A charge meter is visible while scoped that fills over time, with the damage of the shot increasing the more the meter is filled. The secondary firing mode is a sniper rifle that zooms in Widowmaker's vision and reduces the firing rate to single shots. The standard firing mode is a submachine gun, similar to Soldier: 76's Heavy Pulse Rifle, though with less accuracy and a larger magazine. Widow's Kiss has two firing modes, which are switched between with the secondary fire button. She's often forced to play away from the objective where she's safer, as her only real mobility is Grappling Hook which can have a long cast time and leaves Widowmaker fairly defenseless to another attack.

Widowmaker is, however, relatively weak in close-range combat, and her immobility while scoped makes her an easy target Widowmaker's biggest threat is often another, better Widowmaker on the enemy team.

Her Infra-Sight and Venom Mine give her and her team considerable information on enemy movements, allowing them to easily counter ambushes and coordinated pushes. Equipped with a powerful scoped rifle, she is capable of taking down the majority of the game's heroes with a single fully-charged headshot, and is still able to deal serious damage with bodyshots. Widowmaker is the archetypical sniper of Overwatch.