All values where generated with the data of the Oversheet (Overwatch Spreadsheet). I used this information: Standart R-click damage without buffs/headshots or other damage amplification. On Tracer and Reaper the damage I used the average damage per attack dealt from various gameplay footages when standing about 2-3 feet away from the target.
Widowmaker | |
---|---|
Overwatch character | |
First game | Overwatch (2016) |
Voiced by | English and French Chloé Hollings[1] Japanese Shizuka Itō[2] |
Information | |
Gender | Female |
Occupation |
|
Nationality | French |
Widowmaker is a playable character appearing in the 2016 video game Overwatch, developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. The character is of French origin; her real name is Amélie Lacroix (née Guillard)[3]
- 3Appearances
Development and design[edit]
Widowmaker was first introduced at BlizzCon 2014, where her character was first noted to be a sniper and lightly armored assassin.[4] She is based on one of the classes for Crossroads, a idea tossed around by the former Titan team before they settled on working on Overwatch.[5]
Widowmaker was noted to be equipped with a grappling hook and the ability to see through walls.[4] In November 2015, a patch was implemented to tone down Widowmaker's ultimate ability—'Infra-Sight'—as Blizzard continued its goal to keep the characters on Overwatch's roster balanced.[6] The patch made it so that the player would not be able to have Widowmaker's ultimate charge up while Infra-Sight was active.[6]
Her character is voiced by Chloé Hollings in the game's English and French versions.[1] Some of her dialogue in the game's English version is spoken in French.[7] Widowmaker is noted to have blue skin due to covert training in which her physiology altered to slow her heart, effectively turning her skin the color seen in-game. A 'Noire' skin for the character was included on pre-ordered versions of the game.[8]
Gameplay[edit]
Widowmaker's role in Overwatch is on defense.[9] Her defensive nature is reflected in her sniper classification, allowing her to be well utilized from a distance;[10]VG247 called her a 'classic sniper.'[9] Widowmaker comes equipped with the 'Widow's Kiss': a rifle with two modes.[9] Firing without aiming causes the rifle to function as close-to-medium assault rifle which is stronger than her scope. Aiming through her scope triggers the weapon to function as a long-range sniper rifle, but will not deal much damage unless it is a head shot.[11] She also comes equipped with her Grappling Hook ability, allowing her to readjust her position and reach heights that other characters cannot.[9][11] In addition, her 'Venom Mine' is a small explosive that sticks to a surface and releases toxic gas when enemies wander into its area. While the poison is active, Widowmaker can see the affected enemy through obstacles, similar to her ultimate.[11] Finally, her ultimate ability, Infra-Sight, allows Widowmaker and her teammates to see through obstacles to locate enemies.[9] Her ultimate ability is able to be used to counter enemy flankers.[11]
Appearances[edit]
Overwatch[edit]
Widowmaker's fictional biography details her real name: Amélie Lacroix, age: 33, and base of operations: Annecy, France.[12] In Overwatch lore, her former life included her marriage to Gérard Lacroix, an Overwatch agent leading operations against Talon, a terrorist organization, and her former occupation as a ballerina. Talon opted to kidnap Amélie after several failed attempts to kill Gérard. After kidnapping Amélie, Talon subjected her to an intensive neural reconditioning program, breaking her will and reprogramming her as a sleeper agent for Talon. Sometime after this, she was found by Overwatch agents, seemingly unaffected by Talon's methods. Two weeks after returning to her normal life, she killed Gérard in his sleep, and returned to Talon, where she was fully converted into one of their agents. The extensive training she underwent caused her physiology to change, dramatically slowing her heart, lowering the temperature of her skin, and turning her skin a blue color.[12] Now, her character is noted to be numb to human emotion.[12]
Animations[edit]
Widowmaker appears in Alive, the second in an eight-part series of Overwatch animated shorts.[13] The short is set in London's King's Row, which also the setting for a map in the game.[14] Widowmaker's in-game abilities are also featured in the short.[15] In the short, Widowmaker is featured on a rooftop plotting to assassinate Tekhartha Mondatta, the head of the Shambali, an in-universe group of omnics formed to bring peace between omnics and humans. She is confronted by former Overwatch agent Tracer, who engages in a rooftop battle with her; however, Tracer is unsuccessful in her attempts to foil Widowmaker. In addition to successfully assassinating Mondatta, Widowmaker also damages Tracer's chronal accelerator, which allows Tracer to maintain her physical form in the present time.[13][14]
Other appearances[edit]
In the Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard's crossoverMOBA video game, there is a Widowmaker skin for the playable character Nova, and vice versa – in the Overwatch, there is a Nova skin for the playable character Widowmaker.
