// LOADING OWMAUK
A one-shot sniper can hold a whole choke hostage. Here is how to shut down Widowmaker, Hanzo and Ashe with picks, positioning and pressure.
By OWMAUK Staff
A good Widowmaker is the most oppressive thing in Overwatch. One scoped body shot on a squishy is a kill, and a single sightline can lock down an entire attack. The good news is that snipers are fragile, immobile and predictable. You beat them by taking away the one thing they need: a long, safe sightline. Here is the full playbook.
The golden rule against any sniper: do not walk in the open sightline. Most Widow deaths on your team are self-inflicted - people peeking the same angle twice. Break line of sight and she has no target.
The cleanest answer is a hero who can reach her perch and end her before she repositions. Dive tanks and mobile flankers turn a scary Widow into a free kill.
Winston
The premier sniper-killer. Leap onto the Widow, bubble to block her escape angle, and beam her down. She cannot aim through the electricity.
Dive tank
D.Va
Fly up, eat the scoped shot with Defense Matrix, and pressure the perch. One of the safest answers because you deny the one-shot on the way in.
Dive tank
Genji
Climb to her flank, dash in, and deflect the shot back if she panics. Constant threat that forces her to look away from your team.
Flanker
Tracer
Blink into her backline and delete her. She has one grapple and no other escape - once you are on her, she is yours.
FlankerIf nobody will dive, the second answer is to win the long-range duel. A Widow with no sightline advantage is just a squishy with a rifle.
| Hero | How they answer the sniper |
|---|---|
| Widowmaker | Mirror her. Win the duel and the enemy sniper is gone, not just poked |
| Ashe | Scoped burst plus dynamite forces her off the angle; B.O.B. contests it |
| Hanzo | Storm Arrows and wallhack Sonic reveal her; one-shot potential of his own |
| Sojourn | A charged railgun one-shots a 200 HP Widow from range |
Hanzo and Ashe punish the same mistakes as Widow but with more forgiveness on their end - Hanzo has Sonic Arrow wallhacks and a storm-arrow escape, Ashe has dynamite and B.O.B. The dive answers still work; you just have to respect their extra tools.
Countering is only half the job - you also need to be able to pilot the counter. If Winston and Tracer feel out of reach, read every hero ranked by skill floor and start on the easier dive options. For the wider role picture, see the best tank heroes, the best supports to climb with, and the best DPS for solo queue.
You do not out-aim a Widowmaker. You take away her sightline until she has nothing to aim at.