Seriously. Like Widow, Hanzo has perfect accuracy, has a projectile attack (which makes it much easier to hit stuff, especially in close quarters).
He also has 4 abilities:
Movement (jump) on 5-sec cooldown
Scan - on 12-sec cooldown
Storm arrows (panic button/ close quarters defense).
Ultimate… well, we all know about Hanzo’s dragons.
Also, he can move around with his bow drawn, he can scale walls at will, and he does not have to suffer limited FOV while charging his attack. He also doesn’t need to reload.
What does Widow have?
Movement ability on 10-sec cooldown that doesn’t work as “escape” because you need to wait to hook to actually hit something before you start moving. Slowly and steadily, to make you easier to hit, compared to Hanzo’s burst of speed.
Poison mine that deals 75 damage and is laughably easy to destroy (they buffed HP on Symm’s turrets, but poison mine is still 1 hp)
Aaaand… scan as ult. Yeah.
Now, for Overwatch League, Widow’s ability to insta-kill 200hp at any range might actually outweigh all other Hanzo perks. But for people who aren’t god-tier snipers (i.e. majority of the players) McRee/Ashe is always a better choice.
Long story short, I think Widow could use some love. Make her hook faster, both cooldown and action. Buff her SMG for better self-defense. And scan that lasts for 20 seconds isn’t actually a good ult. Something like “Gold bullet” (penetrates everything until it leaves the map, 400 hp damage - to avoid killing Rein by itself, but to be able to deal some serious damage) would be much more fitting her persona and would make mid-tier Widows more relevant.
I noticed you didn’t actually mention Widow does extra damage with critical shots, even more than Hanzo (I’m sure someone can confirm the multiplier). A good Widow can even one shot Zarya, other tanks not so much (as they have armour).
They actually had a lower CD on hook previously but it didn’t work out so it was increased, the action itself though works fine aside from the odd ledges (which you think you can get on but actually can’t). Gold bullet just sounds like Hanzo’s dragons, we don’t need another copy of that ability whatever form it is in. The utl is also getting another buff that on effect it will show enemy health bars (i think to the entire party), so that’s something.
Her her fully charged base damage is 120, multiplier is 2.5x, crit is 300.
She can’t 1shot a full hp Zarya.
Hanzo fully charged base damage is 125, multiplier is 2x, crit is 250.
But due to Storm Arrows, better mobility while shooting and no added delay from having to scope, his general damage output is higher.
Hanzo is however projectile while Widow is hitscan, which means hitting shots with Widow is more reliable.
Widow is the perfect example of high skill cap character. Buff her a little bit and she becomes a beast at high ranks like she was during the double snipers meta (which might come back soon) .
She’s probably the most frustrating character to play against, at least for me, getting one shot randomly without any counter play possible is the opposite of fun.
By “hook action” I mean faster throwing/reeling in. It’s the only “movement” ability with a significant delay between activation and result. Look at Hanzo, Genji, Tracer: when they use their move ability, they are nearly-instantly transported to their destination, unlike Widow.
I read your post as “don’t buff Widow, we don’t need her to be as strong as Hanzo”. So ok, nerf Hanzo then, I’m all for it. Maybe it’s no fun for you getting flick-HS’d by widow, but at least it takes skill on Widow’s part. For me it’s far more frustrating to get insta-gibbed by Hanzo’s arrow when he simply shoots down the corridor on average head level - and more often than not, scores that headshot. That has to go - along with every similarly-damaging projectile attack (like Mei’s icicle).
It’s not so much I’m saying that specifically but more I just don’t want a copy of Hanzo you know. Maybe Hanzo needs nerfing, maybe Widow needs buffing but they will never find complete balance and something will end up being OP.
I think it’s less buff widow, more nerf Hanzo. I feel Hanzo has always been too strong. For a character that requires little to moderate skill, he has ridiculous damage potential. Widow being buffed would make her even more powerful which we really don’t need. I think Hanzo needs to have his projectiles shrunk, total dps lowered and maybe add a more skill based element to him.
… not.
It’s literally impossible for Widow to “kill Zarya very quickly”.
Say you land a fully-charged HS on Zarya for 300 hp. To deal another hundred, you need about 0,7 sec charging time and another headshot - more than enough time for her to pop up her bubble and get healed or retreat into cover.
EDIT: And inb4 “it’s still a lot for a single strike!” - no, it’s not. If hog hooks Zarya, it’s more or less game over for her. If doomfist smashes into her - it’s 250 hp + stun. Rein charge? 300 dmg. Zen’s altballs? 480 damage if they all land in the head. And all of that stuff requires far less skill than Widow.
It’s no accident that current meta is all tanks. Tanks are OP.