Reception[edit]
Overwatch Widowmaker Cosplay, MCM London Comic Con 2016
The character has received positive critical reception; she was labeled a 'classic sniper character' and 'great defensive hero' by VG247 in their Overwatch hero guide, noting that she 'works best in wide-open maps with long corridors'.[9] Matt Whittaker of Hardcore Gamer wrote that 'the traditional sniper hero of the bunch, Widowmaker is a particularly lethal character for those with solid keyboard and mouse skill, or those who are particularly great at sniping with a controller,' but did not recommend her for players whom don't have a precise aim.[11] This sentiment was echoed by Kevin Thielenhaus of Gameranx, who noted that '[Widowmaker] requires skill, but even if you're new to online competitive FPS, she's powerful enough to help any team.'[16] Additionally she was the most selected defensive-class character during Overwatch's beta period.[17]
Dean James of Attack of the Fanboy found Widowmaker to be one of the strongest characters in the game,[18] Widowmaker has also been noted to be one of the most popular Overwatch characters; she was the most selected defense-class hero in the game during its open beta.[19] Matt Kim of Inverse labelled Widowmaker as a 'fan favorite' character.[20] Her popularity with fans has led to Ben Bertoli of Kotaku calling her one of the most overused heroes.[21] In a 'Clueless Gamer' segment of Conan featuring Game of Thrones actors Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey, Overwatch was played, with Dinklage, Headey, and host Conan O'Brien all choosing Widowmaker.[22] Her prevalence was also noted by Paul Tamburro of CraveOnline, whom complained that 'In Overwatch you are sometimes greeted by more than one of these players per match, all assuming the role of Widowmaker, all standing on some ledge in the distance and all doing absolutely nothing to help you and your teammates push towards victory' in a list of the '10 Overwatch Problems That All Players Will Face.'[23]
Paste magazine's Suriel Vazquez ranked Widowmaker 6th out of Overwatch's 21 characters on her 'How Many Times They Made Me Yell 'Bullshit!' list, expressing that 'dealing with her is more frustrating than it should be.'[24] Will Greenwald of PC Magazine noted that Widowmaker was one of his five favorite characters to play with, writing 'Bastion and Widowmaker gave me the ability to cover choke points at both short/medium and long range.'[25]
Overwatch characters have also become frequent subjects to cosplay as, with a Widowmaker cosplay by Russian cosplayer Jannet 'Incosplay' Vinogradova receiving praise from Hayley Williams of Kotaku, whom wrote that 'This Russian cosplayer is taking the world by storm, with a cosplay of Widowmaker [...] that looks like it could have been ripped out of the game itself.'[26] Chris Jager of Lifehacker Australia similarly called her effort 'the perfect Widowmaker cosplay' and 'probably the best.'[27]Overwatch's release saw large amounts of fan-made pornography featuring its characters being produced; 'Overwatch' related searches boosted by 817% on Pornhub after the game's open beta went live, with 'the most popular characters [featured being] Tracer and Widowmaker.'[28]Tech Times remarked that 'Widowmaker, by far, is the most traditionally sexy character in Overwatch. She's slim, tall, fit and wears high heels. Her outfit reveals more than a little skin to boot.'[22] However, Philippa Warr of Rock Paper Shotgun opined, 'I don't really get why Widowmaker has been given the femme fatale styling. Like, that whole femme fatale thing is about being all alluring and sexy, attracting people and then killing them, right? And yet she's the snipiest sniper in the game. She stands the furthest away from people of the entire cast and shoots them in the head, sometimes without them even seeing her. Who could she possibly be alluring?'[29]
References[edit]
- ^ abCarter, Justin (May 27, 2016). 'Here Are the Voice Actors of the Overwatch Cast'. Twinfinite. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- ^'『オーバーウォッチ』日本語版の担当声優が公開。乃村健次さん、伊藤静さん、種田梨沙さんら21名'. dengekionline.com (in Japanese). April 15, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
- ^https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_CBzklel1c
- ^ abHall, Charlie (November 7, 2014). 'A guide to the first 12 characters in Blizzard's Overwatch'. Polygon. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ^Horti, Samual (November 5, 2017). 'The Overwatch team originally considered making a multi-class MMO called Crossworlds'. PC Gamer. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- ^ abLingle, Samuel (November 13, 2015). 'Devs and pros on Overwatch's first post-beta patch'. The Daily Dot. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^Widowmaker Voice Lines | Overwatch. Blizzplanet. YouTube. February 12, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
