to the ledge, that CAN be stood on…
    21.3 https://gfycat.com/LeftReasonableIberianemeraldlizard - a bunch of props, like this Volskaya lamp post, appear like it’s possible to stand on them… but you can’t… these map props tease potential sniping spots for Widowmaker, ones that might or might not be powerful, yet the only method of determining if you can stand on something is through trial and error

22. Collision doesn’t match art assets
    22.1 https://gfycat.com/UnsightlyMistyAbyssiniangroundhornbill - Training Range railing is not able to be shot through
    22.2 https://gfycat.com/ImpeccableEnchantedHarborseal - Training Range wall hitboxes aren’t matching art assets

23. Map design discourages sightlines with vision of spawn doors, prevent places from being stood on (that may or may not have a strong sightline), and doesn’t convey clearly what objects are allowed to be stood on.
    Except sometimes it does the exact opposite, and then we get a “Fixed a bug that allowed Widowmaker to reach unintended locations with Grappling Hook” in the patch notes.
    23.1 https://gfycat.com/IllustriousDecimalAndeancat - graphical bugs like this one on Ayutthaya, are super distracting (and this sightline shouldn’t even exist)
    23.2 Imgur: The magic of the Internet - Ayutthaya has a sightline that is one-sided, and this will end up being patched (like the Ilios tree several months ago)

24. Widow’s sniper rifle scope graphics (chevrons/percentage for damage charge) disappear after each shot. Previously, the scope graphic stayed visible even after you shot. Examples provided.
24.1 https://gfycat.com/PoliteRedArmednylonshrimp - Percent charge and chevrons, circular elements of scope disappear and reappear between each shot, recorded 03 Apr 2018
24.2 https://gfycat.com/SharpSnarlingKiskadee`- Percent charge and chevrons stay on-screen between each shot, recorded and uploaded 29 July 2017
24.3 https://gfycat.com/UnsightlyMistyAbyssiniangroundhornbill - Percent charge and chevrons stay on-screen between each shot, uploaded 1 Sept 2017

The Lunar New Year Event fixed a few issues plaguing Widow. Here’s to hoping that more issues are squashed so playing Widow doesn’t feel so frustrating.

If you have any bugs that you encounter while playing Widow, please try to record them and post them here. I’ll be updating this thread frequently.

changelog, as of 3 Apr 2018

• 8 Feb 2018 - some bugs were finally fixed! list updated removed #12 and #16
• 20 Feb 2018 - posted thread onto new Overwatch forums
• 3 Apr 2018 - new examples 1.11, 1.12, 1.13 added for #1
• 3 Apr 2018 - new bug identified, added as #24
• 3 Apr 2018 - escalated Railings to new category, added a bunch of examples for #20
• 5 Apr 2018 - bug squashed (unannounced), list updated removed #5
• 18 Apr 2018 - bug slated to be squashed (in PTR currently)
• 4 May 2018 - clickable links!

If you’re going to push these changes to make playing Widow even worse than it already is, at least give us the damn common courtesy of bugfixing her.