⤧WBC's Preliminary Guide on Headshots

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Introduction

In Overwatch, headshots do twice as much damage as normal shots, but not all heroes can headshot other heroes. On contact, headshots make a higher-pitched sound compared to normal shots, but it may be unintuitive as to which heroes can or cannot headshot. We have included this information, along with outlines of each hero’s headshot box, down below. Please note that this is a preliminary guide; a comprehensive guide with more detailed pictures will be processed later.

Who can headshot?

Bastion (Recon Mode)

D.Va (Mech)

D.Va (Out of Mech)

Genji

Hanzo

Lúcio

McCree

Mei

Mercy

Orisa

Roadhog

Soldier:76

Sombra

Tracer

Torbjörn

Widowmaker

Zenyatta

Who cannot headshot?

Ana

Bastion (Sentry Mode)

Junkrat

Pharah

Reinhardt

Symmetra

Winston

Zarya

Supplementary Information

Bastion: cannot be headshot in Tank mode
Genji: deflected shots can headshot (only if the original shot has the ability to headshot)
Hanzo: scatter arrow and dragonstrike can both headshot if the initial arrow hits the head
Roadhog: primary and secondary fire and ultimate can headshot, but hook cannot
Torbjörn: primary and secondary fire can both headshot, but turret cannot
Tracer: Pulse Bomb can do headshot damage on impact when the bomb sticks to the head, but the explosion damage will not do headshot damage regardless of where it was stuck
Widow: when scoped in, headshots do 250% damage instead of 200% damage

Methodology: Using Widowmaker, a hitscan hero, we traced the outline of the headshot region of all the heroes in Overwatch. Black was found to be the best and most visible color for these outlines. For consistency, we placed the heroes used at two set points at the first point on the Temple of Anubis. The distance and position were kept constant. If a hero swayed or bobbed at all (for example, Roadhog moves up and down), we waited until he was back at his default position.

Disclaimer: These outlines are by no means perfect, but they did go through thorough testing using the methods described above. To reiterate, these are the headshot hitboxes utilizing a hitscan hero. It is important to note that projectile weapons and numerous skills have variably-sized hitboxes. For example, Hanzo’s arrow will be able to headshot someone even if his crosshair was placed outside of the headshot hitbox. Hitboxes also change based on slight movements, and and the shape of the hitboxes felt slightly different as we changed the distance between the two heroes, but not by too much. This was most likely due to the 3D nature of the boxes, and we intend to look into this in the future.This hero-specific information will not be covered in this guide, but in our future, more comprehensive guide.

Ana

Bastion

D.Va

Genji

Hanzo

Junkrat

Lúcio

McCree

Mei

Mercy

Orisa

Pharah

Reaper

Reinhardt

Old Roadhog (left) vs. New Roadhog (right)

Soldier 76

Sombra

Symmetra

Tracer

Torbjörn

Widowmaker

Winston

Zenyatta

Zarya

References / Other Guides

Furious Paul

Gamepedia

Force Gaming

Notes to self for future update

Test hitboxes from the side and from the back
Test on level ground and make note of exact distance (can be done on Hollywood offense spawn)

Theory: might be better to test looking slightly downward so that body’s hurtbox wouldn’t interfere with head’s hurtbox? In any case, better to outline both body and head hurtbox in the next one.

Include images when heroes are in motion (i.e. Genji double-jumping, Winston crouching, Hanzo with bow fully drawn)

Possible animator
Crop images consistently
Is it possible for the body’s hurtbox to cover the head’s hurtbox?

http://imgur.com/375UKeK
Find optimal target region for spray heroes such as Tracer and Soldier 76 at different ranges