- ^Davies, Paul (May 25, 2016). 'Overwatch: talking hero design, Quake and backstory with Blizzard's Michael Chu'. VG247. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- ^ abcdef'Overwatch hero guide: Widowmaker'. VG247. May 24, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ^Grubb, Jeff (May 12, 2016). 'Your Overwatch Widowmaker sniping skills are crap compared to this player's'. VentureBeat. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^ abcdeWhittaker, Matt (May 28, 2016). 'Overwatch Character Guide: Torbjörn, Zenyatta, Widowmaker'. Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^ abc'Heroes - Widowmaker'. Play Overwatch. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ^ abOverwatch Animated Short | 'Alive'. PlayOverwatch. YouTube. April 5, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^ abMcWhertor, Michael (April 3, 2016). 'Overwatch's second animated short sets its sights on Widowmaker'. Polygon. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^Mascarenhas, Hyacinth (April 4, 2016). 'Watch Widowmaker and Tracer battle it out in Blizzard's second Overwatch animated short Alive'. International Business Times. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
- ^Thielenhaus, Kevin (May 24, 2016). 'Overwatch: 10 Tips to Get Started - Widowmaker Hero Guide'. Gameranx. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^Pereira, Chris (May 21, 2016). 'These Were Overwatch's Most Popular Characters During the Beta'. GameSpot. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
- ^James, Dean (May 26, 2016). 'Overwatch Guide: Which Is The Best Character Class For You?'. Attack of the Fanboy. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^Frank, Allegra (May 20, 2016). 'Overwatch open beta stats reveal most popular heroes, trillions of damage dealt and more'. Polygon. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
- ^Kim, Matt (May 22, 2016). 'Overwatch's Final Character Trailer Shows the Game's Multimedia Potential'. Inverse. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^Bertoli, Ben (May 29, 2016). 'How To Counter Overwatch's Most Overused Heroes'. Kotaku. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^ abKoch, Cameron (May 24, 2016). 'Conan And 'Game Of Thrones' Stars Really Like Widowmaker From 'Overwatch' In New Clueless Gamer'. Tech Times. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^Tamburro, Paul (May 25, 2016). '10 Overwatch Problems That All Players Will Face'. CraveOnline. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^Vazquez, Suriel (May 23, 2016). 'Ranking Overwatch's Characters... Based on How Many Times They Made Me Yell 'Bullshit!''. Paste. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^Greenwald, Will (May 25, 2016). 'Overwatch (for PC)'. PC Magazine. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^Williams, Hayley (May 30, 2016). 'The Internet Is Going Nuts Over This Perfect Widowmaker Cosplay'. Kotaku. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^Jager, Chris (May 30, 2016). 'Briefly: Overwatch Cosplay, Brain Hacker, Pokemon Go Hands-On'. Lifehacker Australia. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^Grayson, Nathan (May 23, 2016). 'Inside The Surprisingly Big Overwatch Porn Scene'. Kotaku. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^Warr, Philippa (April 4, 2016). 'Overwatch: Widowmaker Stars In Animated Short, Alive'. Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
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This article is brought to you by StatBanana, the best Overwatch strategy tool.
If you’re one of the players in Overwatch sitting at your screen thinking, “who should I play?” this list may help you out. One of the most interesting (and complex) parts of Overwatch is how quickly heroes can become surprisingly useful in a meta or how quickly they can dive down the rankings. While the pure enjoyment of playing a hero should still be a motivator, sometimes it helps to know what’s working for the top players in the scene.
These hero ranking tiers reflect play time and general success with heroes in professional, organized competitive Overwatch, such as the Overwatch League and Contenders. This may not necessarily reflect a player’s experience on the competitive ladder, but it’s a good place to start when considering which heroes to learn or perfect.
The Overwatch meta is constantly in flux and these rankings will be updated to reflect changes as they’re made within the game.
