Unraveling the Web: A Deep Dive into the Widow’s Wine Perk
What does the Widow’s Wine perk do? In short, it’s a game-changing addition to the arsenal of any zombie slayer, fundamentally altering how players interact with the undead hordes. Purchasing Widow’s Wine grants you two crucial benefits: sticky Widow’s Wine grenades and a knife enhancement.
Firstly, your standard grenades are transformed into Widow’s Wine grenades. These aren’t your typical explosive ordinance; they function more like Semtex grenades, attaching to surfaces and zombies alike. Upon detonation, these grenades inflict damage, but more importantly, any zombies not killed by the explosion become ensnared in sticky webs for approximately 20 seconds. This provides a critical window of opportunity for escape, reloading, or focused attacks. A direct hit will instantly freeze any zombie hit.
Secondly, the Widow’s Wine perk enhances your melee capabilities. Your knife attacks gain a chance to slow down zombies on hit, providing a more tactical approach when dealing with close encounters. Some sources also suggest this perk increases the overall damage of the knife.
In essence, Widow’s Wine is a powerful defensive perk, allowing for crowd control and the temporary manipulation of zombies in your favour. This makes it an indispensable tool for both surviving sticky situations and maximizing effectiveness on high rounds.
The Power of Sticky Situations: Widow’s Wine in Action
Strategic Grenade Usage
The effectiveness of the Widow’s Wine grenades is primarily in their ability to temporarily disable zombies. Rather than just causing damage, these grenades provide critical breathing room. For example:
- Escaping tight spots: If cornered by a horde, a well-placed Widow’s Wine grenade can provide the space you need to escape.
- Reviving teammates: When a teammate goes down in the middle of a horde, the web can allow the opportunity to revive without taking excessive risks.
- Controlling choke points: Grenades thrown into doorways or narrow passages can temporarily neutralize zombie advances.
- Setting up kills: The pause allows players to accurately take headshots on trapped zombies.
- Freezing a single threat: If you are caught out by a high health zombie, a direct hit will freeze it to allow easier elimination.
The Enhanced Knife
The secondary function of the perk is often overlooked, but the knife enhancement provides tactical advantages. The chance to slow zombies means you can briefly disable them with well timed stabs, offering a safe method of escape. The added knife damage (if applicable) allows for fast and efficient disposal of lower-level zombies, saving ammo and resources early in the game.
When to Use Widow’s Wine
Widow’s Wine isn’t just a perk for emergencies. It can be a key component of your overall strategy. If playing in a team, coordinate with squadmates, ensuring areas can be locked down. This offers valuable support to those running point, or it can be used to clear avenues of approach for strategic movement.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Widow’s Wine
1. What is the cost of Widow’s Wine?
Widow’s Wine is one of the most expensive perks, costing 4000 points to purchase.
2. How long does the web effect last?
Zombies caught in the web remain ensnared for approximately 20 seconds, giving you valuable time to react.
3. Does Widow’s Wine increase knife damage?
While some sources claim Widow’s Wine increases knife damage, this is not always the case in all the games the perk has appeared in. However, the slowing effect on knife hits is always present, and allows the opportunity for extra hits.
4. Can the Widow’s Wine grenades refill with ammo?
Yes, Widow’s Wine grenades can be refilled using their own special power-up or by obtaining a Max Ammo power-up.
5. Is Widow’s Wine good for high rounds?
Yes, Widow’s Wine is incredibly valuable on high rounds. The crowd control provided by the grenades can be a lifesaver when hordes become overwhelming. It’s more valuable on those high rounds than a single use of a weapon, allowing for much needed crowd control.
6. How many perks can I have?
Generally, players are limited to four perks, unless special methods are used to bypass the restriction.
7. How is Widow’s Wine different from Juggernog?
Juggernog provides extra health, while Widow’s Wine focuses on crowd control and manipulation of zombies. They both help increase survivability, but do so in different ways. The use of Widows Wine is more strategic, while the use of Juggernog is more passive.
8. Does Widow’s Wine always freeze zombies on contact?
No, the web will only trap zombies that have survived the initial explosion. A direct hit from the Widow’s Wine grenade will instantly freeze the target.
9. Is Widow’s Wine better than Juggernog?
While both perks are incredibly useful, neither is outright “better.” Juggernog provides a consistent survivability boost, while Widow’s Wine excels at crowd control. The better perk depends on your play style and the situation.
10. What other perks pair well with Widow’s Wine?
Double Tap, Speed Cola, and Juggernog are all great pairings with Widow’s Wine. Double Tap increases fire rate, Speed Cola boosts reload speed, and Juggernog enhances survivability. The combination of these perks creates a formidable zombie slayer.
11. Which maps feature Widow’s Wine?
The Widow’s Wine perk has been featured on several zombie maps in various Call of Duty games. Specific maps vary by the game in question.
12. Is Widow’s Wine a Perk-a-Cola or a regular perk?
Widow’s Wine is a Perk-a-Cola, meaning it’s purchased from a special machine found on zombie maps.
13. How does Widow’s Wine compare to Winter’s Wail?
Winter’s Wail freezes nearby enemies when you take melee damage. Widow’s Wine offers proactive crowd control through grenades and enhances melee attacks with a slowing effect.
14. How does Widow’s Wine grenades work like Semtex grenades?
Both Widow’s Wine grenades and Semtex grenades stick to surfaces and enemies. However, Semtex grenades are designed for damage, while Widow’s Wine prioritizes trapping and slowing down the zombies.
15. Is there any downside to using Widow’s Wine?
The primary downside is its high cost of 4000 points. This can be a significant investment early in the game. The perk may also cause you to become too reliant on it, and may encourage bad habits such as over use of grenades.
Conclusion: Master the Web
The Widow’s Wine perk is a valuable asset in any zombie slayer’s toolkit. Its powerful combination of crowd control via sticky grenades and enhanced melee attacks makes it a game-changing addition to any play style. By mastering its mechanics, you can significantly increase your survivability and effectiveness against the undead hordes. Just remember to use the web wisely!