Spread:

Spread is the degree to which a weapon’s shots or projectiles deviate from the center of aim, making fire land in a wider or tighter area rather than a single point. In Overwatch 2, spread matters because it affects how reliably a hero can hit targets at different ranges and while moving, so it changes effective damage and consistency more than raw damage numbers do.

Weapons with wider spread are less accurate at long range, while weapons with little or no spread are better for precise burst damage. Spread is especially important for shotguns, rapid-fire weapons, and heroes whose fire becomes less accurate while firing continuously or while airborne. For example, a hero firing a spread-based weapon at a distant enemy may see some pellets or shots miss even when the crosshair is centered, while the same attack is much more reliable at close range.

Related: Projectiles, Hitscan, Bloom