Tier one (Shield meta heroes)
- Orisa
- Roadhog
- Sigma, the game’s newest hero
- Reaper
- Mei
- Hanzo
- Symmetra
- Baptiste
- Zenyatta
- Moira
This tier showcases the most-played heroes in the current meta that’s developed as a result of role queue in both ladder competitive matches and Overwatch League games. We’ve referred to this as “shield meta” because of the necessity of playing around or demolishing shields during teamfights.
Orisa and Sigma’s ability to rapidly change the position of their shields is critical for main tanks. Roadhog, when played alongside Orisa, is capable of using his hook to take out key targets that Orisa “halts” for him. As far as damage, no two heroes have been played together in Overwatch League games more than Mei and Reaper. Mei’s ultimate, Blizzard, is a game-stopping ability that can be abused at any level of play right now.
Reaper does monumental damage to big tanks (like Roadhog and Orisa) while Hanzo can take out supports who stray from shields. Symmetra isn’t as obvious of a pick. Since her primary fire charges on shields, she’ll be putting out wild amounts of damage.
Baptiste, Zenyatta, and Moira are capable of healing through shields. Baptiste and Zenyatta also have the benefit of abilities that can keep teams alive during destructive ultimates, like Mei’s Blizzard and Reaper’s Death Blossom. While Moira’s ultimate isn’t as useful, her ability to fade out of harm’s way has made her more viable than ever.
Tier two (Good choices for specific maps)
- Reinhardt
- Zarya
- D.Va (especially against projectile heroes)
- Pharah
- Bastion
- Doomfist
- Sombra
- Widowmaker
- Lúcio
- Ana
- Mercy
The heroes in this tier are still viable in the current meta, but their use may depend on specific maps. Reinhardt earned a new passive ability in the latest patch called “Steadfast,” which makes it 30 percent harder to knock him back with abilities. This makes him a better pick when intrusive heroes like Pharah or Lúcio can disturb the frontline. D.Va and Zarya are still important off-tank choices. D.Va can absorb Orisa halts and Ana anti-heal grenades with her Defense Matrix. If a high-damage hero is played on the enemy team, Zarya can still benefit from that acquired energy.
As far as DPS heroes, all of the heroes in this tier are useful in specific situations. Pharah can destroy shields with her primary fire, especially when coupled with a Mercy. Because of Orisa’s high use, Bastion can be played in bunker compositions. Doomfist, Sombra, and Widowmaker all operate in the same way: eliminating supports or low-health DPS heroes that stray from the protection of a shield.
Lúcio, Ana, and Mercy aren’t necessarily bad selections, but this meta wears on them. While Lúcio can disrupt enemy compositions and heal through shields, enemies like Mei and Reaper can stop his speedy ways. Ana has trouble healing through the myriad of shields and Mercy can be easily taken out by a Doomfist or Sombra.
Tier three (Niche picks)
- Wrecking Ball
- Winston
- Ashe
- McCree
- Soldier: 76
- Genji
- Tracer
- Torbjörn
- Brigitte
The lucky thing about the current shield meta is that no hero is technically a bad pick. All the heroes in this tier have a use, but those uses are more specialized. Winston and Wrecking Ball can disrupt the enemy team and ruin a well-planned attack. If you notice the enemy team is struggling to stay coordinated, these are the picks.
Many DPS heroes are suffering from the overuse of shields. Ashe, McCree, and Soldier: 76 are all still viable picks, but making use of their skills will be harder. They can all break shields and, eventually, get key eliminations. Genji and Tracer lose efficacy when against a Mei or Brigitte who can freeze or stun them. If the enemy team is running snipers or lower-health heroes, they can be useful. Shields render Torbjörn’s turrets useless, but against intrusive heroes like Pharah or Tracer, they’re still helpful.
![Hero Hero](http://i.imgur.com/DG7tdy5.png)
Brigitte had her entire hero kit changed to prepare for role queue, making her more of a support hero and less of a pseudo-tank. Her healing is now more useful for slow, coordinated attacks, but her Shield Bash is still a must-have to stop pesky, fast heroes from decimating a team.
These tiers are just a starting point for analysis of heroes and their usefulness in the current meta. As usual, this list could be drastically different within a month. Stay tuned to professional play to see how things are changing and how you can use that in your own Overwatch games.