Widowmaker is known as both one of the hardest and most oppressive heroes in Overwatch 2. Her true one-shot kill potential has squishy characters everywhere cowering in fear.
But to harness the power of the French sniper and not get punished for her lack of mobility and HP herself, your aim needs to be on point. Hitting consecutive headshots as Widowmaker is one of the most satisfying feelings in all of Overwatch 2, but you might need to practice a bit before you get there consistently.
One of the best ways to practice hitting more headshots is by using Overwatch 2’s custom games mode. Many players have created amazing codes that you can plug right into your own game and use to practice by yourself or with friends.
To use any of these codes, go to the “Play” menu, select “Custom Games,” then instead of joining a premade lobby, hit “Create.” From here, go to “Settings” to adjust the lobby, and click “Import Code.” Paste any of these five-character codes in, and the mode will load.
Related: How to enter custom game codes in Overwatch 2
Here are four of the best workshop codes to use to practice hitting headshots on Widowmaker.
Widowmaker headshot-only deathmatch code
- Code: NQM78
This workshop code is perfect for when you want to train your aim while in the competitive queue. Though this code only works if you have other people to play with, it is a classic Widowmaker game mode from Overwatch. Code NQM78 is a normal deathmatch lobby, with a few twists.
Upon spawning into the lobby, your only choice of hero will be Widowmaker. But what makes this lobby different from just going into a deathmatch where everyone has selected Widowmaker is that no shots except for headshots register in this mode.
Widowmaker’s hip fire and body shots are disabled and won’t do any damage to opposing targets. Only headshots count here, so you’ll always know when you hit one and when you come up short. This is a great way to train yourself into prioritizing headshots and getting used to one-shotting squishy targets.
Infra-sight and venom mine are also disabled in this mode.
Related: The 5 best custom codes in Overwatch 2
You can play this mode on any map, so feel free to go into settings and adjust the map choice if you are looking to work around a certain landscape or architecture feature.
Another perk of this new version of the headshot-only lobby is that players will receive a penalty if they abuse crouching. Crouch spamming is a technique used by many Widowmaker players, but overusing it can actually hinder your aim, especially when you are first learning. It is best to practice with a steady body position before moving to work on crouch techniques.
If you crouch too many times in a row or for too long, you will get a penalty since this workshop code has a built-in crouch spam detector.
If you put in this workshop code and allow any player to join, you can set up a fun lobby that players will definitely hop in while they are queuing for their next competitive match. It is a great way to keep your hands warm and your mind sharp while waiting for your next game.
AI Widowmaker one-vs-one code
- Code: PYDEY
This workshop code is perfect for when you want to grind out your aim on your own. Throw on some music and enter the lobby alone. With the code PYDEY, a game mode made by Seita, you will be able to go one-vs-one against an AI enemy Widowmaker.
This is perfect for practicing those long-range duels against another Widowmaker. Since she is by far the best DPS hero to play across long distances, usually if one team has a Widowmaker player, a player on the enemy team will step up to challenge them.
Related: The best counters for each Overwatch 2 hero
Even if you don’t end up in a Widowmaker battle in your next ranked game, it is still useful practice to work on hitting shots against an enemy Widowmaker because her head hitbox is one of the smallest in the game. Hitting an enemy Mei, for example, will be easier after working on your aim with this code for a while since Mei’s head is bigger than Widowmaker’s.
Speaking of Mei, upon spawning into this lobby, you will notice that periodically Mei ice walls will spawn between you and the enemy Widowmaker. This helps to add a bit of dimension to the empty practice arena and allows you to train around potential map geography that could block off sightlines.
This AI Widowmaker is also particularly helpful because she not only strafes but crouches and uses her Grappling Hook as well. Some other practice custom game modes include AI heroes, but this one seems to be the most threatening and behaves the most like a real Widowmaker player. You can’t sit idle in this lobby because the AI Widowmaker will kill you if you stand still. Even if you’re trying your best to vary your movement, she might still take you out.
Aerial aim trainer code
- Code: TKBR3
This game code, TKBR3, is one of the classic workshop modes from the original Overwatch. This mode, set over the edge of a building on Lijiang Tower, features a variety of enemy heroes flying up and falling down across the skyline. This is a great way to practice headshots on a wide variety of heroes and also practice tracking enemy movement.
Though this workshop lobby isn’t the best for Widowmaker specifically, using it to train your aim will help with being able to hit headshots.
Unlike the other game codes listed here, this lobby is the only one that features every hero in the game as a target to practice on.
Of course, Widowmaker is the most effective when she hits headshots, and to do that, you need to know where every hero’s head is. This aim trainer is a perfect way to examine the enemy head hitboxes and try to understand how to hit each one.
Try turning on the setting in the custom game mode that enables “headshots only,” the same setting used for the headshot-only Widowmaker deathmatch above. If you do this, the aerial aim practice will become significantly harder and provide even more of a challenge.
You can use this workshop code with other heroes as well—like Cassidy, Ashe, and Sojourn (try using the railgun only)—to practice your aim in a way that will benefit your gameplay on Widowmaker. Any hitscan hero can have fun with this mode.
PMAJellies aim trainer code
- Code: KAVE5
PMAJellies’ aim trainer is one of the most comprehensive in-game tools you can use to practice your aim across every hero in Overwatch 2. The KAVE5 code can be a bit overwhelming at first to navigate, but follow the instructions on screen and you should be fine. This custom game code includes several different exercises to practice aim in different ways to fit the dynamic hero characteristics of Overwatch 2, but here are the modes within this aim trainer that will be particularly helpful for Widowmaker.
Upon loading into the aim trainer, the two best options to practice with Widowmaker are “Hero Arena” and “Flick.”
Hero Arena will spawn a hero of your choice for you to practice against. You’ll be able to go against the AI hero and learn how to headshot them when they do their typical movement. Most of the heroes will also use their abilities. An enemy Widowmaker will use her Grappling Hook, and Genji will use his Deflect, for example. Currently, there are a limited number of heroes to choose from in the aim trainer, but they generally tend to be some of the hardest ones to hit.
This is great if you seem to have one particular enemy that you can never hit (come on, we all have one). If you can never get Pharah down from the sky or hit Genji while he is jumping around, the Hero Arena in this aim trainer will be a great option for you. The heroes won’t fire back, either, so it removes a lot of stress that comes from fearing for your life as you’re scoped in.
Another mode in the PMAJellies aim trainer that is particularly helpful for Widowmaker players is the “Flick” mode. This mode will spawn red targets at short intervals for you to practice flicking quickly to the targets. This mode is particularly difficult when scoped in and can help you adjust your scope sensitivity to something suitable for hitting flick shots.
Flick aim can be hard to train, so if you’d like to practice it in an isolated environment, this workshop might be good for you.
Outside aim trainers
While training within Overwatch 2 itself is definitely the most helpful for improving mechanics and understanding how a particular hero like Widowmaker functions in context, outside aim trainers can be useful as well.
Trainers like Aim Lab and Kovaaks can also improve your aim for the next time you load into your competitive Overwatch 2 game. If you want to become an aim god and work on aiming techniques for other FPS games as well, you might want to check out some of these other options.
Published: May 30, 2023 12:05 pm