Projectile Flight Speed

Projectile Speed (also known as projectile velocity or flight speed) is an attribute of each weapon that defines how quickly its ammo travels to a target after leaving the weapon. Projectile speed can be of huge consequence to player accuracy, because shooting at enemies directly on the reticle might result in bullets hitting nothing but air; players must instead "lead" the target, which means they should aim and shoot to where they think the enemy will be by the time the bullet crosses the distance.

Hitscan vs Projectile
Hitscan weapons strike their targets instantly; the player does not need to lead the target at all. The word comes from a technical term based off how computers used to determine targets were struck on the pull of the trigger. It takes more effort for the computer to constantly watch the bullet as it flies through the air than it does to look where the barrel is pointed, see if anything is in the way, and assume the shot will hit or miss. Note that the presence of bullet animations, smoke trails, or flashes of light do not necessarily indicate that a weapon is projectile; the animations might be just for show.

Projectile in this context describes weaponry that actually do shoot out objects which fly through the air. These move at their projectile speeds from the weapons' barrels, and so the player must account for the distance between them and their target. This type of ammo is "tangible"—for example, Valkyr can successfully Rip Line onto the rocket of an Ogris. Any non-hitscan weapon is a projectile weapon.

Projectile Speed Modifiers
These mods increase projectile speed for non-hitscan weapons as described. Note that they also increase damage falloff distance where applicable, such as most Shotguns, for both hitscan and non-hitscan weapons. Whirlwind is listed as "melee" but only matters for thrown melee weapons.

Along with the above mods, Volt's Electric Shield converts all outgoing projectiles into hitscan.

List of Projectile Weapons
Primary=


 * -|Secondary=


 * -|Melee=