Widowmaker, otherwise known as Amélie Lacroix (née Guillard), is a known Talon operative and former ballet dancer.
Her husband, Gérard Lacroix, was a member of Overwatch and due to his position in leading missions, Talon targeted him many times. After many failures, they decided to target his wife and kidnapped her. She was found by Overwatch again and returned to her normal life. Two weeks later, she killed her husband in his sleep. In turns out that while she was kidnapped, Talon reconditioned Amélie to become an assassin.
Widowmaker is a Defensive hero with a 2 star difficulty.
Tip #1: One Shot, One Kill…or Guns Blazing
Widowmaker is primarily known as a sniper, but does have a secondary fire on her gun – Widow’s Kiss – that acts like an assault rifle. Naturally, snipers for good for (at least) one thing: long range. This is why Widow works best on open maps on a Defence team for headshots (insta-kill) or body shots (so players run away from the point). She can also charge her shots (this is seen on her UI in the image below) which only takes around 2 seconds and deals up to 120 damage. With a headshot, it does up to 2.5 more damage (compared to a bodyshot), meaning low health enemies such as Supports are a good target for Widow.
The secondary fire works best against enemies at short range. Widow is most vulnerable on a one-to-one basis, so her submachine gun can be used to kill low-health enemies or as a quick distraction before getting away with her Grappling Hook if she is discovered.
Tip #2: I Like it Open, but Not Too Open…
As mentioned previously, Widow’s speciality is distance – meaning she needs to be in map with high places and good cover. However, make sure that if you are in an open area as Widow, that you are not alone. Widow is an easy target for Pharah or a fellow sniper.
It is also worth pointing out that even if you are well hidden as Widow, you can still be traced – whenever Widow fires a shot (at whatever distance or power), each bullet leaves a visible line that can be traced (it only stays in the air for a few seconds but with a character such as Winston or Pharah who can use height to their advantage, she can be easily traced). It is good not to stay in one spot for too long.
Tip #3: Let Them Eat Venom
One of Widow’s other abilities is to drop a Venom Mine. It is a small mine in the shape of a spider that, when triggered, it explodes and delivers a poisonous gas to any enemies nearby (please note, this is not similar to Junkrat’s Concussion Mine that can be triggered by the player – enemies have to physically trigger it by walking into its range). This mine is good to hide (I tend to hide it on the back of the payload if I’m defending on an Escort map) as it can deal up to 75 damage. It can also be used well if placed in a group of enemies (it is an arching projectile and can travel a far distance) to kill low health enemies and/or ‘soften’ fellow enemies to kill them.
Tip #4: Spiders are Good at Pulling Strings
Widow’s last ability is her Grappling Hook – a small, wrist mechanism that shoots out a hook that can be used on any solid surface. This is good to get to high places (perfect vantage points for sniping) but also making getaways from enemies who have discovered your position.
The Grappling Hook can also be used as a high jump – using the momentum after Widow has hooked onto something, she can use it after pulling herself. This is good to snipe mid-air (if you’re skilled enough and want the achievement) or get to higher places that are harder to reach (or be reached).
Tip #5: No-One can Hide from the Assassin
Widowmaker’s Ultimate Ability is Infra-Sight – this allows not only Widow herself but everyone on her team to see the enemy team through heat signatures. You can see enemies even through walls, which works well, but only if used in the right situation. It is only temporary, so must be used sparingly.
Obviously, Infra-Sight is good finding enemies who are hiding (and can somewhat enhance the ability to headshot) and set up ambushes against high powered enemies, such as Tanks (like Bastion, who should also be used in a hidden spot, but I’ll go into more detail about that in my Bastion article). While it has little direct power and seems somewhat useless, it can be a great advantage if used in the right situation at the right time. It can also be used to avoid flankers (such as Genji) and fellow snipers.
- You can watch an overview of Widowmaker’s abilities here.
- You can watch some (very early) gameplay of her here.
- You can watch Widow’s animated short “Alive” here.
That’s it, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. Let me know if you have any of your own Widowmaker strats! Au revior!
My set up for Widowmaker
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