Overwatch 2 player confirms big problem with Hanzo’s arrows
Blizzard EntertainmentHanzo ends up being far weaker than his sniper counter-part Widowmaker.
A crafty OW2 player has proven that the hitbox on Hanzo’s arrow only applies to a very specific part of the projectile.
In many respects, the Overwatch community has a love-hate relationship with Hanzo. Some love him so much that he’s their preferred main. Meanwhile, others can’t stand facing off against him because of the sheer power his arrows pack.
Damage output isn’t the only reason Hanzo’s arrows often end up a topic of conversation, though. There’s long been confusion about how exactly hitboxes work on the character’s pointed projectiles.
Notably, many Overwatch players believe the hitbox spans the length of the arrow, yet a video shared by one fan seems to debunk this theory.
OW2 player proves hitbox on Hanzo’s arrows isn’t what it appears
Reddit user SammyIsSeiso pointed out the misconception that “Hanzo’s arrows have a hitbox the entire length of the arrow.” According to the Redditor, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, it’s a sphere with a radius of 0.1m located “near the tail-end of the arrow.”
The player proved as much in a slow-motion clip that shows one of Hanzo’s arrows going through Tracer’s head. As opposed to immediately killing the other hero, the arrow doesn’t actually deal damage to the target until the tail, or fletching, makes impact.
It gets weirder, though. In a subsequent response, the original poster also shared footage depicting Tracer walking into the tail end of a flying arrow and quickly dying.
Naturally, video proof of Hanzo’s strange arrow hitbox has OW2 players wondering why Blizzard programmed it this way.
One person suggested the developer may have wanted to sidestep other potential issues: “… If it was the entire arrow he would never miss in melee, if it was the tip in melee range there is a chance he could shoot through someone and have it not register for various reasons like hitbox junk and latency.”
Whatever the reasoning, it’s safe to say Hanzo’s projectiles have much more going on than Overwatch 2 may assume.