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Black Widow is receiving a significant rework when Season 9 launches. The changes touch nearly every part of her kit, addressing long-standing balance issues with her sniper rifle while giving her stronger tools across the board.
Black Widow Season 9 Rework Explained
Primary Fire
The ADS sniper mode has been removed from her standard state. In its place, her primary fire rate has been increased, giving her more consistent damage output in baseline form. The goal is to give Black Widow a stable, reliable damage flow that is easier to build around without the one-shot risk that made her previous primary difficult to balance.
Electro-Plasma Blast
The charged electrical plasma blast has been moved out of her ultimate slot and made into a standard ability. It deals damage and applies a slow effect on hit, making it a regular part of her toolkit rather than a resource she needs to save.
New Ultimate: ADS Sniper Mode
Her new ultimate activates her ADS sniper mode for a set duration, or until she has fired a set number of bullets. She still cannot one-shot enemies on critical hits. However, her sniper bullet hitbox has been significantly increased and bullets now pierce through multiple enemies. Non-critical hits also deal substantially higher damage with no range falloff. The idea is to keep the full sniping experience intact while framing it as a powerful ultimate rather than a baseline tool.
Movement
Her sprint and super jump remain in the rework. All stamina restrictions have been removed from both. Her spinning kick also stays.
New Ability: Widow's Bite Slam
A new ability has been added to her kit. While airborne, Black Widow can launch herself toward a target location and slam her Widow's Bite gauntlet into the ground, dealing AoE damage to nearby enemies. This is designed to make her close-quarters burst combos flow more naturally and give her a stronger aggressive option in melee range.
Black Widow Season 9 Rework: Before and After
| Ability | Before (Season 8.5) | After (Season 9) |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Fire | ADS sniper mode available via right-click | Increased fire rate, no ADS sniper mode in standard state |
| Right Click | Straight Shooter — switches rifle to sniper mode | Now Plasma Blast |
| Plasma Blast | Electro-plasma Explosion (Ultimate). Slows and applies vulnerability | Moved to standard ability (deals damage and applies slow on hit) |
| Ultimate | Electro-plasma Explosion | ADS sniper mode for set duration or set number of bullets. Significantly increased bullet hitbox, bullets pierce through enemies, no range falloff, no one-shot on crits |
| Shift | Fleet Foot — sprint and power jump with stamina restrictions | Sprint and super jump retained, all stamina restrictions removed |
| E | Edge Dancer — spinning kick | Spinning kick retained, unchanged |
| New Ability | None | Widow's Bite Slam. While airborne, launch to a target location and slam into the ground for AoE damage |
