Widowmaker
It’s almost hard to remember a time when Widowmaker was considered OP since now many players tend to complain if anyone on their teams picks her. Despite the change in how players feel about Widowmaker she was once considered an outstanding selection. In Overwatch’s early stages, it felt like Widowmaker was being awarded headshots too easily. The truth is, she wasn’t. Her damage for body shots was simply way more than anyone would expect for a sniper. Also, it was incredibly easy to short scope enemies since you didn’t have to wait for the full scope animation to complete before firing away. This was eventually changed and Overwatch’s resident sniper received some key changes over time.
Eventually, Widowmaker’s base damage was decreased but her headshot damage was increased from a 2x damage multiplier to a 2.5x multiplier. Players are also now required to wait for the entire animation to complete before being allowing to snipe their enemies. This essentially put an end to a popular tactic being used where players would line up their crosshair without looking down scope, quickly activate her scope and fire away before they even actually saw where the crosshair was in the scope. It essentially meant people could get bonus damage without using the actual mechanic that was created for it.
While Widowmaker is another hero who didn’t necessarily see the most changes in sheer quantity of patches and reworks, it’s hard to simply glance over how much the reaction to the deadly sniper has changed. Now, she’s comparable to a hero like Genji in the sense that she can play a major role for her team but only in the hands of a truly skilled player.
