Clever Overwatch trick makes Widowmaker more mobile
An Overwatch player showed off a clever trick for jumping higher with Widowmaker without setting her grapple on cooldown.
Widowmaker can be among the more mobile heroes in the game with the use of her Grappling Hook – there are few locations which others can reach but she can’t – but the ability has a 10 second cooldown, and when it’s not available she’s no more mobile than any other hero, and less so than many.
One player, however – Reddit user HeluLeHaricot – has demonstrated a method of making Widowmaker more mobile, able to jump over objects she wouldn’t usually be able to, without setting her grappling hook on cooldown.
Widowmaker’s Grappling Hook is one of her most important abilities.The technique does technically use the grappling hook, although it makes use of a particular quirk of the ability – using it directly next to a wall will not set it on cooldown, but will provide a slight boost in momentum.
This small boost can be enough to make otherwise impassable objects, barriers and walls scalable without technically having to use grappling hook, which means the crucial ability can be saved for traveling a more significant distance, either to reach a key location quickly or to escape from a dive.
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As HeluLeHaricot also points out, the uses for this trick are somewhat situational – it’s only useful for a very particular size of barrier, which is too high for a regular jump but still low enough to allow for this method to be used.
That being said, it’s still worth being aware of if you’re a Widowmaker player. Grappling Hook is an incredibly important ability for both positioning and as an escape tool, so keeping it off cooldown as often as possible is ideal.
The 10 seconds you’re without it may not seem like much on paper, but it’s more than long enough at Overwatch’s typical pace to be dived on and eliminated. Any instance in which you’re able to avoid using the grapple by instead employing this trick could ultimately save your life.