How does a random chance to do better or worse damage sound better than always doing the same amount of damage?
Consistency let’s you plan and adjust how you attack, randomness gives you little control over that.
Disagreed.
Your goal is to encompass as much of the body but it is also to put the head inside the cone. Which optimizes body shots while getting critical’s from pellets that hit the head.
What this does is changes where you aim with a shotgun based on range and the silhouette of your target.
So, is this a nerf or a buff to D.va? (either way, it seems small)
There is no situation in which it is actually worse.
It WAS NOT possible for the random rotation of the pattern to result in more impacts than the new fixed pattern.
It WAS possible for it to result in fewer impacts than the fixed pattern does.
With the random version, leveling your aim to the correct height would provide less consistent benefit than it does when it is predictable.
Thus, it is a slight buff that will feel like more of an improvement once you get accustomed to the height adjustment which will maximize impacts and minimize misses.
And just to make sure it was clear: aim at shoulder height if you are >5 meters away, but aim at head height if you are closer than that.
Nice write up and research, thanks for taking the time and also sharing.
Just one minor correction…
Sombra’s SMG also has 70% ranged damage penalty, and yes that is somehow even dumber then shotguns having it.