Is she actually OP like the forum suggests; i.e. is there evidence to back this up such as data, or statistics, or even a mention of it from high level players or is it purely anecdotal?
I am a Widow main and in my biased opinion, she is nowhere near OP in the world of Winstons and barriers. Seems she is effective on wide open maps where she is able to use her Q to hit jump shots, however, on many maps she is outclassed.
In my unbiased opinion, I have seen many forum posts crying about her lately, so clearly there is an issue which needs to be addressed one way or another.
Is the whining due simply to not understanding how much skill it takes to be a decent widow, and how dangerous it is to even be in mid-range as widow?
Finally, I keep reading that she has no âhard countersâ. It is totally possible I just havenât learned yet, but Winston gives me hell regardless as well as Sombra. A dedicated widow-killing Sombra/Winston seem impossible to counter unless the map is really long.
Thoughts?
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Depends on the player.
By herself no. Sheâs easy to counter bum rush her face.
In the hands of a pro. Who needs to look where theyâre shoot?(annie oakley)
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Donât give the forums that much attention. According to forums Widow, Doomfist, Wrecking Ball and others are both OP and too weak at the same time.
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At what skill level?
At lower levels itâs a definite no at Pro levels though I would not be surprised if the answer is yes.
Forum reaction is probably a mix of people going off what players that are higher ranked that they respect say mixed in with the degree the character in question is annoying and one shots are annoying soâŠ
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Want to preface this acknowledging and admitting respect for your inclusion of both biased AND unbiased inputs- seriously man. Wish more people could do that.
The thing with widow, at least as far as Iâve seen on the forums- thereâs VERY few who DONT acknowledge the skill to be a good widow.
Because letâs be honest- youâd have to be a fool to ignore the skill necessary to play her effectively.
Now is there a âproblemâ with widow?
In my opinion- yes.
But context is needed.
Widow is interesting in that she is literally only as good as the player playing her. Again- it takes skill to be effective. A LOT of it.
The âissueâ is her potential. Widow is an example of a hero with a relatively unlimited skill ceiling, in a game where most of the heroes do have relatively defined skill ceilings.
Thereâs a LOT of heroes that you can play perfectly and pretty much âcap outâ their overall effectiveness- but âwith skillâ widow can exceed that.
At least this is my stand on it.
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the only reason people complain sheâs OP is because sheâs a sniper. Every fps game with snipers in it has people complaining that snipers are OP, and OW is no exception.
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no, but a lot of her counterplay got removed because of how hard brig counters dive.
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It really depends on the rank because Widowmaker is just an entirely different hero depending on the mechanical skill behind her. Winstons and Soldiers will all have a fairly stable output in relation to their skill level, but Widowmaker is exponential.
If you want proof, you can ask some of the pros. Thereâs a decent number of them that do not like Widowmakerâs current power level at the highest leagues of the game. This is because Widowmaker is the carry of the team in those levels; literally everyone else on the team is just a buffer to make Widowâs life easier, while the Widow just needs to get shots and beat out the enemy Widow. Team play is largely irrelevant until things break down, and pros do not like this feeling that games are determined only by the Widow 1v1s.
I would say that this does mean that the hero is overpowered. Thereâs clearly an area where she excels in a way she isnât meant to. A lot of this is due to how dive has been pressured down due to various other changes, which enables snipers to be more free. However, it is still Widowmaker herself thatâs a big problem, and her balance can still be wonky in the Plat and Diamond levels of play. A good Widow can end up going uncontested in lots of pick-up competitive games, where the lack of mechanical skill is made-up for by the lack of her enemyâs coordination.
Itâs better to say that Widowmaker is unbalanced. Sheâs trash in the lowest tiers but godly in the highest, and thatâs not ideal. Itâs especially frustrating for those higher ranked players, since Widowmaker is the center of the gameplay and really steals the show. I wouldnât suggest that itâs just the forums âcomplaining,â though, what do you expect them to do? Not complain about something that frustrates them? Thatâs what the act of complaining is for, if something is upsetting them.
All in all I would say Widowmaker does need some nerfs. She never should have had that grapple hook cooldown buff, for one, so Iâm happy to see it getting half-reverted. I still think they could do more, honestly, but at that point I might as well ask that they just remove her, haha. Iâm not exactly a fan of snipers in any game so seeing less of her is, admittedly, always going to make Overwatch an objectively better experience for me.
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It depends on the playerâs skill and platform, sniping with analog sticks is poo.
Well, a couple months ago the forums suggested people should stop throwing and pick a hero other than Widow. Widow has not changed since then. The forums are a funny place.
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Not really.
Itâs a lot easier to use a mouse I admit, but you can still use an joystick.
Is she OP? No. She is oppressive in the right hands, and if used for half-kills with reliable follow-up.
Her machine gun is ok for what it does, but the muzzle flash on Widowmakerâs own screen makes it an eyesore to use.
In a game where everyone is supposed to feel OP, widow is in a pretty good spot IMO. I wish she had 40 bullets in her clip and sniper shots would take 4 ammo per shot, instead of the current 30/3.
Extremely, skill ceiling should never be a big factor on balancing a character.
Players WILL reach that, and eventually the majority will.
And her difficulty isnât that high to begin with compared to some really tricky stuff in other games.
Being a 300-damage hit-scan in a game thatâs 90% projectiles is a bit of an issue⊠she team-wipes without any contest when tanks lose their barriers.
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She isnât âOPâ per se. She was overtuned when she got her CD reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds⊠Which was perfect against the dive meta, but made her a bit too strong when there isnât a Winston/D.Va/Genji constantly pouncing on her.
Another factor is that widow is a high skill hero. Hereâs some observations about widow as we go through the ranks:
<2500SR: Not worth playing imo.
~3000SR: Widow is now a viable pick.
~3300SR: Widow is now a reasonable pick.
~3600SR: Widow is now a good pick. There is a big skill jump here.
~3800SR: Widow is now a great pick. There seems to be a moderate skill jump here.
~4000SR: Widows mechanics and awareness seems to improve noticably here, but not as big as the previous jumps.
~4300SR: This is where the god-like widows seems to reside. There seems to be a massive skill jump between 4000 and 4300SR.
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No. She doesnât get that many elims. I think people donât like dying to one shots they donât even see coming.
hitscan
effective inf range
OHK
favor the shooter netcode
itâs about the heroes capability, not the performance of individual players.
Bronze Widow compared to anything higher.
Widow is garbage in lower tiers. Higher she can kill anything.
But yeah itâs ânotâ the player skill. It the hero.
And howâs that relevant when talking about the design and balance of a hero?
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