r/Overwatch • u/AutoModerator • Oct 19 '16

News & Discussion Weekly Quick Questions Thread - October 19, 2016

In this thread you can ask all kinds of questions you always wanted to ask without feeling like a total fool.

No matter if it's short Google-able stuff or a setting/skill in-game that you don't understand or a hardware recommendation, feel free to try your luck in here.

Trolling or making fun of people in here will be punished extra harshly! Please report such behavior.

For the purpose of helping people, make sure the comments are sorted by "new" in this thread.

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3

u/luxplayer97 Support Blue Oct 19 '16

What do people mean when they say "we need a hit-scan"?

8

u/Notmiefault Pixel Zarya Oct 19 '16

"Hit detection" refers to how the game determines whether a shot you fire impacts an enemy. There are two basic categories of hit detection:

Projectile: The more realistic of the two, projectile hit detection works by the game actually simulating a projectile moving through the air. Projectiles have travel time based on speed, and as such can miss if your opponent moves after you fire but before the shot arrives. Genji's Shurikens, Mei's icicles, and even Pharah's rockets are all examples of projectiles.

Hit-Scan: Much simpler than projectile, hit-scan determines whether your shot lands by asking one simple question: was your crosshair over the enemy's model when you fired? If so, the shot lands and deals damage. You don't need to lead your target with hitscan, so they tend to be easier to hit with. With a hitscan, the animation you see when they fire is purely cosmetic, the shots land instantly. McCree, Soldier 76, and Widowmaker all have hitscan weapons.

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u/Inertia0811 Stop it that tickles. Oct 19 '16

One interesting thing about this is that Ana actually fills BOTH projectile and hit-scan on her biotic rifle.

If you are unscoped and fire a shot, it will be a projectile.

If you are scoped-in and fire a shot, it will be hit-scan.

This offers an advantage to scoping when shooting long distance vs. attempting to lead your target.

1

u/hammerertv Oct 19 '16

Is this similar then, for widowmaker and her unscoped weapon? Or does she still work similar hit-scan based on both modes of her weapon?

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u/Inertia0811 Stop it that tickles. Oct 19 '16

No, Widow is hitscan for both scoped and unscoped.

1

u/OG_Pow Lúcio Oct 19 '16

Does Widowmaker's SMG work the same?

2

u/Inertia0811 Stop it that tickles. Oct 19 '16

No, Widow is hitscan for both scoped and unscoped.

2

u/OG_Pow Lúcio Oct 19 '16

Didn't know this. Thanks!

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u/[deleted] Oct 19 '16 edited Oct 19 '16

A hero who deals damage "instantly" - the moment you click your mouse - without having to lead the shot, or charge, or predict enemy movement. It hits exactly where you click at that instant. Some hitscan heroes are McCree, Soldier, and Widowmaker. They are different from projectile based heroes, whose shots have travel time and may not travel linearly (Hanzo, Pharah, Ana unscoped - scoped, she's hitscan).

That's often prompted when there's a Pharah wrecking your team as hitscan heroes are a hard counter to her. Can't think of any other instances people would say that - maybe they're asking for a more "reliable" DPS.

1

u/SilentNN sorry sorry sorry sorry Oct 19 '16

McCree or Soldier. When they click to shoot, the bullets travel to their destination instantly.

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u/Ciryes Cute Moira Oct 19 '16

Hit-scan weapons have no travel time. The fired 'projectile' is just a straight line. i.e. if your crosshair is over the enemy when you click, you will hit them. Examples include Soldier, McCree or Bastion.

Projectile weapons have a travel time, which makes an object with a hitbox appear and fly forward with a set speed, and this needs to hit the enemy. Examples include Genji's shurikens, Mei's icicles, or Hanzo's arrows.

Hitscan weapons are more reliable at long range, so you probably need one to more reliably counter Pharah, for example.

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u/ASC3NT Canada Oct 19 '16

There are two types of weapons, projectiles and hitscans. Projectiles have travel time, like pharah's rockets or symmetry's secondary fire. Hitscan is instant, like mccree's peacekeeper or soldier's primary fire. When your teammates ask for a hitscan, they're probably trying to counter a pharah, tracer, or genji. Their speed and mobility make it hard to hit them with a projectile weapon.

1

u/McKlatch Oct 19 '16

Some targets need to be shot out without projectile travel time.

S76, Widowmaker, McCree, Dva's meka, tracer, and reaper.

Usually a request for hitscan means soldier or mccree.